The South African mining industry has been, and continues to be, the main contributor of the country’s GDP. The listed mining companies have a great contribution to the market capitalisation of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE, 2014). Pre-1994, the mining companies had been under scrutiny for a wide range of negative environmental and social impacts in their operational areas. The mining companies were accused of a lack of sustainability plans, carbon emissions, land rehabilitation plans, pollution and lack of community engagement (Buccasa, 2013). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a platform for the mining industry to correct the errors of the past and to contribute towards socio-economic development and environmental concerns. Through the implementation of CSR initiatives, the mining companies have brought about a significant change in the lives of people affected by mining industry. In return, the mining companies have built a good reputation which had been tarnished in the past. The objective of the study was to explore the role of CSR in the mining industry and determine how CSR initiatives had impacted the lives of the beneficiaries in the mining sector. The research identified three sustainability dimensions, which are: environment, social aspects and economic aspects. The aim of the study was to establish whether CSR initiatives have contributed towards sustainable development. The study established how the JSE/SRI listed mining companies reported CSR and determined the types of initiatives implemented. The study identified the similarities and differences in the CSR initiatives being implemented by 10 selected mining companies listed in the JSE/SRI index. The study also identified sustainable development issues faced by the South African mining industry. The study reviewed how these mining companies reported their CSR and identified regulating bodies and codes that promoted CSR. The study also determined the role that the JSE/SRI index plays towards the development of CSR and sustainable development in the mining sector in South Africa. Integrated reports and sustainability reports of the mining companies were used for data collection to establish how these companies reported CSR and disclosed their CSR strategies on the internet. The mining companies which were analysed were mining companies listed in the JSE/SRI index from 2010 – 2014. The JSE/SRI index is aligned with global sustainability guidelines and locally relevant corporate responsibility standards. The study determined the significance of JSE/SRI listing towards the development of CSR; in relation to environmental, social and economic development in the mining industry.

All companies, are vulnerable to events that could impact their reputation. These events can arise from various factors, such as a company's employment practices, economics, natural disasters, pollution, poor governance or poor management. Effective risk managers identify the different circumstances and factors that may impact on the reputation of a company, prior to the incident occurring. In order to assist risk managers, this dissertation proposes a structured approach to the management of reputational risks, which would ensure that the impact on the reputation of the company is minimised. The proposed approach was collated and deduced from the actions taken by companies that have suffered attacks against their reputations, but have successfully mitigated the consequences and minimised the damage to their reputations. Specific South African legislative requirements are also taken into account. This approach is highlighted and confirmed by contrasting it to the actions taken by companies that failed to counter the attacks on their reputation. / Business Management / M.Com. (Business Management)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The University of Stellenbosch is a proud institution with a proud tradition. It delivers graduates and research that can compete with the world's best. It is facing a landscape that is becoming increasingly competitive, and higher education institutions in South Africa are only now discovering the need and value of sound marketing principles. The University consists of 11 faculties and more that 100 departments. Out of those faculties and departments many other operating entities have grown. Entities such as the Institute for Winebiotechnology, the Bureau for Economic Research, the University of Stellenbosch Printers and the Graduate School of Business, to name but a few. Each of these have over time developed strong individual identities. In virtually all cases the link with the University has not been severed, and in many instances the association has been beneficial to both the University and the operating entity. As the environment becomes more competitive and as universities compete for shrinking financial resources, issues such as high media costs and effective communication become more important. One way of ensuring economy of scale in communication is to co-ordinate the visual identity of an institution. At the University of Stellenbosch the visual presentation of its various operating entities has not been coordinated, resulting in vast inconsistencies with regard to the institution's visual communication. Apart from failing to achieve economies of scale in communication, such a situation will also, inevitably, lead to confusion among the institution's target audiences. This project assesses the situation and develops a model according to which the University and its operating entities can coordinate their visual communication. It is expected that this model will stimulate discussion and that it may lead to implementation as soon as possible. Once the framework for managing corporate identity is in place, a great deal of work will be required to bring the communications process in line with the objectives of the institution and the requirements of its corporate identity strategy. This report is intended as starting point in the process that will lead to effective and optimal corporate identity management at the University of Stellenbosch. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Universiteit van Stellenbosch is 'n instelling met 'n trotse tradisie. Hy lewer graduadi en navorsing wat met die bestes ter wêreld kan meeding. Die Universiteit bestaan in 'n omgewing wat toenemend kompeterend is, en hoër onderwys instellings begin nou eers die waarde besef van effektiewe bemarking. Die Universiteit bestaan uit 11 fakulteite en meer as 100 akademiese departemente. Vanuit hierdie fakulteite en departemente het menige ander bedryfseenhede ontwikkel. Eenhede soos die Instituut vir Wynbiotegnologie, die Buro vir Ekonomiese Ondersoek, the Universiteit van Stellenbosch Drukkery, en die Nagraadse Bestuurskool. Elkeen van dié bedryfseenhede het oor tyd heen sy eie, unieke identiteit ontwikkel. In feitlik alle gevalle het die noue verbintenis met die Universiteit behoue gebly, en in baie van die gevalle het die wedersydse assosiasie tot beide se voordeel gestrek. Namate die omgewing waarbinne die Universiteit bedryf word meer kompeterend raak en namate die Universiteit meeding vir kwynende finansiële bronne, raak aspekte soos stygende media kostes en effektiewe kommunikasie belangriker. Een manier om te verseker dat skaalbesparings bereik word, is om the visuele identiteit van 'n instelling te koordineer. Aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch word die visuele aanbieding van die verskeie bedryfseenhede nog nie effektief gekoordineer nie. Dit het tot gevolg gehad dat groot verskille aan die lig gekom het ten opsigte van die organisasie se visuele kommunikasie. Behalwe dat sulke omstandighede nie skaalbesparings bevorder nie, sal dit ook lei tot verwarring onder die instelling se teikengehore. Hierdie projek het ten doeI om 'n model, of raamwerk te ontwikkel waarvolgens die Universiteit en sy bedryfseenhede hul visuele kommunikasie beter kan koordineer. Daar word verwag dat hierdie model verdere gesprek sal stimuleer en so spoedig moontlik sal lei tot die implementering van 'n model wat vir die Universiteitsgemeenskap aanvaarbaar is. Nadat 'n raamwerk vir die bestuur van korporatiewe identiteit aanvaar is, volg nog 'n groot taak om die kommunikasieprosesse in lyn met die instelling se doelwitte en vereistes ten opsigte van sy korporatiewe identiteitstrategie te bring. Hierdie verslag kan as aanvangspunt dien in die proses wat sal lei tot die effektiewe en optimale bestuur van korporatiewe identiteit aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management: Strategic Marketing Johannesburg, 2017 / State-owned enterprises share many similarities with their purely commercial counterparts. There are however, a number of factors that these organisations are obligated to account for that set them apart from traditional product and service brands. This makes them unique in terms of how and why they build their corporate brands and manage their brand portfolios. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are prolific across the world. Enterprises controlled and funded entirely or partially by governments are involved in a broad spectrum of business ranging from arms manufacture to communications and media. These state-owned enterprises often command marketing budgets and resource their businesses with brand managers for the purposes of building strong corporate brands and managing their brand portfolios effectively. In short, SOEs often behave as brands and yet their objectives differ from the very definition of what building a brand is intended to do; deliver bottom-line value to the business. The main problem in this study then was to identify the decision-making factors in corporate brand building and portfolio management in a South African state-owned organisation. This was in a bid to resolve how these factors are prioritised to achieve organisational objectives and what value there is in building a corporate brand in such a state-owned organisation. To do this a qualitative research strategy was selected as a means of identifying insights from key personnel at a state-owned organisation. A single case study method was utilised and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was identified as an ideal SOE in which to conduct the study. The key findings indicated a worrying level of confusion regarding the true objectives of the organisation. This was attributed to be due to two factors. Firstly, that there is a conflict between the mandate of an SOE or its altruistic, normative objective to serve the country and its people and the commercial imperative to build consumers (or audiences in the case of the SABC) and attract revenue to be self-sustaining. Secondly, that due to political influence and the nature of state- ownership of the organisation, the objectives documented and approved differ to those that are truly practiced by managers in the organisation. Further to this it was found that there is a lack of clarity regarding the structure of the brand portfolio and relationships between brands, many of which have strong heritage in and of themselves and form key touchpoints for sizeable audiences. It was found that building a strong corporate brand was essential for the SABC’s success and that each brand in the portfolio should fall under the umbrella corporate brand however this again brought forth the conflict between how things should be and how they can practically be done. Due to its SOE nature, and the public context of the SABC, it was found that the portfolio brands tended to distance themselves from the corporate brand due to its instability and negative corporate reputation which impacted on individual brand performances in the portfolio. Based on the findings in this study, this thesis recommends a clear prioritisation of the three areas of influence within the SOE in the order of audiences followed by mandate and then revenue. The thesis recommends a corporate brand audit, taking stock of the heritage elements of the SABC corporate brand and its brand portfolio so as to mine the value in its 80-year-old history and to turn these heritage-based elements into advantages for the organisation upon which its corporate brand can be built. This thesis recommends the building of a strong corporate brand for the SABC with links between each brand in its portfolio leaning to the branded house side of the spectrum of classical brand relationship typology. The study also proposes practical applications to achieve prioritisation of the corporate brand which requires high level management attention. To this end, it calls for the appointment of a Chief Marketing Officer to the executive of the SABC and a core corporate brand management team. The function of this team would be to articulate the objectives and the prioritisation of these objectives to all stakeholder groups, to audit and reorganise the brand portfolio for effective management according to theory-based guidelines, and to establish and implement a corporate brand building strategy that will deliver value to the SABC and all its stakeholders, using the corporate brand and its messaging as a bridge to connect the brand promise of the organisation to the brand reality experienced by those stakeholder groups most especially its audiences as priority. / MT 2017

All companies, are vulnerable to events that could impact their reputation. These events can arise from various factors, such as a company's employment practices, economics, natural disasters, pollution, poor governance or poor management. Effective risk managers identify the different circumstances and factors that may impact on the reputation of a company, prior to the incident occurring. In order to assist risk managers, this dissertation proposes a structured approach to the management of reputational risks, which would ensure that the impact on the reputation of the company is minimised. The proposed approach was collated and deduced from the actions taken by companies that have suffered attacks against their reputations, but have successfully mitigated the consequences and minimised the damage to their reputations. Specific South African legislative requirements are also taken into account. This approach is highlighted and confirmed by contrasting it to the actions taken by companies that failed to counter the attacks on their reputation. / Business Management / M.Com. (Business Management)

The automotive industry in South Africa is now more than ever before, facing a new era of intense international competition and as a means to survive; organisations are continuously searching for ways to increase their competitiveness. To this end, recent approaches have focussed on the role that people perform in bringing about competitive advantage and has resulted in greater emphasis being placed on the attraction as well as retention of the right people to achieve organisational success. However, developing trends such as changes in the supply of workers, expectations of new generations and a more diverse population have pressurised organisations to institutionalise a dynamic solution. This has placed greater imperative on becoming an employer of choice - those organisations that can differentiate their human resource practices from the competition in order to attract, develop and retain the people they need. The research problem that was addressed in this study is to identify and investigate the organisational attributes of an employer of choice. A comprehensive literature review was executed to review the various definitions, trends impacting as well as the significance of the status - employer of choice. Furthermore strategies for becoming an employer of choice were evaluated and prominent employer of choice attributes identified from the literature. The researcher has also found that a significant number of authors have suggested employer branding as a key strategy in the effort to become an employer of choice. The concept of employer branding was therefore extensively explored in this study. An empirical study was conducted after the appropriate measuring instrument was developed. The purpose of the measuring instrument was to validate the literature findings, identify the rank importance of the identified attributes and to evaluate the extent to which these factors are provided for in the organisation. A sample consisting of 110 employees were selected to participate in the survey via a random sampling method and a response rate of 89% or 98 employees was obtained. The major findings indicated that the sample group agreed that the prominent attributes in literature are important attributes of an employer of choice. Overall the majority of the sample group does not regard the organisation as an employer of choice and while some of the attributes were present in the organisation, others had serious shortcomings. The literature findings together with the empirical study findings resulted in the development of a strategic model to serve as a guide in determining the initiatives the organisation should embark upon to become an employer of choice.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The apparel retail environment is highly competitive. Products and services that are easily replicated, together with informed and demanding consumer markets, add to the complexity of this dynamic, fast changing retail and manufacturing industry. One avenue that companies explore to differentiate themselves from the competition is by the development of their corporate identity. A fundamental element of marketing communication and corporate identity representation is store image, as it is a vehicle that affects the customers’ perception of the store and the store’s identity. To be able to invest in store image optimally, retailers should take cognisance of the need to manage store image in order to increase potential sales. The purpose of the current study was to expand the existing body of knowledge on retail store image and the female apparel consumer in the Western Cape with special reference to the perceived importance of retail store image dimensions. The research question directing the current study was formulated as follows: How do consumers perceive the various store image dimensions in apparel retail and how congruent are customers’ and management’s perceptions of these store image dimensions? The literature review focuses on the importance of store image for retail differentiation purposes as well as independent (demographics, lifestyle, shopping orientation) and dependent variables (patronage behaviour, store loyalty, customer satisfaction) in store image research. Congruity as well as gap analysis are also discussed as these are the focus of the research analysis. The Store Image Scale (SIS) was used as measuring instrument. Management (n -= 14) and customer (n = 200) samples from a leading apparel retailer were used to measure the importance of the various store image dimensions. The questionnaire was adapted for the purpose of reaching all the set empirical objectives. The customer questionnaire included five sections to measure the ideal and the actual store image and the management questionnaire included two sections to measure management’s perception of the importance of store image dimensions for customers. Data was subjected to reliability analysis, descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. Results indicated that Atmosphere, Merchandise and Service were rated as most important dimensions according to customer perceptions of the ideal, while Atmosphere, Promotion and Service were the most important dimensions according to management. Atmosphere, Convenience and Merchandise were rated as most acceptable by customers. Due to the nature of the research design congruency analysis was used. The congruency analysis yielded 29 of the 55 attributes as congruent. The analysis of congruency between acceptability and importance ratings of customers indicated that the dimensions Convenience, Institutional and Sales Personnel showed no significant differences. It therefore was concluded that management’s perception and customers’ perceptions of the importance of ideal store image are closely related for these dimensions. However, closer consideration has to be given to the specific attribute design. Significant differences between management’s and customers’ perceptions were found for the Promotion, Merchandise and Service dimensions. Based on the results, recommendations were made to management from which they could infer possible adjustments to the strategic management of store image dimensions. This is one of the first academic studies to attempt to provide management with feedback on the performance of their retail strategy and is therefore exploratory in nature. The recommendations from the current study could help retailers meet consumer needs, and thereby create a competitive advantage and unique market position for the store. This could contribute to building brand equity, store patronage and, consequently, sales, as well as support the possibility of benchmarking the importance of specific store image dimensions as retail practices in the chain store apparel sector. This could contribute to this retailer’s ability to project a store image that meets customers’ expectations while enforcing the strategic corporate identity.

Abstracts in English and Afrikaans / The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the underlying meanings of Old Mutual South Africa’s (OMSA’s) CSR 2.0 corporate advertisements. It specifically examined the underlying myths and ideologies conveyed through the texts. This qualitative study was conducted by means of a visual semiotic analysis (Machin 2012) on eight CSR 2.0 corporate advertisements, which were purposively selected. A theoretical framework to measure visual CSR 2.0 corporate advertisements was developed, which aided in the sampling, data analysis and interpretation processes. The findings of the study indicated that by positioning its CSR 2.0 positively in terms of change and transformation, progress and equal opportunities for all citizens, OMSA is fostering stakeholder-organisation relationships. In addition, it was also found that OMSA adopts established representational tropes of CSR 2.0 and use them repetitively that firmly entrenches the intended/encoded message to the viewer. / Die doel van hierdie verkennende studie was om die onderliggende betekenis van CSR 2.0 korporatiewe advertensies in Ou Mutual Suid-Afrika te ondersoek. Dit is spesifiek gemoeid met die onderliggende mites en ideologieë wat deur middel van die tekste oorgedra word. Die kwalitatiewe studie is uitgevoer deur middel van 'n visuele semiotiese ontleding (Machin 2012) op agt CSR 2.0 korporatiewe advertensies, wat doelbewus gekies is. 'n Teoretiese raamwerk, om visuele CSR 2.0 korporatiewe advertensies te meet, is ontwikkel, dit het bygedra tot die steekproefneming, data-analise en interpretasie prosesse. Die bevindinge van die studie dui daarop dat deur CSR 2.0 positief in terme van verandering en transformasie, vooruitgang, en gelyke geleenthede vir alle burgers te posisioneer, OMSA verhoudings met belanghebbendes kan bevorder. Daarbenewens is ook gevind dat OMSA gevestigde temas van CSR 2.0 implementeer en hulle herhaaldelik gebruik wat juis die beoogde / gekodeerde boodskap stewig aan die kyker bevestig. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication Science)