This thesis focuses upon fictitious people as food brand icons and their role and visual representation in contemporary international food packaging. It presents a new lens that focuses upon the visual reading of examples. Through comparative analysis of historical and contemporary British, Canadian and American examples primarily, ones that share comparable roles and visual characteristics, the study considers its hypothesis: a common visual formula operates across time and cultures in the creation and enduring omnipresence of icons that appear as real. It considers how shared visual codes provide identification of types and through such it presents a taxonomy of fictitious brand icons based upon their visual identity. The thesis considers, in relation to notions of storytelling, how examples read and are understood as real upon packaging and within wider commercial, social and cultural contexts. It considers how they relate to real people and roles through specific consideration of female home economist/ consumer advisor examples. The thesis focuses upon the American food brand icon Betty Crocker to consider how she may be understood as symbolic of a host of enigmatic examples. The thesis advances the study of packaging, branding, culinary history and design history through its original focus and methodological approach which evidently have been neglected previously in academic study. It braids interdisciplinary perspectives to present an original understanding of brand icons and packaging. It determines brand icon as key term; to address the need for a clear definition and understanding . The study's visual reading and taxonomy present an original framework that assert that visual codes create complex commercial and cultural fictitious personalities that can be deliberately elusive yet often appear as real. In particular, its interrogation of specific fictitious brand icons as enigmatic commercial home economists/consumer advisors confirms the existence of a commercial sisterhood; clone-types that appear to replicate their roles and appearance via visual codes that endure and appeal.

The main aim o the present thesis was to evaluate the shopping conditions in the area of the town Klatovy and to define geografically the selling units in this area plus to suggest the possibilities for improvement. Another aim of this thesis was to give an overall view into the retailing units in this area.

Es esta memoria se busca replantear la estrategia mediante la cual se enfrenta actualmente la distribución del despacho a domicilio a regiones de una empresa de Tiendas por Departamento, y está enmarcada dentro de un proceso continuo de modernización y profesionalización en el que la empresa ha estado inmersa los últimos años.

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo principal el generar herramientas de análisis específicas que logren apoyar las decisiones tácticas que toman tanto proveedores como distribuidores mayoristas en relación al manejo de sus categorías y de la relación con sus clientes. Este objetivo se sustenta en la complejidad actual presente en la distribución comercial y en la gran cantidad de información disponible acerca de datos transaccionales y de clientes. Para lograr esto se plantean 3 etapas principales que son la base fundamental de la metodología utilizada. La primera etapa consta del levantamiento de la situación actual del retail en Chile y de la base de conocimiento en gestión de retail. Una segunda etapa corresponde al diseño de reportes cuyo objetivo es apoyar decisiones tácticas específicas a partir de una visión analítica del problema. Finalmente se considera como una etapa final la aplicación de los reportes diseñados a casos reales y la realización de recomendaciones tanto a la cadena mayorista como a sus proveedores. A partir del estudio de dimensiones de análisis y la construcción de indicadores de gestión se diseñan 3 reportes complementarios. El primero de ellos entrega una mirada global del desempeño de la cadena y sus principales categorías; teniendo como objetivo principal entregar un marco general del estado actual de la cadena y sus proveedores para ambientar la oportunidad de mejora. Los otros dos reportes tienen el objetivo específico de apoyar una decisión táctica: surtido y promoción. En el caso del surtido el apoyo se centra en el desempeño de un proveedor específico dentro de sus categorías claves y cómo explicar las variaciones que sufre a lo largo del tiempo junto con la competencia. A partir de ello será posible realizar recomendaciones de concentración de mix, salida o entrada de productos al mercado en estudio y asociación de productos entre otras. El reporte de promociones por otro lado centra su foco en conocer el perfil de clientes que consumen determinada categoría o grupo de productos para luego identificar cuales segmentos de clientes requieren de mayor atención, y más importante aún, que tipo de atención requieren. Con este reporte es posible identificar que segmento de clientes aporta mayor valor a la empresa (distribuidor mayorista o proveedor), identificar cuales son los clientes con potencialidad de abandono (o cambio entre proveedores); todo esto con la finalidad de encontrar la actividad promocional que logre retener a estos buenos clientes o cautivar a quienes han dejado de consumir o nunca han consumido. De esta manera estas acciones promocionales focalizadas lograrán entregar una oferta focalizada a cada grupo de clientes identificable, donde los grupos están definidos de acuerdo a su comportamiento transaccional. A partir de esto se le entrega a la empresa Penta Retail; con la cual se está realizando el trabajo, una herramienta que a partir de datos transaccionales y de clientes, logra apoyar la gestión por parte de la cadena mayorista y sus proveedores.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Information Technology In the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Dealing with information quality issues remains a serious concern for organisations. With the fact that modern organisations generate much higher volumes of information than they did in the past, with more variety and at a higher velocity, this concern is only expected to increase. Information quality is a complex topic and there is no single view shared by stakeholders on the quality of information within an organisation’s value chain and information quality issues experienced by stakeholders are also different. In this study, the topic of information quality is addressed through the following research questions: How do information stakeholders view the quality of information throughout the information value chain of a retail organisation? What kind of information quality issues do business stakeholders experience throughout the information value chain of a retail organisation? And how are stakeholder decisions affected by information quality when producing or consuming information at the different touch points of the information value chain? An interpretive research approach was chosen for this study to explore this complex topic. The research was conducted in two phases. A literature review in which different concepts related to information quality were investigated was the first phase. In the second phase, a specific business case was investigated before findings from the two phases were analysed and discussed In response to the main research questions, the findings of the research indicated that information quality is complex and there is no single view shared by all stakeholders involved in an information value chain.

This Diploma{\crq}s thesis deals with analysis of promotion product and its distribution with regard to competition. The thesis has been created on the basis of the PROGRESS sportswear Company request, which produces and sells functional sportswear. The tools of the promotional mix, the cities, and the brands for the survey were selected by the PROGRESS sportswear Company. The necessary information has been collected through surveys in the selected cities. The data regarding promotion have been ascertained by question-forms, interviews and from additional information sources. Based on the results of the study, the PROGRESS sportswear Company will be provided with potentional actions that should lead to the increased knowledge of the PROGRESS sportswear Company products.

No description available.

M.B.A / "Geesteswetenskaplike navorsing is 'n gemeenskaplike aktiwiteit waardeur 'n bepaalde verskynsel in die werklikheid op 'n objektiewe wyse bestudeer word, ten einde 'n geldige begrip van die verskynsel daar te steI." (Mouton en Marais, 1989:7) "Dit is 'n natuurIike strewe van die mens om die werklikheid waarvan hy deel vorm, te probeer begryp. Die belangrikste wyse waarop die mens sy ervaringe en belewinge vasgryp, is in uitsprake oor die werklikheid. Die maak van uitsprake, formulering van stellings, is daarom 'n intrinsieke komponent van aIle betekenisvolle menslike ervaring. In die mate waarin menslike kommunikasie noodsaakIik is vir sinvolle sosiale interaksie, so is die maak van stellings ook 'n onlosmaakIike dimensie van ons menswees" (Mouton en Marais, 1989: 7) Praktiese navorsing in hierdie studie is in samewerking met die Wickes-groep gedoen. Wickes is 'n Europese winkelgroep wat onlangs in Suid-Afrika gevestig is en beoog om 'n groot aantal takke in Suid-Afrika te open. Hardeware, boumateriale, gereedskap, ingeboude kaste, badkamers en talle ander produkte word deur hierdie handelaars verkoop. Die eerste tak is op 28 Oktober 1995 in Boksburg, digby die East-Rand Mall geopen. Navorsing is gedeeltelik by hierdie tak afgehandel. Dit behels hoofsaaklik 'n uiteensetting van die produk, die verbruiker, die markgebied en besteding. Die mikro-analise wat in hoofstuk 4 ter sprake is, is dus gedeeltelik hier toegepas. Die doel daarvan was hoofsaaklik om beter insig te verkry in die rnikroaspekte van die betrokke handelaar. Daardeur kan swak en sterk punte uitgelig word, en daarna kan moontlike strategiee geformuleer word om hierdie swak punte aan te spreek soos in hoofstuk 7 gedoen is. Verdere navorsing is gedoen deur 'n demografiese analise te doen vir die ontwikkeling van 'n nuwe Wickes-tak in Ferndale, Randburg. Hier is hoofsaaklik op die makroaspekte gefokus deur 'n analise (wat oorwegend demografies van aard is) te doen op die potensiele markgebied van 'n ligging waar Wickes 'n tak sal open...

M.Com. (Business Management) / Retailers are the main link between product suppliers and final consumers and therefore in a position to play a pivotal role in driving environmental sustainability by encouraging the adoption of appropriate greening practices in their total supply chain activities. Whilst studies have been conducted on the green supply chain practices of leading retailers from around the world, few studies have been conducted on retailers in South Africa. The objectives of this study are to explore the range of green supply chain best practices currently adopted amongst consumer services retailers listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the extent to which green supply chain best practices are adopted in their total supply chain activities, the level of maturity of their green supply chain management practices, and the main driving forces for, benefits of and barriers to the adoption of green supply chain practices. A conceptual framework is derived from a literature review and used to develop a highly structured survey questionnaire to collect empirical data for analysis in relation to the objectives of the study. The questionnaire was administered by engaging in face-to-face interviews with respondents representing listed consumer services retailers. The empirical data collected was analysed using a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet model. The findings of the study indicate that the majority of the retailers studied are adopting all those green supply chain best practices identified in the literature review at least to some extent. Although a few of the retailers studied have reached a high level of maturity in their green supply chain management practices, the majority have recognised the importance of environmental sustainability related issues, have started incorporating appropriate greening practices into their total supply chain activities and therefore have progressed beyond a low level of largely ignoring green supply chain practices to the intermediate levels of maturity. This implies that they are taking environmental sustainability related issues seriously and not merely engaging in acts of green-washing. However currently these retailers are focusing first on those internal operations where they consider greening practices to be within their sphere of influence, easy to formulate, quick to implement and which can have a positive impact on environmental sustainability and the organisation in the short- to medium-term. These internal operations include transportation and logistics, solid waste management and energy usage management. Most of the main driving forces for the adoption of green supply chain practices come from outside the organisations and include an increase in disclosure requirements for sustainability policies and practices, government environmental regulations, and risks of disruptions in energy and raw material supply.

FASB and IASB recently decided current revenue recognition practices were in dire need of an update and released a converged standard on revenue recognition under ASU 606 and IFRS 15. The new standard hopes to improve financial reporting by removing inconsistencies, improve comparability and overall provide more useful information to financial statement users. This paper examines how the new revenue recognition standard will impact the retail industry. This is said to be the biggest accounting standard change since Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 and companies across the globe are gearing up to adjust current accounting practices to be in compliance with the new requirements. Though the accounting world is aware of the potential impacts of this new standard, is it is difficult to quantify exactly how much revenues will differ due to this change. Retailers that rely on gift card breakage as a large revenue stream will see the most material effects on their financial statements. Revised standards regarding revenue from loyalty programs and returns will also change how revenue is recognized but will have less of an impact than revenue from gift cards. Retailers can also expect their accountants to spend an abundant amount of time altering their accounting systems and restating historical data using the new method to calculate new revenue figures.