M. Phil.

M.Comm. (Business Management) / The aim of a service organisation functioning in the maintenance or repair market is the repair of components and products. Every contract quoted for is unique. Different procedures and processes must be followed before the repair is successfully completed. Due to this fact, the forecasting of costs to be incurred is made most difficult. The proportion of material costs to labour costs is generally low in this industry and if the labour force is permanently employed, the rued costs to variable costs ratio is high. It is thus difficult to obtain accurate costing information before a contract has been completed. Management have to, on a daily basis, make short term operational decisions and the cost information obtained from the company's costing system, is important in the making of these decisions. At present, there is no costing system that takes into account the unique circumstances of an organisation operating within the maintenance environment and at the same time provides enough relevant costing information for the organisation to recover its costs and quote on a competitive basis. Rotek Engineering, a service organisation that undertakes service, repairs and maintenance in the heavy engineering market, is used as a representative model in this research. The literature study undertaken, investigated which costs and costing systems, from an academic point of view, could provide management with the most relevant and accurate costing information in a service organisation. Rotek Engineering was investigated in order to determine to what extent their current costing system meets their costing information needs in terms of short term decision making and quoting. Shortcomings of the current costing system were also investigated. Rotek Engineering's competitors in the maintenance market were also interviewed in order to get some insight into how their costing systems have been adopted in their ongoing struggle to gain market share. As a result of the information obtained from the research and also the literature study, it is recommended that a marginal costing system be implemented in order to provide cost information for short term operational decision making. The recommendation involves a warning that the bookkeeping and productivity problems will not necessarily be solved as a result of the implementation of a marginal costing system. The company must urgently focus attention on solving these problems and also on phasing out the permanent labour force.

M.B.A. / Competitiveness is defamed as ensuring that the port and transportation system can meet the requirements of its users. For the port to compete successfully for business in both domestic and international markets, it must have the ability to move people and cargo efficiently, reliably, and at a reasonable cost, without infrastructure impediments or congestion delays. Competitiveness is the key aspect that influences the meaningful participation and survival of the South African port system within the global environment. For exporters and importers, competitiveness translate into a demand for intermodal services that provide speedy and efficient movement of cargo through ports and terminal transfer facilities to land side transportation. It also translates into a demand for ready access to the transportation information that is needed by all players within the maritime environment. There is a strong belief and a sense of urgency among some port stakeholders in South Africa, who maintain that there is not enough spending on construction, operations and maintenance for ports. The following capacity issues will influence the future competitiveness of the port system and infrastructure: • Technological advancements in terms of processes and systems; • Hinterland connections; • Infrastructure usage in and around the ports; • Increasing dredging requirements. Thus, there is a need to improve the productivity, throughput capacity and accessibility to meet the expected growth in international trade. The port authority's tariffs in future should be based on the principles of user pays, cost-based tariffs and adequate return on capital employed. The South African port system should remain financially autonomous and not require subsidization from the State.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine, the specific literature related to performance measurement in the service sector. In the process, it also aims to classify and examine innovative approaches and models utilized to measure performance in service operational settings. Based on this investigation, the paper seeks to identify relevant benchmarking implications. Design/methodology/approach: A database of 141 peer-reviewed publications, published between 1981 and early 2008, was utilized for the purpose of this paper. The published works included contributions from both practioners and scholars. Findings: The International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management is found to be the leading journal in terms of contributions to performance measurement in service operational settings. It contributed 25 articles. The bulk of published work appeared in international journals. These contributions were mixed in nature. They included empirical, conceptual, case studies, literatures reviews and interviews. The focus of the articles examined was also mixed. These articles tended to emphasis operational, customer, strategic, supplier, and environmental aspects of service. Research limitations/implications: Based on the findings of this paper, it is concluded that this area of research is in need of more future efforts aimed at solidifying theoretical constructs and practical applications. Practical implications: Findings derived from this investigation have relevant benchmarking implications. In this context, understanding the different approaches to performance measurement as utilized in service organizations is critical to the efforts of these organizations' performance improvement efforts. Originality/value: Understanding the types and scopes of the different approaches and models utilized to measure performance in service operational settings is important in light of the growing significance of the service sector.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to study the environmental and competitive factors in the service organizations and second, to investigate the extent of effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives in different operational settings. Design/methodology/approach - In this paper factor analysis is used to determine the underlying factors associated with the changes in the competitive environment. Proportional measures are used to study the implementation of quality improvement initiatives. Findings - The paper finds that quality improvement initiatives are not implemented uniformly by all the service industries. Organizations implementing quality improvement initiatives face varying degrees of effectiveness. Positive operational and strategic outcomes have been observed by organizations implementing the quality improvement initiatives. Practical implications - The results of this paper show that implementation of different types of quality improvement initiatives has a positive impact on operational and strategic aspects of service organizations. Originality/value - The empirical investigation in this paper shows the practical and theoretical value of issues related to the performance of service organizations.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Thesis(M.B.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, 1991 / The research investigated the evaluation of common goods and services by white and black consumers, and to determine where similarities and dissimilarities between these two segments existed. A review of the literature on consumer behaviour, with specific reference to decision making models, and a series of in depth interviews enabled the expansion of the Zeithaml (1981) set of constructs by a factor of two. A questionnaire was developed and administered to white and black employees of well known local firms in a variety of industries. Hypothesis testing enabled validation of the expanded set of constructs, and the comparison of white and black evaluative differences, while correspondence ;analysis determined the key evaluative dimensions. Important new dimensions discovered included Convenience, Loyalty and Reception. An invaluable method of clustering was found in the /chi squared trees technique. The results indicated that black consumers are significantly less experienced in the use and evaluation of common services compared to their white counterparts. As a result of this inexperience, a much less sophisticated set of key evaluative constructs are relied upon in the decision process. Both segments appear to be /ciware of generally higher risks associated with services, but are less prone to invest effort in information gathering prior to purchase. The white segment purchases services based on their convenience, whilst the black segment faces equal inconvenience for any purchase. The most significant marketing implications drawn were firstly, the need to appreciate consumer perceptual similarities across, and differences within, goods and services categories. Secondly, marketers need very different strategies for the black segment.

by Lam Shun-yin, Henrik, Wai Bo-wah, Philip. / Bibliography: leaf 102 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1986

Ng, Wai Hung Thomas. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-112). / Abstracts in English and Chinese ; questionnaires in Chinese. / ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (CHINESE) --- p.iv / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.vi / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.vii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER II --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.6 / Service Quality (SQ) --- p.6 / Conceptualizing SQ --- p.9 / SQ Perception Discrepancy between Employees and Customers --- p.14 / SQ Conceptualization Discrepancy / Discrepancy in Psychometric Properties of SQ scale / SQ Evaluation Discrepancy / Measurement Equivalence/Invariance(ME/I) --- p.19 / Testing Configural Invariance / Testing Factorial Invariance / Testing Unique Variance Equivalence / Testing Factor Variance Equivalence / Testing Intercept/Scalar Invariance / Testing Factor Correlations Equivalence / Testing Latent Means Equivalence / Chapter CHAPTER III --- OBJECTIVE --- p.25 / Chapter CHAPTER IV --- CONCEPTUALIZATION --- p.27 / SQ Conceptualization --- p.27 / Difference in Conceptual Model / Difference in Manifestation of Constructs (Dimensions) / Psychometric Properties of the Scale --- p.31 / Difference in Magnitude of Random Error / Difference in Perception Dispersion / Difference in Baseline Perception / SQ Evaluation --- p.35 / Difference in Interrelationships among Dimensions / Difference in Perceived SQ level / Summary --- p.39 / Chapter CHAPTER V --- METHODOLOGY --- p.41 / Data Collection --- p.41 / Survey Instrument / Interview / Method of Analysis --- p.42 / Testing Difference in Conceptual Model / Testing Difference in Manifestation of Constructs / Testing Difference in Magnitude of Random Error / Testing Difference in Perception Dispersion / Testing Difference in Baseline Perception / Testing Difference in Interrelationships among Dimensions / Testing Difference in Perceived SQ level / Other Methodologies in Examining ME/I --- p.51 / Chapter CHAPTER VI --- RESULTS --- p.56 / SQ Conceptualization --- p.59 / Difference in Conceptual Model / Difference in Manifestation of Constructs / Psychometric Properties of the Scale --- p.68 / Difference in Magnitude of Random Error / Difference in Perception Dispersion / Difference in Baseline Perception / SQ Evaluation --- p.75 / Difference in Interrelationships among Dimensions / Difference in Perceived SQ level / Summary of Results --- p.77 / SQ Conceptualization / Psychometric Properties / SQ Evaluation / Chapter CHAPTER VII --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.85 / Managerial Implications --- p.85 / Using Employees Information / Training / Methodological Merits --- p.90 / Measurement Non-invariance as a Source of Information --- p.92 / Future Direction: / Application of the Multiple Forms of Discrepancy --- p.94 / Conclusion --- p.95 / APPENDIX --- p.96 / Chapter 1A. --- Employees Survey Questionnaire --- p.96 / Chapter 1B. --- Customers Survey Questionnaire --- p.99 / Chapter 2. --- Item Patterns of Three Testing Models --- p.102 / REFERENCES --- p.103

Wong Kin. / Thesis submitted in: December 2005. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-58). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Chapter Chapter One - --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter Two - --- Literature Review / Chapter 1. --- Convergence --- p.8 / Chapter 2. --- Methodology Review on Regional Disparity of Service Employment --- p.13 / Chapter 3. --- Regional Service Employment Convergence in Great Britain --- p.17 / Chapter Chapter Three - --- Methodology --- p.21 / Chapter Chapter Four - --- Empirical Results / Chapter 1 . --- Stationarity of Service Employment --- p.29 / Chapter 2. --- Stochastic Convergence of Service Employment --- p.33 / Chapter Chapter Five - --- Conclusion --- p.36 / Appendix A --- p.41 / Appendix B --- p.42 / Appendix C --- p.43 / Tables --- p.48 / Bibliography --- p.55