The importance of strategy to an organisation's competitiveness is widely acknowledged in the strategic management literature. However, although strategy research has become substantial in other areas, the same cannot be said with the shipping industry. Very littie is known about how shipowners choose competitive strategies or what strategies they pursue under certain environmental conditions. Of what is available, most focus on Northern Europe and Northem America, with scant regard for the Asia-Pacific, which has become a major shipping power in recent decades. This study was, therefore, conducted to address these gaps in the literature. It analysed the strategic choices made by Asia-Pacific shipowners at the corporate level, compared actual shipowners' behaviour with strategic management theory on strategy selection, and developed a strategy selection model that was applicable to Asia-Pacific shipowners and consistent with strategic management theory. An extensive review of the literature was initially undertaken to develop a generic strategic choice model, which then served as the basis upon which information from Asia-Pacific shipowners was collected. A multi-method approach, called triangulation, was used to guide data collection and analysis. Data was obtained from two sources (shipowners' representatives and shipping experts) and through several methods (mail survey, interviews, simulation, expert and document review), and the extent to which these various sets of data were congruent had to be established. Because of the exploratory nature of the study, data was analysed using a qualitative approach. There was a high degree of congruence in the data collected. Out of the analysis, two primary findings emerged: (1) there was strong support for the strategic choice model, which implied greater inter-industry applicability than originally expected; (2) however, modifications to the model were needed to reflect a general tendency among Asia-Pacific shipowners to use other strategies in combination with or as a substitute to those offered by the model.

The research was conducted to determine the degree of organisational performance measurement in SMEs in the ICT sector within the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Literature on performance measurement and SMEs was reviewed and provided the theoretical foundation for the research. A qualitative approach to research was followed using case research based on semi-structured interviews to determine the knowledge and perceived value of performance measurement in SMEs. The study also investigated the prominent performance measures used by SMEs and difficulties around the implementation of these measures. The findings were related to the literature regarding the attributes of measures, the dimensions of performance and the characteristics of performance measurement frameworks. In conclusion, a method for SMEs to use performance information to their advantage was proposed.

Executive Summary This report uses modified physics and the basic business relationship equations to describe the business system. The physics - business equations are derived using conformal mapping, while thermodynamic and kinematic relationships are further developed and related before being applied to a business situation. The system developed has general applicability to business and can be used for strategic competitive positioning, amongst other postulated uses. The main purpose of this project is to build on existing work in the area of process modeling and strategy formulation to define a quantitative management tool that will effectively enable the formulation of a generic framework, to measure the effects of various strategic options using time based financial management and physics models. The main aims of this research project are to provide an evaluative summary of the existing literature on the applications of process modeling and physics to business limited in scope to competitive strategic planning through a literature review of existing business models and the subsequent development of a mathematical model based on kinematics and thermodynamics for strategic formulation. From the literature review derive a mathematical framework relating business and physics based on an indirect relationship of physical laws to business models based on existing knowledge. Further explain why the derived model has applications to business, and derive a non-rigorous mathematical proof thereof. From these equations make recommendations on how this model can be utilised as a tool to assist in strategy formulation. Thereafter provide statistical proof that the model is applicable to a defined set of companies and show by means of applications how to determine optimal strategies using the model. The main objectives of the research project are to utilise the quantitative tool to determine where a company is, and where it should position itself in future to optimise its competitive position. Further, the framework must be developed into a strategic tool that would allow for the fast turnaround in the implementation of strategy, and the ability to quickly predict necessary changes in direction. The statistical hypothesis tested asks if it is possible to relate the laws of physics to business and use the resultant mathematical framework to analyse a firm’s competitive position in an industry and position it accordingly. From the derived equations a mathematical model to determine strategic options for a firm using time based financial accounting principles and physics equations can be formulated and used to find profitable options for a firm. By implication the model can be applied to strategic positioning of the firm. Unfortunately there is no work in the literature reviews to build this study on and much of it is built from first principles. This leads to complex mathematical relationships, which may prove difficult to follow. .

The objective of this research is to investigate how mobile cellular network operators can increase the average revenue per user by stimulating the usage of mobile broadband services. There is a general consensus that the revenue from voice calls is slowly reaching saturation; hence, mobile cellular operators, service providers and content providers are looking for other sources of revenue from their new and existing customers. They are therefore beginning to focus more intensively on customer retention and on developing new strategies that will stimulate the usage of high speed mobile data services. The research shows that most people are aware of many of the mobile data services offered by operators, but that they thought that they were unreliable, slow, difficult to use and expensive. By and large, people signed up for mobile data services because they wanted a mobile always-on connection anytime, anywhere, with faster speed when accessing e-mail and other services or when downloading data from the Internet. The majority of people would use mobile broadband internet service if it cost less to use; if the speed were faster and the service were easy to use; if the cellular phone had a larger screen and used less battery power; and if the keyboard were larger. The relationship between Network operators, WASPs and content providers was found to be good, even though at times it is strained by the increased competition between them; this forces them not to cooperate on some issues for fear of compromising their competitive advantage.

iv ABSTRACT This research study was the first to investigate the nature of time-use behaviour of the South African Clinical Research Associates (CRA’s) and Clinical Trial Managers (CTM’s). The study determined the relative polychronicity of project members in clinical trials in South Africa and identified possible non-alignment in the approaches and expectations between managers of clinical research projects and that of their project staff members. The study assumed that the clinical trial project environment is monochronic by nature. Information about a possible mismatch in expected temporal orientation of project staff and real temporal orientation of project staff would constitute grounds for adaptation of project management execution guidelines and staff selection processes for CRA’s and Managers of clinical trials. Quantitative data were collected through the Inventory of Polychronic Values measuring instrument from a sample of the total registered membership base of the South African Clinical Research Association by means of a web based questionnaire. The study analysed the relationships between the following three constructs of relevance: 1. CRA’s own personal preferences for time-use, and 2. CRA’s perceptions of what time-use behaviour their direct managers expect from them, and 3. Managers’ expectations for the time-use behaviour of CRA’s. CRA’s were found to be relatively monochronic in their work behaviour towards time-use and Managers to be more polychronic than CRA’s. Within each group a range of timeuse opinions and preferences were found. Within the constraints of sample size, Cultural Heritage and Age were the only demographic variables found to exert significant influence on the dependent variables in this study. A good alignment was found between the CRA’s perceptions of the time-use behaviours expected from them and the Managers’ expectations for time-use behaviour. The results of this study relate to complementary role differentiation between monochronic and polychronic people in project execution and management.

The temporal association between aggression, peer rejection, and competitiveness (i.e., the evaluation of one’s own skills and abilities compared to those of another) was examined in a sample of 615 students assessed yearly from grades 7 to 12. Using path analysis, results indicated that competitiveness predicted aggression at every time point with one exception (grade 11 to 12). Competitiveness and peer rejection were found to have a negative reciprocal association, and aggression and peer rejection were shown to be reciprocally related. Competitiveness, aggression, and peer rejection were each statistically significantly stable over time. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

A theory of the evolution of low voice pitch in men suggests that (a) voice pitch is used as an indicator of success in mate competition; (b) pitch is used as an indicator of dominance more for men’s voices than women’s; (c) pitch affects dominance ratings more than attractiveness ratings. While early studies supported these ideas, several subsequent studies have failed to replicate these results with mainly male raters, because of the idea that men’s perceptions affect selection more than women’s do. We tested the extent to which these findings apply to women’s perceptions of the aforementioned characteristics, as well as to other characteristics related to voice pitch and dominance: perceived body size, competitiveness, cooperativeness, socio-economic status, and attractiveness. We manipulated pitch in men’s and women’s voices and tested women’s perceptions thereof. Women chose low voices as belonging to a speaker that is more physically/socially dominant, less cooperative, larger, higher in socio-economic status, and (for men’s voices) more attractive. In contrast to hypotheses of theories on the evolution of low voice pitch in men, pitch had no effect on perceptions of competitiveness, nor did it affect either physical or social dominance ratings more than it affected attractiveness ratings. Surprisingly, pitch affected dominance perceptions of women’s voices more than men’s. Thus, despite previous evidence that some men modify their voices in competitive scenarios, our data are unable to support the idea that this information is used by women to infer dominance related to competitiveness. We contribute to the growing literature that finds no difference in the amount that voice pitch affects dominance and attractiveness ratings or fails to find stronger effects for male than female voices. Our data are consistent with theories that dominance ratings are the result of a general response bias to stimuli varying in pitch. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Low voice pitch is associated with perceptions of dominance, size, attractiveness, higher socio-economic status, and low cooperativeness. Since men lower their voice pitch in competitive scenarios, we predicted low pitch would be tied to perceptions of competitiveness of the speaker. We manipulated pitch in men’s and women’s voices, and female participants chose which voice they thought belonged to the person who was more physically/socially dominant, competitive, cooperative, larger, higher in socio-economic status, and more attractive. Women chose low voices as being more physically/socially dominant, less cooperative, larger, higher in socio-economic status, and (for male voices only) more attractive than higher voices. Pitch had no effect on perceptions of competitiveness, it did not affect perceptions of dominance for male speakers more than female speakers, neither did it affect perceptions of dominance more than attractiveness. This challenges the idea that low pitch in men evolved to primarily signal success in intrasexual competition.

Darbo objektas: konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai. Darbo problema: kokie yra konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai? Darbo tikslas – įvertinti Kauno miesto viešbučių konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Apibrėžti konkurencingumo sampratą ir svarbą viešbučiams; 2. Išskirti svarbiausius įmonių konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius; 3. Nustatyti viešbučių konkurencingumo ištyrimo lygį; 4. Nustatyti svarbiausius Kauno miesto viešbučių konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius; Darbo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė, anketinė apklausa, formalizuotas (struktūrizuotas) interviu, statistinė duomenų analizė ir kokybinė turinio analizė. Darbe suformuluotos išvados: 1. Konkurencingumas yra kompleksinė sąvoka. Viešbučių lygmenyje jis suprantamas kaip gebėjimas pritraukti ir išlaikyti vartotojus, parduoti paslaugas efektyviau nei tai daro konkurentai. Konkurencingumo svarba viešbučiams pirmiausia apibrėžiama gebėjimu sukurti šalies, kaip turistų pasirinkto kelionės tikslo, įvaizdį. 2. Įmonių konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai yra skirstomi į dvi pagrindines grupes: vidinės ir išorinės aplinkos veiksniai. Nustatyta, jog įmonių konkurencingumą labiau lemia vidiniai negu išoriniai konkurencingumo veiksniai. Vidiniai veiksniai grupuojami į „minkštuosius“, „kietuosius“ veiksnius ir aplinką, kuri dvi pirmąsias grupes susieja į bendrą visumą. 3. Viešbučių konkurencingumas – dar pakankamai nauja mokslinių tyrimų sritis, neseniai pradėta nagrinėti tiek teoriškai, tiek... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The target of the work: determinants of competitiveness. The problem of the work: what are determinants of competitiveness? The aim of the work: to estimate determinants of competitiveness in Kaunas city hotels. Objectives of the work: 1. To define the concept and importance of competitiveness of the hotels; 2. To highlight the most important determinants of competitiveness; 3. To ascertain the investigation of the competitiveness of the hotels; 4. To ascertain the key determinants of competitiveness in Kaunas city hotels; Methods of the work: analysis of scientific literature, questionnaire, formalized (structured) interview, statistical analysis of the data and qualitative content analysis. Conclusions: 1. Competitiveness is a complex concept. In hotels level it is understood as the ability to attract and retain customers, to sell services more efficiently than competitors do. The importance of competitiveness of the hotels is defined as the ability to create country, as a tourist destination, image. 2. Determinants of competitiveness of the enterprises are divided in two main groups: internal factors and external factors. It is find out, that internal factors determine competitiveness of enterprises much more than external factors. Internal factors are grouped into „soft“, „hard“ factors and the environment. 3. Competitiveness of the hotel is a relatively new area of research. It has been recently started to examine both theoretically and empirically. Published studies... [to full text]

Competitiveness is an important matter receiving increasing attention by the tourism industry. There is an intense focus on destination competitiveness and it became evident that smaller tourism products are mostly excluded. The main aim of this study was therefore to develop a competitiveness model for tourism products. Five research objectives were derived from the main aim of the research. The first objective was to analyse various research methodologies and structures. Secondly, positioning and travel decision-making and the role thereof in competitiveness were analysed. The third objective was to analyse the key components of competitiveness. Fourthly, to interpret the results from the empirical research enabling the identification of key components of the competitiveness model for tourism products_ The fifth objective was to draw conclusions and lastly recommendations were made. In order to achieve this goal, a literature study was firstly necessary to identify key components of competitiveness in general and to develop the questionnaire. The key words included competitiveness, competitiveness model, tourism industry, competitor and competitor analysis. After the literature study, the empirical research was done by means of a questionnaire_ After pilot testing the questionnaire, the research was conducted amongst tourists visiting Klein Kariba Holiday Resort. With the application of this process 372 useable questionnaires were received. The results of the questionnaires were statistically processed and utilised in designing the competitiveness model. The study indicated that even with smaller tourism products, effective positioning is critical in order to be competitive. Through travel decision-making the most important variables or attributes of positioning are identified and are therefore crucial to understand as these variables or attributes lead to purchase behaviour and have a direct influence on competitiveness. The study also indicated that competitiveness refers to those forces, indicators and success factors that contribute to each tourism product's own uniqueness, allowing the identification of the relative strengths and weaknesses. A valuable contribution was therefore made in determining the relationships between the variables in the model, which directly indicates the importance of certain aspects in increasing competitiveness. Based on the literature and empirical study a competitiveness model for tourism products was developed which can aid managers and product owners in making tourism products more competitive. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Competitiveness is an important matter receiving increasing attention by the tourism industry. There is an intense focus on destination competitiveness and it became evident that smaller tourism products are mostly excluded. The main aim of this study was therefore to develop a competitiveness model for tourism products. Five research objectives were derived from the main aim of the research. The first objective was to analyse various research methodologies and structures. Secondly, positioning and travel decision-making and the role thereof in competitiveness were analysed. The third objective was to analyse the key components of competitiveness. Fourthly, to interpret the results from the empirical research enabling the identification of key components of the competitiveness model for tourism products_ The fifth objective was to draw conclusions and lastly recommendations were made. In order to achieve this goal, a literature study was firstly necessary to identify key components of competitiveness in general and to develop the questionnaire. The key words included competitiveness, competitiveness model, tourism industry, competitor and competitor analysis. After the literature study, the empirical research was done by means of a questionnaire_ After pilot testing the questionnaire, the research was conducted amongst tourists visiting Klein Kariba Holiday Resort. With the application of this process 372 useable questionnaires were received. The results of the questionnaires were statistically processed and utilised in designing the competitiveness model. The study indicated that even with smaller tourism products, effective positioning is critical in order to be competitive. Through travel decision-making the most important variables or attributes of positioning are identified and are therefore crucial to understand as these variables or attributes lead to purchase behaviour and have a direct influence on competitiveness. The study also indicated that competitiveness refers to those forces, indicators and success factors that contribute to each tourism product's own uniqueness, allowing the identification of the relative strengths and weaknesses. A valuable contribution was therefore made in determining the relationships between the variables in the model, which directly indicates the importance of certain aspects in increasing competitiveness. Based on the literature and empirical study a competitiveness model for tourism products was developed which can aid managers and product owners in making tourism products more competitive. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.