Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 vii, 108 leaves / The South African nursery industry has faced many challenges over the last ten years. Excess in both demand and supply occur in any given year. The cost of maintaining a plant beyond its ideal ‘sell-by-date’ erodes profit and after time, results in complete wastage. The seedling nursery industry cannot afford to throw away large quantities of surplus seedlings or those that have become root-bound. The size of the wastage problem was unknown. It was believed that a website for trading surplus stock of seedlings might be the answer to the oversupply experienced by individual nurseries. The literature was consulted to establish what had made large companies successful. The advantages and disadvantages of E-business were investigated. / M

Thesis (M.B.A.)-Business Studies Unit, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005 vii, 108 leaves / The South African nursery industry has faced many challenges over the last ten years. Excess in both demand and supply occur in any given year. The cost of maintaining a plant beyond its ideal ‘sell-by-date’ erodes profit and after time, results in complete wastage. The seedling nursery industry cannot afford to throw away large quantities of surplus seedlings or those that have become root-bound. The size of the wastage problem was unknown. It was believed that a website for trading surplus stock of seedlings might be the answer to the oversupply experienced by individual nurseries. The literature was consulted to establish what had made large companies successful. The advantages and disadvantages of E-business were investigated.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Magister Technologiae: Human Resources Management, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / The purpose of this study was to investigate job satisfaction and employee performance at Stodels Retail Nurseries in the Western Cape. The main aim of the study was to determine the level of job satisfaction and its impact on employee performance. A quantitative methodological approach was used for collecting the data. The target population comprised of 122 employees at Stodels Retail Nurseries. A pre-coded close ended patented questionnaire was administered to the target population, using the survey method. There was a significantly high response rate of 100% which was largely due to the fact that the personal method was used for the administration of the questionnaire. The Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 for Windows was used for the statistical analysis. There were some significant findings that emerged from the empirical analysis and results. The majority of respondents (64%) generally experienced job satisfaction at Stodels Retail Nurseries and a significant number of respondents (52.5%) also expressed their dissatisfaction with pay, compensation and benefits. A moderate number of respondents (43%) expressed further dissatisfaction with the limited opportunities for promotions. This however, did not affect the level of employee performance significantly. The hypothesis tested revealed that there was no significant relationship between job satisfaction and employee performance. It was recommended that employees at Stodels Retail Nurseries should be kept constantly motivated to ensure that job satisfaction and employee performance levels are kept high. Top management of Stodels Retail Nurseries need to implement a programme to increase job satisfaction and employee performance as this may lead to the added benefits for sustaining and improving its success in the retail nursery sector. The study concluded with directions for further research as well. / M