No abstract available. / Thesis (M.B.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermartzburg, 2006.

This research study examines the challenges facing CMTs in the Durban area. The researcher conducted a literature review on the evolution of the clothing industry, internationally and locally, the emergence of the CMT factory in Durban and the key aspects affecting CMTs in their current environment including yet not restricted to; imports, labour regulation, worker co-operation and CMT distributors. CMTs are the labour components in the clothing sector, providing jobs for woman and unskilled to semi-skilled individuals. Therefore, the poor performance of CMTs are cause for concern in South Africa, a country that is experiencing disturbing levels of unemployment. The evolution of the CMT factory highlights its reasons for coming into being i.e. short-run times and high productivity levels. When large manufacturers restructured to remain competitive, they shed the labour component of their operation. The reason for this move was to do away with labour issues. CMTs, in effect, became this labour component, without the benefits associated with that of a large manufacturing firm. However, the labour regulations that came into effect do not distinguish between a small business i.e. the CMT factory and a large manufacturer, as the same laws apply to both. The current CMT environment makes it difficult for employers to remain competitive, both locally and internationally, when factors such as low productivity hinder performance. The study provides vital information from the CMT employers' perspective and recommendations that have been made are practical and can be made use of with the help of the government. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

There are a number of challenges that are facing the South African manufacturing industry today. Companies within this sector are trying all they can to ensure the optimal utilisation of physical and human resources and the maximisation of profit, all this at a very minimal possible cost. Each company within the industry is struggling for a competitive edge and bigger market share compared to other companies manufacturing the same product. Haas et al. (2005: 1) suggest that the manufacturing companies need more flexible labour strategies, like multiskilling, as a way of dealing with these challenges. Hulett Aluminium (Pty) Ltd, South Africa's largest aluminium producer and based in Pietermaritzburg, was used by the researcher as a case study. The company was founded in 1946 as a subsidiary of the international Alcan Aluminium Group. It is South Africa's largest manufacturer of semi-fabricated and finished aluminium products. The company introduced multiskilling in 2000, the main objective being to equip the employees with a variety of skills for the benefit of both the company and the employees themselves. This research study was undertaken to establish the extent to which Hulett Aluminium (Pty) Ltd has taken advantage of the theoretical benefits associated with multiskilling. To achieve this the following issues were investigated: preparation of a suitable environment for the application of multiskilling, effects of new, advanced technology on multiskilling, effects of absenteeism due to workshops, training programmes and personal matters, productivity levels, labour turnover, labour costs, trend towards selfmanaged groups, job satisfaction , employee motivation and industrial conflicts. This study first discussed the theoretical perspectives on multiskilling. This is followed by the description of Hulett Aluminium (Pty) Ltd, with specific description of the company's profile, the organisational structure, the aluminium supply chain and the company's core business . The description of the company is followed by the methodology used for the collection of data as well as the outline of the interpretation procedures followed. Research findings and discussion are also given. The key findings of this study are that both managers and shop floor employees at Hulett Aluminium agree that multiskilling contributes to increased organisational labour productivity, reduced organisational overall costs, and reduced industrial conflicts. Other areas of agreement include the fact that multiskilled employees need appropriate resources for the application of their skills; training is an essential tool for multiskilling and that rewards for a multiskilled workforce are a motivating factor for in the workplace. The final conclusion drawn is that much as Hulett Aluminium (Pty) Ltd has embraced multiskilling, there is still a lot the company needs to do or improve on, so that it could enjoy the benefits of the programme. Based on the findings of this study, some of the recommendations made for Hulett Aluminium are: • A detailed planning process for proper implementation ofmuItiskilling • All the relevant stakeholders within the company should be part and parcel of the implementation of the programme • Benchmarking with other manufacturing companies which have implemented multiskilling • Training of new recruits so that they could be at equal par with the old employees and also contribute positively to increased organisational productivity. 11 / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

An ongoing debate in the corporate finance world concerns the question of a firm's optimal capital structure. More specifically, is there a way of dividing a firm's capital into debt and equity so as to maximize the value of the firm? From a practical standpoint, this question is of utmost importance for corporate financial officers. Yet, the academic literature has not been very helpful to provide clear guidance on practical issues. Except for a few theoretical models, there is a lack of literature concernmg how companies should decide their leverage ratios in practice. These models are unfortunately not applicable in real practice because of their inability to provide managers with a precise optimal leverage level. The purpose of this study concerns the practical matter of deciding the appropriate capital structure and the possibility of improvement for the companies. Specifically: How do the case companies decide their capital structure? Are their current capital stmctures optimal or is there room for improvement? To be able to examine these questions it was necessary to investigate companies that are as comparable as possible within the same industry. Different industries were identified based on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange industry classification and were analyzed for comparability issues. The real estate industry was found to experiences very similar business and has an opportunity to take more debt due to the nature of its asset structure. Three companies were selected from the property segment of the real estate industry based on their leverage ratios and companies with highest, medium, and lowest leverages in the industry were selected. Gold-edge was found to be the highest levered company in the industry, while Samrand and Putprop were found to be average and least levered in the industry respectively. The findings indicate that none of the companies uses capital structure models when deciding their capital structure. The case companies' capital structure indicates that Gold-edge's current capital structure is considered as close to optimal as possible while Putprop and Samrand current capital structure are not optimal and there is room for improvement. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Higher Education Institutions face an ongoing challenge to respond to many challenges that arise from their environment. Universities are affected by internal as well as external forces. They have to comply with the legislation of the country for example the South African Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998 and affirmative action, at the same time they need to retain motivated employees. In response to these challenges, Universities need to implement the laws of the government in order to be responsive, effective and efficient. This study has drawn heavily on secondary data, which has been treated in the chapter of literature review. Concepts and theories covering affirmative action and motivation have been considered. Information has been obtained from various books and respondents. Concepts such as affirmative action, employment equity, preferential treatment, designated group, non-designated group, motivation, recruitment, selection, communication, promotion, compensation, disciplinary procedure have been used in this study. The data for this study was collected by means of survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire provided data on effects of affirmative action on the motivation of employees. Survey questionnaires were pilot tested among a sample of 10 employees composed of both academic and non-academic staff. This was followed by distributing one hundred questionnaires to the employees, who were willing to participate in this study as respondents. The data collected was subjected to statistical processes to ensure reliability and validity. The research findings of this study revealed the employees thoughts about the implementation of affirmative action and the motivation of employees at Durban University of Technology. The collected data also revealed that many employees were demotivated as they don’t see affirmative action being implemented effectively. Although the study highlighted the impact of affirmative action on the motivation of employees at Durban University of Technology, this study was limited by its sample size. Recommendations have been made for greater commitment of the top management team towards any change process.

The focus of this study revolved around the impact of the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) on the automotive component manufacturers in the greater Durban area. The research objectives were to determine whether the introduction of MIDP has contributed to an increase in throughput for the automotive component manufacturers, to determine whether the introduction of MIDP has led to increased employment levels within the automotive component manufacturing industry and lastly to determine whether MIDP has resulted in increased investment in the automotive component manufacturing industry in KwaZulu-Natal. This study analysed the data received from 30 respondents, who as a pre-requisite, were employed within the component manufacturing industry in KwaZulu-Natal. The population sample was attained through the use of the author’s supplier database at Smiths Manufacturing (Pty) Ltd, a tier 1 automotive component manufacturer to the original equipment manufacturers in South Africa. A self-completion questionnaire, which was quantitative in nature, was distributed to the participants and a two week data collection period was allotted. The collected data was analysed using SPSS statistical software, the results of which revealed that MIDP was of significant importance to automotive component manufacturers in KwaZulu-Natal. It further revealed that there was a direct relationship between employment, investment and throughput with the introduction of MIDP. The same findings were evident for similar programmes in India and China.It is recommended that a similar study be conducted in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, which are the other automotive component manufacturing hubs in South Africa. Furthermore, MIDP will be replaced by the APDP during 2013, and it is recommended. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Since its democratic dispensation, South Africa has been striving to find the right economic tool to confront the challenges of poverty, joblessness, widening income gap and lack of job related skills. Numerous methods have been put to trial in an attempt to rescue the rural masses from the scourge of poverty, joblessness and social degradation, but with limited impact. Literature surveys in this regard attest to social intervention programmes failing, due to the absence or little involvement of beneficiary rural communities in the programme establishment. Renewed rural development initiative at Mhlontlo Municipality occurs within this context. The study was then undertaken to evaluate stakeholder participation in the planning, the implementation and the monitoring and evaluation of the pilot programme. This is a study of the rural development pilot programme at Mhlontlo Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape. The statistical population for the study included all institutionalised stakeholder’s organizations, as critical components of engagement to realise the programme setting. The study target participants were 90 adult individuals involve in local stakeholder’s public participation institutions. A self-completed questionnaire was administered to the 90 target participants with 64 returned completely filled. The results were analysed using statistical mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variance and presented as tables and graphs. Findings were that there was more participation in the programme implementation phase, than in the programme planning and monitoring phase. Assessment of programme outputs by respondents was diverse and inconclusive. This was attributed to poor participation by programme stakeholders in programme’s planning. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The world economy and industry in turn is driven by technology and innovation at a rapid rate. Worldwide, the information technology (IT) industry is volatile in terms of turnover intentions of IT professionals The unemployment level in South Africa is high according to global standards. The option of contracting as an IT consultant or self-employment is a form of an alternate employment arrangement. This arrangement will benefit the unemployed in South Africa if they choose to skill themselves and pursue a career in self-employment in the IT industry. There are internal and external employment factors that affect an IT professional’s employment arrangement. Moore’s (2000) information technology employee turnover model was adapted as a basis for this research. An external factor, entrepreneurship (self-employment) was introduced to Moore’s model. This research also tests Moore’s (2000) model for its internal factors. The following factors, role ambiguity, role conflict, autonomy, perceived workload, fairness of reward, work exhaustion and entrepreneurship were formulated in the hypotheses to determine which of these factors influences self-employment in IT professionals. Information technology professionals based in Durban were the target respondents in the City of Durban. The survey questionnaire was emailed to respondents using Questionpro. The sample data was based on 123 respondents who completed the survey. The data was then validated for internal consistency using Cronbach alpha ratio generated by the SPSS (version 19.0) software tool. The quantitative research design was chosen. Frequency tables and Pearson’s bivariate correlation coefficient statistics was used in the data analysis phase. The research objective was achieved successfully and the following factors were determined, they are role ambiguity, role conflict, autonomy, work exhaustion and entrepreneurship. The IT industry is volatile with IT professionals constantly re-skilling themselves to be on par with changing technology and innovation that make them very competent and competitive as a result, these IT professionals create a market for self-employment. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

There is a generally accepted view that organisations that perform well in any industry are able to do so because of their ability to attract, recruit and retain a workforce of high calibre. This research report has been necessitated by the impact of factors affecting talent management at higher education institutions. In this study, two variables are under scrutiny, i.e. organisational image and talent management. A quantitative research methodology was utilised to test the effect of organisational image on talent management using responses from 252 respondents to a self-administered electronic survey questionnaire. The research instrument was composed of four major sub-scales, i.e. Personal View, Job satisfaction and Career Path, General Image and Opportunities and Rewards. Statistical data analysis reveals that respondents differ on what they perceive to be important factors on talent management and their response is affected by matters relating to organisational image. Data was stratified and compared amongst different groups, i.e. gender, race, staff category, academic title, Peromnes grade, years of lecturing experience in this institution and total years of lecturing, Faculty and College/Division. These variables in personal/biographical data were examined in relation to how respondents responded in each of the four sub-scales. Whilst personal view and opportunities and rewards aspect of talent management matter, they do not take precedence on matters relating to general image and job satisfaction and career path. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The emergence of the relationship marketing approach in the marketing field is seen as a paradigm shift from the traditional marketing mix of ‘4 Ps’. As a result, organisations began to look for ways to develop strong and lasting relationships with their customers. This paradigm shift resulted in relationship marketing being researched extensively. Most research on relationship marketing has been done from the perspective of the organisation. The uniqueness of this particular study lies in the fact that research has been done from the perspective of the customer (licensed tavern owners).The aim of this study is to investigate the perceived value of relationship marketing from the perspective of the customer (licensed tavern owners). The study focuses on the relationship between the supplier organisation (Distell Limited) and the customers (licensed tavern owners). The empirical study was quantitative in nature. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The research study focused on a sample of 100 licensed taverns in the Durban Metropolitan Area of KwaZulu-Natal, of which 96 responded. The findings of the study confirmed the importance of relationship marketing activities as applied by the supplier organisation to the licensed tavern owners. Significant importance was placed on relationship marketing strategies: the results rated social bonds as most important, followed by structural bonds and then financial bonds. The most important contribution of the study is in the development of a framework for the management of long-term relationships. This was done through the construction of a model which can be used for the development and the management of long-term relationships in the supplier-customer context. The current study focused on one sector of the liquor industry, namely the licensed tavern business. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.