Avusa Publishing (East Cape) (APEC) publishes several of the oldest and best known newspaper products in the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Province Herald is currently the oldest daily morning newspaper in South Africa and the average daily circulation of the paper is 25 000. Its main distribution is in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan area, as well as the area up to the Garden Route and as far East as Port Alfred. APEC also publishes the Weekend Post. According to the financial statements and circulation and advertisement figures of the company, the revenue generated by the company has not increased, but stayed stagnant. In addition to this, the daily circulation of the flagship publication, The Herald, has decreased from 29 000 in 2005 to 24 000 in 2008. As the company only generates revenue from two sources, namely advertising sales and the sale of newspapers, the above mentioned situation negatively affects the financial wellbeing of the company. The management dilemma that needed to be researched was how APEC's circulation and advertising income could be increased. The primary objective of this study was therefore to improve APEC's sales success by investigating the determinants of such sales success. More specifically, the study investigated the influence of determinants such as newsworthiness, value proposition, brand awareness, customer service, customer loyalty, credibility and new media on sales success, as measured by increased circulation and advertising revenue. Convenience sampling was used to select 287 employees working for the company. A mail survey was conducted among these 287 employees, but only 114 usable questionnaires were returned (a response rate of 40 percent). The empirical results revealed that brand awareness, customer loyalty and the use of new media technologies exerted a significantly positive influence on the sales success of APEC. The results further showed that newsworthiness, editorial credibility, value proposition and customer service exerted no significant influence on the APEC’s sales success. Despite the latter findings, the results revealed that there was a high level of trust and loyalty in the editorial content of APEC, as well as the perception of good value for money among both readers and advertisers. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed and areas of future research are recommended.

This study offers insight into the perceived leadership behaviour of sales managers in a pharmaceutical organisation in South Africa. The study specifically investigated the extent of the relationship between leadership behaviour of sales managers and motivation of sales teams during the implementation of strategic alliances. The study followed a mixed methods approach and had a correlational research design. The population in this study was the fifty four (54) sales representatives and their respective sales managers of the six sales teams identified, who are directly responsible for implementing strategic alliances. The population was demarcated into six (6) sales teams with each team reporting to a separate sales manager. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The quantitative data were analysed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r). The qualitative component was analysed using a content analysis. The findings of the correlation analysis suggest that an overall positive and moderate relationship exist between autocratic leadership behaviour of sales managers and the motivation of sales teams. A similar relationship exists between team leadership and extrinsic motivation. A positive and weak relationship exists between directive and supportive leadership and motivation. Similarly, a positive and weak relationship exists between team leadership and intrinsic motivation. However, the extent to which these relationships exist varies between the sales teams. The findings of the content analysis indicate that task-oriented leadership behaviour may exert the strongest motivator for sales teams when implementing strategic alliances. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)