The objective of strategic management is to enable an organisation to assess its strategic position. This study is concerned with identifying the strategic position of Branaa South Africa, and to determine the most suitable expansion strategy in order for the company to increase the current level of monetary benefits offered to Original Equipment Manufacturers under the Motor Industry Development Program. An in-depth literature review is conducted and the relevant business management tools are identified. These tools are used to analyse the position of the company and to evaluate how the current benefits offered, compare to those of competitors. An analysis is carried out regarding the influence and value of the Motor Industry Development Program benefits. A costing model is then applied to determine how competitive Branaa South Africa is in the automotive leather seat market. The study determines how the benefits offered under the current Motor Industry Development Program structure could be increased in the South African Automotive market, and concludes with proposals on how to achieve new targets. This study aims to prove that the strategic direction that Branaa South Africa is envisaging is correct. The company should continue to gain a competitive advantage under the current strategic goals which are reviewed annually. Through the effective use of strategic management principles, and applying these to Branaa South Africa, the company would retain its competitive advantage in the South African Automotive market. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

DS Leathers, a leather manufacturing venture is faced with a challenge of penetrating the highly competitive leather industry. This study attempts to investigate what it will take for DS leathers to succeed, how can DS Leathers become more effective than its competitors in creating, delivering and communicating customer value? The study investigates the needs of DS Leathers prospective customers, analyzes the leather industry dynamics, key success factors and DS Leathers resources. A customer-focused company first investigates what its potential customer's desires are, and then builds the product or service. It was therefore pertinent for DS Leathers to pursue this exercise in order to be able to make informed strategic marketing decisions. The study lays a foundation and a framework for DS Leathers marketing management by reviewing a set of core concepts that are perceives as being fundamental to creation solid foundation for successful marketing. Concepts discussed include the development of marketing strategies and plans, capturing marketing insights, connecting with customers, building with strong brands, shaping market offering, delivering value, communicating value and creating long - term growth. The findings are that the industry is highly competitive with a lot global players. It is recommended that DS Leathers should focus on footwear and furniture segments, initially supplying the local government whilst developing its skills and its brand. The conclusion reached is that DS Leathers can achieve success by investing towards its attitudinal resources and superior skills, developing them into distinctive competencies for delivery of superior value. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The objective of the research was to ascertain whether, when compared to a system'of standards, the theoretical promise that economic incentives offered as a low cost solution to the abatement problem, would hold in practice. This was done by applying environmental economic theory to the practical problem of controlling the effluent generated by firms in the South African leather industry. It was found that in this instance the theory did indeed hold in practice. Furthermore, it was found that of the incentives discussed by the theory, marketable permits were the most economically efficient. It was however shown that a charge - not discussed in the ., theory - based on a central treatment agency's (CTA) cost of treatment offered the least cost solution to the abatement problem when the CTA could do at least some of the effluent treatment at a lower cost than the firms. - In addition a formula was developed to show the net benefits accruing to an individual firm if it undertook to treat its effluent. It was shown that in order to maximise the total benefits of treatment, a firm should treat until its net benefits of treatment were zero. A number of problem however were found to exist when the theory was applied to a practical situation. The most important was the "stepped" nature of the firms marginal abatement cost curves which meant that the setting of a charge based on a trial and error method would prove to be more difficult than the theory envisaged. Furthermore, it meant that no matter what method of pollution control was used, it would prove i~possible to reduce effluent to an optimal level. It was recommended that greater use be made of economic incentives to control all industrial effluent. It would nonetheless be necessary to do more research in this field as the theory was not tailor made for all practical situations. Further evidence of the viability of economic incentives could however encourage wider use by policy makers.

Orientador: Adilson Renofio / Coorientador: Agnaldo de Sousa Barbosa / Banca: Jair Wagner Souza Manfrinato / Banca: Aldo Roberto Ometto / Resumo: Atualmente, aspectos como responsabilidade social e gestão ambiental emergem como fatores fundamentais para a gestão de uma empresa. Com o advento do desenvolvimento sustentável, a comunidade como um todo passou a exigir uma postura de responsabilidade social e ambiental por parte de seus fornecedores, perante a necessidade urgente de racionalizar a utilização dos recursos naturais, cada vez mais escassos, e de solucionar problemas sociais gravíssimos, muitas vezes criados pelas próprias organizações. Diante desse novo paradigma, definiu-se como objetivo para esta pesquisa compreender a prática da responsabilidade sócio-ambiental empreendida pelas indústrias coureiras do pólo industrial de Franca-SP, buscando apreender os aspectos da ação empresarial que possibilitem mitigar impactos ambientais e contribuir de forma concreta em áreas relacionadas com a comunidade. Para tanto, traçou-se os principais aspectos da responsabilidade sócio-ambiental empresarial permitindo visualizá-las como pilares para a sustentabilidade das organizações. Desenvolveu-se uma estrutura teórica que norteou os objetivos propostos para a elaboração deste trabalho, no qual foram abordados alguns instrumentos de gestão social e ambiental, tais como os indicadores ETHOS de Responsabilidade Social, certificações e selos voltados à questão sócio-ambiental, licenciamentos e legislações ambientais, Produção mais Limpa, ISO 14000 e a abordagem sistêmica. Estes instrumentos permitiram delinear a postura e as ações de responsabilidade social e ambiental praticadas pelas indústrias coureiras. Os resultados obtidos com a pesquisa exploratória realizada em 12 empresas permitiram, de forma geral, perceber que os empresários das indústrias calçadistas de Franca possuem uma postura reativa frente aos novos paradigmas de gestão sociais e ambientais, e praticam ações isoladas e incipientes para minorar os impactos sócio-ambientais ocasionados... / Abstract: At present, aspects like social responsability and environmental management emerge as fundamental factors for company management. With the advent of sustainable development, the community as a whole began to demand a social and environmental responsability position on the part of suppliers in face of the urgent need to ration the use of increasingly scarcer natural resources and to solve very serious social problems, often created by the organizations themselves. In face of this new paradigm, the objective of this paper is to understand the practice of social-environmental responsability, carried out by the leather industries in the Franca, SP, industrial center, in an attempt to grasp the aspects of business action that make it possible to mitigate environmental impacts and contribute in a concrete manner towards community related areas. For such, the main aspects of corporate social-environmental responsability wre draw, making it possible to visualize them as pillars for the sustainability of organizations. A theoretical structure was developed that guided the objectives proposed for elaborating this study in which some social and environmental management instruments were addressed, such as ETHOS Indicators for Social Responsability, certifications and seals geared towards social environmental issues, environmental licensing and legislation, Cleaner Production, ISO 14000 and the systemic approach. These instruments make it possible to outline the social and environmental responsability position and actions practices by the leather industries. The results obtained with exploratory research conducted at 12 companies made it possible to perceive that, in general, Franca footwear industry business owners maintain a reactive position in face of the new social and environmental management paradigms and they practice isolated and incipient actions to reduce the social-environmental impacts caused by their activities. It is believed that the... / Mestre

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree: Doctor of Technology: DESIGN In the Faculty of Informatics and Design At the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Currently, the South African leather tanning industry is dominated by chromium tanning which has been identified as highly polluting. Vegetable tanning is considered less environmentally hazardous. Yet, there have been no plans to promote it in South Africa. Vegetable tanning process utilises vegetable matter for converting animal skins or hides into pliable material that is known as leather. South Africa has a variety of plants that produce tannins. However, the focus of this study is on the mimosa locally known as black wattle (Arcacia miernsii). Furthermore, the South African vegetable tanning sector has been left behind in terms of research and development despite the country being endowed with the Mimosa plant that is widely used in the vegetable tanning process. The country is also endowed with surplus labour which can be absorbed by the leather industry which is labour intensive.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

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The thesis concerns the persistent coupling of formal and informal industrial relations within a particular manufacturing company. At first, the company's formal structure of industrial relations was heavily tempered by the operation of informal cross cutting ties. The resultant system of industrial relations was one that might be regarded as a hybrid, integrating formal and informal networks of relationships within the organization of the factory. The quite discernible ethos of informality or paternalism remained largely unchallenged by the rather facilitating political conditions that prevailed at the time. However, the political climate has, in the last decade or so, been subject to considerable pressure that has resulted in some far reaching and fundamental changes to the political order of the country. The emergent political conditions have enforced upon the company the need for change. The essence of such changes were perceived to hinge upon the transformation of the company's system of industrial relations. The transformation entailed the establishment of a more overtly formal system of industrial relations, separating the formal and informal relations which had becomes inextricably entwined. However, the objectives of such changes were never quite achieved. The distinction between the formal and informal industrial relations remained submerged in the melee of intergroup contestation. The various interest groups in the factory context appropriated the division between formal and informal industrial relations, enabling these groups to phrase their industrial strategies within an idiom most contextually appropriate. What emerged was an extension of this tendency to merge formal and informal industrial relations. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

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