Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / ABSTRACT Supply chain management, is the active management of supply chain activities to maximise customer value and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. It represents a conscious effort by the supply chain firms to develop and run supply chains in the most effective and efficient ways possible. Supply chain activities cover everything from product development, sourcing, production, and logistics, as well as the information systems needed to coordinate these activities. Currently, supply chain management has evolved into a complex system where there is a need for redesign and integration into the corporate strategy for strategic fit. The study focuses on: • establishing and analysing corporate strategies used by select FMCGs in KZN South Africa; • examining the challenges impacting on achieving competitive advantage; and • determining performance measures for ensuring consistency between customer satisfaction and the supply chain capabilities (strategic fit). The study followed an exploratory case study design and employed a descriptive, evaluative quantitative analysis method. The results showed that across supply chain companies, the ultimate goal of integration has still to be achieved. There is a lack of trust and companies operate in separate silos. A major recommendation is that supply companies should revisit their supply chain designs to synchronise with intra-intercompany integration built on achieving competitiveness and sustainable profitability through incremental continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. The study concluded that it is imperative that all the elements of McKinsey’s 7- s resource capability model stay interconnected as a web to ensure the successful implementation of integration for strategic fit and superior business performance / D

There are three essays on the economics of information technology innovation in my dissertation: 1. Procurement contracting strategies in a hierarchical supply network; 2. R and D offshoring and technology learning in emerging economies firm level evidence from the information technology industry; 3. Software design strategies in markets with open source competitors. The first essay addresses the impact of an information technology enabled hierarchical supply structure on a firm s procurement strategies. The second essay investigates information technology hardware innovation. I examine R and D offshoring of information technology hardware firms and its impact on R and D effort of firms in host countries. The third essay focuses on software innovation. I investigate open source software and its impact on the design of proprietary software in terms of number of features bundled in the software.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globalization has shifted to a level where market competition is tougher. Therefore, multinational companies focus on cutting cost along the company’s supply chain with heavy scrutiny on procurement. Developing countries have become very attractive from which to strategically procure commodities because of low cost labour, especially from the People’s Republic of China. The business complexity, ethics and current market situation in China are often too modestly emphasized. Yet, these elements have a significant impact on the sourcing decision because it indirectly influences the total landed cost of a commodity but is not taken into account. Therefore, the total landed cost on which sourcing decisions are made, does not reflect the actual total landed cost of a commodity. In many cases multinational companies sourcing from China do not realise the impact of the hidden cost involved and do not reach the expected cost savings as calculated. The purpose of this study is to explore why more attention must be paid to hidden cost when automotive commodities are procured from China. This, as well as the research methodology used in order to obtain the data, is explained in chapter one. Chapter two of this thesis illustrates the change in a company’s supply chain and discusses this in a global sourcing context. The sourcing commodity, which is the point of focus in this study, is automotive commodities sourced from China and is discussed in chapter three. Based on China’s increased presence in global sourcing of automotive commodities, chapter four focuses on China’s integration into the global supply chain. The influential factors that have an impact (hidden cost) on the actual landed cost of commodities sourced from China are described in chapter five and identified as guanxi, indirect business logistic obstacles, quality of goods and supply, management, the labour market and training, and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). In chapter six the influential factors, as described in chapter five, are analysed through a case study of Daimler Chrysler China Limited. Chapter seven is a comparative study of Japan’s miracle economy from 1960-1980 and the current economic trends in China to determine whether it will be feasible to procure automotive commodities from China in the future with regards to the economic indicators. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Globalisering het verskuif na ʼn vlak waar mark kompetisie meer gekonsentreerd is. Daarom fokus multinasionale maatskappye ernstig daarop om kostes langs die aanvoerketting van die maatskappy te verminder deur te konsentreer op die aanskaffingsproses. Ontwikkelende lande het uiters aanloklik geword as bestemming in die strategiese aanskaffingsproses van goedere weens lae arbeidskoste, veral vanaf Sjina. Tans word die besigheidskompleksiteit, etiek en die markkondisie in Sjina meestal onderbeklemtoon. Daarenteen het die faktore ‘n gewigtige impak op die aanskaffingsbesluit omdat dit die totale koste by aankoms indirek beïnvloed. Gevolglik reflekteer die totale koste by aankoms, waarop aanskaffigsbesluite gegrond word, nie die werklike koste van aankoms van goedere nie. In menige gevalle behaal multinasionale maatskappye nie die verwagte kostebesparing soos bereken vir goedere wat vanaf Sjina aangeskaf word nie omdat die multinasionale maatskappye onbewus is van die impak wat die versteekte koste op die totale koste by aankoms het. Die doel van hierdie studie is ‘n ondersoek na die redes waarom daar meer beklemtoning moet wees op versteekte koste wanneer goedere uit Sjina aangeskaf word. Dit, sowel as die navorsingmetodes wat gebruik is om die inligting vir die studie in te win en akkuraat deur te gee, word verduidelik in hoofstuk een. Hoofstuk twee bespreek die verandering in 'n maatskappy se aanvoerketting in ʼn globale aanskaffingskonteks. Hoofstuk drie fokus op redes vir Sjina se toenemende verteenwoordige rol in die globale aanskaffing van goedere en op die aanskaffing van motorvoertuigparte uit Sjina. Met betrekking tot die globale aanskaffing van goedere word die integrasie van Sjina in die globale aanskaffingsketting in hoofstuk vier bespreek. Die beïnvloedende faktore wat 'n impak (versteekte koste) op die werklike koste by aankoms van die motorvoertuigparte wat aangeskaf word vanaf Sjina het, word bespreek in hoofstuk vyf en geïdentifiseer as guanxi, indirekte besigheidslogistiek hindernisse, die kwaliteit van goedere en die aanskaffing daarvan, bestuur in Sjina, die Sjinese arbeidsmark en opleiding in die werksplek, en intellektuele eiendomsreg. In hoofstuk ses word die beïnvloedende faktore (soos bespreek in hoofstuk vyf) geanaliseer deur ʼn gevalle studie van Daimler Chrysler Sjina Beperk. Hoofstuk sewe is ʼn vergelykende studie tussen Japan se wonder ekonomie van 1960-1980 en die huidige ekonomiese tendens in Sjina om te bepaal hetsy dit moontlik sal wees om motorvoertuigparte aan te skaf vanaf Sjina in die toekoms met betrekking tot die ekonomiese indikatore.

The advent of the global financial recession, its impact on the economy with respect to market turbulence and the increase in customer demands have put organisations under intense pressure to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. By virtue of it not being business as usual in the business arena, organisations are forced to constantly devise strategies that are geared towards growth, transformation and continuous improvement. This cuts across all spheres of organisational structures, which means that every division has a role to play.

M. Tech. (Department of Logistics Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The food retail industry is an important contributor to the economy. Buyers and suppliers in this industry work in collaboration with each other to achieve superior supply chain performance. To achieve this, they have to find ways and methods to improve it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the drivers of supply chain performance in the food retail industry in the Gauteng province. This study considers three of these drivers, namely buyer-supplier trust, buyer-supplier commitment and supply chain relationship longevity. A quantitative approach was adopted in which a survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 429 managers and staff members from food retailing firms in the Gauteng province. The study used a non-probability convenience sampling technique to select respondents. Data were analysed with the aid of two software packages, namely the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 24.0) and the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS version 24.0). A confirmatory factor analysis was applied in examining and testing the relationships between observed constructs and their causal latent constructs while structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationships between constructs. The results of the research revealed that buyer-supplier trust, buyer-supplier commitment and supply chain relationship longevity positively and significantly influence supply chain performance. Buyer-supplier trust exerted a positive and significant influence on both buyersupplier commitment and relationship longevity. Also, the results showed that buyer-supplier commitment has a positive and significant influence on relationship longevity. The study concludes that to achieve greater supply chain performance, food retailers should expedite the levels of trust, commitment and length of relationships with their suppliers. The results of this study provide useful insights on how businesses in the food retail industry could benefit from trust, commitment and relationship longevity as well as on how to improve supply chain performance. The results of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge by generating new information on buyer-supplier relationships. Therefore, the study is useful to buyers and suppliers in the food retail industry who wish to enhance supply chain performance and develop better relationships.

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / The aim of this research project was to study the basic understanding the decision makers of construction companies in KwaZulu-Natal had of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) initiative. This initiative has evolved from its origins as a form of affirmative action in the early 1990s into the broad-based initiative embodied in the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act promulgated in 2003 and gazetted in 2007. Research was conducted using a questionnaire to assess the targeted population’s understanding of BBBEE. A census of the 259 construction companies affiliated with the KwaZulu-Natal Master Builders Association (NMBA) at the time of the research was used. The questionnaire was distributed primarily by email and the returns were assessed using statistical methods. The results were also tested as a cross-tabulation based on the demographics and the BBBEE rating of the respondents. The findings showed that although most of the respondents knew about the BBBEE initiative and indicated a level of understanding of this policy, certain of their perceived understandings were misguided. The way in which the Act was intended to be implemented and was intended to benefit those who were previously disadvantaged had been misread by all parties. The way in which the government has rolled out its BBBEE initiative has not been effective. This needs to be addressed by both training and partnering with those SMMEs that can most effect change to implement the Act. This study only scratched the surface of the effects the BBBEE legislation will have on small to medium-sized businesses. It has highlighted the need for further research into both the trickle-down effect of this initiative and into the availability of skilled personnel to grow the economy in the way the BBBEE Act intended.

The National Museum of Australia (NMA) (1997- 2001) by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) in association with Robert Peck von Hartel Trethowan was commissioned by the Australian Commonwealth Government for the Centenary of Federation in 2001. It was conceived as a gift to the people of Australia and now stands on Acton Peninsula in Canberra, the nation's Capital. It is a visually complex manifestation of the design architects' (ARM) dialogue with the ambiguities of Australian history and national identity. The architectural realisation of these complexities was facilitated through advances in computer technologies and a complementary non-traditional procurement method, both at the leading edge of Australian architectural practice of the time. Completed three years earlier was probably the most debated work of architecture of the 1990s, the Guggenheim Museum (GMB) (1991-98) in Bilbao, Spain, by Frank O. Gehry and Associates (FOG&A). This satellite museum of the Guggenheim Foundation of New York was heralded as the quintessential example of a kind of architecture only possible because of advances in computer technologies. Both visually complex museums were conceived as flagship projects and consequently share many political, functional, and cultural expectations. Both were procured outside the usual adversarial designer/builder paradigm of western architecture and featured the innovative use of three-dimensional (CAD) software for design, documentation and analysis. The NMA project used a government instigated procurement method which was embraced by a group of design and construction companies who formed a joint venture known as the Acton Peninsula Alliance. This non-traditional or relationship-based procurement method required ARM to reassess their approach to generate and disseminate design data and their traditional relationship with other design and construction professionals. As part of this process, ARM were required to devolve some of their design authority to a project delivery team via a Design Integrity Panel and an Independent Quality Panel; both innovations integral to the Acton Peninsula Alliance. The NMA project reframed many of the enduring professional relationships of Australian architecture and in so doing extended the skill set and expectations of the architects and others to include a more substantial engagement with 3D CAD and a procurement system which was less subject to many of the common impediments inherent in the more traditional processes. Through a series of interviews with the architects and other stakeholders, a qualitative methodology was used to investigate the NMA as a case study which uses the GMB as an internationally recognised comparison. This thesis examines how these two projects have been successfully completed within time and budgetary constraints in an environment where flagship projects have had a history of highly publicised difficulties. It reveals that the successful realisation of the NMA was due to the relationships built or reframed as a result of this cooperative approach in conjunction with high levels of engagement with computer technologies. This is in contrast to the seamless flow of data and high levels of prefabrication integral to the success of the GMB. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1255317 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2006.

published_or_final_version / Computer Science and Information Systems / Master / Master of Philosophy

The National Museum of Australia (NMA) (1997- 2001) by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) in association with Robert Peck von Hartel Trethowan was commissioned by the Australian Commonwealth Government for the Centenary of Federation in 2001. It was conceived as a gift to the people of Australia and now stands on Acton Peninsula in Canberra, the nation's Capital. It is a visually complex manifestation of the design architects' (ARM) dialogue with the ambiguities of Australian history and national identity. The architectural realisation of these complexities was facilitated through advances in computer technologies and a complementary non-traditional procurement method, both at the leading edge of Australian architectural practice of the time. Completed three years earlier was probably the most debated work of architecture of the 1990s, the Guggenheim Museum (GMB) (1991-98) in Bilbao, Spain, by Frank O. Gehry and Associates (FOG&A). This satellite museum of the Guggenheim Foundation of New York was heralded as the quintessential example of a kind of architecture only possible because of advances in computer technologies. Both visually complex museums were conceived as flagship projects and consequently share many political, functional, and cultural expectations. Both were procured outside the usual adversarial designer/builder paradigm of western architecture and featured the innovative use of three-dimensional (CAD) software for design, documentation and analysis. The NMA project used a government instigated procurement method which was embraced by a group of design and construction companies who formed a joint venture known as the Acton Peninsula Alliance. This non-traditional or relationship-based procurement method required ARM to reassess their approach to generate and disseminate design data and their traditional relationship with other design and construction professionals. As part of this process, ARM were required to devolve some of their design authority to a project delivery team via a Design Integrity Panel and an Independent Quality Panel; both innovations integral to the Acton Peninsula Alliance. The NMA project reframed many of the enduring professional relationships of Australian architecture and in so doing extended the skill set and expectations of the architects and others to include a more substantial engagement with 3D CAD and a procurement system which was less subject to many of the common impediments inherent in the more traditional processes. Through a series of interviews with the architects and other stakeholders, a qualitative methodology was used to investigate the NMA as a case study which uses the GMB as an internationally recognised comparison. This thesis examines how these two projects have been successfully completed within time and budgetary constraints in an environment where flagship projects have had a history of highly publicised difficulties. It reveals that the successful realisation of the NMA was due to the relationships built or reframed as a result of this cooperative approach in conjunction with high levels of engagement with computer technologies. This is in contrast to the seamless flow of data and high levels of prefabrication integral to the success of the GMB. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1255317 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2006.

The National Museum of Australia (NMA) (1997- 2001) by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) in association with Robert Peck von Hartel Trethowan was commissioned by the Australian Commonwealth Government for the Centenary of Federation in 2001. It was conceived as a gift to the people of Australia and now stands on Acton Peninsula in Canberra, the nation's Capital. It is a visually complex manifestation of the design architects' (ARM) dialogue with the ambiguities of Australian history and national identity. The architectural realisation of these complexities was facilitated through advances in computer technologies and a complementary non-traditional procurement method, both at the leading edge of Australian architectural practice of the time. Completed three years earlier was probably the most debated work of architecture of the 1990s, the Guggenheim Museum (GMB) (1991-98) in Bilbao, Spain, by Frank O. Gehry and Associates (FOG&A). This satellite museum of the Guggenheim Foundation of New York was heralded as the quintessential example of a kind of architecture only possible because of advances in computer technologies. Both visually complex museums were conceived as flagship projects and consequently share many political, functional, and cultural expectations. Both were procured outside the usual adversarial designer/builder paradigm of western architecture and featured the innovative use of three-dimensional (CAD) software for design, documentation and analysis. The NMA project used a government instigated procurement method which was embraced by a group of design and construction companies who formed a joint venture known as the Acton Peninsula Alliance. This non-traditional or relationship-based procurement method required ARM to reassess their approach to generate and disseminate design data and their traditional relationship with other design and construction professionals. As part of this process, ARM were required to devolve some of their design authority to a project delivery team via a Design Integrity Panel and an Independent Quality Panel; both innovations integral to the Acton Peninsula Alliance. The NMA project reframed many of the enduring professional relationships of Australian architecture and in so doing extended the skill set and expectations of the architects and others to include a more substantial engagement with 3D CAD and a procurement system which was less subject to many of the common impediments inherent in the more traditional processes. Through a series of interviews with the architects and other stakeholders, a qualitative methodology was used to investigate the NMA as a case study which uses the GMB as an internationally recognised comparison. This thesis examines how these two projects have been successfully completed within time and budgetary constraints in an environment where flagship projects have had a history of highly publicised difficulties. It reveals that the successful realisation of the NMA was due to the relationships built or reframed as a result of this cooperative approach in conjunction with high levels of engagement with computer technologies. This is in contrast to the seamless flow of data and high levels of prefabrication integral to the success of the GMB. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1255317 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2006.