There has been considerable interest in finding and explaining the basic elements that can drive product quality up. In the literature this is largely done by modelling the effects of investing in learning and process improvement, and of cost reduction. In the first essay, demand is modelled as a function of price and quality. With this demand function, the firm should produce output of higher quality, the increase in quality being dependent on consumers’ sensitivity to quality and to price, and the effect of technological improvement on product price and quality are very different from those when the demand is a function of price alone. Some twenty states in the U.S. have passed recycling laws which mandate consumption of old newspaper by the newsprint industry. To study the effect of regulation, a model is used in which two firms compete under the regulatory constraint—one firm producing the recycled product, the other the virgin product. Assuming the regulatory constraint is binding, and the demand for the recycled product is derived solely from the legislation, interesting results such as the two firms share equal profits, and consumers pay higher average price in competitive equilibrium than the cartel price, are obtained in the second essay. The two firm model is generalized to include n firms which compete under the same kind of regulatory constraint in the third essay. Results similar to the two firm case are obtained. When the recycled product and the virgin product are partially substitutable, regulation that mandates consumption of the recycled product results in infinitely many equilibria. A dominating equilibrium exists if the demand parameters satisfy a certain condition, otherwise it is not clear how to select an equilibrium. On the other hand, a suitable tax on the virgin product, or its producer, serves to induce compliance with the recycling policy and equilibrium selection. The equilibrium prices and profits of the two firms under the schemes of production tax, excessive consumption tax and progressive profit tax are examined and compared in the fourth essay. It is interesting to find that the tax rate for excessive consumption is comparatively low and, in equilibrium, this tax scheme collects no tax payment.

It is commonly understood that the adoption and development of technological marketing capabilities by firms provides them with immense opportunities to transform their business practices and strategies, so as to strategically position themselves in the market and enhance firm performance. Nevertheless, little attention has, thus far, been given to the empirical investigation of the impact of adopting and developing the technological marketing on Porter‟s five competitive forces and firm performance of SMEs. The principal objective of this study was to fill this void by investigating the influence of the technological marketing on Porter‟s five competitive forces model (industry structure) of SMEs in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Secondarily, the study sought to determine the influence of technological marketing capability on firm performance of SMEs in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality; in order to ascertain whether or not the competitiveness of SMEs impacts on their firm performance; to determine whether or not SMEs adopt new and advanced technological capabilities when marketing their products/services and to examine whether or not SMEs adopt new and advanced technological capabilities in order to enhance their performance. The study employs a quantitative method in data collection. Sample data from 211 SME owners/managers in the retail and manufacturing sectors of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality was collected for the final data analysis of this project. The sample data was analysed by performing a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS 7 Statistical Analysis software. The principal finding of this study reveals that technological marketing has no significant impact on Porter‟s five forces. In addition, the results showed that technological marketing capability has a positive and significant influence on firm performance. The findings also revealed that SMEs adopt new and advanced technologies when marketing their products and services. The conclusions and implications of the research findings are provided and recommendations are suggested. The researcher recommended non technological strategies for improving SMEs‟ competitiveness and the following technological strategies to boost performance: creating a customer-centric e-commerce strategy, embracing outsourcing, joining e-business community and integrating information management into new marketing technologies. Strategies were also recommended to the government as the policy maker. These include introducing e-business finance arrangement, marketing hubs for SMEs and promoting synergies between technology vendor companies and the small enterprises. The study tried to address marketing technologies‟ policy deficiencies on the side of both SMEs and the government.

There has been considerable interest in finding and explaining the basic elements that can drive product quality up. In the literature this is largely done by modelling the effects of investing in learning and process improvement, and of cost reduction. In the first essay, demand is modelled as a function of price and quality. With this demand function, the firm should produce output of higher quality, the increase in quality being dependent on consumers’ sensitivity to quality and to price, and the effect of technological improvement on product price and quality are very different from those when the demand is a function of price alone. Some twenty states in the U.S. have passed recycling laws which mandate consumption of old newspaper by the newsprint industry. To study the effect of regulation, a model is used in which two firms compete under the regulatory constraint—one firm producing the recycled product, the other the virgin product. Assuming the regulatory constraint is binding, and the demand for the recycled product is derived solely from the legislation, interesting results such as the two firms share equal profits, and consumers pay higher average price in competitive equilibrium than the cartel price, are obtained in the second essay. The two firm model is generalized to include n firms which compete under the same kind of regulatory constraint in the third essay. Results similar to the two firm case are obtained. When the recycled product and the virgin product are partially substitutable, regulation that mandates consumption of the recycled product results in infinitely many equilibria. A dominating equilibrium exists if the demand parameters satisfy a certain condition, otherwise it is not clear how to select an equilibrium. On the other hand, a suitable tax on the virgin product, or its producer, serves to induce compliance with the recycling policy and equilibrium selection. The equilibrium prices and profits of the two firms under the schemes of production tax, excessive consumption tax and progressive profit tax are examined and compared in the fourth essay. It is interesting to find that the tax rate for excessive consumption is comparatively low and, in equilibrium, this tax scheme collects no tax payment. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate