MCom (Business Management) / Department of Business Management / The spaza-shop sector is an integral part of the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the South African economy. The industry is made up of more than 100 000 enterprises with a collective annual turnover of R7 billion. Spaza shops also contribute about 4% (about 100 000 jobs) of employment in the informal sector. Spaza shops usually have a short lifespan and rarely grow; the failure rate of spaza shops, including those owned by immigrants is very high in South Africa. It is estimated that the failure rate of small businesses (including spaza shops) in South Africa is between 70% and 80%. It is also noted that about 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years of commencement of business, irrespective of the country. Despite severe competitive pressures faced by SMMEs, immigrants (especially Somalis and Ethiopians) have established a strong foothold in the spaza-shop sector. The main objective of the study was to investigate the success factors of immigrant-owned spaza shops in Thulamela Local Municipality. To address the research question, which focuses on the lived experiences and perceptions of participants, the interpretivist paradigm was used. A qualitative approach was adopted with a sample of 25 participants; purposive sampling was used to select participants with the required characteristics. Structured interview questions administered through face-to-face interviews were used to collect data and content analysis was used to analyse data. The data collected revealed that there are a plethora of success factors that are enhancing the continuance and sustenance of immigrant spaza shops in Thulamela Local Municipality. Of these, the most frequently given ones include - human capital, networks, culture, superior customer service, long operating hours and business location. The researcher recommended that immigrant spaza-shop entrepreneurs should establish a mentorship program that will assist in training other local spaza-owners to successfully manage their enterprises, in a bid to create harmony within the sector and to promote job creation. / NRF

Introduction As e-cigarette use increases, questions about individual and public health effects remain unanswered (e.g. cessation tool, addiction path). Despite increasing use, few studies have focused on vape shop patrons. This study examined whether vape shop patrons believe their health is affected by the use of e-cigs; more specifically, the aim was to evaluate the association between e-cig use, change in tobacco use, and perception of health. Methods A survey of e-cig users (N=78) was conducted in vape shops. Questions included e-cig and traditional tobacco use, health perceptions, and demographics. Descriptive techniques were used to characterize participants as either those who perceived e-cig use improved their health or those who perceived their health unaffected. Logistic regression assessed the association between change in tobacco use, e-cig use, and perception of health effects. Results Most reported daily e-cig (91%) and current (11.5%) or former (78.2%) combustible cigarette use. Approximately, three-fourths (76.9%) perceived better health; the remainder (23.1%) perceived unaffected health. Change in cigarette use was significantly associated with perceptions that health is better with e-cig use. Participants who decreased cigarette use by 2-3 cartons/month and more than 3 cartons/month were significantly more likely to indicate that e-cig use has improved their health compared to those who decreased tobacco use by 1.5 cartons or fewer per month (OR=4.35, 95% CI: 1.13-16.9; OR=25.67, 95% CI: 2.97-221.7, respectively). Conclusions The majority of e-cig users perceived better health. Our findings suggest that health campaign designers should carefully assess the scientific uncertainty surrounding the use of these devices and consider means to clearly convey this information. Given the lack of scientific agreement on the health effects of e-cigs and the important role that perceptions play in behavior, health campaign designers, health education practitioners, policy makers, and health care providers should err on the side of caution when advising individuals about e-cig use.

In the light of the complex and dynamic factors that exist in a typical production facility, manual development of an optimal shop-floor schedule is computationally impractical. This paper discusses the effective use of an heuristic algorithm approach to shop-floor scheduling at the TRW Rack and Pinion Division (RPD) Plant in Rogersville, Tennessee. The study documents the introduction of FAST, a computerised scheduling system that employs the Genetic Optimisation Algorithm. Results demonstrate a real potential advantage using this system for shop-floor scheduling, thus facilitating TRWs journey of continuous improvement.

Background and Need for the Study The primary purpose of education is to develop happy and successful citizens. Industrial arts, being a phase of general education, should in every way possible contribute toward achieving this primary purpose. Because of the rapidly changing methods of industrial production and the increasing areas of industry, it is therefore necessary, that to keep abreast of this industrial advancement, industrial education must employ every possible means to justifiably incorporate these new industrial methods and products into the industrial education program. It is the intention of the writer that this study will bring forth evidence of the practical usability of the general shop idea in promoting more adequate industrial arts instruction. It is also the intention of the writer that by reviewing the literature of the development of the general shop, industrial education might more adequately keep abreast of the products, tools, and methods of the rapidly advancing industrial period.

The consumer trend towards sustainable purchasing habits online has increased due to the environmental impact of the clothing industry. While second-hand shopping is a popular option, it is often avoided due to the perceived inconvenience. The purpose of this study was to provide a basis for creating a navigable website for students in the context of second hand shopping. The research was conducted through a combination of surveys, user testing, and data analysis. Perceived navigability was measured using CTA protocol, CSUQ, and a Lostness calculation. Using standardised theoretical design protocols, a high rate of navigability was perceived for the first iteration of the website. By applying the feedback from the user test, adequate changes such as improved error messages and improved structural navigation could be made which improved the navigability further. This study underscores the importance of accessibility and customisation tailored to the intended customers' requisites. The main conclusion made in this study was that even though standard design protocols are followed, minor details such as buttons that are difficult to click or vague error messages, can significantly hinder navigation. / Konsumenttrenden mot hållbara inköpsvanor online har ökat på grund av klädindustrins miljöpåverkan. Trots att andrahandsmarknaden på nätet är ett populärt alternativ för vissa konsumenter, undviks den ofta på grund av en alltför besvärlig upplevelse. Syftet med denna studie var att ge en grund för att skapa en navigerbar webbplats för studenter i sammanhanget av second hand-shopping. Forskningen utfördes genom en kombination av enkäter, användartester och dataanalys. Uppfattad navigerbarhet mättes med hjälp av CTA-protokoll, CSUQ och en "Lostness" -beräkning. Med hjälp av standardiserade designteorier kunde en hög navigerbarhet upplevas i den första iterationen av webbplatsen. Genom att tillämpa feedback från användartesten kunde lämpliga ändringar så som förbättrade felmeddelanden och förbättrad navigeringsstrukturgenomföras som ytterligare förbättrade navigerbarheten. Resultaten i denna studie understryker vikten av tillgänglighet och anpassning vilken är skräddarsydd efter avsedda kundernas krav. Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen dragen i studien var att även om standardiserade designprotokoll följs kan mindre detaljer som svårtryckta knappar och vaga felmeddelanden markant hindra navigeringen.

For generations, the technological development of the media has changed human behavior, both for the better and for the worse. From having to buy everything in a store to being able to shop through a live-stream. The problem, however, is that there is a lack of research that has touched on this in the Nordic countries. Especially studies that have touched it in a media archeological aspect. In this thesis, I have analyzed liveshopping as a medium by comparing it with TV-shop. This has been done with the help of media archeology/-ecology as a theoretical and methodological framework. Furthermore, the theory has supplemented with the help of remediation and affordance. Together, they form a theory package that complements each other in the thesis' purpose of examining the medium's properties and design, its environment and how it contributes to the individual's behavior. The analysis of the media has been complemented by the multimodal tools. The material consists of seven broadcasts from TVG (TV-shop) and liveshopping-streams from Lyko, Samsung, MQ MARQET and Lensway The result indicates a change in consumer behavior. During the TV-shop we had a behavior of not shopping from home. Which is proven in the media's attempt to attract viewers with cheap prices on the products. In today's liveshopping, reduced prices are not as common. Due to the fact that the audience actively went into the live-stream, it indicates that they do not necessarily watch the broadcast to be able to buy products at cheaper prices. The technological changes of the media have made possible changes in society through our way of consuming and interacting with the content from companies.

The architecture on Drottningholmsmalmen is protected as it is essential in understanding the function of the castle from the 16th century onwards and must be preserved as much as possible. Most buildings from the 1950s until the 21st century carry high architectural quality and is a time document that provide an understanding of Swedish modernist architecture during the 20th century.A requirement for the maintenance of the high cultural-historical elements is the understanding of the value. In order for the buildings not to decay, there should be an exchange for the residents that is more than restrictions. When the area was built, the idea was to create a city-like structure with accommodations for the people working at the castle and the royal guests. Hedvig’s gallery, named after Queen Hedvig Eleonora, creates a new destination on Lovön and brings attention to the residential area. The building aims to bind the areas adjacent to the castle together and contains a gallery, a restaurant, chambré separée and a small shop. Its main structure consists of horizontal brick walls that are inspired by the grid-structure that the King first laid out for Drottningholmsmalmen.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / Purpose of the workbook: It is the purpose of this workbook to present a series of special activity gtion sheets to be used a.s teaching devices and resource material in basic shop mechanics. These activity guides or instruction sheets have been devised for the use of pupil and teacher in classes for the mentally retarded ( cominonly called special classes). Scone of the workbook material: The activity guides herein presented have been developed and graded for 14 to 16 year old boys to whom the special class is a terminal room. The sheets are to be used in the industrial arts program, either in the section of the special class room used. for this purpose and taught by the special class teacher, or in the regular shop classes in unit shops and general industrial arts shops.

no / No / Scheduling systems based on traditional heuristic rules, which deal with the complexities of manufacturing systems, have been used by researchers for the past six decades. These heuristics rules prioritise all jobs that are waiting to be processed on a resource. In this paper, a novel Index Based Heuristic (IBH) solution for the Job Shop Scheduling Problem (JSSP) is presented with the objective of minimising the overall Makespan (Cmax). The JSSP is still a challenge to researchers and is far from being completely solved due to its combinatorial nature. JSSP suits the challenges of current manufacturing environments. The proposed IBH calculates the indices of candidate jobs and assigns the job with the lower index value to the available machine. To minimise the gap between jobs, a swap technique is introduced. The swap technique takes candidate jobs for a machine and swaps them without violating the precedence constraint. Several benchmark problems are solved from the literature to test the validity and effectiveness of the proposed heuristic. The results show that the proposed IBH based algorithm outperforms the traditional heuristics and is a valid methodology for JSSP optimization.

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