The HIV/AIDS virus has been acknowledged as being the largest threat to developing countries with respect to economic and social issues. There is a large amount of information available with respect to causes, treatment, and generalities pertaining to HIV/AIDS. The information available is relevant to many different types of industries. There seems to be little information available on the HIV/AIDS programmes that companies are implementing to curb the effects that the virus is having on issues like the loss of skilled labour, the drop in productivity due to absenteeism, the decline in morale and the immensely high costs associated with training and recruitment. This study aims to look at the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS programmes in the motor industry and the perception of employees with regards to these programmes. The automotive industry is one of the key contributors to the wellbeing of the South African economy. The sustainability of the organisation relies heavily on the skill that the organisation has, and the ability of the organisation to carry this skill into the future. The data collection for this research was conducted via a web-based questionnaire using the online research programme Question Pro. All questions were close-ended. Some of the more important findings include that HIV/AIDS awareness needs to be promoted more strongly in the organisation. Succession planning was observed to be inadequate in the organisation. Another salient finding was that management needs to make it more evident to the workers that they are championing the HIV/AIDS initiatives within the company. The key recommendations are that management need to pay more attention to the concept of succession planning, and to encourage the workforce to participate in the community outreach programmes, as this has a positive effect on the macroeconomic outlook of the country. There are a number of companies in South Africa which do not conform to the appropriate level of HIV/AIDS programmes and further research should be undertaken to explore the deficiencies of these programmes and recommendations should be made based on the findings. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of History/Women's Studies, 1997. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 343-376).

Thesis (Ph.D.(Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Summaries in Afrikaans and English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.B.A. (Investec Business School))--Rhodes University, 2006. / A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Business Administration.

Automotive component manufacturers face significant competitive challenges in the global market and are constantly looking for means to improve their competitive advantage. Organisations then often acquire lean tools as an attractive option to achieve this. Research has however highlighted that the underlying “Lean Culture” is what is really necessary for organisations to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage. According to Rother (2010) lean implementation can be seen as a project or an initiation of an on- going development process where learning is taking place. This implementation implies a change in organisational culture from its existing state to a state where it reflects a lean culture. The literature review into Lean highlights the importance of establishing a Lean Culture. This research relied on an existing Lean Culture Causal Framework to assess cultural readiness for lean implementation at an automotive component manufacturer in Port Elizabeth (Company X). This was done utilising an empirical study which relied on an existing questionnaire associated with the said Lean Culture Causal Frame work. This Framework focuses on four broad categories of leadership actions; Awareness, Engagement, Consistency and Accountability.

There is an overwhelming body of literature that exist in the subject of employee engagement. More and more studies are still conducted in this phenomenon as it had proved to produce high returns for organisations when mastered.The universal definition of this concept has not been found, various scholars continue to provide different views on how it should be defined. These definitions however bear common themes such as energy, taking initiative, going an extra mile, being grossly involved in the task, organisational citizenship, involvement, satisfaction, connection and enthusiasm which are caused by a feeling of being taken care of by the employer. It is clear from these that there is a reciprocal relationship between employer and employee which is claimed to have a link to profits and staff retention; as a result employers are increasingly devising strategies to engage the employees in order to reap the said benefits. The purpose of this study is to facilitate employee engagement and staff retention a motor manufacturing company in the Eastern Cape. In order to archive that the study assessed the level of engagement of artisans by means of a questionnaire focusing on factors such as meaningful work, organisational culture, social relationships, rewards and recognition and career development as these are repeatedly identified in the literature as key drivers of employee engagement. An imperial study was done on these drivers as well as on the existing company engagement programs to identify the employee’s perception of their effectiveness. The result of the study proves that artisans of this company are engaged and that all the drivers above were confirmed to have influence employee engagement and staff retention. The study however the study found that there is a split on the effectiveness of the existing engagement programs in the company with only less than 50% saying they were effective. A strong relationship was found to exist between all the factors that were studied and employee engagement and staff retention.

Lean manufacturing provides a fundamental basis for competitiveness in the auto component sector. The implementation and sustainability of the lean philosophy are important aspects when deciding on the adoption of the lean concept within organisations. Various barriers to implementation present themselves during and after lean implementation. These barriers are often related and in some instances they may be converted from an impediment into an enabler of lean within companies. The impact of unions as a negative or positive influence forms a central focus of this research. The influences on the perception of unions and their constituents are studied in relation to other barriers in order to determine their relevance in the Eastern Cape auto sector. A research questionnaire was constructed in line with the selected research design. The application of triangulation in the research design allows for greater depth in the responses from the participants in this research. The quantitative analysis combined with the qualitative thematic analysis provides an excellent means to explore and understand these selected barriers to lean in great detail. It can be concluded that automotive trade unions in the Eastern Cape are a barrier to implementation; however the factor that influences lean the most is the incorrect perception of lean due to ineffective leadership practices among organisational and union leaders, among other barriers. The impact of unions on the acceptance of a lean culture has far-reaching implications for the auto sector that requires a specific implementation approach in order to change perceptions and gain the requisite interest alignment among unions and their constituents.

The automotive industry in South Africa exists in its current state due to the developmental programmes created by the South African government. During the next three years the government’s main development policy for the automotive industry will change from the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) to the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP). As a result of this change there were feelings of uncertainty experienced across the domestic automotive industry during the APDP’s design and the period leading up to its launch, more or less years 2008 to 2010. Also present is the fear that the industry would collapse when faced with global competition should this change not fully comprehend all aspects of South Africa’s automotive industry. The research problem addressed in this study was to determine the effect on the sector’s competiveness in light of the impending change in governmental development programmes. This was accurately explained and expressed clearly while sub problems were identified from areas in the main problem that required further analysis due to their criticality or lack of clarity. A comprehensive literature review was executed to understand the nature and extent of the South African automotive industry, the Motor Industry Development Programme and the Automotive Production and Development Programme. A primary research instrument was constructed, in the form of a questionnaire, to test specific themes exposed during the literature review which can influence the sector’s competitive advantage. This questionnaire was distributed with the assistance of industry representative bodies NAAMSA (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa, the domestic de facto representative body) and NAACAM (National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers, a component manufacturers’ representative body), to an even spread of respondents representative of the senior management and executives of automotive companies in South Africa. From the results obtained from the sample group, it seemed that there was consensus on many issues regarding the current structure of the South African automotive industry. Specifically, the profitability of vehicle assemblers and component manufacturers is heavily iii influenced by the incentives offered under the MIDP and the industry is not viable without them. The respondents were virtually unanimous in indicating that there is a need for some form of incentive programme and were positive about the effect the MIDP has had thus far on the automotive industry of South Africa, particularly the effect on the structure, focus and encouraging a reduction in complexity. The research found that it is common practice for OEMs to include the import duty on vehicles imported for domestic consumption even though this duty will be paid with the use of import-duty rebate credit certificates (IRCCs), which are provided to those vehicle assemblers who are net exporters of vehicles. Looking to the future, it emerged that the APDP will have a similar, positive effect on the domestic automotive industry when compared to the MIDP, but the effect will be experienced in a more aggressive manner. Companies will be encouraged by the new development programme to more aggressively improve aspects such as restructuring, rationalising, reducing model proliferation and improving low scale economies for example. Also the APDP will encourage OEMs to increase plant production volumes and ensure that reasonable scale economies are present to develop a domestic component supply industry to a degree. However, the volumes will be insufficient to create a world-class supplier industry. As a result automotive companies will have to be more aggressive in their adoption of more automated production processes and through Automotive Investment Scheme capital investment will increase in both vehicle assemblers and component manufacturers. Component manufacturers indicated that they would invest more in the coming years under the APDP than previously while vehicle assemblers indicated that their investment levels will remain as before. While this is good for the industry, labour is somewhat left out of this: considering the APDP’s focus on increased volumes and capital investments automotive companies are not incentivised to make use of labour-absorbing production processes. The study also found that there is still a need for tariff protection and that the domestic industry would collapse in the face of global competition. The research found that the APDP was compliant with South Africa’s commitments to the World Trade Organisation. Finally, the Department of Trade and Industry’s goal of producing 1.2 million vehicles per annum by 2020 was revealed to be unrealistic and unreachable.

The Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) was implemented on 1 September 1995 in the context of the country's political and economic liberalisation and the major structural shift in government policy and the trade regime. In an intensely competitive global environment, the strategies of a few dominant motor vehicle manufacturers, mainly operating from the Triad regions of North America, Europe and Japan, impact significantly on the developments of the global automotive industry. Over the past decade the small, highly protected and inwardly focused South African automotive industry has become fully integrated in the global strategies of foreign parent companies. As South Africa's leading manufacturing sector, the automotive sector is contributing significantly to the country's economy in terms of exports, investment, employment and the gross domestic product. The objective of the study was to establish and measure the relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool in the global automotive environment by capturing the responses and perceptions of direct automotive industry exporters and stakeholders for * the South African automotive industry in general, and * the companies forming part of the empirical survey. To satisfy the objectives of the study, the research methodology incorporated an extensive primary and secondary research phase (qualitative and quantitative). A structured empirical survey was used to collect the primary data. The survey data were captured and processed by the Bureau for Market Research (BMR), Unisa. The main findings of the study are that: * The promotional relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool is embedded in the programme's ability to trigger interest in the South African automotive industry, to generate business and to attract investments. * The MIDP is successful in contributing to the automotive sector's international competitiveness and is therefore a very important promotional tool for convincing foreign parent companies to consider South Africa as an investment destination. * The South African automotive industry would not be able to cope with global competition without the MIDP. * Different factors impact on the business operations of the South African automotive industry in general and the specific company in particular and the factors are viewed differently by the selected groups based on their demographic details. The process of trade liberalisation is forcing many South African companies to encounter both intensified competition and new forms of competition. The South African government's target of a 6 percent economic growth rate by 2010 will largely depend on the ongoing successes achieved in priority sectors such as the domestic automotive sector. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

Role-players in the South African automotive industry have responded positively to the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) policy regime. Since 1995, South African light motor vehicle manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers – OEMs) have become fully integrated into the global networks of their foreign parent companies. As South Africa‟s leading manufacturing sector, the increasing importance of the automotive sector is reflected in its exports, investments and contribution to the country‟s gross domestic product. The objective of this study was to analyse the impact of the MIDP on the export strategies of the South African light motor vehicle manufacturers (1995–2008). The main findings of the research are that, since 1995, the MIDP has been the primary factor impacting on the export strategies of South African OEMs. Without the programme, the industry would not have been able to cope with global competition. It is important to note that without the MIDP there would have been no significant growth in exports from South Africa. The research found that the country‟s trade arrangements with the EU and the USA have enhanced the impact of the MIDP. It was also found that, given South Africa‟s distance to foreign markets, the most important constraint when accessing these markets is the cost of logistics. In addition, the most important determinant of foreign-market pricing when setting the export price, aligned with the influence of the OEM parent companies, is costs relating to manufacturing, transportation and marketing. The role played by the MIDP in sourcing decisions is the most important factor that has contributed to an increase in light vehicle exports. Furthermore, the perceived level of influence when determining new export destinations would seem to be higher for the US-based and the Japanese-based OEMs than the European-based OEMs. The new Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP) (to be introduced in 2013), which aims to double vehicle production to 1,2 million units by 2020, will reflect a quantum leap in terms of processes, technologies and the scale on which the domestic industry currently operates. In order for the South African automotive industry to achieve both its and government‟s objectives it will require priority attention. / Business Management / D. Comm. (Business Management))