Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The South African government introduced the Supply Chain Management Framework in 2003, with a vision of creating a seamless system intended to play a critical role in service delivery to communities while achieving the objectives of cost-effectiveness, fairness, equity, transparency and ethics. This study focused on the impact of Supply Chain Management Policy Implementation in the Limpopo Office of the Premier. Qualitative data were collected, primarily in the form of semi-structured interviews using an interview schedule consisting of both closed and open-ended questions with the Chief Financial Officer, Director (SCM), Deputy Directors (Demand, Acquisition, Logistics and Inventory, Asset and Transport Management) and SCM nineteen SCM practitioners. These officials provided sufficient information concerning the effect of Supply Chain Management policy implementation in the Limpopo Office of the Premier. The study established that failure to implement SCM policy hurts service delivery. The effective implementation results in improved service delivery, whereas poor implementation results in the poor quality of service to the public, fraud and corruption, irregular and fruitless expenditures as well as negative departmental image.

This report is a qualitative analysis of consumption behaviour of high net worth individuals (HNIs) and the marketing channels that are effective in the high-end travel industry. The travel industry caters to a vast audience and it becomes important to understand a specific niche to serve the customers better. For products targeted exclusively towards the HNI segment, conventional mass marketing methods may not be the best or the most efficient ways to reach out to the target market. Mass marketing may result in lower perceived exclusivity and brand image of the company, and it may result in lower efficiency in terms of marketing costs when the target market is merely a small percentage of the total population. The study utilizes articles and theories on consumption behavior as well as marketing theories aimed towards HNIs in order to understand and analyse the data gathered during interviews. The report outlines the factors that influence the customer behavior and consumption practices in the high-end travel industry and based on their behavior outlines effective marketing channels that could be used in order to reach the customers. The major factors influencing customer behavior such as family influence, their motivations to travel, influence of friends and groups as well as their expectations were analyzed based on which effective marketing channels were found such as agents or agencies, popular magazines as well as social media. This report provides a comprehensive understanding of the importance of recognizing the influential behavioral factors in the HNI community in order to develop an effective marketing strategy to help the companies reach their customers better.

Research on Voluntary Information Disclosure (VID) has been of interest in several disciplines including, but not limited to, entrepreneurship, accounting, finance, law, and marketing. Although there has been extensive research on VID aimed at financial market investors, scant research in marketing exists on VID targeted at prospective business partners that can influence firm future performance significantly. Financial and marketing disclosures have been advocated for by investors and public policymakers as they mitigate the adverse selection problems between the firm and its stakeholders (e.g., investors, customers, and prospective channel partners). Managers are, however somewhat skeptical about its outcomes because of the cost of disclosures (i.e., ex-ante costs of collecting, processing and disseminating the information, ex-post costs of conflicts and litigations, competitive position and proprietary costs). My dissertation consists of three essays on voluntary disclosure of performance metrics in marketing channels and aims to enhance our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of such VIDs. The first essay examines the antecedents of ex-ante VID for standardized contracts in marketing channels. Prior literature in accounting, entrepreneurship, and marketing has investigated drivers of information disclosures to analysts, investors, and customers. Nonetheless, this study bridges the gap in examining why some firms disclose information to prospective channel partners when it cost them to do so and makes the firms vulnerable to competitors. If the disclosure is a signal of quality, we are also interested in knowing whether it is a substitute for other signals of quality or a complement. I draw on signaling and institutional theories to develop a theoretical framework and empirically test it through econometric analyses of multi-sector panel data for the U.S. franchising industry. The results suggest that firms (e.g., franchisors) make such disclosures to prospective business partners (e.g., franchisees) in order to signal profitability of partnering, to attract financial and managerial resources, and develop their entrepreneurial networks. This study contributes to signaling theory literature by investigating organizational quality signaling, providing empirical evidence for drivers of multiple signaling and shedding light on the conflicting views on substitutability or complementarity of multiple quality signals. The study has implications for managers who wish to attract potential business partners through signaling profitability of their business. Furthermore, there are some insights for regulators on the debate on making voluntary disclosures mandatory. The second essay examines the performance consequences of i) signaling through ex-ante voluntary disclosure of performance metrics and ii) screening through selection standards, in the formation stage of new partnerships in marketing channels. It is essential for many entrepreneurial business networks to expand their channel by attracting business partners while still preventing low-quality partners from joining the network. However, information asymmetry between the two parties introduces a double-sided adverse selection problem to the relationship. In other words, the heterogeneous quality - the ability to perform the job - of each party (i.e., the focal firm or the prospective partner) is unknown to the other party. To date, most of the empirical studies have addressed the issue from only one side, either from the perspective of the buyer or the supplier, and have assumed that the other side is open to the relationship. However, in a selective inter-firm relationship that both parties have the option to select the other party, adverse selection problems should be resolved for both of them to enhance the performance of the partnership. To bridge this gap in the literature (i.e., to mitigate double-sided adverse selection problems), I propose a novel framework based on signaling and transaction cost theories. This study suggests and empirically examines a complementary effect of the simultaneous use of signaling and screening on the firm performance. I integrate secondary data from various sources to shape a unique multi-sector panel data set that allows for assessment of the effects of these predictors on firm performance over time through a rigorous econometric model. Contrary to some claims in the extant literature, the results demonstrate that rigorous screening process hurts the firm performance unless it is combined with a proper quality signaling mechanism. This study contributes to the B2B marketing literature and provides implications for practitioners by shedding light on the performance implications of channel governance mechanisms such as signaling and screening. Further, it provides empirical support for the effects of B2B marketing strategies on firm sales revenue growth. The third essay looks closely into the voluntary disclosure of performance metrics. In the previous studies, the decision to disclose is operationalized as a binary variable of whether a firm discloses or not. In the absence of comprehensive regulation, disclosure strategies are subject to significant variation amongst firms, but can also vary over time within an individual firm. Through a content analysis of disclosure documents and scrutiny of the different components that comprise them, I explore the impact of disclosure content on firm performance. This study attempts to reconcile conflicting views of managers, investors, analysts, and regulators. On the one hand, VID should positively impact firm performance through mitigating information asymmetry. On the other hand, skeptical managers make the argument that VID negatively impacts a firm’s performance through costs of preparation, dissemination, potential litigation, and competition. Using a sample of publicly traded restaurant chains in the U.S., I empirically assess firm performance as a function of the disclosure strategy and its interactions with the firm’s characteristics and governance mechanisms. I collect independent variables from the firms’ disclosures through content analysis of public documents and obtain performance metrics of the firms in the stock market from Compustat. This study provides a novel context within which to investigate whether and how financial markets look at the firm’s disclosure behavior in dealing with its prospective channel partners, and it contributes to marketing-finance interface literature. My dissertation is positioned in the marketing strategy-entrepreneurship interface domain and is a multi-faceted study that looks at the phenomenon of VID from different angles and provides implications for several stakeholders. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Distribution channel strategy has a long-term effect on firm performance, is associated with considerable irreversible costs, and can constitute a sustainable asset and competitive advantage for firms. Information asymmetry among the distribution channel members has been known as the basis of opportunistic actions in such exchange relationships. My dissertation research investigates drivers and consequences of information disclosure strategies and is focused on the firms’ voluntary disclosure of performance metrics at the inter-firm relationship formation stage of developing marketing channels. This dissertation consists of three inter-related essays. In the first one, I study drivers of voluntary information disclosures to prospective channel partners. Then, I investigate the performance consequences of such disclosures and their interactions with channel governance mechanisms such as screening, in the second study. Since firms are heterogeneous in the content of their disclosures, in the third study, I conduct a content analysis of the firm’s disclosures to understand its influence on firm performance. Based on Organizational Economics theories and Institutional Theory, I develop my theoretical frameworks and test them empirically using archival data. The empirical context for my work is the franchising industry because it is the most common type of partner-based retail system and is a significant component of the US economy as well as other developed countries and emerging economies. The research findings offer both theoretical and practical implications for researchers and practitioners and contribute to the literatures on signaling and transaction cost theories as well as information disclosure and franchising.

Thesis (MAgricAdmin)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Transaction cost economics has travelled a difficult and long path to general acceptance in current economic opinion. The general theory of transaction cost has however developed in various paradigms with little or no empirical backing. It is mostly the difficulty of measurement that caused economists to shy away from empirical testing and rather, to quote Coase (1992), "to write in prose". The last 10 years there has been a renewed thrust for the empirical measurement of transaction cost. This study is an attempt to measure transaction cost by using case study data gathered in the run of the NOLIDEP study in the meat markets of the Northern Communal areas of Namibia. Until recently the method of data analysis that has been used in most empirical studies was variations of the regression technique. Regression as a tool is most useful in economics, giving quick answers and general trends to the researcher. It is however a technique that is linear in nature and therefore some information in the data will always be sacrificed. In general- and multi industry surveys this do not pose a great problem as general trends can usefully be applied in making policy recommendations. In smaller and especially rural industries this is not the case. The dynamic interactions within the industry and its dynamic linkages with the rest of the economy will surely be underrated when using a linear method. Consequently, a non-linear technique was applied in this study - the Non-linear Dynamic Model. This model gave the interactions between all variables enabling one to describe the dynamics of the market. As mentioned elsewhere the first aim of this study was to measure transaction cost so that the second aim could be fulfilled. The second aim of this study was to prove that transaction cost has an important influence on marketing channel decision. The analysis of the data satisfied the above two aims: Firstly it showed that it was possible to measure transaction cost. Secondly that transaction cost has a large and sometimes overriding influence on marketing channel decisions. A third and last point that became apparent was that a non-linear method of data analysis allows for better description of a dynamic market. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit het 'n lang tyd gevat vir transaksie koste om as konsep in ekonomie aanvaar te word. Die algemene teorie van transaksie koste het egter ontwikkel binne verskeie paradigmas sonder werklike empiriese ondersteuning. Dit is meestal die meting van transaksie koste wat empiriese werk in die rigting belemmer het. Daar is egter in die laaste 10 jaar hernude pogings gewees om transaksie koste empiries te meet. Hierdie studie is 'n poging om transaksie koste te meet deur gebruik te maak van data wat verkry is gedurende die NOLIDEP studie in die noordelike kommunale gebiede van Namibia. Tot onlangs was die metode van data analise vir empiriese studies variasies op die regressie tegniek. As 'n hulpmiddel is regressie baie bruikbaar in ekonomie waar vinnige antwoorde en algemene tendense verwag word. Die tegniek is egter inhirent liniêr en daarom sal daar altyd interpretasies rondom data opgeoffer word. In algemene studies is dit egter nie 'n probleem nie en kan voldoende beleids aanbevelings gedoen word. Dit is egter nie die geval in kleiner en plantelandse industriëe nie. Die dinamiese interaksies binne die industrie en die dinamiese skakels met die res van die ekonomie word dan onderskat met die gebruik van 'n liniêre metode. Daarom is 'n nie-liniêre metode gebruik, die Non-linear Dynamic Model. Die model neem die interaksie tussen veranderlikes in ag wat die beskrywing van dinamika moontlik maak. Soos reeds genoem is die eerste doel van die studie om transaksie koste te meet sodat die tweede doelwit van die studie bereik kan word. Die tweede doel is om te bewys dat transaksie koste bemarkingskanaai besluite bëinvloed. Die data analise het beide bogenoemde doelwitte bevredig. Eerstens dat transaksie koste meetbaar is. Tweedens dat transaksie koste 'n groot en selfs oorweldigende effek het op bemarkingskanaai besluite. 'n Derde punt wat sterk na vore gekom het is dat nie-liniêre metodes 'n beter beskrywing van dinamika toelaat.

The purpose of this research was to conduct an exploratory study of the information processing utilized by incubator-housed manufacturers during channel member selection. The study included the evaluation of the decision models used by the manufacturers as well as criteria used in the selection process. The study was specifically designed to achieve the following objectives. First, the research was to identify the evaluation modes used by the manufacturers as either compensatory or noncompensatory. Second, the study was to evaluate the effect of the task on the selection of the evaluation model(s) used during the channel member selection process. Third, the study was to evaluate the effect of the selected decision strategy on the amount of information used during the decision process. Finally, the study was to identify and examine the importance of the criteria used by the manufacturers in the selection process. The methodology in this study consisted of primary research using protocol analysis as the main data gathering technique. A ranking instrument was also mailed to the respondents prior to the protocol session. The population for the study was identified as all manufacturers located in publicly-sponsored business incubators. A total of 235 incubators were in existence with approximately 47 percent of them being publicly-sponsored. Approximately 42 percent of the incubators house at least one manufacturing firm. It was estimated that there were approximately 46 manufacturing firms located in public incubators. A sample of six was used in this study. The statistical analysis included frequencies, cross tabulations, correlations, paired comparisons, and measures of association. The findings of this study suggest that the incubator-housed manufacturers' choice of evaluation models was not affected by the task nor did the selected strategy influence the amount of information used by the manufacturers. The findings indicate a need for further research to evaluate the relationships brought forth in this study. Based on the conclusions and findings of this study, recommendations for further research were given.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:33:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nilza_Aparecida_dos_Santos_Siqueira.pdf: 992313 bytes, checksum: 97a3bf8961129952babbee21e53890c2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2002-10-07 / The channels of marketing or distribution, that can be seen as an open system formed by a set of interdependent, involved companies in the process to become a product available for use or consumption, if well chose and managed they can be considered as source of competitive advantage to the companies. The present work is focused on the study of the channels of marketing as sustainable competitive strategy for the Brazilian nourishing industry. Being highlighted the results got through the change of distribution channel, with substitution of the proper force of sales for deliverers and by the formation of strategical alliances firmed between the industry and its intermediate, for the rank of the product in the retail market. The research was of exploratory nature, with bibliographical revision on channels of distribution, competitive advantage and on the basis of a study of case in a company of the nourishing branch. The conclusive data on the case study had been collected in internal reports of the organization and carried through discursive interviews with employees who had worked in the searched company, in the period whom they had occurred to the alterations in its channels of distribution. It was verified that, in the case of the searched company, the substitution of its proper sales forces for deliverers, resulted in an increase of the numerical distribution, with bigger covering of the market, considerable increase of the sales volume and making profits of the sales of the products, besides the strengthening of the mark and of the company valuation. / Os canais de marketing ou distribui????o, que podem ser vistos como um sistema aberto formado por um conjunto de empresas interdependentes, envolvidas no processo de tornar um bem dispon??vel para uso ou consumo, desde que bem escolhido e administrado podem ser considerados como fonte de vantagem competitiva ??s empresas. O presente trabalho est?? voltado ao estudo dos canais de marketing como estrat??gia competitiva sustent??vel para a ind??stria aliment??cia brasileira. Destacando-se os resultados obtidos atrav??s da mudan??a de canal de distribui????o, com substitui????o da for??a de venda pr??pria por distribuidores e da forma????o de alian??as estrat??gicas firmadas entre a ind??stria e seus intermedi??rios, para a coloca????o do produto no mercado de varejo. A pesquisa foi de natureza explorat??ria, com revis??o bibliogr??fica sobre canais de distribui????o, vantagem competitiva e com base em um estudo de caso em uma empresa do ramo aliment??cio. Os dados conclusivos sobre o estudo de caso foram coletados em relat??rios internos da organiza????o e em entrevistas discursivas realizadas com funcion??rios que trabalharam na empresa pesquisada no per??odo que ocorreram as altera????es em seus canais de distribui????o. Verificou-se que no caso da empresa pesquisada a substitui????o da sua for??a de vendas pr??pria por distribuidores resultou em aumento da distribui????o num??rica, com maior cobertura do mercado, aumento consider??vel do volume de vendas e gera????o de lucros na venda dos produtos, al??m de fortalecimento da marca e valoriza????o da empresa.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-07-07T14:49:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexsander Canaparro da Silva.pdf: 655420 bytes, checksum: 0a4a34fe1ed98642d0c0e012c1799fcd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-07T14:49:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexsander Canaparro da Silva.pdf: 655420 bytes, checksum: 0a4a34fe1ed98642d0c0e012c1799fcd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-31 / Nenhuma / A indústria brasileira de calçados é parte de um cenário onde a maioria das empresas pertencentes ainda tem suas estratégias fundamentadas na incerteza do sucesso de novos produtos, uma vez que está intimamente relacionada à moda implicando assim mudanças constantes nas coleções. Entretanto, observa-se que algumas empresas buscam desenvolver estratégias que visam uma maior perenidade e, ao mesmo tempo, impõem maior dificuldade em ser seguidas pelos concorrentes, por exemplo, as relacionadas aos canais de distribuição. A intensidade de distribuição é um elemento chave nas estratégias de canal, na medida em que determina como as empresas alcançam e servem seus mercados alvo. Diante disso, fundamentado nos modelos teóricos encontrados na literatura sobre canais de distribuição, busca-se investigar, através de estudo de caso na empresa Grendene S.A., Quais são os fatores que influenciaram a intensidade da distribuição. O estudo tem por objetivos específicos analisar o nível de diversificação dos canais de marketing, bem como as estratégias e fatores que impactaram na intensidade da distribuição; e analisar quais os tipos de conflito no canal e suas implicações. Para tanto, foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa exploratória, cuja coleta de dados primários ocorreu através de entrevistas semiestruturadas em profundidade e através de observação participante, como técnica auxiliar. Os resultados encontrados mostram que diferentes estratégias foram implementadas pela empresa com o intuito de intensificar a distribuição dos produtos por ela comercializados e destacam a forma como ocorre esse processo - na medida em que a empresa está presente em diversos canais, mas não necessariamente através da sua equipe de representantes. Em relação aos antecedentes da intensidade da distribuição, as análises apontam para seis elementos: concorrência, marca, produto, estrutura, cultura e porte da empresa. Por fim, foram identificados os conflitos existentes no canal de distribuição, bem como suas implicações. / The Brazilian shoes industry is part of a scenario where most of the companies from this industry still has its strategies based on the (uncertainty of) success of new products, since it is a sector closely related to fashion, implying on constant changes in collections. However, it seems that some companies try to develop strategies aiming to achieve greater continuity while imposing greater difficulty for being followed by competitors – such as those related to distribution channels. The distribution intensity is a key element in the channel strategies, since it determines the extent to which these companies reach and serve their target markets. Therefore, based on the theoretical models existing in literature on distribution channels, we seek to investigate – through a case study at Grendene SA – what are the factors that influenced the distribution intensity. The study aims to analyze the diversification levels of marketing channels, as well as the strategies and factors that have impacted on the intensity of distribution. Moreover, it analyses what kind of conflicts that are found in the channel, as well as its implications. To that end, an exploratory research was developed based on primary data collection through semi-structured in depth interviews and through a complementary round of participant observation. The results show that different strategies were implemented by the company in order to enhance its products distribution. It also highlights how this process takes place – to the extent that the company is present in several channels, but not necessarily through its own team of representatives. Regarding the factors that influenced the distribution intensity, the analysis points to six elements: competition, brand, product, structure, culture and company size. Finally, the channel conflicts were identified, as well as its implications.

Cette recherche vise à comprendre la gouvernance des relations interorganisationnelles dans le cadre spécifique de la distribution automobile en France. Une analyse de l’environnement économique et juridique permet de contextualiser la recherche et met en exergue les externalités qui s’exercent sur les acteurs du secteur. La revue de littérature, fondée sur une approche qui s’appuie à la fois sur les théories des organisations et les théories du canal, met en lumière les variables économiques et comportementales de la relation entre les partenaires. Nous croisons ces visions avec l’approche ressources et compétences. L’ensemble nous permet de construire un cadre intégrateur de la relation entre les constructeurs automobile et leurs réseaux de concessionnaires. La démarche qualitative adoptée dans une perspective interprétativiste s’appuie sur soixante-cinq entretiens qui ont été retranscrits intégralement afin de fournir la matière à une analyse de contenu. Les résultats de la recherche permettent dans un premier temps de souligner le rôle clé du concept de pouvoir dans cette relation. Ensuite, nous démontrons comment la stratégie d’enracinement suivie par les constructeurs leur a permis à la fois, d’ancrer leur pouvoir en configurant le cadre juridique de la relation et de le renforcer en pilotant les allocations de ressources de leurs partenaires concessionnaires. Enfin, nous concluons en montrant que le système actuel pourrait être revisité à la faveur d’une nouvelle démographie des réseaux. / The present study intends to provide further clarity on interorganizational relationships within the car retail business in France. The analysis of the economic and legal frame aims at defining the current business environment and stress out the importance of the various outside forces that may influence the market players. A thorough review of the related literature, focusing on organization theory and marketing channel theory, highlights the different variables, either economic or customer behavior related , that impact the business relationships. This approach will be completed by a resource-based analysis. The overall study contributes to draw a complete picture of interdependencies between car makers and car dealers.The qualitative approach is based on a series of sixty-five interviews that have been transcribed in their entirety in order to provide material to this content. As a first outcome of the analysis, the study points out the key role played by power in the interactions between firms. In a second step, the analysis demonstrates how the entrenchment strategy embraced by car makers has enabled them to establish their dominance by reshaping the legal frame of the business interactions, and how it has permitted them to strengthen their negotiation power by becoming the driving force of the resources allocation process followed by the distributors. In a final section, the study shows how the current business model may evolve as new perspectives related to retail network concentration may open.

University of Macau / Faculty of Business Administration / Department of Management and Marketing

Problemformulering: Föredrar konsumenter att ekologiska livsmedel marknadsförs ur ett hälsosamt perspektiv? Är hälsa en faktor som gör att konsumenter finner ekologiska livsmedel prisvärt? Genom vilka marknadsföringskanaler vill konsumenter få information om ekologiska livsmedel? Syfte: Studien ämnar undersöka om konsumenter föredrar att marknadsföringen av ekologiska livsmedel kommuniceras ur ett hälsoperspektiv av företag inom detaljhandeln och om detta hälsoperspektiv gör att konsumenter finner ekologiska livsmedel prisvärda. Vidare ämnar studien undersöka vilka marknadsföringskanaler konsumenter föredrar få information om ekologiska livsmedel. Metod: För att besvara studiens syfte och problemformuleringar har en kvantitativ metod för datainsamling med fokus på en enkätundersökning använts. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar på att majoriteten av konsumenterna anser att ekologiska livsmedel innebär hälsa samt påverkar eller skulle påverka dem att konsumera ekologiska livsmedel. Ekologiska livsmedel anses prisvärda när det berör respondenternas egna eller andras hälsa. De föredrar att få information om ekologiska livsmedel via TV, tidning, kampanjer samt sociala medier. Marknadsförare bör därför prioritera hälsa i dess marknadsföring av ekologiska livsmedel.