Generally the pharmaceutical industry operates in a heavily regulated and controlled environment. In South Africa, the regulations governing prescription drugs do not allow the pharmaceutical companies to advertise the prescription drugs directly to the consumers. As a consequence, the greater part of the marketing efforts of the pharmaceutical companies is directed at the medical practitioners, who occupy the crucial decision-making position for the prescription drugs. The study broadly investigates the relative influence of the various promotional factors that may influence the General Practitioner's choice of prescription drug and more specifically, focuses on the characteristics of the pharmaceutical sales representatives that may influence the prescribing behaviour of the General Practitioners. An area sample of 67 general practitioners in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, was carried out. A total of 58 responses were analysed to determine the perceived influence of various factors on the GPs' choice of new and existing prescription drugs. A specific attempt was made to determine the key influential factors with respect to the promotion by the pharmaceutical representatives and GPs' appreciation of basic statistics used in the presentations by the pharmaceutical representatives. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the consumers' decision-making process in the selection of shopping centres. The South African society is undergoing a rapid transformation in its consumption patterns. The development and expansion of shopping centres means that consumers, in most cases, have an increasing choice of shopping destinations that meet their needs for goods, services and entertainment. The development and rapid expansion of planned shopping centres, often called Shopping Malls, has been one of the greatest retail revolutions in South Africa in the last twenty years. The competitive retail environment poses serious threats and opportunities for growth and profitability of shopping centres. The empirical research, which was conducted amongst shoppers at the various centres in the greater Durban area, confirms the significance of the various situational influences, which are the physical surroundings, the social surroundings, time, task definition and antecedent states as they impact on the shopping centres. The findings of this study reveal that stakeholders of shopping centres should go beyond the tactical aspects of shopping centre operations and adopt a strategic approach to business, in which customers' needs and competitors' actions are monitored in their quest to obtain preference vis a vis their competitors. The need to create and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage over other centres is at the heart of ensuring the continued viability of individual shopping centres. Against the urgent need to adopt a strategic approach to shopping centre development and management, recommendations are provided for developers and managers to acknowledge the impact of the dynamic aspect of the factors that influence the consumers' decision-making process and their implications for shopping centre development and promotion. This study is aimed at providing valuable information to a variety of stakeholders such as the tenants, property developers, investors, shopping centre managers, retailers and consumers at shopping centres as well as academics interested in consumer behaviour and the impact of shopping centres in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

A company cannot survive without giving attention to quality. Ensuring quality in products is so important that many companies give major attention to actively managing processes to make sure that quality permeates everything the company does. Quality management is a company's unique approach for addressing all aspects of quality. It requires vision, a quality policy, a quality standard, a quality system and the control of the system. The water industry is a natural monopoly in which no competition exists to provide customers the opportunity to choose between different suppliers. Due to the monopolistic nature of a water utility, the tendency was previously to neglect the customer and his needs. For water utilities, the quality of the product water has always been the important factor mainly because of their responsibility towards the protection of public health. The quality emphasis was mainly towards meeting the demands of the primary and secondary sector of the water industry that is to provide water of an acceptable standard to the customers. It was only during the 1980's that water utilities became concerned about service quality in pursuance of the example set by the broader industry. Since then the emphasis on quality shifted gradually towards the tertiary sector of the water industry, the provision of quality services to the customer. The Namibia Water Corporations Act, 1997 requires that a performance contract should be concluded between the owners of the company (the State) and the Corporation. It further requires that the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) should formulate and maintain service standards in respect of the provision of water, services or facilities. As both these requirements are primarily based on efficiency, performance,achievements, cost-effectiveness and the optimum use of resources, there is a need to develop a system that will address all these aspects. This document describes the outcome of a study to develop a quality management system for NamWater that will address all these aspects, to identify shortcomings within NamWater and to monitor progress regarding meeting the quality standards on a continuous basis. Together with the development of a proposed quality policy document, this study also resulted in the compilation of a proposed set of service standards as prescribed by the Namibia Water Corporation Act of 1997. Performance gaps where existing practices in NamWater do not meet industry's best practice were identified by making use of performance indicators developed by the International Water Association (IWA) and the benchmarking exercise of the Water Utility Partnership (WUP). A set of performance indicators was developed to monitor the progress of NamWater in meeting standards on a continuous basis. The study concludes with a proposal for a quality management system for NamWater to ensure that the work is carried out in accordance with the quality policy and the quality standards. To identify possible performance gaps in NamWater, the information from the Water Utility Partnership programme on performance indicators and benchmarking was used to evaluate the performance of the NamWater against other water utilities in Africa. In general terms, the performance of NamWater is better than in many other African countries. However, by evaluating the results of the benchmarking exercise performance gaps were identified within NamWater that needs urgent attention. This study identifies the Sales Process as being the area to concentrate on as a first priority, with the focus on the improvement of revenue collection, the improvement of customer relations and the decrease in total cost. The Support Process should be the second priority with the improvement of the asset management organisation high on the list. There are two fields in the Production Process that needs special attention. They are unaccounted-for-water, and supply interruptions. The identification of industry's best performers in the various fields where performance gaps exist is beyond the scope of this study. It will form part of the implementation phase of a quality management system for NamWater. To monitor NamWater's performance on a continuous basis over time in meeting the requirements of the quality policy, various performance indicators have been identified. These indicators will also identify future performance gaps, determine various performance trends in the company, and measure and monitor the benefits of the implementation of best practice. Performance indicators were identified (from the IWA and WUP programmes) due to the fact that it will serve the abovementioned purpose and it is compatible with the present situation within NamWater. As can be seen from the performance gap analysis all three processes in the NamWater organisation have shortcomings that will have to be addressed through a quality management system. The situation is ideal for the implementation of TQM for NamWater. Such a project should be high on the priority list of the management of the company. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

After many years of being overlooked as a game ranching area and tourist destination in favour of more established areas, the Eastern Cape, in terms of game ranching and tourism has ‘come of age’. It has become a huge industry in the Eastern Cape. Income was initially generated from commercial hunting, followed by non-consumptive eco tourism. As the industry expanded, the true value of game was discovered coupled with games inherent ability to survive with limited human interference has made it an attractive business. These factors and others have encouraged more and more farmers to convert from other forms of farming to game ranching. With this came the desire to restore their properties back to or as close as possible to its original state. Resulting in ‘emergence’ in the form of ‘resistance to power lines’, because they were seen as hideous and an unnecessary visual intrusion which impacted negatively on tourism and property values etc. The purpose of this dissertation was to surface the underlying causes for the resistance to power lines. A systems thinking approach was used, which emphasised multiple causes, and by means of systems diagrams gained an understanding of the various issues and arguments that relate to the placing and managing of power lines in rural areas. Key focus areas were motivational theories, mental constructs and factors that contribute to people’s perspectives and worldviews that ultimately influence their behaviour. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

This dissertation examines the emergent understanding of the dynamics of Remote Employment in an organisation. It reflects on the workings of value adding employment where individual employees operate from home and away from the "office environment". In so doing, it hopes to raise within organisations new levels of awareness that will make this employment form meaningful and fruitful. Within the body of the dissertation, relevant theoretical constructs are outlined. These form the basis on which emergent understanding using Systems Thinking is discussed. These theoretical constructs are placed upon an underlying foundation that focuses upon Systems of Meaning and the influencing factors that both encourage relationships and best accommodate participant stakeholders. Meaningful relationships are explored from a cognitive perspective. Such an approach also serves as a proposition for sustaining all forms of employment relationships irrespective of the participants particular work locality. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Is it possible to improve project management practice by incorporating systems thinking techniques and tools in the process? This is the simple premise on which this study is based. It is a premise that is not particularly ambitious, but one which potentially may assist project management in certain environments to become more effective in practice. Why is it that project management needs to become more effective in practice? This is owing to a growing body of knowledge that points to the difficulties encountered by the practice of project management in complex environments. In simple terms, the literature has it that since project management is a 'hard' approach to problem solving, it cannot respond adequately to change and/or unexpected phenomena thrown at it by an unsympathetic environment. The incorporation, therefore, of a 'soft' approach in project management practice, like for instance, systems thinking techniques and tools, should make project management as an approach more robust and effective in difficult and problematic environments. The testing of a hybrid project management/systems thinking model, therefore, is what is attempted in this study. In what way does this study seek to apportion value on this hybrid model? This study makes use of meta-learning to the degree that it tests its own hypothesis in the process of its writing. The idea here is that the study itself be treated as a 'project' and that it be completed by utilising this hybrid model which incorporates both traditional project management methodologies, and systems thinking techniques and tools. This may be viewed as a curious conceit, but it is hoped that the reader will not find it untenable, and thus an invalid assessment of how this hybrid approach can function. The outcomes should speak for themselves, whether positive or negative. Clearly, to pursue this line of questioning requires a working knowledge of both project management practice and systems thinking. These two approaches to problem solving are discussed at length in this study, with pointers to their strengths and weaknesses, and to their potential for useful interaction, and a hybrid model is mooted which, it is envisaged, should prove useful to project managers. How does one assess the success of the new hybrid model? There are various ways that one can check the hypothesis, but ideally one would need to closely observe the life-cycle of an actual project, a project that is implemented and completed using the hybrid model mooted earlier. This kind of project is not always particularly easy to come by, nor is it a simple procedure to convince a project manager to adopt such a hybrid approach. It is for this reason, therefore, that this study is treated as a 'project' and its efficacy as a project commented on during the course of and at the conclusion of the study. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Learning organization and organizational learning are concepts that have been explored extensively in the literature. Interestingly, there seems to be a lot that organizations can still learn from the concept of organizational learning. Using the practitioner research methodology, this research project attempted to explore how applicable the theory of learning organization is at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT). Practitioner research allows the practitioner to reflect on his or her practice with the intention of improving the practice. As the Skills Development practitioner, I am motivated to improve workplace learning at MUT. The literature review conducted for this study has revealed that workplace learning has an enormous impact on both the performance and the image of organizations. As the environment in which organizations operate in the 21st century is very turbulent and demands dynamic people to function within the structure, employees need to share knowledge, and learn and re-learn new skills. To explore the intensity of workplace learning at MUT a survey and focus group was used. The findings revealed that MUT is on a journey of becoming a learning organisation; given all the efforts it has put in place to strengthen workplace learning. Workplace learning is encouraged at MUT. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Tweens are a new cohort of children who are not considered children, but have not developed into fully autonomous teenagers (Hulan, 2007: 31). Tweens are regarded as the “richest generation of children” (Lindstrom, 2004: 175). Their high disposable income and ability to influence consumption through endorsement makes tweens a potentially profitable niche market. In order to formulate an effective marketing campaign, marketing managers need to be aware of children’s advertising literacy, as well as the effect which peer endorsement has on consumption. Consequently, to determine the impact of these variables, a questionnaire was administered to 574 respondents and an empirical correlation experiment was conducted involving 202 participants. The primary research objective was to determine tweens advertising literacy at different ages and the concurrent affect which it had on their propensity to consume; advertising literacy is described by Priya, Baisya and Sharma (2010: 154) as the extent to which children are aware that advertisements have a selling intent, are persuasive, and are intrinsically biased. The effect which endorsement had on consumption was also assessed. Data was analysed utilising SPSS (Statistics Package for Social Sciences). Key findings were graphically represented, and compared to literature with a focus on Piaget’s Hierarchy of Cognitive development and Roedder’s information processing model (Roedder, 1981: 145; Piaget, 1960: 135). The research established that there was a strong positive correlation between advertising literacy and age. The research showed that this cognizance had a concurrent negative effect on tweens propensity to consume and consequently advertising literacy had a negative correlation with propensity to consume. The research also determined the extent which endorsement influenced consumption. In accordance with Childers and Rao (1993: 464) the degree of conspicuousness during consumption was assessed. The research established that respondents were more inclined to consume an endorsed product which had higher conspicuousness during consumption (i.e. a public good) than a good with lower consumption conspicuousness (i.e. a private good). Similarly, endorsed luxury goods exhibited a higher consumption propensity than necessity goods. The research also determined that the reference group construct affected the extent to which endorsement influenced consumption; familial endorsement had a stronger effect on consumption than peer endorsement. From these key findings, recommendations for South African managers were provided. The report culminated with recommendations for future research. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Re-branding is an opportunity for marketers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) to reposition the brand and differentiate it from competitor‘s products. However, in spite of the significant opportunities and benefits that re-branding presents if carried out correctly, some marketers simply fail to successfully deliver ‗new‘ brand images to customers, and others are faced with a ‗back-lash‘ from consumers and are forced to revert to the original branding. Since there is a dearth of knowledge on the practical efforts of re-branding FMCGs by the world‘s largest companies, an exploratory study using a mixed methods approach was conducted to understand re-branding at one of the world‘s largest FMCGs companies, namely Nestle SA. More specifically, an investigating was conducted to understand the process Nestlé followed in re-branding its coffee and other beverage brands from 2010 to 2012; the type of re-branding strategy that was used to position and reposition its beverage brands; the importance of retaining a corporate brand name, logo and image when rebranding; and the turnover pattern during the years when re-branding was undertaken. The Nestle managers‘ perceptions on the cost versus the benefits of re-branding were also ascertained. Six managers who represented the marketing, packaging and customer service divisions of Nestle‘s (Escourt) coffee and beverage brands formed the convenience sample of this study. The concurrent mixed methods approach which consisted of two phases was used. A structured questionnaire using opened and closed ended questions were used to conduct interviews with the sample. In addition internal official documentation related to re-branding, namely, policies and turnover reports were reviewed and analysed. It became evident that Nestlé‘s key reason for re-branding is innovation of the coffee and beverage brands. It was also ascertained that Nestlé has a customized re-branding strategy for each product and, the Nestle logo proved to be the most important identifier of the company and is therefore always retained during re-branding. It was also apparent that respondents viewed the benefits of re-branding as outweighing the costs. Furthermore, since the sales fluctuated post re-branding, it was concluded that with respect to the products concerned at Nestle, that there is no direct relationship between re-branding and sales. The implications of the findings for marketers of FMCGs are that they need to be cognizant of the need to change the ‗look and feel‖ of brands over time to keep them relevant and compete effectively. Furthermore, they need to ensure that the changes are gradual, acceptable and relevant, and that all the costs of re-branding are taken into consideration so that an informed decision to re-brand is made. Furthermore, marketers should be aware that re-branding which is not properly carried out can be damaging to the brand, and the importance of social media as a tool to communicate with consumers prior, during and post re-branding should not be underplayed. As with all research studies, this study had certain limitations which restricts the ability to generalize the findings to all FMCGs companies. This was more of a ‗case‘ study, although it involved an international FMCG company. Perhaps a comparative study of re-branding coffee and beverage brands at Nestlé‘s factories in other countries may serve to compare and strengthen the findings. It could also shed light on Nestlé‘s‘ international re-branding strategies, which findings could then be more relevant for generalization. A further limitation of this study is that although internal documents were provided, limitations were placed in terms of the information that could be divulged in this study. This resulted in sales units being estimated from documentation and therefore accurate figures could not be disclosed. Future studies should be anonymously conducted so that more informed recommendations could be made with respect to turnover and expenditure on re-branding. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This investigation probes the perceptions of consumers as well as marketers with regard to the branding of fast moving consumer goods in South African retail chain stores. While much research has been conducted on branding, this investigation will focus on the extent to which marketers’ perceptions and consumers’ perceptions converge with a view to maximizing the mutual benefits to be derived from marketing strategies within a contemporary South African environment. The extent to which South African marketers’ perceptions and consumers’ perceptions converge to promote brand equity is postulated in the brand equity optimization model. The research commenced with an exhaustive literature survey followed by an empirical survey. The fieldwork for this survey was conducted nationally among the three major retail groups in South Africa and among consumers living in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The findings from the literature survey indicate that both local and international companies have realized the potential of investing resources in brand building activities. These findings have provided evidence to suggest that building brand equity for fast moving consumer goods impacts positively on the sales and the popularity of these products. The findings of the empirical research illustrates that the typical South African consumer has become brand conscious and brand building activities encourage them to purchase these products. The findings from the consumer survey were supported by the investigation conducted among retail chain stores who agreed that building brand equity results in increased sales and the popularity of the products concerned. Consumers have a preference for manufacturer branded products but house brands are selected primarily because they are cheaper. Manufacturer brands are viewed by consumers as having the most innovative packaging, excellent promotional support and consistently good quality while retail chain stores believe that manufacturer brands lead the way in terms of brand building activities, packaging innovation, promotional support and quality. The results of both surveys illustrate that retail chain stores and consumers share similar viewpoints with regards to the branding, packaging, pricing, promotions and quality attributes of fast moving consumer goods in terms of optimizing brand equity. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2007.