A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Strategic Marketing Johannesburg, 2017 / Customer lifetime value (CLV) is important for all businesses. Increased customer lifetime value means increased profit, so it is in a company’s interest to increase customer lifetime value as much as possible through any appropriate methods. The relationship between post-purchase dissonance and customer lifetime value has not been explored in the studied literature but it has been found that, when dissonance is cause by a consumer’s experience of a product not living up to their expectations, loyalty decreases. This led the researcher to hypothesise a correlation between dissonance and customer lifetime value, which this study aimed to investigate. The research was conducted in the South African car industry and aimed to add the existing knowledge and, practically, to inform businesses whether taking action to decrease dissonance would have a significant positive effect on customer lifetime value, thereby better informing marketing strategies and budgets to have the most beneficial outcome. Using the data set of 116 respondents from around South Africa from a variety of age groups, the data collected was analysed to assess the potential relationships. / GR2017

M.Com in Development Theory & Policy, University of the Witwatersrand / South Africa’s industrial policy is fundamentally aimed at transforming the domestic economy into a labour-intensive growth path in order to create jobs (the dti, 2013a, p. 10). In pursuit of this aim the industrial policy takes a transversal approach to promote particular types of economic activity or particular economic sectors (the dti, 2013a, pp. 15-17; Zalk, 2014, p. 335). Using the case of the automotive sector, this study analyses the role played by the state and how institutional aspects of the industrial policy and investment promotion affected policymaking and the outcomes. The findings were that, due to incoherent institutional support and informational asymmetry, industrial policy has supported export growth in spite of the continued dependence on imports; and did not support employment, because it was biased towards OEMs and did not differentiate between the different categories of components according to job-creation potential. Institutional aspects of industrial policy-making and implementation then – not the ownership power of multinational corporations – has entrenched unequal power relations within the automotive value-chain, which undermines the broader socio-economic goals of industrial policy. Hence, due to both the policy measures and the institutional design South Africa’s industrial policy has not been oriented towards more labour-absorbing activities, especially in the impact on local components manufacturing. The result has been growth in exports with limited integration of local producers into the global value-chains of multinational OEMs, except in the case of vertically integrated multinational component producers, at the expense of local value-addition and job-creation. / MT2017

A research report submitted to the School of Governance, University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment (25%) of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management (Public and Development Management) Johannesburg, 2016 / Gender inequality persists in artisan employment in South Africa as males continue to outnumber females significantly in artisan employment and the trends point to highly gendered industry participation. Females who manage to enter artisan occupations in the highly gendered workplace are faced with historically ingrained attitudes of males towards females. Discriminatory practices, social norms and persistent stereotypes shape the females’ learning experience. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore the learning experiences of female artisans in the South Africa automotive industry, during the work-based phase of their apprenticeship. A qualitative exploratory research study approach was adopted using semi-structured face–to-face interviews. Fourteen female apprentices, learnership candidates and artisans were interviewed, including two industry training experts. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used. The findings revealed that the general experiences of the female participants were challenging. The quality of learning they received is not equal to that of their male counterparts and the workplace culture consists of prejudice, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, stereotypes and barriers to employment. Interestingly, the participants were uncritical of the experience of gender discrimination, although, they were very critical of racial discrimination. This suggests a need to conduct and create awareness sessions about gender discrimination in the industry for both genders. / MT 2017

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

This thesis examines the impact of shock therapy on the Polish economy, and within it, on the motor vehicle industry. It is argued that shock therapy has not proved satisfactory as a theory of economic transformation. The following reasons are provided:- ● Shock therapy fails to provide an adequate explanation of the collapse of the command economy. Its emphasis on problems being largely monetary, rather than structural, is misguided, as this leads to the erroneous conclusion that with a strong monetary and fiscal shock, increases in utility will ensue, despite a fall in real income. ● The above may partially explain why shock therapy has failed to satisfactorily predict the outcome of the reform programmes. The assumption of post-reform growth rates following the path of a "J-Curve" has not been borne in reality. The forecasts of various improvements after the first year of the Balcerowicz Programme in Poland were, with the exception of exports, highly inaccurate. By the end of 1993 (after four years of reforms), only one indicator (inflation) registered an improvement over the respective pre-reform level. There was, therefore, no "delayed positive response". It is argued that the major reason for the failure of shock therapy reforms is that the theory largely neglects the significance of market failures. In particular, sufficient consideration has not been given to the problems of information gaps, absence of capital markets, structural rigidities, investment coordination and high levels of risk and uncertainty, all of which constrain the ability of agents to effectively respond to a liberalised economic regime. The role of careful government intervention - to attempt to remedy market failures - has been undervalued. Failure to take appropriate measures with respect to market failures most important in transforming economies has led to unnecessary costs. The case study on the motor vehicle industry provided evidence that shock therapy's policy for microeconomic restructuring - trade liberalisation in conjunction with privatisation and FBI - has not proved successful, with the notable, but unusual exception of FSM. The severe recession, in combination with strong important competition, led to a slump in sales, output, and underutilisation of capacity; leading productivity to decline from already very low levels. With respect to enterprise restructuring, it was found that this was either slow, or largely neglected in all the main determinants of plant productivity considered, i.e., work organisation, high tech capabilities, supplier network, and the Just-in-time system. In regard to management-labour relations, it was found that both parties viewed these as having improved. However, severe "macro" problems frequently override the purportedly better relations at the micro level, so that considerable friction remains - which occasionally spill over into major disputes that act against the restructuring process. The industry has experienced a severe contraction in capacity utilisation and employment - a fact that is very much at odds with the government's wish to preserve the bulk of the industry. It is concluded that an industrial policy for the motor sector would have been more appropriate than the policy that has hitherto been used.

Honors Project--Smith College, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).

The research thesis reflects a positive improvement to the plant efficiency through strategic optimisation planning and controlling systems. It’s important to note that the set goals of the research were achieved, with total employee buy-in contributing to the success and sustainability of these improvements. Purposive sample methods allowed for the twenty employees from a total of 172, to be interviewed for both the pre and post testing. The paradigm of the research contributed to integrative communication between brainstorming and action. The efforts of the total workforce must be commended, for strategically aligning the organizational goals and objectives to realization. The content of the thesis, show a direct relationship between the plant optimisation and the increase in the production volumes. The understanding of the downtime reports for the period specified is a direct reflection to the improvement in quality, and the reduction of the overall poor workmanship graphs indicates positively to the reduction in cost. The last value driver, on-time delivery shows a vast improvement in maintaining the customer satisfaction, when considering the increase to the production volume capacity. These improvements have made further volume increases probable, and the understanding of Ikhwezi Trucktech management to negotiate with realized information for future capacity planning.

This research study addresses the problem of determining the strategies that can be used by Internal Audit at Volkswagen of South Africa to manage conflict effectively. To achieve this objective a comprehensive literature study was performed to determine the views on conflict and evaluate the various conflict models. The study also included the reasons for and sources of conflict and the effects of conflict on the performance and controls within VWSA. The identification of conflict management strategies and subsequent conflict management styles were revealed by the literature study. Various discussions from different authors on how to resolve conflict situations are also discussed. The literature review serves as a model in the development of a guideline for VWSA Internal Audit team and management to manage conflict. Senior Management, middle management and staff from various departments within VWSA were requested to complete a questionnaire in order to determine the strategies and effectiveness of these strategies used by Internal Audit to manage conflict. The questionnaire was developed in accordance with the findings from the research. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the relevance of the study to the problem questions and to evaluate whether the questionnaire will be easily understood. The answers of the respondents were analyzed and compared to the findings of the literature study. The information obtained from the literature study and from the respondents resulted in various recommendations and conclusions.

The underlying objective of the research is to assess the nature of the supplier training at Volkswagen of South Africa (VWSA). To achieve this objective, a theoretical study was conducted to establish what literature reveals to be the most important theory of supply chain management as well as supplier development geared towards lean manufacturing. The information obtained in the literature study was analysed to solve the main problem namely, an assessment of the nature of the supplier training at Volkswagen of South Africa (VWSA). The research was divided into two questionnaires: The first questionnaire is targeted at the suppliers. This questionnaire has two sections namely section A, the biographical data and section B attempts to determine the quality systems and manufacturing requirements. It further attempts to gauge training support and needs as compared to other OEM’s. The second questionnaire is targeted at the Supplier Development Manager. The aim of this questionnaire is to establish what the current training offerings are, the source of what VWSA teachers and the awareness of the Toyota Training College.

Thesis (MBA.) --University of Limpopo, 2019. / The study is carried out in order to evaluate the readiness of new car dealerships in Polokwane for the possible levying of carbon taxes. The study is set out to determine the level of understanding and knowledge of carbon taxes by the new car dealerships. With the continuous changing climate, the weather patterns have worsened and the resultant impacts seen through storms, hurricanes, droughts and floods, to name a few, around the globe. This has been as a result of the carbon emissions that has damaged the ozone layer. The ideology of the carbon instruments is that the emitters of carbon will divert to more environmentally friendly methods of running their operations. South Africa is one of the countries that has adopted to implement carbon taxes and the implementation began in 2010 within the motor vehicle industry. However, the motor vehicle industry does not seem to have prepared for the possible implementation of carbon taxes. With Polokwane being a developing city, the researcher aims to determine whether new car dealerships in the city of Polokwane were prepared for the implementation of the carbon taxes. The study was mainly qualitative and borrowed from quantitative methodology for data analysis. The total population amounted to 20 new car dealerships and a sample of 10 was selected for the purpose of the research. The evaluation of readiness was carried out by sampling of ten new car dealerships within Polokwane where a questionnaire was prepared and the participants requested to complete the questionnaire truthfully. The literature review considered prior research in relation to carbon emissions and carbon instruments. Some of the findings include identifying that there is still a gap in terms of knowledge and understanding of how carbon instruments work. However; if carbon instruments are correctly applied and implemented, provides for a good stimulation of economic growth. The laws and regulations around carbon tax still need to be refined to ensure that the desired outcomes are obtained.