This research was motivated by the lack of systems and methodologies in the automotive retail business sector to adequately monitor and analyse prospective customers' behaviours as a basis for developing sales. The objective of this research was to determine if lead scoring would indeed represent a good investment of time and resources for Barloworld Motor Retail. The real value for Barloworld Motor Retail is in the proven methodology for properly managing leads and the sales process. Lead scoring should have sales teams more focused because of the qualified opportunities. The sales cycle can also be efficiently managed from introduction to closure. What is Lead Scoring? In short, lead scoring identifies or measures the value of a lead to determine to which extent a lead could result in a sale. The aim of the lead scoring process is to gather as much information as possible from the prospective customer. Once information has been acquired, it is important to hand over the hot leads to sales while the warm and cold leads remain with marketing to be nurtured. A lead is a potential customer who wants to learn more about what a company has to offer, and who has acknowledged having a requirement or need that a company could help satisfy. Where this position is coupled with elements of the ideal or desired customer profile, a meaningful lead definition emerges. When a salesperson receives a lead as depicted in Figure 1, the decision must be made as to whether to promote the lead into an opportunity or recycle it back to marketing. The crucial determination would be whether the prospect is ready to enter a buying cycle, or not. Figure 1 also illustrates the lead scoring "evaluation" process. The researcher used the Barloworld Automotive www.mywheels.co.za Webpage to obtain information for this research project. The results obtained from this measurement were compared with the results obtained from other marketing initiatives and practices in the automotive industry to describe the value of lead scoring. This research is undertaken under two main headings, namely marketing and evaluating a lead management system by introducing lead scoring. In reference to marketing, Albee (2010) says that lead scoring is based on marketing that can automate the ability to know exactly when the leads in the nurturing program are sales ready and then transition them to the sales force without delay. Chekitan and Schultz (2005), introduced the notion of SIVA which stands for Solution, Information, Value, and Access. This is basically the four p's of the marketing mix, namely product, promotion, price and placement Kotler (2000) renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus. Marketing managers use this model to generate the best possible response from the target market by blending four or more combinations in the best way. The elements of the marketing mix are all controllable variables. The marketing mix can be adjusted on a frequent basis to meet the changing needs of the target market and the other dynamics of the marketing environment. The study of internet consumer behaviour is a fundamental part of the gathering of information related to lead scoring. To an extent it is also relevant to the formulation of a leads nurturing model that will positively influence buyer perceptions and help to trigger the purchase decision. With regard to the purchasing of motor vehicles, consumers will seldom make a purchase decision without personal exposure by way of sensory explanation (look, feel and touch). Internet marketing connects the physically remote consumer with the product benefits through a process of abstract positioning, and focuses on obtaining "hits" from consumers who are competent and enabled to make a positive purchase decision. Internet marketing refers to the strategies that companies use to market their products or services online. The marketing concept remains the guiding concept for companies wishing to design and implement an effective leads scoring system. Lead scoring is the process that involves the following activities: • Lead identification; • Lead collection and consolidation; • Predictive analysis of lead scoring; • Lead nurturing; • Lead distribution.

Abstract Requirements engineering (RE) is an important process in systems development. This research was carried out in the context of Very Large-Scale Requirements Engineering (VLSRE) within the scope of a requirement screening (RS) process. The RS process is defined as a front-end process for screening incoming requests, which are received in a constant flow. The goal of the RS process is to efficiently identify the most promising requests for further analysis, development and implementation while filtering out non-valuable ones as early as possible. The objective of this study was to understand the challenges related to the RS process and develop solutions to address those challenges. A qualitative research approach was utilised to achieve the research goals. The overall research process follows an action research method, in which each action research cycle includes at least one individually defined and executed case study. Action research and case studies are research methods that are well suited to studying real-life phenomena in their natural settings. This research was carried out in two case companies in the information and communication technology domain. Data from 45 interviews were analysed for preparing publications I–V, which are included in this thesis. In addition, during the longitudinal action research study described in this thesis, data from 26 interviews and 132 workshops were utilised to develop solutions for the RS process, which is an industrial implementation of the VLSRE process. The conducted action research contributes to the field of software engineering, in which such research efforts are currently lacking. This research has identified a number of significant challenges that different stakeholders face related to requirements processing and decision making in the VLSRE context. Examples of these challenges are the great number of incoming requirements, the lack of information for decision making and the feasibility of utilised tools. To address the identified challenges, a requirements architecting method was developed. The method includes a dynamic requirement template, which gathers structured information content for eliciting requests, documenting and communicating requirements and forming features while considering the needs of different stakeholders. The method was piloted, validated and deployed in industry. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimus toteutettiin laajamittaisen vaatimusmäärittelyprosessin kontekstissa keskittyen vaatimusten seulontaprosessiin. Vaatimusten seulontaprosessi määritellään tuotekehityksen alkuvaiheen prosessiksi, jossa käsitellään jatkuvana vuona tulevia kehityspyyntöjä. Vaatimusten seulontaprosessissa pyritään tunnistamaan tehokkaasti lupaavimmat pyynnöt jatkoanalyysiä, tuotekehitystä ja toteutusta ajatellen sekä suodattamaan pois niin aikaisessa vaiheessa, kun mahdollista ne pyynnöt, joilla ei ole arvontuotto-odotuksia. Tutkimuksen tavoite oli ymmärtää haasteita, jotka liittyvät vaatimusten seulontaprosessiin sekä kehittää ratkaisuja näihin haasteisiin. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin laadullisen tutkimuksen menetelmiä. Kokonaisuutena tutkimusprosessi noudattaa toimintatutkimuksen periaatteita siten, että jokainen sykli tai sen vaihe sisältää yhden tai useamman itsenäisesti määritellyn tapaustutkimuksen suunnittelun ja läpiviennin. Valitut tutkimusmenetelmät soveltuvat hyvin tilanteisiin, joissa tutkimuskohteina ovat reaalimaailman ilmiöt niiden luonnollisissa ympäristöissä havainnoituina. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin kahdesta informaatio- ja kommunikaatioteknologia-alan kohdeorganisaatiosta. Väitöskirjaan sisällytettyihin julkaisuihin I-V on analysoitu 45 haastattelun aineisto. Näiden lisäksi väitöskirjassa kuvatun pitkäkestoisen toimintatutkimuksen aikana hyödynnettiin 26 haastattelun ja 132 työpajan aineistoa kehitettäessä ratkaisuja vaatimusten seulontaprosessin haasteisiin. Vaatimusten seulontaprosessi on laajamittaisen vaatimusmäärittelyprosessin teollinen toteutus. Tutkimuksessa tunnistettiin useita merkittäviä haasteta, joita eri sidosryhmillä on liittyen vaatimusten seulontaprosessiin ja päätöksentekoon laajamittaisessa vaatimusmäärittelyprosessissa. Vaatimusten suuri määrä, päätöksentekoon tarvittavan tiedon puute ja käytössä olevien työkalujen soveltumattomuus ovat esimerkkejä tunnistetuista haasteista. Ratkaisuna haasteisiin kehitettiin vaatimusten seulonta- ja analyysimenetelmä. Kehitetty menetelmä sisältää dynaamisen vaatimusdokumentin, jonka avulla voidaan kerätä kehityspyyntöjen tietosisältö jäsennellysti, dokumentoida ja kommunikoida vaatimukset sekä muodostaa niistä tuotteisiin toteutettavia ominaisuuksia ottaen huomioon eri sidosryhmien tarpeet. Kehitetty menetelmä on koestettu, validoitu ja soveltuvin osin otettu käyttöön teollisuudessa.

Abstract Products and services are critical for companies as they create the foundation for companies’ financial success. Twenty per cent of company products typically account for some eighty per cent of sales volume. Nevertheless, the product portfolio decisions — how to strategically renew company product offering — tend to involve emotions, pet products and who-shout-the-loudest mentality while facts, numbers, and quantitative analyses are missing. Profitability is currently measured and reported at a company level, and firms seem unable to measure product-level profitability in a constant way. Consequently, companies are unable to maintain and renew their product portfolio in a strategically or commercially balanced way. The main objective of this study is to provide a data-driven product portfolio management (PPM) concept, which recognises and visualises in real-time and based on facts which company products are concurrently strategic and profitable, and what is the share of them in the product portfolio. This dissertation is a qualitative study to understand the topical area by the means combining literature review, company interviews, observations, and company internal material, to take steps towards data-driven decision-making in PPM. This study indicates that company data assets need to be combined and governed company-widely to realise the full potential of company strategic assets — the DATA. Data must be governed separately from business IT technology and beyond it. Beyond data and technology, the data-driven company culture must be adopted first. The data-driven PPM concept connects key business processes, business IT systems and several concepts, such as productization, product lifecycle management and PPM. The managerial implications include, that the shared understanding of the company products is needed, and the commercial and technical product structures are created accordingly, as they form the backbone of the company business as the skeleton to gather all product-related business-critical information for product-level profitability analysis. Also, product classification for strategic, supportive and non-strategic is needed, since the strategic nature of the product can change during the entire product lifecycle, e.g. due to the technology obsolescence, disruptive innovations by competitors, or for any other reason. / Tiivistelmä Tuotteet ja palvelut ovat yrityksille kriittisiä, sillä ne luovat perustan yritysten taloudelliselle menestykselle. Kaksikymmentä prosenttia yrityksen tuotteista edustaa tyypillisesti noin kahdeksaakymmentä prosenttia myyntimääristä. Siitä huolimatta tuoteporfoliopäätöksiin — kuinka strategisesti uudistetaan yrityksen tuotetarjoomaa — liittyy tunteita, lemmikkituotteita ja kuka-huutaa-kovimmin -mentaliteettia faktojen, numeroiden ja kvantitatiivisten analyysien puuttuessa. Kannattavuutta mitataan ja raportoidaan tällä hetkellä yritystasolla, ja yritykset eivät näyttäisi pystyvän mittaamaan tuotetason kannattavuutta johdonmukaisesti. Tämä estää yrityksiä ylläpitämästä ja uudistamasta tuotevalikoimaansa strategisesti tai kaupallisesti tasapainoisella tavalla. Tämän tutkimuksen päätavoite on tarjota dataohjattu (data-driven) tuoteportfoliohallinnan konsepti, joka tunnistaa ja visualisoi reaaliajassa ja faktapohjaisesti, mitkä yrityksen tuotteet ovat samanaikaisesti strategisia ja kannattavia ja mikä on niiden osuus tuoteportfoliossa. Tämä väitöskirja on laadullinen tutkimus, jossa yhdistyy kirjallisuuskatsaus, yrityshaastattelut, havainnot ja yritysten sisäinen dokumentaatio, joiden pohjalta pyritään kohti dataohjautuvaa päätöksentekoa tuoteportfolion hallinnassa. Tämä tutkimus osoittaa, että yrityksen data assettit on yhdistettävä ja hallittava yrityksenlaajuisesti, jotta yrityksen strategisten assettien — DATAN — potentiaali voidaan hyödyntää kokonaisuudessaan. Data on hallittava erillään yrityksen IT-teknologiasta ja sen yläpuolella. Ennen dataa ja teknologiaa on omaksuttava dataohjattu yrityskulttuuri. Dataohjatun tuoteportfolionhallinnan konsepti yhdistää keskeiset liiketoimintaprosessit, liiketoiminnan IT-järjestelmät ja useita konsepteja, kuten tuotteistaminen, tuotteen elinkaaren hallinta ja tuoteportfolion hallinta. Yhteisymmärrys yrityksen tuotteista ja sekä kaupallisen että teknisen tuoterakenteet luominen vastaavasti on ennakkoedellytys dataohjatulle tuoteportfolion hallinnalle, koska ne muodostavat yrityksen liiketoiminnan selkärangan, joka yhdistää kaikki tuotteisiin liittyvät liiketoimintakriittiset tiedot tuotetason kannattavuuden analysoimiseksi. Lisäksi tarvitaan tuotteiden kategorisointi strategisiin, tukeviin ja ei-strategisiin tuotteisiin, koska tuotteen strateginen luonne voi muuttua tuotteen elinkaaren aikana, johtuen esimerkiksi teknologian vanhenemisesta, kilpailijoiden häiritsevistä innovaatioista tai mistä tahansa muusta syystä.

Companies in commoditised marketplaces such as the fresh milk market in the Western Cape are seeking ways to improve sales and increase their market shares relative to the competition. This study explored differentiation as a viable competitive strategy in the Western Cape fresh milk market to increase market share and drive brand preference. Using telephonic interviews to administer a structured questionnaire to a randomly selected sample of 300 respondents, the study undertook to identify Western Cape milk consumers’ procurement behaviour, the attributes that consumers look for when selecting fresh milk and their selection criteria when choosing between fresh milk brands. The study found that nine attributes influenced the consumer’s choice of fresh milk brand, with price, consistency of taste, consistency of colour and expiry date being the most important. Brand attributes such as the company image, environmental concerns, company location, animal welfare and packaging played a less prominent role, but were also considered by consumers when selecting a brand of fresh milk. The study concluded that while price was the overriding decision-making variable, a differentiation strategy based on the nine identified attributes, or a subset thereof, will influence consumer procurement behaviour and potentially sway consumer preference. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on differentiation as a competitive strategy and specifically applies it to the Western Cape fresh milk market. / Marketing and Retail / M. Com. (Marketing and Retail Management)

Direct-to-consumer genomics (DTCG) health testing offers great promise to humanity, however to date adoption has lagged as a result of consumer awareness, understanding, and previous government regulations restricting DTCG companies from providing information on an individual's genetic predispositions. But in 2017 the broader DTCG market which also includes genealogical testing demonstrated exponential growth, implying that DTCG is starting to diffuse as an innovation. To better understand the sociocultural forces affecting diffusion, adoption, and satisfaction, qualitative ethnographic research was conducted with DTCG genealogy and health consumers. The data was qualitatively analyzed using thematic analysis to understand the similarities and differences in beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and mediating factors that have influenced consumers. Design anthropology theory and methods were used to produce ethnographically informed insights. The insights were then translated into actionable product management and business strategy recommendations.

For smaller niche companies in an oligopoly market to survive and grow, they need to focus on either having unique products and/or unique, more efficient internal processes compared to their larger competitors. One possible success factor for these smaller companies is to exploit the business potential found in an increasingly digitalized world. To fully utilize this potential, it is necessary for companies to ensure that their business models and strategies include performing a digital transformation as one of their key focus areas. This study focuses on the benefits that a company can derive from creating a digitalized back-end product management system that is integrated with a front-end, online user interface. The two research questions answered in this study are related to the interrelationship between business model and strategy and the creation of a digitalized product management system. In order to answer these questions, two case studies of three smaller, niche companies operating on the Swedish oligopoly markets of telecommunication and power distribution were performed. Interviews were held with representatives from these companies and the results of the interviews were coded by utilizing a Research Framework created for this study. The Research Framework was created based on the performed literature review including the dynamic capabilities concept that encompasses a company’s ability to sense, seize and transform itself to create a successful business model. The results of the case studies showed the benefits of digitalization in designing and utilizing a product management system that is integrated with a front-end user interface. Such an integrated platform should support in achieving increased customer satisfaction, as customers increasingly expect their suppliers to have a platform that enables them to online make their product choices, administrate their own accounts and retrieve historical data. This is part of a societal trend that smaller niche companies can utilize in their business model and strategy to in an agile manner meet the competition from their larger competitors. Besides increasing customer satisfaction, a well designed, digitalized product management system integrated with an online user interface makes it possible to decrease the need for manual administrative processes. This results in an increase in efficiency and reduced costs within a company or gives the employees the opportunity to focus on more value added activities. In this manner, the product management system has shown to be an important bridge between customers, product offerings, internal business management processes and a company’s business model and strategy. / För att mindre nischföretag på en oligopolmarknad ska kunna överleva och växa måste de fokusera på att ha unika produkter och/eller unika, effektivare interna processer jämfört med sina större konkurrenter. En möjlig framgångsfaktor för dessa mindre företag är att dra fördel av den affärspotential som finns i en alltmer digitaliserad värld. För att fullt ut kunna utnyttja denna potential är det nödvändigt för företag att se till att deras affärsmodell och strategi inkluderar att genomföra en digital omvandling som ett av dess viktigaste fokusområden. Denna studie fokuserar på de fördelar som ett företag kan få av att skapa ett digitaliserat produkthanteringssystem som är integrerat med ett online kundanvändargränssnitt. De två forskningsfrågorna som besvaras i denna studie är relaterade till sambandet mellan affärsmodell och strategi och skapandet av ett digitaliserat produkthanteringssystem. För att svara på dessa frågor utfördes två fallstudier av tre mindre nischföretag som verkar på de svenska oligopolmarknaderna för telekommunikation och kraftdistribution. Intervjuer hölls med representanter från dessa företag och resultaten av intervjuerna kodades genom att använda ett ramverk som skapats för denna studie. Ramverket skapades baserat på den utförda litteraturstudien, inklusive konceptet om dynamisk kapabilitet som omfattar ett företags förmåga att känna, agera och förändra för att skapa en framgångsrik affärsmodell. Resultaten från fallstudierna visade värdet av en digitalisering i utformningen och användningen av ett produkthanteringssystem som är integrerat med ett online kundanvändargränssnitt. Dessa fördelar inkluderar ökad kundnöjdhet, eftersom kunder i allt högre grad förväntar sig att deras leverantörer har produkthanteringssystem som gör det möjligt för dem att online göra sina produktval och administrera sina egna konton. Detta är en del av en samhällelig trend som mindre nischföretag kan använda i sin affärsmodell och strategi för att på ett agilt sätt möta konkurrensen från sina större konkurrenter. Förutom ökad kundnöjdhet gör ett väl utformat och digitaliserat produkthanteringssystem integrerat med ett online kundanvändargränssnitt det möjligt att minska behovet av manuella administrativa processer. Detta resulterar i en effektivitetsökning och minskade kostnader i ett företag och ger medarbetarna möjlighet att fokusera på arbetsuppgifter som ger mervärde. På detta sätt har produkthanteringssystemet visat sig vara en viktig bro mellan kunder, produktutbud, interna affärshanteringsprocesser och företagets affärsmodell och strategi.

The brand architecture of an organisation has become increasingly important to global management and marketing professionals, as it deals with structures and designs of brands which are constantly influenced by a changing environment. The market realities and changes brands face continuously impact the reputation of the brand, which is critical to sustain competitive advantage. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate the impact brand reputation has on brand architecture strategies, and an automotive company was chosen as the focus of the research. This research aims to help managers, marketers and brand owners make informative decisions regarding the brand architecture of a company. A quantitative content analysis methodology was used along with a webpage keyword counting application (WebWords). The application was used based on the principles outlined by Corporate Brand and Reputation Analysis (COBRA), which uses a four step progressive filtering process in filtering traditional and consumer generated media. The results from WebWords were then aligned to the brand architecture strategies from the brand relationship spectrum (BRS) to gain insight as to which of the strategies from the BRS were most vulnerable to reputational damage. The study found that the branded house and sub-brand strategies were most vulnerable to reputational damage based on the number reputational hits received. The connection between the master brand and the sub-brands could cause both brands to be affected should any reputational issues arise.

Primarily, this research study was concerned with the evaluation of the brand campus concept implemented at then DaimlerChrysler South Africa in 2002, as a case study. Pretoria-based Mercedes-Benz South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (MBSA) is a subsidiary of global vehicle manufacturer Germany’s Daimler-Benz AG (DBAG). They are responsible for assembling, distributing and retailing, certain Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi vehicle brands, and spare parts. The landmark 1998 DaimlerChrysler global ‘merger of equals’ was preceded by the 1995 joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi Motor Corporation. Consequently, three brands (Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler and Mitsubishi) were retailed and marketed under DaimlerChrysler South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (DCSA), positioned next to each other in the same showroom. This report identifies key challenges stemming from this approach, namely: brand strength dilution, more than 80 multi-franchised dealers and multi-branded showrooms, service capacity problems, old working environment and infrastructure, and perceived intra-brand competition. The research evidence suggests that these problems prompted then DCSA to launch the 2000 Dealer Network Strategy (DNS). In the grand scheme of things, the DNS intervention entailed partitioning the dealer network into five brand centres in five metro regions, and eighteen market centres in the rural areas. The brand campus concept was borne out of DNS and proved to be a masterstroke since, the primary focus was on streamlining the retail facilities for DCSA vehicle sales, service and spare parts for both the passenger and commercial vehicles. This study highlights key pillars of the brand campus concept, namely: profitability, brand focus, customer orientation and diversity. The challenge was to address seven major drivers of the brand campus concept, namely: after-sales vehicle support, vehicle service capacity, lead-times, spare parts availability, sales information propagation, behavior of sales personnel and the overall vehicle dealership appearance. Semi-structured interviews constituted part of the evaluation based on the perspectives of five customers, three dealer principals and two MBSA marketing executives. The research evidence, which also came from MBSA documentation and direct observation, shows that this innovative concept has been remarkably successful.

This study focuses on the extent to which the various elements of corporate brand identity as identified in the literature are perceived to contribute to corporate brand image formation. In doing so, a theoretical perspective is adopted for this study that borrows from both marketing communication and corporate communication theories. Three data collection techniques – Q methodology, an online questionnaire and computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) – were used to determine to what extent these elements are perceived significant in corporate brand image formation among participants from 106 South African organisations across various business sectors. Four categories were identified to be perceived as significant for corporate brand image formation, namely transformational leadership and management, positioning and differentiation strategy, brand equity and employee orientation and mentorship. To date, a comprehensive measuring instrument that theoretically includes all the corporate brand identity elements perceived to be significant in corporate brand image formation has not been developed. Based on the research findings, the study aims to propose a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument that includes all the corporate brand identity elements deemed significant in corporate brand image formation as perceived by South African organisations. The objective of providing a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument is to enable organisations to assess the role of their corporate brand identity in corporate brand image formation among their stakeholder groups. The theoretical framework includes the four identified categories perceived as significant in corporate brand image formation. It indicates which of the corporate brand identity elements included in the four categories are perceived to be more significant in corporate brand image formation by South African organisations. In addition, it provides assumptions on how these corporate brand identity elements are perceived to work in synergy to enhance corporate brand image formation based on the research results. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

Das Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) ist ein ganzheitlicher Ansatz zur Entwicklung und Vermarktung von Software-Produktlinien auf Basis von Software-Systemfamilien. Eine in frühen Phasen des SPLE durchzuführende Aktivität ist das Scoping, bei dem die zu realisierenden Produkte mit den zwischen ihnen bestehenden Wiederverwendungspotentialen identifiziert werden. Bei der Durchführung des Scopings steht der Produkt-Manager vor dem Problem einen Ausgleich zwischen den Bedürfnissen der Kunden und dem Aufwand der Entwicklung zu finden. Durch die bestehenden Wiederverwendungspotentiale bei Software-Systemfamilien wird die Entscheidung zusätzlich erschwert. Aufgrund der bestehenden Komplexität der Entscheidung, wird in Literatur und Praxis eine Unterstützung in Form einer statistisch-mathematischen Optimierung gefordert. Dieser Forderung nimmt sich die vorliegende Arbeit an. In ihr werden mit der Konstruktion eines Modells gewinnbeeinflussender Faktoren, einer Methode zur wertbasierten Portfolio-Optimierung und eines Prototyps zur Unterstützung der wertbasierten Portfolio-Optimierung und der anschließenden Evaluation dieser Artefakte zwei Fragen adressiert. Erstens wird geprüft, ob die Optimierung von Produkt-Portfolios bei Software-Produktlinien mit statistisch-mathematischen Verfahren unterstützt werden kann. Zweitens wird geprüft, ob die statistisch-mathematische Optimierung von Produkt-Portfolios eine akzeptierte Unterstützung von Software-Anbietern sein kann. Die Arbeit ordnet sich mit ihren Fragen in die Forschung zum Produkt-Management bei Software-Produktlinien ein und trägt die vorgenannten Artefakte bei.