This research paper documents the process of strategic management, incorporating the five distinct tasks within that process. Each of the tasks is defined and explored within the context of the strategy-making process. The Balanced Scorecard is highlighted as a tool for implementing and executing strategy. The emphasis in this study is on the strategic process in non-profit organisations. Many strategic processes and initiatives appear to be confined to the profit sector, but with the advent of modern strategic theories such as the Balanced Scorecard, there is now an expectation that non-profit organisations can also follow sound business principles and practices. The research paper is of a qualitative nature incorporating a case study approach. The case study is the South African National Blood Service (SANBS), which is an organisation in transformation, following changes in the Health legislation in South Africa. The organisation was formed from seven independent services and went through its first true strategic management process in late 2002, ready for its 2003-2004 financial year. In the first chapter, an overview of the study is given. Strategic theory is presented and discussed in the second chapter, with the case study being presented in the third chapter. Chapter four includes an evaluation of the theoretical information compared to the practical implementation in SANBS. Chapter five concludes with recommendations on the way forward for SANBS. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Thesis (M.B.A. (Investec Business School))--Rhodes University, 2006.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the service quality that the SANBS provides to its customers, by measuring customers’ perceptions and their expectations of service quality provided by the supplier of blood transfusion services. The organization that is used for this study is the South African National Blood Service (SANBS). Specifically the study seeks to: 1. Determine the extent to which customers are satisfied or not satisfied with the service they receive from the SANBS using the ten-dimensional format of SERVQUAL model, modified to the specific service quality requirements of the blood transfusion service industry. 2. Establish customers’ perceptions of the service they receive using a multiple-item scale (SERVQUAL) for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. 3. Establish customers’ expectations of the service, and compare them to their perceptions of the service they currently receive. The comparison is made along each service quality dimension, across different parts of same service on a geographical basis, and across different customer groups on a customer category (or type) basis. 4. Recommend implementation of appropriate service quality performance improvement procedures where necessary. Study design and methods: The data for the study came from the SANBS’ customer perception and expectation survey conducted in 2005. Questionnaires were sent out to hospitals that use products and services provided by the SANBS in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces of South Africa. The questionnaire was based on the multiple-item SERVQUAL model for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality, modified and tailored to specific service quality requirements of the blood transfusion service industry. Questionnaires were sent out to 113 (69.3%) hospitals out of a total of 163 blood-utilizing hospitals in the two provinces. Of the 113 hospitals, 92 (81.4%) responded, with questionnaires rendered unusable. The final sample size is 88 and is included in the final study database. The data is analyzed by comparing different parts of the service on a geographical basis namely KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape zones. The data is also analyzed by comparing different customer groups namely the Rural State Hospitals, the Urban State Hospitals and Private Hospitals. Results: The result confirms the research (alternative) hypothesis (H1 : μ1 ≠ μ2), and rejects Ho. The overall expectations ratings are higher than the perceptions ratings, and the KwaZulu-Natal expectations ratings are higher than the Eastern Cape ratings. The expectations of private hospitals and rural state hospitals have a higher rating than that of urban state hospitals and the perceptions of private and urban state hospitals have a higher rating than that of rural state hospitals. The largest service quality gap is the accessibility dimension which relates specifically to approachability and ease with which customers can access staff at different levels of the organization by e-mail, and includes accessing of knowledgeable blood bank personnel and medical staff of SANBS, but may also relate to the distance of hospitals from the nearest blood bank, all of which are situated in urban state hospitals. The mean difference for accessibility is the highest followed by the understanding customer mean difference. The mean differences for the other dimension categories are significantly less than that of the largest two dimensions, but not significantly different amongst themselves. The mean difference for rural state hospitals is the largest followed by private hospitals and urban state hospitals. The mean difference for rural state hospitals is greater than that for urban state hospitals in both zones, but the mean difference for private hospitals is greater in KwaZulu-Natal than in the Eastern Cape. The dimension means of differences for rural state hospitals are greater than that for urban state hospitals. According to the correlations between expectations and perceptions for different dimensions, there is a weak or no linear relationship between expectations and perceptions. Conclusion: This empirical study supports the literature on the provision of service quality, and concludes that there is a statistically significant difference or gap between the services offered by the SANBS as perceived by its customers, and the expectations of its customers. The study substantiates the need for management of blood transfusion services to take into account customer perceptions of service quality and their expectations, and upon identification of gaps, to implement appropriate service quality improvement processes, rather than take a one sided view of their (SANBS’) own perception of service quality.

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a concept which has been explored in commercial contexts by numerous studies. Numerous scholars in the literature highlight the benefits of adopting an IMC approach which creates message consistency, amongst others. However, there is still limited literature on the adoption and use of IMC in the context of non-profit organisations involved in social marketing campaigns to support their behavioural change messages. Insight into the adoption and use of an IMC approach could be useful to non-profit organisations involved in social marketing as it could increase the success of behavioural change messages. This study aims to explore the use of IMC by one non-profit organisation within a social marketing context. By doing so the study proposes and refines IMC criteria for social marketing to support behavioural change messages and thus contributes to the existing body of knowledge on using IMC in social marketing. The study uses a single case study approach which includes using three data collection methods to collect data from the South Africa National Blood Service (SANBS) to evaluate its social marketing campaigns according to proposed IMC criteria for social marketing. Based on the findings revised IMC criteria which are more tailor-made for social marketing to support behavioural change messages are proposed. It became evident that non-profit organisations need to be sensitive to the complexities of communicating messages aimed at behavioural change. A proper understanding and application of more tailor-made IMC criteria for social marketing can thus benefit non-profit organisations to effectively communicate behavioural change messages through their social marketing campaigns / Communication Science / MA (Communication Science)

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a concept which has been explored in commercial contexts by numerous studies. Numerous scholars in the literature highlight the benefits of adopting an IMC approach which creates message consistency, amongst others. However, there is still limited literature on the adoption and use of IMC in the context of non-profit organisations involved in social marketing campaigns to support their behavioural change messages. Insight into the adoption and use of an IMC approach could be useful to non-profit organisations involved in social marketing as it could increase the success of behavioural change messages. This study aims to explore the use of IMC by one non-profit organisation within a social marketing context. By doing so the study proposes and refines IMC criteria for social marketing to support behavioural change messages and thus contributes to the existing body of knowledge on using IMC in social marketing. The study uses a single case study approach which includes using three data collection methods to collect data from the South Africa National Blood Service (SANBS) to evaluate its social marketing campaigns according to proposed IMC criteria for social marketing. Based on the findings revised IMC criteria which are more tailor-made for social marketing to support behavioural change messages are proposed. It became evident that non-profit organisations need to be sensitive to the complexities of communicating messages aimed at behavioural change. A proper understanding and application of more tailor-made IMC criteria for social marketing can thus benefit non-profit organisations to effectively communicate behavioural change messages through their social marketing campaigns / Communication Science / MA (Communication Science)