Thesis (MFA)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter Metz. Montana Fare is a DVD accompanying the thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-40).

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / China Area Studies / Master / Master of Arts

One hundred take-away food outlets within the Central Operational Entity of eThekwini Municipality were investigated in order to assess the microbiological quality and safety of perishable food sold as well as the level of hygiene conditions under which these food shops operate. This cross sectional observational and descriptive study was conducted between August and September 2005 with the overall aim to improve the delivery of safe food, promote good hygiene practices from take-away food outlets and target interventions that will assist improvements of service delivery in the food control section of eThekwini Municipality Health Department. Ready-to-eat foods which were collected included salads, beef, chicken and chips to determine actual microbiological quality of these products. Food temperatures were recorded at the time of sampling. Premises were inspected by the teamof trained Environmental Health Practitioners who used pre-structured checklist forms to determine the status food preparation areas and associated food handling practices. Standard methods were used to determine total bacteria count, coliform count, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella. The overall microbiological quality of the food served by the take-away food outlets were found within acceptable safety limits. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella were evaluated and no incidence of these organisms was detected in all the food products sampled. 76% of samples showed high total bacteria count and coliforms were detected in 50% of food products. The results of the study indicate that there are some handling practices in the preparation process of ready- to-eat food that require more attention. In particular, control in food handling needs to be observed by food handlers as a result of significant incident of a high total bacteria count. There was a lack of correlation between bacterial count and the observed cleanliness of preparation areas and food handling practices. It is recommended that eThekwiniMunicipality Health Department embarks on a health education campaign on food safety. Food handlers should receive training and education in two aspects of food safety; namely, principles of good hygiene practice and the application of the Hazard Analysis and CriticalControl Point concept to food preparation. / Thesis (M.Med.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008. / A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Centre for Cultural Research, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2002. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-181)

Thesis (MTech (Business)) --Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / The Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology conducts research in the niche area: “The Effective Management of SMMEs” as identified by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The research contained within the ambit of this thesis, has as its objective to establish the current position of performance measures utilised daily in the business activities by fast food franchisees, to raise awareness of future performance drivers (i.e. the critical success factors or non-financials aspects), and to highlight the importance of measuring the key performance areas of both financials and non-financial indicators as significant contributors to sustainability and growth of an enterprise. The challenge managers is currently faced with pertain to the managing of businesses for results i.e. identifying the drivers of financial success, finding a balance to measure financial and non-financial performances, appraising and compensating people’s performance. Lacking such tools, businesses have encountered difficulties managing what they could not describe or measure, or that are exposed to the risk of failure. Financial accounting (historic information) does not provide details about factors that actually help grow market share and profits (the main drivers of future performance). The questions which should be asked, are: Are the managers of fast food franchisees able to identify critical information or articulate factors that are important to actually help grow market share and profits? What tools are utilized to measure and drive value in real-time? To what level is performance measured, and what is the role and purpose of the utilised measures in the fast food franchisees? Most importantly, to what extent are franchisees in the fast food industry equipped by franchisors through a franchise “package”? This remains problematic as the need to identify and understand information critical for decision making in the fast food industry becomes imperative for the growth and sustainability of the organization. To answer these questions, the performance measures actually used by franchisees, will be surveyed. The proposed study will involve the collection, compilation, and analysis of both financials and non-financials performance measures using survey data from fast food franchisees within the Cape Metropolis. Quantitative data will be collected through opened and closed ended questionnaires (distributed to owners/managers of outlets) to document the existing performance measures and resulting perceived benefits. The outcome of this thesis will help franchisees to identify critical success factors and raise awareness with franchisors on inadequacies in the franchise package, so as to contribute to the effective management of small businesses. Furthermore, the research will be of importance in empowering the fast food sector to take advantages of alternative performance measures, improve their business efficiencies and increase their capacity to grow and be sustainable.

Food quality is a vital factor for the success of many food facilities, Fast food facilities may, however, depend on factors along with food quality to attract patrons. This study attempted to find out if food quality is a major factor prompting customers to eat at a fast food facility. Burger King Corporation was selected to ascertain to what degree quality served to attract business. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire handed to passersby at the Miami International Mall and the Miami Dade Mall to find out the reason why patrons who ate at Burger King selected it. Six factors were covered: fast service, food quality, price, location, advertising and child preference. Results showed that food quality was fourth in prompting customers to eat at Burger King. Location, fast service and price were ranked first, second and third in importance.

For more than a decade (2001 – 2012) there has been extensive research conducted on the impact of marketing on food consumption, the promotion of healthy lifestyles and the use of media communication channels in the restaurant industry. However, no known research has focused specifically on the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment with a specific focus on media communication channels. This study attempts to address this limitation. The study deals with selected media communication channels and their influence on the healthy lifestyle perceptions and healthy lifestyle purchase intentions of young adult consumers in South Africa. The study considers the impact that a more selective choice of media communication channel can have on restaurants in the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment. Media communication channels are a vital part of a restaurant’s marketing communication program as they transmit messages between the business and its target market. In South Africa’s restaurant industry, there are numerous businesses that are conveying messages to consumers regarding their market offerings. This advertising clutter is aggravated by healthy fast-casual restaurants needing to compete against traditional fast-casual restaurants who are adding healthier items to their menus. The study’s secondary research included a literature review on marketing communication, selected media communication channels (print media, display media, broadcast media and online media) and the South African restaurant industry (with a focus on the healthy fast-casual segment). In addition, perception and purchase intention were discussed with a focus on healthy lifestyles and young adult consumers. In order to establish the influence of the selected media communication channels (print media, display media, broadcast media and online media) on young adults’ healthy lifestyle perceptions and healthy lifestyle purchase intentions an empirical investigation was also conducted. A positivistic research paradigm was used as quantitative methods were performed to identify significant relationships among the selected variables. The sample consisted of students from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. A total of 440 questionnaires were distributed, with 350 usable. Therefore, a response rate of 79.55 per cent was obtained. The empirical investigation revealed that the items in the questionnaire that were used to gather information about healthy lifestyle perception and healthy lifestyle purchase intention loaded together on one factor which was renamed healthy lifestyle buying behaviour. Multiple regression analysis indicated that positive and statistically significant relationships existed between print media and healthy lifestyle buying behaviour and between online media and the healthy lifestyle buying behaviour of young adults. These relationships imply that an increased use of print media will reflect increased buying behaviour that supports healthy lifestyles amongst young adults. Similarly, the more online media is used, the more young adult buying behaviour will reflect healthier choices. This implies that restaurants in the healthy fast-casual restaurant segment can increase the demand for their market offerings and stand out amongst the advertising clutter through a more deliberate use of print media and online media. The study includes strategies that can be used to improve the use of print media and online media in order to influence the healthy lifestyle buying behaviour of young adults. Healthy lifestyle buying behaviours essentially will increase the demand for goods that support healthy lifestyles and therefore increase the demand for healthy fast-casual restaurants. The provision of healthy menu items and a more focused marketing program can be used as a strategy to attract more young adults as consumers, to grow business relationships with this target market, to enhance business performance and to create a healthier South African community.

Very few attempts have been made to adequately evaluate training programs. The research reported here is an attempt to evaluate the effects of the revised orientation and training programs of a fast food franchise. Subjects consisted of 676 hourly employees of a Central Florida fast food franchise who completed questionnaires soliciting measures of the following perceptions: managements' consideration and structure levels and the effectiveness of the revised orientation and training programs. Modest support was found for the prediction that the revised programs would increase the employees' perception of managements' consideration. No evidence was found to support the hypotheses that employees would perceive the revised programs as more effective nor that managements' perceived structure level would increase.