The purpose of this study was to identify the technical, interpersonal, and analytical skills essential for managers of chain apparel specialty stores located in regional shopping centers in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Statistical Area. A literature review indicated that there is little specific information available concerning skills needed by chain apparel specialty store managers. In the 1980s, the apparel specialty retail industry was characterized by a number of firms expanding and diversifying their retail holdings and coming to dominate the industry. As a result the industry is composed of national retailers whose decision-making structures are highly centralized. This centralized structure has altered the skills necessary for chain store managers to perform specified job duties. This qualitative study used the nominal group technique (NGT), structured interviews, and a field study to address the research problem. A nominal group method, involving seven store managers, generated a list of 150 essential skills in eight specified job duty categories. This NGT essential skills list provided the framework for subsequent structured interviews with five district managers of chain apparel specialty stores. The store managers and district managers were then asked to priority rank the essential skills list and the lists were analyzed for congruency. The lists were also compared with daily time/activities logs completed by three store managers to determine if they actually used the specified skills. Triangulation was used to permit the researcher to be more confident of the data. The essential technical skills identified by participating chain apparel specialty store managers and district managers include a knowledge of company policies, equipment usage, fashion-related product information, payroll procedures, and theft control. The dominant interpersonal skills were the ability to communicate, train, delegate, and role model specific behaviors for employees. The essential analytical skills include the ability to set high store standards, solve customer and employee problems, determine sales trends, and generate creative promotional ideas. Managers must have a combination of management and leadership skills and be able to "drive the business" with creativity, employee involvement and motivation strategies. / Ed. D.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The following research report is titled “Crafting and executing an operational strategic plan for a retail product line”. The report presents operational analysis which results in creating operational strategy which is relevant to current trading conditions and which is clearly aligned with both the organisation’s group and corporate strategic goals. The primary focus is therefore not on the development of organisational strategy, but on strategic implications, interpretation and operational execution. The central research question is described as follows: How can the current operational strategic planning process be improved in order to deliver strategic plans which are aligned and clearly support the key strategic thrusts at group and corporate level? A literature study was conducted by consulting a vast number of books, articles and websites in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the latest management thinking pertaining to the creation and implementation of strategy. Primary research, which took the form of informal interviews with key personnel, was also conducted in order to ascertain the opinions and insights of individuals who are directly affected by the operational strategic process. The research resulted in a one year operational strategic framework which can be used as a tool by all central buying teams when creating operational strategic plans. The framework allows teams to follow a standardised process which results in concise summary populated with key strategic points. Teams are thus guided by these points and are also prompted to corrective action by ensuring that each strategic action has a measurable outcome. The framework is also populated with group and corporate goals, which act as guiding principles to team members. The final recommendation is that teams allow for a degree of flexibility in the operational strategic actions which were identified in their initial analysis. While key strategic points at group and corporate level will most likely remain unchanged during the course of a financial year, certain operational activities may have to be reconsidered should the micro and macro trading environment change. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die titel van die volgende navorsingverslag is: “Crafting and executing an operational plan for a retail product line”. Die verslag is ‘n weergawe van ‘n bedryfsontleding wat lei tot die ontwerp van ‘n bedryfs-strategie wat van toepassing is op die huidige handelsmilieu. Die strategie is verder in lyn met beide die organisasie se groep en korparatiewe doelwitte. Die verslag fokus hoofsaaklik op strategiese implikasies, interpretasie en operasionele uitvoering en nie op strategiese ontwikkeling nie. Die sentrale navorsingskwessie word soos volg beskryf: Watter verbeterings kan aangebring word aan die huidige bedryfs-strategiese beplannings proses om sodoende strategiese planne op te lewer wat in lyn sal wees en ondersteuning sal gee aan die sleutel strategiese dryfkrag op groep en korporatiewe vlak. ‘n Aantal sekondêre bronne – boeke,artikels and webwerwe - is nageslaan en ‘n letterkundige studie is gedoen om ‘n omvattende begrip te kry van die nuutste bestuursdenke met betrekking tot die ontwerp en implementering van strategie. Onderhoude is gevoer met sleutel personeel wat gedien het as primere bronne. Sodoende is die opinies en insigte verkry van individue wat direk betrokke is by die bedryfs-strategiese proses. Die ondersoek het as gevolg ‘n bedryfs-strategiese raamwerk. Dit kan as instrument gebruik word deur alle sentrale aanskaffingspanne wanneer hulle bedryfs-strategiese planne ontwerp. Die raamwerk maak voorsiening vir ‘n gestandaardiseerde proses wat kulmineer in ‘n een-bladsy opsomming wat strategiese punte bevat. Die opsomming gee dus rigting aan spanne en hulle word aangespoor tot korrektiewe aksies elk met meetbare uitkomstes. Die raamwerk bevat ook groeps- en korporatiewe doelwitte wat deur spanne as riglyne gebruik kan word. ‘n Finale voorstel is dat spanne voorsiening maak vir ‘n mate van plooibaarheid in die bedryfsstrategiese aksies wat aanvanklik in hul ontledings geidentifiseer was. Sekere strategiese punte sal waarskynlik op groep en korporatiewe vlak onveranderd bly na afloop van die finansiele jaar terwyl sekere bedryfsaktiwiteite heroorweeg sal moet word na gelang van veranderinge in die mikro en makro handelsmileu.

Previous research suggests that little is known about female mentoring relationships, particularly among undergraduate students. The purpose of the present study was to investigate mentoring relationships experienced by female undergraduate merchandising management students. The investigation included the overall prevalence of mentoring experiences, the specific kinds of mentor roles, the prevalent sources of mentoring, and the relationship between class standing and the overall prevalence of mentoring. Survey methodology was used. The sample included females enrolled in the merchandising management program at a western university (n=102). Their ages ranged from 18 to 38 years with a mean and mode age of 21 years. The Student Experiences Questionnaire used for the present study included three sections: (1) the Professional Socialization Scale (PSS) developed by Stenberg (1988) to identify and measure the prevalence of mentoring and specific mentoring roles; (2) a parallel scale designed by the researcher to identify the sources of mentoring; and (3) demographic and exploratory items in order to provide direction for further studies. Statistics used to analyze the data included percentages, means, factor analysis, and ANOVA. The study included five objectives with four hypotheses. It was hypothesized there would be a low level (2.00) of overall mentoring. Contrary to this hypothesis, the mean for overall prevalence was higher than predicted. It was hypothesized that informal and least powerful mentor roles would be the most experienced. A factor analysis was performed on the matrix of intercorrelations among the items on the PSS. It was not possible to test Hypothesis 2 because the factor analysis did not generate mentor roles that could be described according to influence or power. It was only possible to identify factors according to the specific helping actions that took place. The relationship between class standing and overall prevalence of mentoring was tested. Results showed no differences among freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. There was no formal hypothesis formed regarding mentoring sources. Friends were the mentoring source with the highest frequency. Employers were the second most frequent mentoring source followed by professors, and advisors. The most important findings of the study were: the absence of specific mentor roles previously identified in the literature and friends and employers as the most frequent source of mentoring. Specific helping behaviors were identified from a factor analysis of items on the PSS that loaded highest on the factor analysis. Friends and employers were identified as the most frequent sources of mentoring. / Graduation date: 1992

Thesis (MTech (Retail Business Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / As the retail industry remains persistently competitive, progressive retailers tend to adopt multi-channel retailing (MGR) to gain competitive advantage and to achieve other potential benefits. Many experts argue that MGR widens the retailer's target market and operations to satisfy the needs of a wide range of customers and, subsequently, eam the retailer potential benefits (Dawson, 2002:5; Berman & Thelen, 2004:148-149; Ghanesh, 2004:140; Sotgiu & Ancarani,2004:128). According to Dawson (2002:5), MGR is being used extensively by large retail outlets worldwide to complement their traditional operations, thereby providing the most convenient means for customers to shop while the outlets gain competitive advantage. However, the benefits of MGR are not achieved by retail small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs), OWing to the fact that there are low levels of MGR adoption in retail SMMEs. This therefore limits their market opportunities. The research reported here examines how MGR could become a growth strategy for retail SMMEs. The study necessitated an extensive literature review of retailing and multi-channel retailing, multi-channel strategy and the multi-channel customer. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected through personal interviews and questionnaires, and from large and small retail outlets and their customers in the Gape Town region. The stUdy found that the large retail outlets studied are doing well with MGR, without having to build concrete multi-channel strategies to integrate their different channels. What contributes to that achievement is their ability to harmonise their channels to achieve channel inter-dependency. The study also revealed that there is not much difference between large and small retailers when it comes to the potential benefits of MGR; therefore size is not a major issue. The differences lie in the different sectors, and with different target markets and different product categories, as these require different mixes of channels. Moreover, retail transactions in an MGR environment are found to follow a cycle of steps within the overall process, in which a customer's visit to one channel often becomes just one step in the purchase process. The study provides a useful guide for retail SMMEs to successfully adopt MeR for their profitability and growth.

Luxury fashion brands seem to contradict sustainability. The values of sustainability are commonly associated with terms such as sharing, collaboration, austerity, and collective thinking. Luxury, however, is associated with excess, self-indulgence, delight and decadence (Kapferer & Bastien, 2012:360). Further paradoxes exist where the apparel of the luxury consumer is often manufactured by labourers in low wage-paying producing countries. High wastage is evident in the seasonality of the fashion industry. However, work opportunities are created by the fickleness of the fashion industry and the constant need to own the most current designs (Black, 2012:8). Owing to the high visibility of luxury fashion and the contractions between one -- on the one hand -- supplying income to families by way of employment and -- on the other hand -- not complying to sustainable international human resource practices, fashion brands are the focus of many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that use the mass media to expose any social wrongdoing in the industry. Luxury fashion brands are constantly in the spotlight, as highlighted in articles posted by the Clean Clothes campaign, a custodian for employees in the global garment industries; Greenpeace; and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). An example of such practices was when Greenpeace reported in 2009 that shoe brands such as Timberland and Clarks were manufactured from leather sourced from the hides of cattle in illegally deforested areas in Brazil. This provided negative publicity for these luxury shoe brands as well as for the Brazilian government that was financing this project (Vurro, Russo & Perrini, 2009:609). The luxury fashion brand industry, as well as the consumers of luxury fashion labels, are accused -- often only for the sake of sensationalism -- of living in the lap of luxury whilst maintaining a supply chain that is riddled with unsustainable practices. The social structure and hierarchy of patrons within a community have, since the Middle Ages, been signalled by the clothes they wore. Social class was a birthright. Today, sporting luxury brands continues to serve as status symbols, but unlike mediaeval times, it is not limited to people with a high social standing at birth as one can work for status, and purchase the items because one deserves them. (Han, Nunes, & Drèze, 2010:15). In 2009, during the International Herald Tribune (IHT) Suzy Menkes, the fashion editor at The Herald, called for “luxury”’ and “fashion” to be separated. Luxury prides itself in its handcrafted garments manufactured by respected tradesmen in the industry. The outcome is that the manufactured goods are made to last a lifetime (Gibson, 2012:23).

This treatise investigates the restaurant industry, entrepreneurship, franchising and restaurant franchising in order to develop a model that will enable a full service restaurant concept to be converted into a successful franchise system. Restaurants play a significant role in our lifestyle, and dining out is a favoured social activity. The industry plays an important role in the transfer of skills as many people start working in the restaurant industry before moving onto more formal careers. The restaurant industry offers many opportunities for entrepreneurial activity as a result of the relatively low barriers to entry. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity regardless of the resources at hand and it requires a willingness to take calculated risks in order to build something of value from virtually nothing. The success of emerging economies such as China and India has proven that the only growth sectors in these economies are small and medium enterprises, which are driven by entrepreneurs. Franchising is considered to be a viable growth strategy for small business as it provides a means of raising capital and a method of expanding the business in a relatively low risk manner. There are many well established restaurant franchise brands that originated in South Africa, starting out as successful single outlets and then by means of the business format franchise model, developed into multi unit franchise systems. There are certain basic generic steps that must be followed when developing a franchise system. This was verified by the empirical study of this treatise which was conducted as a single unit case study on the Dulce Franchise Group. Finally, as a result of the analysis of the literature study and the findings of the case study, a restaurant franchise conversion model was developed.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As Spar began to grow, its stores became increasingly proactive resulting in the better SPAR stores wanting to compete and to expand but being frustrated by their many conservative SPAR retail colleagues. In order to increase effectiveness and competitive advantage, SPAR had to consider a new approach. This came in the form of Category Management and the extent to which it would be understood, evaluated and implemented. SPAR was being forced to do things in different ways. Many consumer packaged goods companies believe that Category Management is the "new way". These companies are expanding great amounts of energy and cash to be the player in the category management arena. Category Management is regarded as a process that involves managing product categories as business units and customizing them on a store-by-store basis to satisfy customer needs. The ideal in this process is to identify the optimal mix and stock each store with specific products customers wish to purchase. In simple terms, Category Management can be identified as the process of bringing the right product to the consumer at the right time and price. As a discipline, this process is in its infancy within the boarders of South Africa. The scope of the study is to introduce the Spar model for implementing Category Management into the voluntary trading environment. The biggest challenge identified is that if a robust analysis process is not undertaken by SPAR, the actions of going forward would be insufficient to develop clear Category Management strategies which could be included in the overall business strategy. Without successful analysis, SPAR will not be able to transform itself successfully. Organizationally, culturally, and technically, Category Management is fundamentally different to what has gone before. Many facets of the SPAR business have to change in a relatively short space of time for Category Management to work. Category Management helps establish new strategic intents and plans. It is a go-to market strategy that, when adopted within an organization, sets the tone and direction for all strategic and tactical decisions. The Category Management process is consumer focused and is the most effective and efficient means whereby the retailer and its suppliers can together generate value for their end customer. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Namate SPAR begin groei het, het sy winkels toenemend proaktief begin word, wat daartoe gelei het dat die beste SPAR-winkels wou meeding en uitbrei, maar deur hul talle konserwatiewe SPAR-kleinhandelskollegas gedwarsboom is. Ten einde doeltreffendheid en mededingende voordeel te verhoog, moes SPAR 'n nuwe benadering oorweeg. Dit het die vorm van Kategoriebestuur en die mate waarin dit verstaan, geëvalueer en geïmplementeer sou word, aangeneem. SPAR is genoodsaak om dinge anders te doen. Baie maatskappye wat verpakte verbruikersgoedere verkoop, is van mening dat Kategoriebestuur die "nuwe rigting" is. Hierdie maatskappye bestee groot hoeveelhede energie en kontant om dié speler in die kategoriebestuursarena te wees. Kategoriebestuur word beskou as 'n proses wat behels dat produkkategorieë as sake-eenhede bestuur word wat op 'n winkelgrondslag pasgemaak word ten einde in kliëntebehoeftes te voorsien. Die doelwit van hierdie proses is om die optimale mengsel te identifiseer en elke winkel te bevoorraad met bepaalde produkte wat kliënte wil koop. In eenvoudige terme kan Kategoriebestuur omskryf word as die proses om die regte produk op die regte tyd en teen die regte prys aan die verbruiker te bied. As 'n dissipline staan hierdie proses in sy kinderskoene binne die grense van Suid-Afrika. Die omvang van die studie is om die SPAR-model bekend te stel vir die implementering van Kategoriebestuur in die vrywillige handelsomgewing. Die grootste uitdaging is dan indien SPAR nie 'n deeglike ontledingsproses onderneem nie, die aksies vorentoe nie voldoende sal wees om duidelike Kategoriebestuurstrategieë te formuleer wat in die algehele sakestrategie ingesluit kan word nie. Sonder 'n suksesvolle ontleding sal SPAR homself nie suksesvol kan transformeer nie. Organisatories, kultureel en tegnies verskil Kategoriebestuur fundamenteel van dit wat voorheen gegeld het. Vir Kategoriebestuur om te werk, sal talle fasette van die SPAR-onderneming in 'n betreklik kort tydjie moet verander. Kategoriebestuur dra by tot die formulering van nuwe strategiese doelwitte en planne. Dit is 'n bemarkingstrategie wat, indien dit binne 'n organisasie gevolg word, die toon en rigting vir alle strategiese en taktiese besluite aangee. Die Kategoriebestuursproses is verbruikersgerig en is die doeltreffendste wyse waarop die kleinhandelaar en sy produkverskaffers tesame waarde vir hul eindkliënt kan genereer.