Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008.

The Best PhD Thesis in the Faculties of Architexture, Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Law and Social Sciences (University of Hong Kong), Li Ka Shing Prize, 2007-2008. / published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

M. Tech. (Tourism and Hospitality Management, Faculty of Human Sciences)|, Vaal University of Technology. / Tourism is regarded as a modern-day engine of growth and one of the largest industries globally. In 2012, the G20 heads of state recognised tourism as a driver of growth and development as well as an industry that has the potential to spur global economic recovery. South Africa is currently receiving a higher number of first time visitors with the number of return visitors for leisure purposes very low. It is thus the aim of the study to identify the predictors of tourist’s intention to return to South Africa. Specifically, this study will focus on demographic characteristics, travel behaviour, travel motivations and satisfaction intention to return. This information can contribute to adjusting marketing and product strategies to enhance visitors’ intention to return. A quantitative survey was done at Aerial Cable Way (Table Mountain National Park) where 800 respondents were requested to participate in the study. The Cable Way attracts a high number of international visitors who was the population for this study. The questionnaire was distributed by fieldworkers who returned 720 completed questionnaires. The data was captured, analysed and interpreted to identify the predictors of visitor’s intention to return to South Africa as a tourism destination. The respondents were on average 40 years of age, mostly male, from the USA and UK respectively and married. They hold either a degree or a diploma and serve in professional or management occupations. When visiting South Africa these respondents stay on average 16 days, travel in groups of 3.71 and they prefer hotels and lodges. It was evident in this research that respondents were mainly first-time visitors, emphasizing the problem that this research assess. These respondents travel to enjoy Relaxation and Novelty, Social motivations, Cultural motivations, Personal Motivations and Product motivations of which Relaxation and Novelty and Cultural motivations were rated as the most important. These travel motivations were influenced by gender, occupation and accommodation preferences. Core to this study and addressing the main aim of the study was the finding that Communication, Experience, Safety and the Tourism offering contributes to willingness to return of which the Experience and Safety were the most important aspects. These willingness were also influenced by gender and occupation. Ultimately it is about the experience in South Africa. The relationship between willingness to return and travel motivations were also evident highlighting the inter- dependence of these variables. It was evident that marketing campaigns should be adjusted and more value-added products should be provided to increase intention to return. Continuous communication is needed with people that visited this country and showing new products, discount offers and unique products. Clearly the importance of intention to revisit is evident an aspect that needs attention in South Africa.

Företag kan inte bara konkurrera med låga priser för att ”vinna” sina kunder längre, med de svenska detaljhandelskedjorna Expert och Onoffs konkurser som exempel. Lönsamhet är ett företags yttersta mål, men om inte intäkterna kan täcka kostnaderna kan en eventuell konkurs vara nära. Därför måste företag kunna hantera det ”mjuka värdet” på ett tillfredsställande sätt. Det är av aktuellt intresse för att ha möjlighet att bevara sina kunder och kunna hantera missnöje och negativ spridning av information eller rykten kunder emellan. Felhanteringen bör anpassas om missnöjet förs fram i sociala medier eller i fysiska miljöer, vilket också beskriver syftet med den här uppsatsen.Fyra intervjuer har genomförts med fyra olika företag, där två intervjuer haft fokus på fysiska butiker och två haft fokus på sociala medier. Utöver det har observation av två av de studerade företagens Facebook-sidor genomförts. Möjligheten till generalisering är låg på grund av val av kvalitativ metod, då uppsatsen istället är fokuserad på att höra vad företagsrepresentanterna beskriver om dess företags hantering av missnöje från kunder.För att kunna hantera missnöje är samtliga företag i undersökningen tydliga med vilka medarbetare de söker och med önskvärda egenskaper som kundorientering, vilja och engagemang. Detta för att kunna handskas med de kommunikationssätt varje företag arbetar med, hänsyn tas även till kommunikationssättet där samtliga respondenter är överens om att människor påverkas av varandras uttalanden. Med avseende till att människor kommunicerar med varandra är respondenterna eniga om att svara snabbt eller inom rimlig väntetid för att minimera den negativa spridningen och i vissa fall öka den positiva spridningen.Respondenternas strävan med hanteringen av kundmissnöje handlar om att få nöjda kunder. / Companies can’t compete with low prices to ”win” their customers no more, with the swedish retailchains Expert and Onoff as examples. Profitability is a company´s utmost goal, but if the revenue can’t cover the costs an eventual bankruptcy may be close. Therefore companies must be able to handle the soft value in a satisfactory way. It is of current interest to be conceivable to maintain your customers and to be able to handle dissatisfaction and negative transmission of information or rumours between customers. The service recovery should be adjusted if the dissatisfaction occurs in social media or in physical environments, which also describes the purpose with this essay.Four interviews have been carried out with four different companies, two of the interviews had a focus on physical stores and two had focus on social media. Beyond the interviews an observation has been carried out on two of the studied companies’ Facebook-pages. The possibility to generalization is low because of the choice of qualitative method, the essay is instead focused in hearing what the company-representatives describe about their handling of dissatisfaction from customers.All companies are clear about which coworkers they are searching for to be able to handle dissatisfaction, with desirable characteristics as customer-orientation, with will and commitment. This because to be able with the ways of communication each company works with, consideration is taken to the ways of communication where all respondents agree about that all people influence each other’s comments. In regards to that all people communicates with each other, all respondents agree about answering fast and within reasonable waiting time to minimize the negative spread and in some cases increase the positive spread.The respondents’ pursuit with the handling of customer-dissatisfaction is about getting satisfied customers.

La traduction est une activité linguistique qui joue un rôle primordiale dans la vie des différentes communautés humaines. Considérée comme moyen de communication et de connaissance de l’autre, plusieurs disciplines lui ont été consacrées. Au XVIIIème siècle, la faculté des langues (al-Alsun) a été instaurée en Égypte par Rifāʽa al-Tahtāwī, l’auteur de Taḫlīṣ al-ibrīz fi talḫlīṣ Bārīz. Cette œuvre a été traduite au XXème siècle par Anouar Louca sous le titre de l’Or de Paris. L’Étude présente porte sur une œuvre qui présente une description minutieuse du séjour de Rifāʻa al-Ṭahṭāwī en France, à savoir le Taḫlīṣ al-ibrīz fi talḫīṣ Bārīz. Cette œuvre appartient à l’époque de la Nahḍa de la littérature arabe.L’étude porte sur quatre chapitres : Le premier chapitre entame analyse esthétique comparée du Taḫlīṣ et de l’Or de Paris. Le chapitre explique les manifestations des deux versants de la Nahḍa dans le Taḫlīṣ et les stratégies adoptées par Louca dans son Or de Paris.Le deuxième chapitre présente une analyse sociolinguistique du Taḫlīṣ et de l’Or de Paris. Cette analyse met en lumière le lien intrinsèque entre la langue et la société. Une comparaison de l’œuvre dans sa langue source et sa traduction mettra l’accent sur la stratégie de Louca et sur les différences entre l’original et la traduction.Le troisième chapitre porte sur la problématique de la fidélité selon la théorie interprétative. La marge de liberté et les procédés utilisés par Louca seront discutés. Le quatrième chapitre est une analyse sémantique sélective d certains passages dans le Taḫlīṣ et leurs représentations dans l’Or de Paris. L’analyse va porter sur le titre, le premier paragraphe et la traduction faite par Rifāʻa al-Tahtāwī de la charte constitutionnelle de 1814. Les quatre chapitres procèdent par une mise en parallèle de l’œuvre original et de sa traduction.Nous reconnaissons la difficulté de la tâche assumée par Louca vu la richesse de l’œuvre de Rifāʻa al-Tahtāwī qui représente un tournant dans l’histoire de la littérature arabe. La spécificité culturelle, esthétique, historique et linguistique constitue un vrai défi à la traduction. / Translation is a linguistic activity which plays an essential role in the life of various human communities. Considered as a tool of communication and knowledge of the others, several disciplines were dedicated to it. In the XVIIIth century, the faculty of languages (al-Alsun) was established in Egypt by Rifāʽa al-Tahtāwī, the author of Taḫlīṣ al-ibrīz fi talḫlīṣ Bārīz. This work was translated in the XXth century by Anouar Louca under the title of “L’Or de Paris” which means “The Gold of Paris”. The study hereby presented deals with a work that presents a meticulous description of the journey of Rifāʻa al-Ṭahṭāwī in France. The latter work is Taḫlīṣ al-ibrīz fi talḫīṣ Bārīz and belongs to the period of Nahḍa of the Arabic literature.The study consists of four chapters: The first chapter presents a comparison between the aesthetic analysis from Taḫlīṣ and its translation, namely Or de Paris, into the french langage. The chapter explains the demonstrations of both objectives of the Nahḍa in the Taḫlīṣ and the strategies adopted by Louca in his Or de Paris.The second chapter presents a sociolinguistic analysis of Taḫlīṣ and Or de Paris. This analysis highlights the intrinsic link between the language and the society. A comparison of the Taḫlīṣ in its original language and its translation emphasizes the strategy of Louca and the differences between the original work and its translation.The Third chapter discusses the problem of the loyalty according to the interpretative theory. The room for manoeuvre and the processes used by Louca will be discussed.The fourth chapter is a selective semantic analysis of certain passages in Taḫlīṣ and their translations in Or de Paris. The analysis concerns the title, the first paragraph and the translation of the constitutional chart of 1814 made by Rifāʻa al-Ṭahṭāwī. The Four chapters proceed in a parallel pattern between the original work Taḫlīṣ and its translation.We recognize the difficulty of the task carried out by Louca given the wealth of the work of Rifāʻa al-Ṭahṭāwī which represents a bend in the history of the Arabic literature. The cultural, aesthetic, historical and linguistic specificity constitute a real challenge in the translation.

This work deals with loyalty programs, in airline industry mostly known as frequent flyer programs. Most airlines today offers a program in which customers can earn points as a reward for their tickets flown. The first part of the work is devoted to a research of literature on the subject, the development of loyalty programs , expected effect and their impact on clients and company profit. The second part focuses on the application of theoretical knowledge in practical study of loyalty programs of two major European airlines - Air France and Lufthansa. A practical analysis and comparison of the two programs is carried in terms of comparing the parameter and differences of the programs.

Für das Management virtueller Teams sind traditionelle, etablierte Werkzeuge der Mitarbeiterführung und -motivation nicht ausreichend. Vorliegende empirische Befunde zum Erfolg virtueller Teams weisen etwa auf den Stellenwert eindeutiger Ziel- und Rollendefinitionen aber gerade auch auf das wechselseitige Vertrauen zwischen den Kooperationspartnern hin. Steht nun die Vertrauensforschung für virtuelle Kontexte generell erst am Beginn, gilt dies umso mehr für den spezifischen Aspekt erlebten Misstrauens, der primär als Gegenpol zum Vertrauen konzeptualisiert wird. In diesem Beitrag wird jedoch Misstrauen als eigenständiges psychologisches Konstrukt begriffen, dem sowohl dysfunktionale als auch funktionale Korrelate zuzuordnen sind. Unter dieser theoretischen Prämisse werden erste Ergebnisse einer diesbezüglichen qualitativen Studie zum Stellenwert von Misstrauen für die Motivation und Bindung von Mitarbeiter/innen dargestellt. Implikationen für die weitere Forschung und die berufliche Praxis in virtuellen Organisationen werden abschließend aufgezeigt.

This master’s thesis deals with marketing mixture of a specific enterprise. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the current state of the marketing mixture of a specific enterprise and a recommendation for a new marketing mix. Main aim of thesis is formulation of proposals for improving of marketing mix, which will help to increase the number of new customers.

Für das Management virtueller Teams sind traditionelle, etablierte Werkzeuge der Mitarbeiterführung und -motivation nicht ausreichend. Vorliegende empirische Befunde zum Erfolg virtueller Teams weisen etwa auf den Stellenwert eindeutiger Ziel- und Rollendefinitionen aber gerade auch auf das wechselseitige Vertrauen zwischen den Kooperationspartnern hin. Steht nun die Vertrauensforschung für virtuelle Kontexte generell erst am Beginn, gilt dies umso mehr für den spezifischen Aspekt erlebten Misstrauens, der primär als Gegenpol zum Vertrauen konzeptualisiert wird. In diesem Beitrag wird jedoch Misstrauen als eigenständiges psychologisches Konstrukt begriffen, dem sowohl dysfunktionale als auch funktionale Korrelate zuzuordnen sind. Unter dieser theoretischen Prämisse werden erste Ergebnisse einer diesbezüglichen qualitativen Studie zum Stellenwert von Misstrauen für die Motivation und Bindung von Mitarbeiter/innen dargestellt. Implikationen für die weitere Forschung und die berufliche Praxis in virtuellen Organisationen werden abschließend aufgezeigt.

In the present hypercompetitive market environment of car producers established especially at the developed west european markets is very difficult to gain new customers and increase the market share. The car producing companies have to build and increase customer loyalty to ensure the sustainable growth of market share in the future. One possibility how to improve customer's loyality to brand is to provide the highest standard at both sales and service department and carefully monitor the customer satisfaction. From the satisfaction and performance indicators of the car producing company is possible to construct a mathematical model producing the market share in a given country as an output. Key indikators of customer satisfaction, sales and service and also the macroeconomical data has been used as the inputs for the model. As a target market for my analysis has been chosen Germany. This thesis presents a set of recommendations and proposals, whose implementation should ensure the improvement of the market share of the given brand on german market. The recommendation does not include only the tips for improvement of the key indicators but it also gives the overview of how to make the marketing strategy more efficient using Customer relationship management.