The aim of this thesis is to analyse and evaluate the marketing strategy of a professional basketball club which currently acts in the highest competition in the Czech Republic Mattoni NBL and purpose its possible improvement. The thesis is based on theoretical knowledge of administration and financing of sports organizations and on marketing with the focus on sports. The practical part is based on marketing situational analysis and mainly on my own research. These will be the basis for the analysis and evaluation of each segment of the club's marketing strategy and also for purposing specific measures to enhance them and make them more effective.

Master´s thesis is focused on a presentation of entrepreneurial intention of corporate information strategy. The corporate information strategy is based on the analysis of current situation of the company and its environment which uses modern trends in IT business. It is about a complex solution which should help to the growth of turnover, strengthen of mark of company and stabilize the market position.

A review of the literature reveals that the ability to execute strategy is more important than the quality of the strategy itself. Researchers indicate that despite the importance of the strategy execution process, far more research has been carried out into strategy formulation rather than into strategy execution. The literature shows that executives fail to execute up to 70 percent of their strategic initiatives, this research set out to explore the drivers and inhibitors of executing strategy. This research involved a qualitative study which consisted of in-depth, face-to-face interviews. A total of 25 executives were interviewed from a large South African financial institution. Content and frequency analysis were used to extract key constructs from the data obtained during the interview process. The outcome of this research has resulted in drivers and inhibitors critical to effective strategy execution being explicitly defined. The findings have been used to develop an empirically based framework which highlights six key factors which must be considered simultaneously in order to successfully execute strategy. These are: obtaining top executive commitment, generating engagement at all levels, communicating a clear, tangible strategy, cascading accountabilities, selecting the best people to drive key initiatives, and the ability to monitor and track progress. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study describes the factors which cause resistance to subsidiary evolution in twenty-eight geographically dispersed subsidiaries, as a global strategy is implemented by a mature multinational corporation (MNC). The subsidiaries are diverse in terms of the roles they perform within the MNC. Strategic change of this nature requires that subsidiaries roles evolve, in most cases to Implementer of head office decisions. Based on the interplay between subsidiary evolution factors namely; head-office assignment, subsidiary choice and local environments, this study evaluates which factors cause the most resistance to different subsidiary roles as a new MNC structure is implemented. Global Innovators experience the most resistance from headquarter factors, local innovators face the most resistance from subsidiary factors and Implementers experience low levels of resistance from the strategic change. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

A dissertation of limited scope submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters of Recreation and Tourism degree in the Centre for Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand, 2008. / The study on die assessment of the development and promotion of a tourism delivery strategy, within the Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve and surrounding, was conducted against the background that, in spite of the fact that South Africa is blessed with accessible wildlife, varied and impressive scenery, unspoiled wilderness areas; the country has not yet been able to realise full tourism potential. The failure of South Africa to realise a tourism delivery strategy for the benefit of the community and stakeholders, was a strong motivation for carrying out this research investigation. The subsequent result of this limited contribution is that some tourist destinations attract more tourists while other destinations attract few tourists. Notwithstanding the existence of the democratic government elected in 1994, tourism development in South Africa still focuses on urban areas and areas along scenic natural environments. It is also a serious challenge that the tourism industry is still dominated by the white population sector. The involvement of local indigenous communities in tourism related activities in the study area is almost non-existent. The study therefore, had specific objectives which are the following: (a) To reveal the extent to which the stakeholders are aware of the importance of tourism in the study area. (b) To find out whether the activities and facilities in the study area are adequately provided and are of good quality. (c) To establish the degree to which stakeholders participate in tourism activities in the study area. (d) To determine whether the level of utilisation and patronage of various resource facilities in the study area are of low or high order. (e) To investigate the adequacy and effectiveness of tourism management practices for benefiting the local communities in the study area. (i) To ascertain the adequacy of perceived community benefits coming from tourism activities in the study area. A number of hypotheses directly related to the objectives of the study were postulated. The hypotheses were duly tested in an attempt to uncover the underlying causes of the identified discrepancies in the study area. The testing of the hypotheses was done through the analysis and interpretation of the data collected from the population sectors that are directly or indirectly affected by the study area. There were various findings that emerge and were deduced from the research data analysed. The findings showed that the respondents from the study area: (a) community members are relatively aware of tourism facilities and activities in the study area; (b) the facilities were inadequately provided and thought to be ill-equipped; (c) there was a moderate to fair participation practice in tourism activities, mainly based on race and economics, where Whites and Indians showed a high level of participation; (d) levels of utilisation and patronage of facilities were not of a high order, that is, community members found utilisation to be inadequate in the study area; (e) the tourism management practices in the study area were inadequate and ineffective for benefiting the local communities; and (f) the tourism benefits for the local communities were found to be inadequate in the study area, in other word, community benefits coming from tourism activities are inadequate in the study On the whole, the study conclusively established that there were evidently negative perceptions of provision, participation, utilisation, management practice and community related tourism benefits in the study area. These findings lend themselves to the need for the development and promotion of a tourism delivery strategy at the Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve. Finally, the research study concluded by providing recommendations, which sought to ameliorate the negative outcomes of the investigation. It was further suggested that the development and promotion of a tourism delivery strategy would depend on mutual co-operation between all stakeholders: the government, the tourists, the nature reserve officials, the private sector tour operators and the local communities.

Cette thèse examine la généalogie du concept d’utilisateur et sa mise en scène contemporaine dans la recherche et développement industriel. De nombreuses recherches du champ des sciences et techniques, du design et de la stratégie ont mis en évidence ces 40 dernières années le rôle clé de l’utilisateur dans le processus d’innovation. Le laboratoire de recherche Bell Labs sert de terrain d’analyse car il permet d’observer sur une période de 88 années les raisons institutionnelles, économiques et socio-techniques qui ont établi l’utilisateur comme un artefact à même de répondre aux enjeux industriels de formalisation des conditions de réceptions et d’usages dans le but de les intégrer aux objets en développement dans le domaine des télécommunications. Ancré au confluent des approches sémiotique (C. S. Peirce), symbolique (L. Sfez), et de la théorie de l’acteur-réseau (B. Latour), nous analysons les différents termes du système représentatif de l’utilisateur et sa symbolique aux Bell Labs : la diffusion du concept dans le journal scientifique de Bell Labs à partir d’une analyse statistique, les différents types de figures de l’utilisateur présents dans ce journal avec une analyse de discours, et le processus de prise en compte de l’utilisateur par l’analyse socio-technique d’un projet d’innovation. Pour ce travail, nous avons développé une méthodologie permettant le suivi et l’analyse de l’émergence et de la diffusion des concepts d’innovation. In fine, nous défendons que les Bell Labs, au travers des représentations de l’utilisateur, ont progressivement établi une équivalence entre l’homme et la machine qui porte l’utilisateur au rang d’image symbolique mi-homme mi-machine. / In this thesis we examine the genealogy of the concept of user and its contemporary dramaturgy in industrial research. For forty years, the literature in sciences and technology studies, in design and in strategy have been revealing the importance of users in the innovation process. This thesis is the result of a doctoral research that aims at exploring further this issue by studying the institutional, economical and socio-technical reasons that settle the user as an artefact in the research laboratory of Bell Labs. Our theorical frameword combine both semiotic (Charles S. Peirce) and symbolic (Lucien Sfez) aproaches, and the theory of actor-network (Bruno Latour). We focus on the terms of the representational system of the user and its symbolic implications in Bell Laboratories : the diffusion of the concept in the scientific journal of Bell Labs through a statistical analysis, the different types of user-model in Bell Labs history through a speech analysis, and the process of user integration through the socio-technical analysis of an innovation project. For this research, we developed a methodology designed at tracking and analyzing the birth and propagation of concepts in innovation. Finally we defend that Bell Labs, through its user-models, have established an equivalence between human and machine that make the user a symbolic picture half human, half-machine.

Business leaders increasingly face pressure from stakeholders to be transparent. There appears however little consensus on the risks and payoffs of disclosing vital information such as corporate strategy. To fill this gap, this study analyzes firm-specific determinants and organisational outcomes of voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Stakeholder theory and agency theory help to understand whether companies serve their interest to engage with stakeholders and overcome information asymmetries. I connect these theories and propose a comprehensive approach to measure voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Hypotheses from the theoretical framework are empirically tested through panel regression of data on identified determinants and outcomes and of disclosed strategy through annual reports, corporate social responsibility reports, corporate websites and corporate press releases by the 70 largest publicly listed companies in the Netherlands from 2003 through 2008. I found that industry, profitability, dual-listing status, national ranking status and listing age have significant effects on voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effects are found for size, leverage and ownership concentration. On outcomes, I found that liquidity of stock and corporate reputation are significantly influenced by voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effect is found for volatility of stock. My contributions to theory, methodology and empirics offers a stepping-stone for further research into understanding how companies can use transparency to manage stakeholder relations.

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This study was conducted to look into state-owned ICT institutions. The emphasis was on devising a strategic management framework that would be robust and agile, thereby enabling government companies within the ICT sector to rapidly respond to changes in the market and to also enable them to forecast and plan for the future in respect of technology. The main objective of the study was to derive an ICT strategic management framework for the rapid technological evolution of state-owned companies. Further, the study aimed to provide a critical exposition of the factors that affect company ICT strategies; assess the impact of technological changes on company ICT strategies; and propose guidelines on keeping companies‘ ICT strategies responsive to rapid technological changes. Through the literature review as well as an empirical study, common variables and factors that affect a company‘s ICT strategy and its response to technology changes were explored and guidelines were compiled into a framework that will assist SOEs (state-owned enterprises). Through a literature study of available material on the world‘s telecommunication trends and developments in developed nations, some key observations were recorded such as the concept of convergence, which in the main is driven by consumers‘ need for mobility and flexibility, as well as applications with high capacity demands on the one hand and the need for companies and telecommunications operators to be more efficient on the other. Convergence delivers this benefit of efficiency within the market and stimulates competition. Innovation and creativity continue to be the driving force behind the technological evolutions in the ICT sector. The study also considered how both the PEST model and Porter‘s five forces affect these companies. Issues such as the legislative and policy framework of the ICT industry in South Africa were looked at, with emphasis on how they affect ICT parastatals. The study ended with key recommendations and guidelines summed up into a comprehensive framework. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015