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Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Quality in the Faculty of Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The clothing industry in South Africa is historically well established and caters from basic and low cost products to high-fashion tailormade garments. In 1995, the top five retail chains (Edgars, Wooltru, Pepkor, Foschini and OK) accounted for 58 percent of clothing retail sales. Research on quality management has shown that quality management programmes are not effectively utilised within small clothing manufacturing firms in the Western Cape, The result of this - poor goods and services - has been highlighted. This leads to useful insight into critical aspects pertaining to customer satisfaction and quality service delivery.The research problem researched within the ambit of this dissertation reads as follows: “Quality management programmes are not effectively utilised within small clothing manufacturing firms in the Western Cape, resulting in poor goods and services being produced”. The primary research objectives of this study are the following:  To identify key drivers underpinning complaints in small clothing manufacturing firms in the Western Cape, in terms of service delivery.  To identify the benefits of using quality management tools and techniques, used currently by small clothing manufacturing firms.  To determine if small clothing manufacturing firms have a strategic focus on the quality of a product that they produce.  To identify a mechanism that can be deployed to promote the application of a quality management system.  To identify the benefits of implementing quality management systems within a small clothing manufacturing firm.Reciprocally, the research question, which forms the crux of the research, reads as follows: “What mechanisms can be deployed to promote the application of quality management systems in the Western Cape, thus leading to an improvement of goods and services?”The application of quality management tools and techniques, such as statistical quality control and quality function deployment, has been researched in the small clothing manufacturing sector. The research leads to an improvement in the current state pertaining to quality management programmes not being effectively utilised within small clothing manufacturing firms. Mechanisms to be deployed to promote the application of quality management systems will also be identified, possible solutions found to customer complaints and problem areas addressed. In addition, the research leads to improved quality of goods and services being produced resulting in satisfied customers.

The purpose of this study is to determine the manner in which a number of business concerns have dealt with the problem of reciprocity and how they are presently dealing with it.

The purpose of this study was to examine scanning practices in a developing country by looking at the scanning behavior of executives of Nigerian manufacturing firms. Specifically, this study examined the decision maker's perception of environmental uncertainty (PEU), the frequency and degree of interest with which decision makers scan each sector of the environment, the frequency of use of various sources of information, the number of organizational adjustments made in response to actions of environmental groups, and the obstacles encountered in collecting information from the environment.

The purpose of this paper is to provide interest ed rural Utah parties with a description of the financial structure and impacts of rural Utah manufacturing firms on t he local and state economies . Direct interviews with plant managers were used to gather the necessary data. Rural Utah manufacturing firms were grouped into nine different categories according to the type of product produced . Mean financial statements of each group were presented, with a breakdown of where each type of expenditure was made, whether locally , in-state, or out of state. Regression analysis was used to generate predictive equations for the propensity to consume locally and in state, and for the propensity to sell out of the local area and out of state. Discussions of the location and make up of rural Utah manufacturing were also included along with a discussion of the factors influencing manufacturing firms to locate i n rural Utah.

Abstract This research explores the problems of resource allocation during the process of internationalization by small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. The literature largely portrays a positive view of internationalization with respect to increased firm performance or growth. However, particularly for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises(SMEs), growth through internationalization increases uncertainty and may jeopardize firm performance and even threaten survival of the firm. The literature indicates that some SMEs fail during the process of expanding to foreign markets (Brewer 1981;Ramaswamy 1992; Mudambi and Zahra 2007). Many of these failures are due, in part,to the challenges of allocating limited resources during and after internationalization(Chen and Hsu 2009). Given the challenge of internationalizing, this research examines the influence of resource allocation on firm performance with the aim of providing recommendations on how entrepreneurs can make better resource allocation decisions that in turn may lead to improved performance. To address the problem of allocation of limited resources during and after internationalization, theoretical propositions are developed based on modern portfolio-theory (Markowitz 1952; 1959; 1991) that explains the risk-return tradeoffs with regards to resource allocation to domestic, U.S., and foreign markets and possible effects on firm performance. This research applies a multiple case-study approach based on critical realism, a qualitative philosophical research paradigm. Data collection is through in-depth interviews with executives of twenty-two small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms located in Canada. Within-case and cross-case analyses findings are used to confirm or modify the propositions, resulting in a descriptive model that best explains resource allocation decisions and the effects on performance. The findings indicate that resource allocations to domestic, U.S., and foreign markets have different contributions to overall firm performance. However, the way in which resource allocation trade-offs are decided between these markets is largely dependent on the firms or owners/manager’s disposition to risks and returns. Findings from this research also show that decisions by firm managers to allocate resources to a particular market depend on their assessment or anticipation of risks and the potential mitigation strategies that are required in order to maximize returns. This, consequently, determines the firm’s performance during the process of internationalization. This research contributes to the literature in international entrepreneurship, management of technology, and decision analysis. While there is an extensive body of literature that focuses on the output of internationalization (i.e., where, when, and how firms export their products), few studies have specifically examined the inputs that make this happen (one of these being the allocation of resources). Rugman et al. (2008) examines the resource allocation decision between domestic and foreign markets for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and the impact on firm performance. No known study has specifically explored resource allocation decisions between domestic, U.S., and foreign markets for SMEs and the influence on firm performance. This research fills the identified gap by making a significant theoretical contribution to this field by adopting portfolio theory to the challenge of allocating resources between domestic and foreign markets.

Abstract This research explores the problems of resource allocation during the process of internationalization by small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. The literature largely portrays a positive view of internationalization with respect to increased firm performance or growth. However, particularly for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises(SMEs), growth through internationalization increases uncertainty and may jeopardize firm performance and even threaten survival of the firm. The literature indicates that some SMEs fail during the process of expanding to foreign markets (Brewer 1981;Ramaswamy 1992; Mudambi and Zahra 2007). Many of these failures are due, in part,to the challenges of allocating limited resources during and after internationalization(Chen and Hsu 2009). Given the challenge of internationalizing, this research examines the influence of resource allocation on firm performance with the aim of providing recommendations on how entrepreneurs can make better resource allocation decisions that in turn may lead to improved performance. To address the problem of allocation of limited resources during and after internationalization, theoretical propositions are developed based on modern portfolio-theory (Markowitz 1952; 1959; 1991) that explains the risk-return tradeoffs with regards to resource allocation to domestic, U.S., and foreign markets and possible effects on firm performance. This research applies a multiple case-study approach based on critical realism, a qualitative philosophical research paradigm. Data collection is through in-depth interviews with executives of twenty-two small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms located in Canada. Within-case and cross-case analyses findings are used to confirm or modify the propositions, resulting in a descriptive model that best explains resource allocation decisions and the effects on performance. The findings indicate that resource allocations to domestic, U.S., and foreign markets have different contributions to overall firm performance. However, the way in which resource allocation trade-offs are decided between these markets is largely dependent on the firms or owners/manager’s disposition to risks and returns. Findings from this research also show that decisions by firm managers to allocate resources to a particular market depend on their assessment or anticipation of risks and the potential mitigation strategies that are required in order to maximize returns. This, consequently, determines the firm’s performance during the process of internationalization. This research contributes to the literature in international entrepreneurship, management of technology, and decision analysis. While there is an extensive body of literature that focuses on the output of internationalization (i.e., where, when, and how firms export their products), few studies have specifically examined the inputs that make this happen (one of these being the allocation of resources). Rugman et al. (2008) examines the resource allocation decision between domestic and foreign markets for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and the impact on firm performance. No known study has specifically explored resource allocation decisions between domestic, U.S., and foreign markets for SMEs and the influence on firm performance. This research fills the identified gap by making a significant theoretical contribution to this field by adopting portfolio theory to the challenge of allocating resources between domestic and foreign markets.

No / Organisational learning is often presented as one way in which firms may respond to increasingly competitive market conditions by managing their knowledge assets in more effective ways. Although theoretically and conceptually plausible, there is limited empirical evidence, particularly from smaller firms, in support of this view. This study aims to provide some evidence that links organisational learning and performance. Extant theory suggests that organisational learning may range from a passive orientation (working within a current paradigm) to an active orientation (questioning a current paradigm) at both the individual and the collective levels. This study examines the learning orientations of 300 smaller manufacturing and service firms in terms of an active¿passive learning construct. The results suggest that higher-growth manufacturing firms have a more active learning orientation. These firms make greater use of knowledge assets than do their lower growth counterparts, and this may have important implications for the management of learning in smaller manufacturing firms.

Accounting for output per worker differences across countries has been an ongoing topic of research in economics. This thesis expands upon standard approaches by allowing for technological heterogeneity and exploiting firm and worker level data to determine the microeconomic sources of variation in both productivity and earnings. An intercontinental comparison using production functions for the Ghanaian and South Korean manufacturing sectors in Chapter 2 finds, in contrast to the conclusions of much of the macroeconomic literature, that there is no difference in total factor productivity (TFP). The microeconomic sources of the difference in value added per worker lie within the technology of firms, which is defined as the way in which inputs are used. Two important dimensions of this difference are the larger role of material inputs and the much lower rate of return to schooling in Ghana. In Chapter 3 a more general specification investigates intra-African variation in production, which is much smaller than the intercontinental difference. The pattern of cross-country heterogeneity is that, as GDP per capita rises, the relative input of materials falls, those of capital and labour rise and the returns to education increase. Differences in TFP are limited. Possible sources of the low returns to schooling in Ghana are investigated in Chapter 4 using earnings and production functions. Conditional upon selection into occupations, the only group of workers for whom education appreciably increases earnings are those employed in skilled jobs with more than ten years of education. The evidence is consistent with a lack of technological sophistication being the source of these low returns. Investment in new production processes by firms will increase the return to education and raise incomes and output. Reducing the share of intermediate inputs in production is key to the transition from low to high productivity activities. Technology is the critical element that can explain the performance of manufacturing firms across countries.

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