The South African economy desperately requires an injection from small manufacturing enterprises that are productive and highly organized - hence the need to identify suitable productivity measurement approaches for use in these enterprises. The following research question was formulated: Which productivity approach( es) is (are) generally most suitable for small manufacturing enterprises in the steel and engineering industry of South Africa? The following directions of research were identified: (1) A literature search revealed 12 productivity measurement approaches. The theory of each is discussed in detail. (2) An empirical search was performed to establish the requirements of industry. This process is fully discussed. The results of both the literature and empirical searches were used to develop a list of criteria. These criteria were compared with each of the approaches, and only three were found to conform to these requirements. The results of this comparison provided the answer to the research question. / Department of Business Management / M.Com (Business Management)

M. Tech. (Labour Relations Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Industrial accidents have proved to be more prevalent and costly than anticipated especially in developing countries including South Africa. Occupational accidents have direct and indirect cost implications for an organisation as well as society. Governments in many countries have tried to implement legislation to try and curb the scourge of industrial accidents. The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the level of employee adherence to the Occupational, Health and Safety Act (OHSA) 85 of 1993 in the steel manufacturing sector. This research provided an overview of various factors that influences employee’s level of understanding and adherence to the OHSA. This included factors such as information and training in health and safety; employee safety perception, employee safety awareness, employee safety adherence, employee behaviour with regard to health and safety, the role of the union in health and safety issues, accident reporting mechanism, and employee’s perceptions of the influence of rewards on health and safety. A structured questionnaire consisting of closed-ended questions was developed and disseminated in order to gather relevant data. Given the scale of the research, a quantitative research method was implemented. The population for the study strictly consisted of employees working in the steel manufacturing sector. A purposive sampling technique was selected. Statistical Package for Social Sciences 22.0 (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. The sample size of (n) =165 employees was involved in the study. The response rate for the total was (98.5%). Descriptive, frequency, correlation, regression and means analysis was employed in this study. The results of the study indicated that majority of the employees were aware and adhered with the requirements of the OHSA with the organisation. It was suggested that strong stake holder partnerships between unions, employers and employees be formulated. The state should reinforce the Department of Labour inspectorate by giving it more powers to be able to execute its task meritoriously and efficiently. It further suggested that the state must rapidly focus on recruiting and training more health and safety labour inspectors to ensure appropriate enforcement of health and safety regulations. Lastly it is advisable to create and engrave a health and safety culture within the organisation that focuses on highly on employee involvement and mutual trust. The proposed recommendation for the study, limitations and the conclusion of the study were outlined in Chapter 5.

This study was designed to determine the employment opportunities in the steel fabrication industry of the Greater Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, and to ascertain what skills and knowledge were required of the prospective employee and which of these skills were being taught in the Industrial Arts metalworking laboratories. The Machine Metalworking I & II curriculum was established and related to information gained through a questionnaire sent to participating steel fabrication firms. The study was used to determine present and anticipated employment opportunities in the steel fabrication industry and aid in evaluating the curriculum of Machine Metalworking I & II as it relates to the employment requirements of the steel fabrication industry.

Industry 4.0 is being investigated all around the world and it brings an entire arsenal of new tech-nology. It is during major technological changes where we have the chance to change old pat-terns. It is through knowledge of the future and discussion that SSAB and IF Metall will be able to steer the technological changes into the desired direction; A direction which promotes economic and environmental sustainability as well as creating an attractive workplace.There were three objectives with this project. The first objective was to map the current state of maintenance work at SSAB. The second was to develop a future vision within the concept Indus-try 4.0, which promotes attractive workplaces. The last objective was to evaluate the method used to develop the vision. The mapping of the current state of maintenance at SSAB is based on interviews and obser-vations. We decided to delimitate us to shift maintenance. The reason to focus on the shift main-tenance unit of SSAB was that because contain many competences and work all over the pro-duction area. The result of the mapping is that the work is characterized by variating tasks, personal development and pride. It is also male-dominated and characterized by old traditions, tough jargon and macho culture. In general, we conclude that it is an attractive workplace for those who belong to the current homogeneous group.The future vision was developed using personas and workshops. Three personas were created to represent the target group. They were used as a basis of discussion for us and for the participants in the three workshops. The goal of the workshops was to generate a high quantity of futuristic and abstract ideas. The ideas were then combined with theories regarding Industry 4.0 and at-tractive workplaces to form a future vision. To create attractive work content, the future vision focused on placing the worker in the centre of decision-making as a problem solver. This was ac-complished by using new technology to provide information to the worker so he or she can make an informed decision: a digital assistant. To enhance the learning capability of workers the vision contained a VR world where the worker can practise different scenarios. The VR can also be used for marketing to attract people from outside the company. The futuristic vision also presented crowdsourcing of experts and tutors to improve the troubleshooting process and shorten the learning period. If an error is too complicated, the worker has the opportunity to connect to an expert using AR to get their guidance. At the beginning of an employment, every worker is enti-tled to a tutor who will assist you on your missions. To make the workplace more attractive and to change the old picture of the steel industry the vision presented three improvement areas. Firstly, clean & bright facilities which will attract a wider range of people. Secondly, centralised office where employees can meet, work and network. Thirdly, new working roles focusing on troubleshooting and sustainable solutions.Our recommendation is to explore the other maintenance divisions at SSAB and other industries to see if maintenance of acute problems can be centralised over the borders of industries. We also recommend future projects to use participation of managers and workers throughout the implementation process to create higher acceptance and understanding, but also to reduce fear, resistance and promote ownership to the change process. / Industri 4.0 undersöks just nu över hela världen och det medför en hel arsenal av ny teknik. Det är under stora teknologiska förändringar som vi har möjligheten att ändra gamla mönster. SSAB har, genom det här projektet, aktivt valt att skapa ett diskussionsunderlag om framtidens underhållsarbete på SSAB. Det är genom kunskap om framtid och diskussion som SSAB och IF Metall kommer kunna styra den teknologiska utvecklingen i rätt riktning. En riktning som främjar hållbarhet ur både klimat och ekonomisk synvinkel, såväl som skapar en attraktiv arbetsplats. Projektet bestod av tre mål. Det första målet var att kartlägga nuläget för underhållsarbetet på SSAB. Det andra målet var att utveckla en framtidsvision inom ramarna för konceptet Industri 4.0, en framtidsvision som främjar attraktiva arbetsplatser. Det tredje och sista målet var att utvärdera den metod som används för att utveckla framtidsvisionen. Kartläggningen av nulägesbeskrivningen på SSAB är baserad på intervjuer och observationer. Vi beslöt oss för att avgränsa oss till skiftunderhåll då de besitter många kompetenser samt arbetar över hela stålverket. Resultatet från nulägesbeskrivningen visade att arbetet karaktäriseras av varierande arbetsuppgifter, personlig utveckling och yrkesstolthet. Skiftunderhåll är mansdominerat och kännetecknas av gamla traditioner, tuff jargong samt macho-kultur. Vår slutsats är därför att arbetsplatsen generellt kan ses som attraktiv till de människor som tillhör den nuvarande homogena gruppen.Framtidsvisionen utvecklades med hjälp av personas och workshops. Tre personas skapades för att representera målgruppen. Syftet var att använda dem som diskussionsunderlag både för oss men även för deltagarna i de tre workshops som genomfördes under projektet. Målet med workshopsen var att generera en hög kvantitet av futuristiska och abstrakta idéer. Idéerna kombinerade därefter med teori kring Industri 4.0 och attraktiva arbetsplatser för att till slut forma framtidsvisionen. För att skapa ett attraktivt arbetsinnehåll fokuserar framtidsvisionen på att placera arbetaren i centrum av beslutsfattandet som en problemlösare. Det uppnåddes genom att använda ny teknologi för att förse arbetaren med information så att hen kan fatta ett välgrundat beslut: en digital assistent. För att effektivisera arbetarens inlärningsförmåga innehåller visionen en VR värld där arbetaren kan öva i olika scenarion. VR världen kan också användas i marknadsföringssyfte för att attrahera personer utanför företaget. Den futuristiska visionen presenterar även crowdsourcing av experter och handledare för att förbättra felsökningsprocessen samt förkorta inlärningsperioden. Arbetaren har möjlighet att, om ett uppstått fel är för komplicerat, ringa upp en expert och få deras vägledning genom AR glasögon. I början av en anställning har varje arbetare tillgång till en handledare som kan bistå med assistans under uppdragen. För att göra arbetsplatsen mer attraktiv och för att ändra den gamla bilden av stålindustrin presenterar visionen tre förbättringsområden. Det första området är rena och ljusa faciliteter som kommer attrahera ett bredare utbud av människor. Det andra området är centraliserat kontor där de anställda kan träffas, arbeta och umgås. Det tredje området är nya arbetsroller som fokuserar på felsökning och hållbara lösningar.Vår rekommendation är att utforska de andra underhållsavdelningarna på SSAB och även underhållsarbete i andra industrier. Syftet är att se om underhåll för akuta problem kan bli centraliserade över industrigränser. Vi rekommenderar också framtida projekt att använda deltagande av chefer och arbetstagare under hela processen för att skapa högre acceptans och förståelse för förändringen. Deltagande är också viktigt för att minska rädsla, motstånd och främja känslan av ägande gentemot förändringen.

Abstract The steel industry has been known as 'The mother of all industries '. With the emerging incidents such as Asian financial meltdown, industrialization of the China, and the policy of macro economic controls by the China government, the stock index of the steel industry has fluctuated violently. Despite the economy of China is to be adjusted upwards, in the foreseen future, the global steel supply will be probably exceed the demand. Such phenomenon definitely causes the pressure on the market that it also attracts much attention of the relevant stockholders. Current research investigates the most suitable model for valuating the stock price of the steel industry that would provide valuating methods to the corporate management and investors for decision making and investment. This research has studied 19 companies of steel industry of Taiwan listing companies with 6 approaches including the ¡¥Discounted Free Cash Flow Models¡¦, ¡¥Price to Earning Ratio¡¦, ¡¥Price to EBITDA Ratio¡¦, ¡¥Price to Sales Ratio¡¦, ¡¥Price to Book Value Ratio¡¦ and ¡¥Edwards-Bell-Ohlson Model¡¦ to valuate their reasonable intrinsic value from 2000 to 2005. The test of Theil¡¦s U is then applied to evaluate the approaches in order to justify the best valuation model. This study indicates the following results¡GThe Price to Book Value Ratio is the best valuation model since its smallest Theil¡¦s U value. The Price to Earning Ratio is the most unsuitable model for this evaluation purpose with a highest Theil¡¦s U value.

Submitted by Rodrigo Pastor Faceiro Lima (limarpf@hotmail.com) on 2016-12-13T12:30:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_MEX2015_Rodrigo Pastor Lima.pdf: 2865830 bytes, checksum: f57e0f28c7850f7b99610f40f530ef29 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2016-12-13T18:43:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_MEX2015_Rodrigo Pastor Lima.pdf: 2865830 bytes, checksum: f57e0f28c7850f7b99610f40f530ef29 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-26T12:30:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_MEX2015_Rodrigo Pastor Lima.pdf: 2865830 bytes, checksum: f57e0f28c7850f7b99610f40f530ef29 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-16 / A longevidade e sucessão em uma empresa familiar é um desafio a todas as famílias empresárias. São poucas as empresas familiares que alcançam a 3ª geração. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um estudo de caso para ensino com foco em estratégia, cultura e gestão de empresa familiar a fim de identificar elementos que permitam a longevidade empresarial. O estudo de caso teve por objeto o Grupo Gerdau que, com mais de 100 anos de existência, é administrado atualmente pela 5ª geração familiar. Nesta trajetória o Grupo Gerdau cresceu internacionalmente e hoje é o segundo grupo siderúrgico das Américas. A utilização deste estudo de caso para ensino permitirá ao docente abordar os referenciais teóricos de estratégia, cultura e conectá-los com a teoria de gestão de empresa familiar. / The longevity and succession in a family business is a challenge for every entrepreneurial family. Few family businesses are able to reach their 3rd family generation. The objective of this work is to present a case study for learning, with focus on strategy, culture and family business management. The case study was based on Gerdau Group, which exists for more than 100 years and currently is managed by their 5th generation. Gerdau Group has grown into a multinational company and is, today, the 2nd largest steel producer in the Americas. The case study could be used to address the theoretical frameworks of strategy, culture and connect them with the family business theory.

The South African economy desperately requires an injection from small manufacturing enterprises that are productive and highly organized - hence the need to identify suitable productivity measurement approaches for use in these enterprises. The following research question was formulated: Which productivity approach( es) is (are) generally most suitable for small manufacturing enterprises in the steel and engineering industry of South Africa? The following directions of research were identified: (1) A literature search revealed 12 productivity measurement approaches. The theory of each is discussed in detail. (2) An empirical search was performed to establish the requirements of industry. This process is fully discussed. The results of both the literature and empirical searches were used to develop a list of criteria. These criteria were compared with each of the approaches, and only three were found to conform to these requirements. The results of this comparison provided the answer to the research question. / Department of Business Management / M.Com (Business Management)

<p align="justify">Partant du mouvement managérial de remise en cause de l'organisation classique aussi appelée bureaucratie mécaniste ou encore entreprise taylorienne et fordienne qui a pris vigueur au début des années 80, l'architecture de cette thèse se structure en trois parties étroitement interdépendantes.</p><p><p><p align="justify">La première partie porte sur l'innovation managériale, c'est-à-dire sur les doctrines et les outils de gestion qui, à partir de la fin du siècle passé et du début de ce siècle, ont façonné l'histoire du management. Le regard porté conduit à relativiser voire à rompre avec certains lieux communs. Ainsi force est de constater que l'entreprise classique a fait l'objet au cours du temps d'un certain nombre de critiques, d'un certain nombre de tentatives d'aménagement voire même de dépassement. Notons toutefois que, par rapport aux tentatives précédentes, celle qui a débuté au début des années 80 apparaît beaucoup plus profonde au niveau des intentions et surtout beaucoup plus largement partagée par les managers. Par ailleurs, la lecture avancée insiste sur la dimension cyclique de l'histoire du management. Enfin, concernant la période actuelle, l'idée de mode est réfutée au profit de celle d'un construit étalé dans le temps.</p><p><p><p align="justify">La deuxième partie est consacrée à une étude de cas portant sur une grande entreprise sidérurgique. L'analyse faite s'articule autour du concept de bloc sociotechnologique dont la paternité revient à Pierre Bouvier (Le travail au quotidien: une démarche socio anthropologique, Paris, PUF, 1989). Dans cette optique, l'histoire récente de l'entreprise peut être posée comme celle du passage d'un bloc à un autre, c'est-à-dire d'une articulation relativement cohérente entre des variables différentes sociale, économique, politique, technologique. à une autre. Pour le faire ressortir, trois histoires connexes ont été relatées et analysées en détail:</p><p><p><p align="justify">La première histoire est micro-économique. Elle fait une large place à la crise comme élément de rupture par rapport au passé et aux restructurations successives qu'elle a entraînées. Sur la durée, celles-ci sont particulièrement révélatrices de l'évolution des rapports de force entre les acteurs. Elles mettent également en lumière les "dégâts" humains et sociaux provoqués par la modernisation.</p><p><p><p align="justify">La deuxième histoire est relative à l'évolution technologique. En sidérurgie, comme dans la plupart des secteurs traditionnels, les nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication sont venues véritablement bouleverser les univers de travail. A ce niveau, l'analyse s'est centrée sur les multiples effets socio-organisationnels liés à l'informatisation des outils.</p><p><p><p align="justify">La troisième et dernière a trait à la modernisation managériale. Dans le cas particulier de l'entreprise, elle débute à la fin des années 70 avec l'arrivée d'un nouveau directeur général. Toutefois, ce n'est qu'au début des années 80 que la volonté de renouveau managérial commence réellement à se concrétiser avec le développement des cercles de qualité et de progrès. Par la suite, l'entreprise ne cessera d'innover. Ainsi, vers la fin des années 80, la direction adopte la qualité totale comme mode de management. Dans ce cadre, elle multiplie les nouveaux concepts et les nouveaux outils de gestion: plan d'amélioration de la qualité, assurance qualité, topomaintenance, statistical process control, prime de progrès, etc. Enfin, après avoir réalisé d'importantes économies et fiabilisé son processus de production, vers le milieu des années 90, la direction témoigne d'une volonté de repenser son mode d'organisation et de gestion du personnel. Ainsi, par exemple, il est de plus en plus question d'organisation apprenante ou qualifiante.</p><p><p><p align="justify">Chacune de ces innovations a fait l'objet d'une présentation et d'une analyse socio-organisationnelle approfondie. Sans entrer dans les détails, soulignons cependant que la mise en oeuvre d'une nouvelle organisation du travail et d'une gestion individualisée des carrières vient en quelque sorte finaliser l'émergence d'un nouveau bloc sociotechnologique.</p><p><p><p align="justify">Quant à la troisième partie, elle est consacrée à une lecture théorique de l'innovation managériale à partir des concepts de l'analyse stratégique. Toutefois, la mobilisation du cadre théorique développé par Michel Crozier et Erhard Friedberg a également conduit à en souligner certaines limites dont le rejet de la dimension historique de l'organisation et de ses acteurs.</p><p><p> / Doctorat en sciences sociales, Orientation sociologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Par rapport aux ressources énergétiques fossiles combustibles, l’énergie solaire présente des caractéristiques inhérentes à la nature même de la ressource. Ce constat met en évidence la nécessité de système de stockage d’énergie. Ce travail de thèse consiste à étudier un stockage thermique pour une centrale solaire à concentration, ainsi que ses deux composants essentiels : le fluide de transfert et les matériaux de garnissage solides. La compréhension du système de stockage thermocline sur lit de roche est réalisée grâce à une approche expérimentale et numérique. Une alternative innovante sur le choix du fluide de transfert consiste à utiliser des huiles végétales. Concernant le garnissage, un matériau à géométrie contrôlée est développé à partir d’un coproduit issu de la sidérurgie. L’originalité de cette association pour le stockage thermique permet d’allier performance, disponibilité des matériaux en quantité industrielle tout en réduisant l’impact environnemental et financier. / Compare to fossil fuel energy resources, solar energy presents the inherent characteristic given by the very nature of the resource (intermittent availability). This observation highlights the need for thermal energy storage system. This doctoral thesis studies thermal energy storage for concentrating solar power plant, as well as its two essential components: the heat transfer fluid and the thermal energy storage materials. The analysis of the thermocline storage system with filler materials is achieved through experimental and numerical approaches. An innovative alternative for the heat transfer fluid consists to use vegetable oils, which offers comparable thermal properties and operating behavior to conventional thermal fluid. Regarding thermal energy storage materials, many natural and recycled materials can be used. A storage material with controlled geometry is developed from steel industry co-product. The originality of this combination for thermal energy storage combines performance, materials availability at industrial scale while reducing environmental and financial impact.

This thesis investigates manufacturer-distributor power relationship in the Chinese Iron and Steel Industry. The main objectives of this study are to identify, describe and investigate the power relationships in Chinese Iron and Steel Industry; to understand the concept of power from the perspective of distributors and their relationship with State-Owned Enterprises and Private-Owned Enterprises in this industry; and to explore the possibility of developing an extended research power-relationship framework by investigating the power construct and potentially related and relevant factors in the Chinese market that may impact predicted outcomes such as positive conflict resolution attitude and levels of conflict. Two quantitative pilot studies were conducted, consisting of 14 surveys with semi-structured questions each, which were instrumental in the design of an extended power relationship model by incorporating the factors such as the level of trust, frequency of communication and level of guanxi that drive positive conflict resolution attitude into the traditional power model that had not been combined in a single framework before. Subsequently, the main study was carried out comprising 148 questionnaires completed by distributor firm managers. These represent the views of 74 respondents, who responded for both state-owned enterprises and private-owned enterprises in the Chinese Iron and Steel Industry The sample size is 74 respondents including 14 respondents that were also respondents for the pilot studies. This study generated four main findings. 1) a State-Owned Enterprises tend to use more non-coercive power than Private-Owned Enterprises, and have a stronger negative effect than Private-Owned Enterprises; 2) although Private-Owned Enterprises were rated higher than State-Owned Enterprises in the level of trust, and have a stronger positive effect when explaining the observed relationship between the level of trust and positive conflict resolution attitude, the difference is really minimal; 3) Private-Owned Enterprises were rated higher than State-Owned Enterprises in the frequency of communication, and have a stronger positive effect than State-Owned Enterprises in the explanation of the relationship between frequency of communication and positive conflict resolution attitude. 4) Private-Owned Enterprises were rated higher than State-Owned Enterprises in the level of guanxi, and have stronger positive effect than State-Owned Enterprises in the explanation of the relationship between level of guanxi and positive conflict resolution attitude. These findings contribute to fill gaps in the literature with regard to power relationships in distribution channels. This thesis extends the current boundary of knowledge through the formulation of an extended framework that integrates conflict resolution constructs into a typical/traditional power model. This extended framework comprises new constructs such as level of trust, frequency of communication and level of guanxi and hypothesises their impact on conflict resolution attitude and level of conflict in the Chinese distribution channel. New knowledge is created by investigating differences regarding the use of power by SOEs and POEs considered from the distributor perspective in the Chinese context. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in detail.