Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc(Consumer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

<p>Detta examensarbete har utförts av Johan Arvidsson, Marcus Leidefeldt och Tobias Unosson, studenter vid Innovations- och designingenjörsprogrammet vid Karlstads universitet. Arbetet omfattar 20 högskolepoäng varav 5 poäng är en fördjupning i ergonomi, semantik samt retorik och presentationsteknik. Projektet genomfördes under vårterminen 2006 och motsvarar 20 veckors heltidsstudier.</p><p>Uppdragsgivare för examensarbetet var HAVD AB (Hedenberg Advanced Vehicle Design) som är ett produktutvecklingsföretag inom fordonsindustrin. Handledare var Ingemar Carlson från HAVD och Lennart Wihk från Karlstads universitet. Projektet utfördes även i samarbete med Volvo Lastvagnar AB. Uppdraget som studenterna erhöll gick ut på att förbättra och utveckla in- och ursteget på en Volvolastbil av modell FH. Målet med projektet var att bygga en fungerande prototyp av lösningen på en befintlig lastbil som kunde visas upp på examensutställningen i Karlstad den 30 Maj 2006.</p><p>Studenterna fick inledningsvis en kort utbildning i projektledning som företaget anordnade i sina lokaler i Mölndal. I samband med detta fick gruppen ta del av en ny utvecklingsmetod som hade sina rötter i fordonsindustrin. Denna metod användes sedan under projektets gång som delades in i tre faser: idéfas, förstudiefas och genomförandefas. Mellan varje fas fanns en viktig punkt kallad grind då viktiga beslut fattades i samråd med företaget.</p><p>Projektet resulterade i ett mekaniskt eldrivet steg på sidan av lastbilen som transporterar chauffören upp till sin hytt på ett snabbt och säkert sätt. Lösningen döptes till ECA, Ergonomic Cabin Accesss. Slutresultatet är framtaget med fokus på förarens ergonomi och har hög realiserbarhet då det består av befintliga komponenter. Kärnan i konstruktionen är en linjärenhet som omvandlar en roterande kraft till en linjär rörelse. Konstruktionen anpassades till Volvos FH-modell genom att placeras vid dagens befintliga tre steg, vid den så kallade instegslådan. Projektgruppen arbetade fram ritningar med förslag på konstruktion och infästning för detta koncept. En lista på tänkta komponenter med en ekonomisk kalkyl togs också fram.</p><p>Slutresultatet presenterades hos HAVD i Mölndal och på Karlstad universitet i samband med examensutställningen den 30 maj 2006. Gruppen kunde dessvärre inte genomföra ett prototypbygge av ekonomiska skäl då uppdragsgivaren inte hade de resurser som krävdes. Examensarbetet ECA resulterade istället i ritningar, renderingar, animeringar och denna akademiska rapport.</p> / <p>This degree project was performed by students of the Innovation and design engineering programme on Karlstad University, Sweden. Group members have been Johan Arvidsson, Marcus Leidefeldt and Tobias Unosson. The degree project consisted of 20 weeks of work of which 5 was an individual study in literature. The project carried out during the spring of 2006.</p><p>Assigner for the project was Hedenberg Advanced Vehicle Design, HAVD, who is a development company serving the vehicle industry and specializing in interior parts and trim. Contacts were Björn Hedenberg and Ingemar Carlson, HAVD. Examiner at Karlstad University was Lennart Wihk. The project was also collaboration together with VOLVO Truck Car Corp in Gothenburg.</p><p>The task the students were given was to improve and develop a new solution for truck drivers, getting in and out of high trucks. A goal with the project was to build a functioning prototype on a VOLVO truck to be shown at the exhibit for degree projects in Karlstad, May 2006.</p><p>In this project the students participated in a project management course given by HAVD in their facilities. The group toke part of a new development method originated from the vehicle industry. This method was used as a frame for the entire project and consisted of three phases, the idea phase, research phase and the realization phase. Between each phase of the project there was a point called a gate, in which important decisions were maid in the group together with HAVD.</p><p>The project resulted in a mechanical lift, mounted onto the side of the truck transporting the driver safely up and down. The solution was named ECA, Ergonomic Cabin Access. Drawings for the concept and its mounting were completed along with an economic calculation. The final result is developed with focus on the driver ergonomics with a sensible construction using available components. The core in the construction is the so called linear motion drive. This device transforms a rotating force into a linear motion. The concept was adapted to fit a VOLVO truck by replacing the trucks previous three footsteps.</p><p>The final concept was presented at HAVD and Karlstad University at the exhibit for degree projects, 30 May 2006. The concept could not however be built into a prototype due to financial reasons. The degree project ECA resulted in drawings, renderings, animations and this academic report.</p>

Detta examensarbete har utförts av Johan Arvidsson, Marcus Leidefeldt och Tobias Unosson, studenter vid Innovations- och designingenjörsprogrammet vid Karlstads universitet. Arbetet omfattar 20 högskolepoäng varav 5 poäng är en fördjupning i ergonomi, semantik samt retorik och presentationsteknik. Projektet genomfördes under vårterminen 2006 och motsvarar 20 veckors heltidsstudier. Uppdragsgivare för examensarbetet var HAVD AB (Hedenberg Advanced Vehicle Design) som är ett produktutvecklingsföretag inom fordonsindustrin. Handledare var Ingemar Carlson från HAVD och Lennart Wihk från Karlstads universitet. Projektet utfördes även i samarbete med Volvo Lastvagnar AB. Uppdraget som studenterna erhöll gick ut på att förbättra och utveckla in- och ursteget på en Volvolastbil av modell FH. Målet med projektet var att bygga en fungerande prototyp av lösningen på en befintlig lastbil som kunde visas upp på examensutställningen i Karlstad den 30 Maj 2006. Studenterna fick inledningsvis en kort utbildning i projektledning som företaget anordnade i sina lokaler i Mölndal. I samband med detta fick gruppen ta del av en ny utvecklingsmetod som hade sina rötter i fordonsindustrin. Denna metod användes sedan under projektets gång som delades in i tre faser: idéfas, förstudiefas och genomförandefas. Mellan varje fas fanns en viktig punkt kallad grind då viktiga beslut fattades i samråd med företaget. Projektet resulterade i ett mekaniskt eldrivet steg på sidan av lastbilen som transporterar chauffören upp till sin hytt på ett snabbt och säkert sätt. Lösningen döptes till ECA, Ergonomic Cabin Accesss. Slutresultatet är framtaget med fokus på förarens ergonomi och har hög realiserbarhet då det består av befintliga komponenter. Kärnan i konstruktionen är en linjärenhet som omvandlar en roterande kraft till en linjär rörelse. Konstruktionen anpassades till Volvos FH-modell genom att placeras vid dagens befintliga tre steg, vid den så kallade instegslådan. Projektgruppen arbetade fram ritningar med förslag på konstruktion och infästning för detta koncept. En lista på tänkta komponenter med en ekonomisk kalkyl togs också fram. Slutresultatet presenterades hos HAVD i Mölndal och på Karlstad universitet i samband med examensutställningen den 30 maj 2006. Gruppen kunde dessvärre inte genomföra ett prototypbygge av ekonomiska skäl då uppdragsgivaren inte hade de resurser som krävdes. Examensarbetet ECA resulterade istället i ritningar, renderingar, animeringar och denna akademiska rapport. / This degree project was performed by students of the Innovation and design engineering programme on Karlstad University, Sweden. Group members have been Johan Arvidsson, Marcus Leidefeldt and Tobias Unosson. The degree project consisted of 20 weeks of work of which 5 was an individual study in literature. The project carried out during the spring of 2006. Assigner for the project was Hedenberg Advanced Vehicle Design, HAVD, who is a development company serving the vehicle industry and specializing in interior parts and trim. Contacts were Björn Hedenberg and Ingemar Carlson, HAVD. Examiner at Karlstad University was Lennart Wihk. The project was also collaboration together with VOLVO Truck Car Corp in Gothenburg. The task the students were given was to improve and develop a new solution for truck drivers, getting in and out of high trucks. A goal with the project was to build a functioning prototype on a VOLVO truck to be shown at the exhibit for degree projects in Karlstad, May 2006. In this project the students participated in a project management course given by HAVD in their facilities. The group toke part of a new development method originated from the vehicle industry. This method was used as a frame for the entire project and consisted of three phases, the idea phase, research phase and the realization phase. Between each phase of the project there was a point called a gate, in which important decisions were maid in the group together with HAVD. The project resulted in a mechanical lift, mounted onto the side of the truck transporting the driver safely up and down. The solution was named ECA, Ergonomic Cabin Access. Drawings for the concept and its mounting were completed along with an economic calculation. The final result is developed with focus on the driver ergonomics with a sensible construction using available components. The core in the construction is the so called linear motion drive. This device transforms a rotating force into a linear motion. The concept was adapted to fit a VOLVO truck by replacing the trucks previous three footsteps. The final concept was presented at HAVD and Karlstad University at the exhibit for degree projects, 30 May 2006. The concept could not however be built into a prototype due to financial reasons. The degree project ECA resulted in drawings, renderings, animations and this academic report.

Annotation: The topic of the diploma work is the communication strategy for a new complex rural tourism product for the Czech Republic "Holidays in the Countryside". Objective: Main objective of my work is to elaborate a suitable marketing communication strategy for Holidays in the Countryside product. The strategy will then be used by the Union for Rural Tourism (Svaz venkovské turistiky), which is the project promoter, as a practical marketing tool. Secondary objective of the work is to evaluate current utilization of brand program Holidays in the Countryside by the rural tourism service providers. Method: Analysis of accessible information, comparative study of foreign tourist destination experiece and professional publications followed by the synthesis of acquired data will be used as a method for elaboration of this work. Based on the analyses a suitable communication strategy will be formulated along with the recommendations for the effective utilization of the brand program by the service providers.

This thesis identifies realistic export opportunities for South African products in the rest of the world and specifically in the rest of the African continent. The method chosen to achieve this goal is the Decision Support Model (DSM) developed by Cuyvers et al (1995) and Cuyvers (1997) that was specifically designed to assist export promotion institutions in planning and assessing their export promotion activities. This model is positioned into the international market selection literature and four main refinements to the DSM methodology are introduced to address the limitations of the model and to make it more applicable for the South African international trade conditions. The refined model is then applied to identify product–country combinations with the largest export potential for South Africa in the rest of the world and in the rest of the African continent specifically. The refinements to the DSM filtering process introduced in this study contribute to the effective use and application of the DSM results by South African exporters and more focused export promotion activities by South African export promotion organisations. The four refinements include (i) running the DSM on a HS 6–digit level, (ii) introducing a method to calculate the potential export value of each identified export opportunity in order to prioritise between the product–country combinations identified as realistic export opportunities, (iii) taking the production capacity of South Africa into consideration in order to identify export opportunities that can be pursued immediately due to the country's existing revealed comparative advantage in the production and exportation of these products and (iv) developing a market accessibility index per product–country combination from a South African point of view on a HS 6–digit level in order to make filter 3.2 (barriers to trade) of the DSM applicable for South African conditions. The results of the application of the refined DSM to identify export opportunities for South Africa in the rest of the world include the top 50 worldwide export opportunities. There are 17 countries in which the top 50 worldwide product–country combinations identified as export opportunities for South Africa are located. These include the United States, Japan, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Singapore, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Brazil. Mineral products (coal, copper and aviation spirit); transportation products (1500 - 3000 cc automobile engines and diesel powered trucks); stone/glass (diamonds, platinum and rhodium) and metals (aluminium, iron/steel structures, nickel) are the product classifications within the top 50 worldwide product–country combinations that hold the largest worldwide export potential for South Africa. In terms of the product–country combinations with the highest export potential for South Africa in the rest of the African continent, there are 18 countries in which the top 50 product–country combinations for South Africa in the rest of the African continent are located. These include Nigeria, Namibia, Ghana, Morocco, Egypt, Zambia, Tunisia, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mauritius, Tanzania, Senegal, Mozambique, Algeria, Malawi and Cote d'Ivoire. The products with the highest potential export values in the top 50 product–country combinations for South Africa in Africa include mineral products (aviation spirit, iron ore, sulphur and coal) and transportation products (1500 - 3000 cc automobile engines and diesel powered trucks weighing less than 5 tons). / Thesis (Ph.D. (International Trade))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This thesis identifies realistic export opportunities for South African products in the rest of the world and specifically in the rest of the African continent. The method chosen to achieve this goal is the Decision Support Model (DSM) developed by Cuyvers et al (1995) and Cuyvers (1997) that was specifically designed to assist export promotion institutions in planning and assessing their export promotion activities. This model is positioned into the international market selection literature and four main refinements to the DSM methodology are introduced to address the limitations of the model and to make it more applicable for the South African international trade conditions. The refined model is then applied to identify product–country combinations with the largest export potential for South Africa in the rest of the world and in the rest of the African continent specifically. The refinements to the DSM filtering process introduced in this study contribute to the effective use and application of the DSM results by South African exporters and more focused export promotion activities by South African export promotion organisations. The four refinements include (i) running the DSM on a HS 6–digit level, (ii) introducing a method to calculate the potential export value of each identified export opportunity in order to prioritise between the product–country combinations identified as realistic export opportunities, (iii) taking the production capacity of South Africa into consideration in order to identify export opportunities that can be pursued immediately due to the country's existing revealed comparative advantage in the production and exportation of these products and (iv) developing a market accessibility index per product–country combination from a South African point of view on a HS 6–digit level in order to make filter 3.2 (barriers to trade) of the DSM applicable for South African conditions. The results of the application of the refined DSM to identify export opportunities for South Africa in the rest of the world include the top 50 worldwide export opportunities. There are 17 countries in which the top 50 worldwide product–country combinations identified as export opportunities for South Africa are located. These include the United States, Japan, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Singapore, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Brazil. Mineral products (coal, copper and aviation spirit); transportation products (1500 - 3000 cc automobile engines and diesel powered trucks); stone/glass (diamonds, platinum and rhodium) and metals (aluminium, iron/steel structures, nickel) are the product classifications within the top 50 worldwide product–country combinations that hold the largest worldwide export potential for South Africa. In terms of the product–country combinations with the highest export potential for South Africa in the rest of the African continent, there are 18 countries in which the top 50 product–country combinations for South Africa in the rest of the African continent are located. These include Nigeria, Namibia, Ghana, Morocco, Egypt, Zambia, Tunisia, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mauritius, Tanzania, Senegal, Mozambique, Algeria, Malawi and Cote d'Ivoire. The products with the highest potential export values in the top 50 product–country combinations for South Africa in Africa include mineral products (aviation spirit, iron ore, sulphur and coal) and transportation products (1500 - 3000 cc automobile engines and diesel powered trucks weighing less than 5 tons). / Thesis (Ph.D. (International Trade))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.