Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-91). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The "Physical Distribution Concept" is being increasingly recognised as a vitally important business philosophy for those firms for which efficient physical distribution is critical to marketing success. Manufacturers of products which are perishable, easily substitutable; and/or quickly obsolescent are some which fall into this category. In a competitive business environment, factors such as the " availability" of the product, and not simply its price or quality, begin to exert a significant influence on the purchasing decision. The "Physical Distribution Concept" comprises three elements, namely, consumer orientation; organizational integration and profit orientation. "Physical Distribution Orientation" refers to the predisposition of the firm and its employees to these three elements. For the Physical Distribution Concept to serve as an effective guide to management action, a physical distribution orientation on the part of all those concerned with marketing and physical distribution-related activities in a firm, is a pre-requisite. The chief executive, in particular, should adhere to this business philosophy, regardless of the functional route he followed to his position. In his leadership role, theory holds that he exerts considerable influence on his subordinates, and consequently on his firm's way of doing business. This thesis is concerned with an analysis of the Physical Distribution Concept. It focuses on the chief executives of firms manufacturing consumer convenience goods, as well as consumer shopping goods. As such, it is primarily concerned with determining the extent to which the chief executives are physical distribution oriented and whether there is a statistically significant relationship between their extent of physical distribution orientation and their companies' performance. The thesis is also concerned with the extent to which any pattern of organizational arr angements for physical distribution exists.

Thesis (DTech (Marketing))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / Many South African businesses experience a lack of competitiveness against a background of increasing globalised competition. One of the reasons for the lack of competitiveness in South African businesses is as a result of a lack of innovation. In response, many scholars have concluded that design can contribute to the competitiveness of a company. Distinguished and refereed business journals have published articles that claim design can have value. One of the causes of the lack of innovation could be that managers do not use design as widely as it might be. Some say that it is mainly as a result of a poor understanding of the benefits of design. This prompted the research question: How can the competitiveness of businesses be improved through the application of product design as a knowledge creation management tool? This question was investigated by a combination of a literature survey, construction of a conceptual model, a questionnaire survey, a focus group discussion and a curriculum content analysis. Through a literature study evidence was presented that design could contribute to innovation, which could add a competitive edge and could lead to commercial success, provided it is managed properly. Unfortunately, managers do not use design as widely as it might be as a result of a poor understanding of the contribution of design. This raises the question, how can the understanding of design be improved? An alternative to the traditional views was presented whereby product design can be used as a knowledge creation management tool. In this regard, a framework was proposed, which indicated product design as both a user and a producer of knowledge. This framework could assist managers to acquire a sufficient understanding of design. The next step is to ask what managers should understand about design in order to use it as a knowledge creation management tool. A questionnaire survey managed to distinguish, in a statistically significant manner, between certain items that were indicated by the respondents as important for managers to understand and other items that the respondents felt were unimportant. In general, the items that were design specific, such as conceptualisation and the psychology of creativity, were indicated as unimportant and the items close to managing a business, such as the writing of a creative brief and the risk factors, were indicated as important for managers to know. Two focus group discussions agreed in the main with the results of the questionnaire survey, but with one exception. One group felt that managers should have a basic understanding of the whole design process. Another aspect of importance was that the manager should trust the designer. The groups also suggested a number of topics that should be included in a curriculum on a basic understanding of product design for management students.

The global and competitive market environments have led to new challenges for both organizations and individuals in them. There has been a major change in the last twelve years since South Africa obtained independence in 1994 leading to internationalization of the economy, the increased use of technology and rapid and technological change. These changes influenced management practices forcing organizations to invest in production machines and other methods in order to stay ahead of their competitors. The importance of equipment is increasing in the advancing and demanding technological era in the South African context. Consequently, proper maintenance is required to keep equipment in top operational form. The objective is to reduce equipment breakdowns, increase equipment reliability and improve productivity.This will result in increased equipment utilization and life, reduced work stoppages and machine slowdowns, closer adherence to production and delivery schedules as well as increased employee morale. The Total Productive Manufacturing (TPM) concept addresses these goals. The aim of TPM is to keep the plant and equipment at its highest productive level through the cooperation of all areas of the organization. TPM is a partnership between maintenance and production organization to improve product quality, reduce waste, reduce manufacturing cost and increase equipment availability With the increase in the use of technology, and integrated human resources strategy should be introduced to cope with the dynamic needs of technology. One of the most important elements in this equation is the employees of an organization who will operate those machines. Less attention has, over the years, been afforded to these operators since emphasis has been on equipment and productivity. It is important to combine the human resource strategy with equipment utilization to make the manufacturing system efficient and effective. It has been proven that the skills, knowledge and experiences of operators have economic value in the market place and also potential value to an organization because they enable it to be productive and adaptable. A real world case study in the South African environment was carried out at a renowned manufacturing company in order to asses whether the combination of TPM and a human resource strategy can produce improved results. A survey was carried out on two sister companies located next to one another. It was observed that TPM had progressed significantly more in the one company that had better human resource systems than in the other that did not apply an effective human resource system. The main conclusion reached was that when human resource practices are applied properly in and integrated fashion, they will promote machine efficiency and hence increase the productivity of the company. The research highlights the type of human resource practice that needs to be applied to enable operators to be efficient and productive as part of the machine system in a South African context. / Professor L. Pretorius Professor A. Strauss

Prof. W.M. Conradie

This thesis applies the existing agency theory into the problem of production planning in a centrally planned industry. The planner's objective is to maximize social welfare contributed by the industry, while the firms individually want to maximize utility over money compensation minus disutility over effort. The problem contains both moral hazard and adverse selection because each agent privately observes a predecision information about the production process. A model is built for determining the optimal incentive compatible scheme. The analysis starts with the problem of fixed proportions production. An optimal incentive compatible scheme is first derived in single agent settings. It is then extended to multiple agent settings. Under the optimal incentive scheme, the principal is able to derive all the rent. The solution is the first-best when the agents are all risk neutral, and strictly second-best otherwise. The subgaming issues amongst the agents are investigated. When the agents are not cooperative, a sufficient condition is given for the incentive scheme to be effective, i.e., the equilibrium induced by the scheme is implementable. It is also concluded that, if the agents are able to cooperate, there always exist some state realizations under which the scheme is not effective. Finally, a different type of production problem, namely, production with substitutable inputs, are studied. And an incentive compatible compensation scheme is again proposed. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

No description available.

This study (1) determines the information managers commonly need to make decisions and initiate actions to improve performance, based on selected case studies, (2) investigates and explains the features and issues involved with how the different versions of TFPM address these information needs, and (3) develops a teaching model of TFPM. Based on the literature review, interviews with experts, and experiences with applications, the features and differences of the available TFPM versions were explained, providing sample applications whenever necessary. Using four selected cases, common user information needs were identified and compared with results of previous surveys. Alternative TFPM applications for each case were developed and evaluated using Archer's (1978) Design Process as implemented with VPC's (1990) PRFORM software. Based on the evaluations of the TFPM applications in each of the case studies, a teaching TFPM model was developed incorporating the features of the available TFPM versions that most appropriately responded to the common information needs. Some other features not portrayed in the available TFPM versions were added to facilitate portrayal, understanding, and acceptance for new users. There are basically two models of TFPM - the Productivity Indices (PI) Model and the Profitability = Productivity + Price Recovery (PPPR) Model. I proved that as implemented with discrete variables, Gollop's Model is equivalent to the PPPR Model. Various versions of these two models feature differences in deflation, aggregation of Outputs, inputs, and/or organizational units, treatment of capital, computation of dollar effects of changes in performance, and how to use TFPM for planning. The common information needs identified were (1) measures of a firm's past performance using physical productivity related to profitability; (2) measures of individual organizational units’ productivity aggregated into plant, division, or firm level productivity; (3) partial measures to explain what factors dr.ve the total performance measures; and (4) evaluations of plans/budgets to ensure performance improvement. Based on the evaluations of possible TFPM versions appropriate for each application, REALST stands out as the most advanced and flexible version. However, it has become too complicated for first-time users. Hence, the teaching TFPM model I have developed is a simplified version of REALST. / Ph. D.