The world was caught unprepared for the recent crisis that has gripped the globe. The engineering manufacturing sector is reported to have been one of the hardest hit and has been haemorrhaging jobs since the global economic crisis first reached South African shores. This study aimed first, to establish the presence of a global crisis and second, to determine whether this crisis is of an economic or financial nature. Objectives of the study included determining whether the engineering manufacturing sector has been impacted on by the crisis and whether the affects of this have been of a detrimental nature. This was done primarily to assess the extent to which strategies in the engineering manufacturing sector in KwaZulu-Natal have been affected and needed to be specifically adapted in order for SMEs to survive and grow beyond the current economic circumstances. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires, a typically quantitative research technique, as well as through the compilation of literature reviews. Questionnaires were circulated amongst thirty organisations within the identified sector in KwaZulu-Natal, of which twenty-two were completed and returned for analysis. Primary data was analysed in conjunction with the literature reviews. Typical responses confirmed the existence of a crisis and indicated that strategies had to be specifically adapted as a result. However, strategic alterations were often ill informed. This issue could be address through the application of the outlined models to optimise strategy. The use of these models would better enable respondents to make informed decisions when formulating their strategies and thereby assist the organisation in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

The promotion of Local Economic Development (LED) increasingly involves the allocation of grant finance for project implementation. This finance is often provided on condition that the grant recipient commits a certain level of co-funding to the project. These co-funding requirements are essentially a risk-sharing mechanism used to avert the agency problems, namely adverse selection and moral hazard, which occur in the relationship between the funding programme and the grant beneficiaries. The purpose of this study is to examine whether these requirements are effective at achieving this aim and to determine their impact on the LED outcomes of various types of projects. This is undertaken through the comparative analysis of projects funded through the Gijima KwaZulu-Natal Local Competitiveness Fund Implementation Programme (LCFI), which provided grant funding for projects implemented by the private sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and local government. The findings indicate that co-funding has a positive impact on internally co-funded private sector projects and in this scenario is necessary to achieve optimal outcomes. Inversely, co-funding has a detrimental impact on projects implemented by non-profit groups in that it requires the attraction of funding from additional organisations whose finance conditions may not align to those of the principal donor. Finally, co-funding is ineffective when provided by government for the implementation of community projects due to the lack of risk it assumes. These findings have implications for the design of LED grant programmes and support the assertion that grant programme should be designed to efficiently reflect the objectives and risk preferences of the institutions they support. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.