Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-88). Also available via the Internet.

The informal sector plays a very important role in developing countries. It acts as a stabilizer, and within this the urban poor find the necessary strategies for their survival. Home based commercial activities are a part of these strategies. They provide households with an additional income and open opportunities for those who can not qualify for jobs within the "formal" workforce. / The extraordinary abundance and variety of home based commercial activities are recorded in the case study. The study registers all the home based commercial activities existing in an informal settlement within the city of Guadalajara, Mexico. Emphasis is placed on the precise location of the businesses, and an analysis of its physical attributes. The different forms of adapting parts of the dwellings to serve as businesses are also observed. / Home based enterprises promote a rich mixture of activities in poor communities. The findings suggest that this mixed use of the land creates a better environment in informal settlements, as opposed to the division of activities implemented in official housing projects. Researchers and developers should therefore consider home based commercial activities as tools of development.

No description available.

The goal of this thesis is to determine the correlation between the practice of working at home and the theoretical needs of sustainable living. The author presents a brief synopsis of the present theories of sustainability which he then uses as an evaluative backdrop for the study. Urban transport, architectural design and quality of life issues are addressed. The author conducted an extensive literature review, several case studies and a survey. Conclusions drawn from these studies were used to attempt to envision sustainable home working communities. / It was found that sustainability was directly related to whether the home worker telecommutes or operates a home-based business. Home-based business owners continue to be heavily reliant on automobile transportation, while telecommuters make fewer overall trips and travel shorter distances than conventional commuters. Although neither work type demands significant changes to the infrastructure of the typical residence, home-based businesses require more space and more attention to design. Telecommuting has potential adverse side effects of personal isolation and physical strain. To ensure the sustainability of working at home, the practice must be adopted as an integral part of a larger transformation on the scale of the local community.

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Voedseltuisnywerhede (hierna genoem tuisnywerhede) word in 'n toenemende mate van aktuele belang as gevolg van verskeie redes soos die veranderde rol van die hedendaagse vrou en omdat 'n sekere behoefte eie aan vandag vervul word. Bekostigbare voedsel van goeie gehalte is van die uiterste belang. Dit is belangrik om bestanddele van swak gehalte vroegtydig te ontdek voordat produkte van swak gehalte gelewer word en 'n markaandeel verloor word. Tuisnywerhede het 'n verantwoordelikheid teenoor kliente om produkte van goeie gehalte teen bekostigbare pryse te voorsien. Daar word toenemende druk op tuisnywerhede geplaas om produkte van gewenste gehalte te verskaf en om aan kliente se verwagtinge te voldoen. 'n Totalegehaltebestuurprojek kan tuisnywerhede help om hul totale stelsel te ondersoek en te verbeter. In die studie is aile dimensies van die bestuur van gehalte by tuisnywerhede in SuidAfrika ondersoek en geevalueer en 'n TQM model vir tuisnywerhede is ontwikkel. Die probleem is ontleed deur 'n literatuurstudie te doen waarop die empiriese ondersoek gebaseer is. Verskeie inligtingsbronne, in die vorm van artikels, referate en ander geskrewe literatuur oor TQM en tuisnywerhede, is geraadpleeg. 'n Proto-model vir totalegehaltebestuur by tuisnywerhede is uit die literatuur ontwikkel en na die ondersoek aangepas. Die empiriese ondersoek was tweeledig van aard, naamlik op makro- en mikrovlak. Empiriese data is deur middel van posvraelyste aan aile tuisnywerhede in Suid-Afrika verkry. Dieptestudie-ondersoeke deur middel van waarneming, onderhoude en gestruktureerde vraelyste aan tuisnywerheidbestuur, verskaffers en kliente van drie gekose tuisnywerhede is op mikrovlak uitgevoer om hul persepsies oor die gehalte van produkte en bestuur van totale gehalte in tuisnywerhede te ontleed. Die resultate wat uit hierdie studie voortspruit dui daarop dat: • tuisnywerhede wat as 'n handelsko6perasie bedryf word, die meeste voordele bied vir aile partye wat betrokke is. tuisnywerhede met 'n formele gehaltebestuursprogram sonder uitsondering beter resultate toon teenoor die wat nie formele gehaltebestuur toepas nie. • verskaffers se werksfasiliteite nog nooit op enige wyse ge"inspekteer is of vir higieniese praktyke getoets is nie. / Food home industries (hereafter referred to as home industries) are increasingly becoming more important in our society due to several reasons such as the changing role of the modern woman and because a specific need peculiar to today is met. Affordable, high quality food is of the utmost importance. It is essential to identify ingredients of a low standard in good time before poor quality products are supplied and market share is lost. It is the responsibility of home industries to provide the customer with affordable products of a high quality. Home industries are increasingly pressurised to measure up to the customers' expectations and to supply them with top quality products. A total quality management project can assist home industries in examining their total system and can identify areas for improvement. In this study all dimensions of management and quality in home industries were examined and evaluated. A TQM model for home industries was developed. The problem was analysed by means of a literature study on which the empirical investigation was based. Various sources of information such as articles, papers read at conferences and other written literature on TQM and home industries were consulted. A proto model for total quality management for home industries was developed from the literature and was adapted after the investigation. The empirical investigation was executed at both a macro- and a microlevel. Empirical data was obtained through questionnaires distributed to all managers of home industries in South Africa. In-depth studies by means of observation, interviews and structured questionnaires to home industry management, suppliers and customers of three selected home industries were done at microlevel in order to analyse the quality of products and the management of total quality in home industries. The results that emerge from this study indicate that • home industries which are run as trade co-operatives hold more advantages for all parties concerned. home industries which follow a formal quality management programme prove, without exception, to have better results than those which do not implement formal quality management. • the working facilities of suppliers have never been inspected or tested for hygienic practices in any way. / Business Management / DCOM (Sakebestuur)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the marketing strategies of custom clothing home-based business owners by identifying selected demographic characteristics, general business information, marketing strategies, and current and potential future marketing support from members who were custom clothier home-based business owners affiliated with the Professional Association of Custom Clothiers in the Oregon Chapter. The PACC is an organization developed to assist custom clothier home-based businesses and commercial businesses that are in fields associated with the sewing industry. There is limited research developed exploring areas focused on the marketing of custom clothier home-based businesses. The custom clothier home-based business owner acts as the research and development manager, production manager, and accountant as well as the marketer of the business Therefore, as concluded in previous studies the examination of the marketing strategies used by custom clothiers and any marketing support offered by professional organizations that assist home-based businesses, required further investigation. A self-administered mail survey questionnaire was mailed to all members of the PACC organization in order to collect data for this study. Only members who owned a custom clothier home-based business were asked to participate. The data from 45 of the returned questionnaires were identified as useable and analyzed using a Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 7. Percents and frequencies were used to analyze the demographic characteristics, marketing strategies, and current and potential future marketing support from the PACC organization. Eighty percent of the respondents had been members of the PACC organization for three years or more. The greatest percentage of the respondents (13.33%) had owned their custom clothier business for 12 years. The majority of the respondents contribute fifty percent or less of the total household income. The respondents in the survey confirmed that word-of-mouth communication was the most effective method of promotion for the custom clothier home-based business owner. Networking was the most beneficial item of marketing support the respondents derive from membership in the PACC organization. A Likert Scale with the endpoints of "Very Beneficial and Not Very Beneficial" identified that the respondents also perceive product/service development at meetings as a very beneficial source of marketing support from the PACC organization. Future ideas for possible potential marketing support for the PACC organization included: 1) using the PACC referral service, 2) more publicity for the PACC organization, and 3) more exposure at the national level. Fisher's Exact Test was used to analyze data. Four separate two-by-two tables were developed to compare the respondents as two groups of 1) those respondents who had marketing experience and/or education to 2) those respondents who did not have marketing experience and/or education. Therefore, the column factor in the columns of the two-by-two tables was marketing experience and/or education and was indicated by the respondents on the questionnaire with a "yes" or "no" response. The row factors in each of the four separate two-by-two tables were: 1) geographic range of the clientele. 2) number of competitors in the local area. 3) requests for new fabrics, embellishments, or interfacings, and 4) satisfaction with the level of profits from the business. This investigation revealed that the proportion of the respondents who had marketing experience and/or education were inclined to have clientele outside the designated local area of a 50-mile radius within the location of the home-based business. The two-by-two table that compared the column factor of marketing experience and/or education and the row factor of satisfaction with the level of profits from the business revealed no significant differences between the two groups of respondents. Satisfaction of the business was not associated with either having marketing experience and/or education or not having marketing experience and/or education. Research investigating the marketing strategies of custom clothier home-based business owner is an important topic. The marketing of the custom clothier home-based business is often a complex process and is difficult to master and implement. / Graduation date: 2000

An integrated framework of Family Resource Management and Household Economic theory was utilized to develop a model of relationships between human capital, family characteristics and resources, number of income sources, hours spent in home production, total income and subjective well-being. This study utilized a sample of 129 women systematically selected from Machinga and Zomba Districts in Malawi. Results of Path analysis showed that place of residence, primary education and secondary education or above had positive direct relationships to number of income sources. Variables which had significant negative relationships with hours spent in home production were place of residence and age. Access to farm technologies had a positive relationship. The positive predictors of total income were: primary education, secondary education or above, number of income sources, place of residence, land holding size and access to farm technologies. Home production time and health status were negatively related to total income. Total income and hours spent in home production were significant and positively related to a well-being score, derived from four measures of well-being. Health status was negatively related to this score. Five variables: place of residence, age, primary education, secondary education or above and access to farm technologies had indirect effects on total income through number of income sources and home production. All independent variables entered had indirect effects on the well-being score through total income and hours spent in home production. Number of income sources only mediated the effects on the well-being score jointly with total income. On the whole, both intervening variables did a fair job of mediating the effects of independent variables on total income and subjective well-being (well-being score). Finally, household size, health status and subjective well-being significantly affected overall satisfaction with life. This study has implications for policy, education/training and research in order to enhance women's well-being. / Graduation date: 1996

Thesis (MTech (Entrepreneurship))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-55). Also available online.