The emergence of renewed emphasis on risk and risk management has opened a huge portal in attempting to deal with the negative impacts of mv/AIDS in the workplace. The study recognises the importance of risk management in achieving optimal benefits within any organisation. Furthermore it examines the devastating effect of mv/AIDS on the social and economic structure of South Africa and provides a benchmark programme in addressing this Issue. A case study is presented (Care for the Caregivers Programme, at McCord Hospital), which provides the framework of a programme in operation. The dissertation dissects the programme and evaluates the outcomes against a set of developed criteria. In maximising the benefits of such programmes, emphasis on proper implementation and monitoring is essential. The study proceeds to provide suggestions to harness the full potential ofthe programme. v / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

The study dwells on one of the few companies making animal and public health chemicals in Zimbabwe. It is fairly a new company and the industry is old globally even in Zimbabwe. Chemplex has a varied product range covering grain protection, insecticides, pesticides in addition to the animal chemicals. However, Chemplex's viability is under serious threat because the existing strategies are not competitive enough for global participation. The manufacturing of products has been scaled down due to critical shortage of foreign currency. The intent of this paper is to suggest that the use of a quantitative research methodology can inform today's decision-making managers in the animal and public health chemicals manufacturing company. While not claiming to be predictive, the research seeks to develop intelligent forecasts and strategic inclinations concerning what is possible while indicating strategies for working toward desired goals. In a time of accelerating change and globalization of markets, the methodology can help in revealing to managers how to cope successfully with uncertainty and move confidently into tomorrow. In that regard, a quantitative and case study approach will be implemented. The research has proposed ISO certification, strategic alliances, outsourcing and licensing agreements as recommendations that Chemplex should seriously consider. These have been identified as highly necessary given the global trends and Chemplex's competitive potential since manpower and facilities are greatly underutilized. Chemplex does not have all the necessary resources to embark on meaningful growth and expansion on its own at the moment. The foreign currency generation will be expected to improve under such strategies as well toenable Chemplex to compete independently in future. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

Applied research has value to the extent that it assists management to make better decisions. It is only through a scientific thinking process that we come to understand, and take into consideration, the complex set of factors that operates in any given situation. Having analysed the results from the data analysis the manager exercises good judgment by using both the research findings and drawing on the personal and invaluable resources of past experience. In sum, research indicates the direction of problem solving; experience and common sense, in conjunction with scientific research results. One without the other is not completely effective. This Dissertation sets out to carry out a strategy evaluation of the ZESCO Business Plan using a set strategy evaluation criteria of; suitability, acceptability and feasibility. In conducting this evaluation, it is recognised that; although it is impossible to demonstrate conclusively that a particular business strategy is optimal or even guarantee that it will work, one can nevertheless, test it for critical flaws using a set criteria. The results from the evaluation revealed that; in terms of suitability some of the strategies scored lowly due to the low disposable incomes of ZESCO's customers; in terms of acceptability of ZESCO's strategies to its principle stakeholders, there is a need for it to improve the input from these stakeholders when formulating its strategies and lastly the feasibility analysis revealed that ZESCO will struggle to implement its strategies. Lastly the importance of carrying out Business Research is well summed up by Sekaran (2000: 4) "the difference between the manager who uses common sense alone to analyze and make a decision in a given situation, and the investigator who uses a scientific method, is that the latter does a systematic inquiry into the matter and proceeds to describe, explain, or predict phenomena based on data carefully collected for the purpose. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

With the advent of democracy in South Africa, there has been a growing awareness of the poor levels of health care that have been provided to rural areas in previous years. While members of the private sector can afford medical treatment equalling that provided in first world countries, the poor, who rely on the public sector, must rely on the services that are provided by their district hospital system. The remote St Apollinaris Hospital provides health care for approximately 150 000 of the 308 000 people who inhabit the Sisonke District. This hospital is unable to attract and maintain adequate human resource capital due to its remote location, it is frequently confronted with logistical problems. While St Apollinaris Hospital does function within the budgetary constraints of the Department of Health, there seems no effective mechanism by which the problems of this institute can be identified and dealt with. As St Apollinaris Hospital services almost half the district population, any improvement in the hospital's functioning and service delivery will have a direct impact on the health status of this rural area. This study aimed at identifying the shortfalls that were present at the St Apollinaris Hospital and focused on the management and administrative components, as well as human resources and equipment resources, which may contribute to the suboptimal health care of patients. This study was a qualitative observational cross sectional study with some quantitative aspects. As all workers and managers that were present were interviewed, there was no need for a sampling methodology. The sample size consisted of 128 general employees and eight top managers. A response rate of 85% was achieved which allowed the researcher to draw conclusions about all workers at the St Apollinaris Hospital. An inventory of the hospital's equipment was conducted using the Department of Health's essential equipment list. The out patients utilizing the hospital's services were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the current referral pattern and the financial records of the hospital were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the budgeting process. Understaffing was one of the most serious problems that the hospital had to contend with as 81% of employees identified this problem. 51% of employees stated that understaffing presented itself on a daily basis. The next problem faced was the low levels of equipment with there being a range of 35 to 69% of essential equipment present. There was no equipment pool. 90% of workers stated that the lack of equipment resulted in them becoming frustrated and 85% of workers stated that they believed that the low levels of equipment resulted in compromised patient care. The recommendations that were made include St Apollinaris Hospital instituting a long term and short term recruitment strategy to help with the understaffing that may be present. A full equipment plan needs to be instituted at St Apollinaris Hospital. Attention should be paid to bringing the essential equipment up to the prescribed levels as soon as possible. An equipment pool should be established and maintained. More research is needed with regard to the outpatient and financial components of this study. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

ABC Consulting Services is a Consulting Engineering firm based in Pietermaritzburg. Primary and secondary research was conducted in an attempt to identify the key marketing issues that ABC Consulting Services faces in its internal and external environments. The primary research done on the company (micro factors) and its environment (macro factors) was in the form of qualitative descriptive research with the source of information coming from internal semi structured focus groups and questionnaires sent to selected individuals involved in the consulting engineering industry. The secondary research includes a study of the current state of the South African Consulting Engineering industry. The content analysis of the primary and secondary research resulted in the identification of six key threats in the macro environment and five main opportunities for the company to increase its current work. The key threats identified are the lack of engineering skills, the lack of skills in the client organisations, inexperienced firms in the market, tendering processes and slow payment from clients. With further unpacking of these issues, it was found that many of the issues are as a result of the lack of skills in client organisations. The opportunities identified include agricultural development for historically disadvantaged individuals, the relatively low value of the Rand making the company's services cheaper for internationally funded projects, increased infrastructure budgets as a result of the 2010 Soccer WorId Cup, agricultural development in Africa and an increase in floodline determination work. The internal resource analysis identified that that the company is very strong in terms of the quality of its human resources; however, it is under staffed for the current work load. Financially, the company is in a good position and the current environment should continue to yield very good returns in the short to medium term, however, the firm is inflexible in terms of financial commitments. The firms lack of formal marketing systems and their low client and contact bases in Government departments were identified as weaknesses. The company's facilities and processes are good and represent a strength, however there are some procedures such as quality management systems which need to be implemented. It is recommended that the company institute formal marketing procedures and market themselves to prospective clients by means of networking and doing presentations to selected prospective clients in order to inform them of the service that the company has to offer. The company should also do limited advertising in selected specialist magazines which deal with irrigation and the sugar industry. In order to establish themselves as leaders in sugarcane estate development, they should write and present papers at the annual SASTA conferences. To promote the profession, they should do presentations at high school level to encourage high school students to study engineering and at a University level; the company should offer their services to the local University for lecturing certain modules of suitable courses. This can be used as a platform for promoting the profession to the students to encourage them to stick to engineering as a career. To solve the staff shortage problem, the company should recruit two new engineers, one with approximately 3 years relevant experience and another with approximately 5 years relevant experience. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The demand for meat in South Africa may be growing faster than what the local market can supply. Imported pork may therefore help to meet the growing demand for pork or it may take market share away from the existing local pork market. A study of this nature could not be found. The majority of estimations found dated back to before 1994, many changes have occurred since then. New laws have been implemented and the meat industry has undergone substantial changes. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect imported pork products have on the demand for pork in Queenstown. The study set out to determine whether this effect was positive or negative for local business. The motivating factors were investigated to establish what made businesses sell imported pork products and not locally-produced pork products. The results were collected with the use of a questionnaire and were analyzed using Central Tendency Statistics and Descriptive Frequency Statistics. The sample size is relatively small due to the small size of Queenstown. A purposive sample had to be used and all respondents had to be contacted to achieve the highest rate of responses. The small sample size limited the accuracy and number of statistical tests available. Analysis of the results revealed that the majority of businesses in Queenstown do not sell imported pork, and have not observed a decrease in demand for locally-produced pork products due to the importation of pork. Businesses that made use of imported pork did so to reduce costs of manufacture and also because of the decrease of availability of local pork due to the outbreak of Swine Fever at the time. It is recommended to develop or improve a marketing system tor imported pork products. An investigation into the effect of imported beef, mutton and poultry on the demand for meat may give a better indication of demand for all meat products. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2007.

The SAWS is interested in demonstrating the economic and social benefits of the products or services it provides to the public, industries and other organisations. It is also important for the organisation to carry out ongoing performance assessment of public and commercial weather services to ensure that these services are efficient and effectively meeting the public's and customer's needs and contribute to longer term commercial and societal objectives. Some other National Weather Services has developed "Service Charters" which detail their pledge of performance to the user communities, specifically, customers and the general public. These service charters provide a brief overview of the services provided, a commitment of performance against specific targets and a commitments to consult and identify a means by which the customers and the public may register their concern. As a result the service charters has become an important component of the Weather Services branding measurement strategy. The acceptance of the SAWS products or services by the public and other weather users depends on a number of factors. Scientific accuracy is just one of those factors. Also the health of the SAWS depends on the perceptions from full spectrum of weather users ranging from individual citizens, media, aviation, ... Ill marine, industry, government departments, construction companies, and insurance. These perceptions include those about requirements, accessibility, availability, accuracy, timelines, utility, comprehension, sufficient and packaging. The objective is to ultimately measure performance from the user perspective and identify user's needs. It is also to measure the acceptance of the services provided from such dimensions as expectations, understanding, importance, satisfaction, and utility. This study has been framed within the hypothesis that the SAWS brand associations are not strong, not favourable and not unique to create a positive brand. It has come critical to assess the level of customer awareness and familiarity with the SAWS brand so as to improve the dissemination mechanisms of the weather forecast information. Based on a literature review, two types of brand association are identified. One is product association including functional attribute association and non-functional attribute association. The other is organisational association including corporate ability association and corporate social responsibility association. It has been found that, the greater the number of the core brand association, the higher the brand equity. The feedback received on the questionnaire and interviews directed at awareness and familiarity with the SAWS brand indicated that, a need exists to educate the public and potential customers about the products and services of the SAWS. Of paramount important is the improvement of the SAWS dissemination mechanisms and partnerships with other scientific research organisations. This will enable the SAWS to reach a wide range of the public and weather users and to safeguard property and life of all South Africans. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

The management of the Johannesburg Zoo is currently attempting to 'turnaround' the entity. Being a part of the team that assisted the Johannesburg Zoo to formulate its business plan in 2004, the researcher developed an affiliation to the zoo and was motivated to assist management with their efforts by conducting this study. The major problem identified for the Johannesburg Zoo was that of how to secure the support of current patrons and increase patronage particularly in respect of the increasing support of alternate entertainment offerings. The study employed structured open-ended questionnaires to collect data from selected patrons and employees of the zoo. The findings of the study, following the literature review and analysis of findings from the field, resulted in a number of conclusions. First, the researcher realized that the Johannesburg Zoo has experienced a 'decline and crisis' phase in previous years. Happily, the researcher also discovered that there were triggers for changes that encouraged the formulation of a recovery strategy. The researcher has used these very triggers to offer robust recommendations to revitalize the zoo in terms of the product offering, marketing, financial and operational initiatives. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

This study examined whether customer care initiatives are being implemented on South African e-commerce web sites. The customer care initiatives are categorised into four sections: • General section which assessed the website's content, • Contact section which assessed vanous contact mechanisms and community development, • Security section which determined the security aspects of the web site, and • Ordering section which assessed the payment options, shipping and tracking the order. A search engine was used to generate a random sample of web sites that engaged in e-commerce. The web sites were then assessed against a checklist to determine if the 58 customer care initiatives were present or not. In order to capture the data, a generic Internet browser was developed so that the top half of the screen comprised the web site and the lower half of the screen contained the checklist. As the initiatives in the checklist were captured, the data was transferred into a database where it was later analysed both in the database and in a spreadsheet. The results revealed that, on the whole, the web sites fared well in the General section particularly with respect to the designs of the web sites. However, it was apparent that more commitment is needed in the Contact, Security and Ordering sections of web site design. The main recommendations include greater management commitment towards the more costly technologies such as encryption software to increase the security of online financial transactions and protect personal information; the inclusion of shopping basket technology and the inclusion of search facilities on the web sites. To a lesser extent there needs to be more commitment towards the creation of communities via the web site. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

The purpose of the research was to evaluate whether the Education Management Information System (EMIS) units within Provincial Education Departments can take advantage of the information management and communication tools to enhance the flow of information within the education system. The research investigates the clients' insight on the support provided by EMIS in the education department. Clients were only limited to Senior Managers and Unit Heads within the Head Office of a specific provincial education department. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.