Thesis (M. Tech. (Tourism and Hospitality Management)) -- Central university of Technology, Free State, 2013 / One of the 2011 National Tourism Sector Strategy objectives is to "provide excellent people development and decent work within the tourism sector". The hospitality industry is, however, not regarded as a provider of decent work, a factor that has a direct bearing on the job satisfaction level of employees. It is for this reason that it was decided to investigate the job satisfaction level of employees in selected five-star hotels in the Western Cape Province. The instrument used to gather the quantitative data was a newly developed index based on the literature review conducted. The review was not restricted to the hospitality industry, but included all industries, as the existing knowledge on job satisfaction in the hospitality industry is limited. A pilot study was conducted on one five-star hotel in Bloemfontein, and the empirical study was conducted in February 2012 among 124 employees of four five-star hotels in the Western Cape. The only biographic variable, for which a significant correlation with overall job satisfaction was calculated, was having a hospitality-related qualification. A significant correlation with overall job satisfaction was calculated for 38 of the 74 job satisfaction variables. The 38 job satisfaction variables were distributed among six internal, 18 external and 14 individual job satisfaction variables. The internal job satisfaction dimension predicted 39.97% of overall job satisfaction; the external job satisfaction dimension predicted 66.88%, and the individual job satisfaction dimension predicted 79.82%. In total, 79% of respondents indicated that they were satisfied with their current jobs. Recommendations were made to improve job satisfaction in the selected five-star hotels in the Western Cape.

Thesis (D. Tech.(Marketing)) - Central University of Technology, Free state, 2012 / A reliable sales plan and forecast is the basis for good cash flow management and capacity planning. If the sales figures are below plan, the sales manager will increase the sales efforts in order to compensate these deviations. Usually, it can be expected that these efforts should be at least partly successful in the consumer markets. This situation is expected to be different in the industrial markets, as usually the generation of sales turnover can only be achieved by either new customers or new products sold to existing customers. It is therefore expected not to be possible to immediately compensate a loss of sales turnover within the planning period by increased sales efforts. This research project investigated whether industrial markets react differently from consumer markets by investigating the sales planning and forecasting process in the Machinery & Equipment Industry, the Automotive Supplier Tier 1 and the Automotive Supplier Tier 2 Industry. It investigated several time aspects of the sales process, displayed as customer-supplier interaction. The results of the research project showed that in fact sales processes in the investigated industry sectors have such a long duration, that it is not possible for sales managers to immediately compensate low sales figures by increased sales efforts. The sales turnover raise will come in a later period and thus simply too late for the current one. This results in the fact that the reliability of the sales forecast (for the established sales plan) is reduced, if industry characteristics and special time aspects of the sales process are not taken into consideration. These time aspects can be described best by the Market Response Time (MRT). The MRT is defined as the time lag between the start of an increase of sales efforts by the supplier (first contact) and the market response in terms of increased purchase. This is at the time when the customer starts to financially respond, with the result of a sales turnover increase at the supplier’s side. If the MRT is long, sales planning and forecasting has increased importance, because sales efforts need to be planned well in advance. For this reason response times are major elements in planning and forecasting, although it was previously not very well recognised in literature and practice. Based on a qualitative empirical study with the case study methodology, 41 case studies were undertaken within the three industry sectors. The investigated companies showed that these three industry sectors have different MRTs, such as 68 weeks in the Machinery & Equipment Industry, 138 weeks in the Automotive Supplier Tier 1, and 62 weeks in the Automotive Supplier Tier 2 Industry. These different MRTs influence the companies planning and forecasting processes in different ways. This research project qualitatively showed that if time aspects were taken into consideration in sales planning and forecasting, forecast accuracy could improve. It was furthermore indicated that an adequate sales planning approach could improve forecast accuracy as well. In a second step, it was indicated that these companies, which are aware of the time aspects, have shown a better sales performance in terms of sales force productivity, growth of productivity and market position. Concluding it can be stated that the respect of time aspects, such as MRT, may increase sales performance. The study's results have some limitations, which are the research context and the research methodology. As the project only investigated the industrial context, namely the Machinery & Equipment and the Automotive Tier 1 Supplier and Tier 2 Supplier Industry, its results can only be applicable to this context. The research methodology of this project is a qualitative one, which means that the sample size is small but deep and statistical generalisations cannot be made. Based on this, further research implications of this project are that its results may further be statistically generalised by quantitative studies. Especially the sales planning and forecasting processes in the detected clusters per industry sector should be investigated on a broad sample. Thirdly, the indicated relation between market knowledge and accuracy should be further investigated. This is because it can be estimated that the forecast accuracy is the highest if the company’s information horizon is equal to the product life cycle time of the products produced. Last of all, as there are only a few research projects done in the industrial context regarding market response models and time aspects, therefore these topics should be further investigated.

Thesis (M. Tech. Public Management)) -- Central University of Technology, free State, 2013 / During 2009 the State of Local Government in South Africa 2009 Report, (2009:71-75) showed that much of local government is in distress and it also showed that much of the local government municipalities faced serious challenges such as the lack of service delivery, poor financial management and weak integration between the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Local Economic Development (LED). To improve the performance of the municipalities, the national government approved a comprehensive Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) that serves as a country-wide intervention with the aim to address the communities‟ increasing dissatisfaction with poor municipal services, as well as to improve the administrative and financial performance of all municipalities. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) on public participation and good governance with respect to the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. It was found during the literature review that although the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) was successfully incorporated in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality Integrated Development Plan Review of 2013/2014, more needs to be done to ensure that the medium-term priorities are effectively implemented to promote good governance, and effective service delivery of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The study found that although the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has a well-planned and well-structured community engagement strategy to promote effective public participation, more needs to be done to ensure that the communities are effectively represented during the various public participation consultation activities to ensure that the needs of the majority of the communities are addressed. The study also found that the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has well-defined strategies to promote good governance in its Integrated Development Plan (IDP), the effective implementation remains a challenge.

Thesis (M. Tech. (Business administration)) - Central University of technology, Free State, 2013 / This study was necessitated by the fact that being labour intensive, hair salons provide partial solution to South Africa’s high unemployment, poverty and inequality problems hence need to be supported so that they can grow and continue performing their expected labour absorption role. Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipality in the North West Province of South Africa is a socio economically depressed area that depends on hair salons for employment. The prosperity of hair salons is therefore critical to the well-being of the inhabitants of the area. Unfortunately, proliferation of hair salon business in Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipality since the dawn of democracy in South Africa has created fierce competition for customers leading to lack of profitability and hair salons failures. While many reasons can account for business failure in the face of intense competitive environment, there is consensus from the literature that in the current information economy, appropriate management of records allows for quick access to reliable information and this is key to business success. In fact, resource-based view (RBV) of the firm suggests that a company’s quick access to reliable information that is contained in its resources allows that firm to gain sustainable competitive advantage that allows for superior performance. This calls for proper management of a company’s records. Accordingly, it is crucial that managers/owners of hair salons recognise the importance of good records management in their businesses in order to continuously have timely access to accurate information. Unfortunately, the researcher has informally observed a disturbing trend among some hair salons in Dr Ruth Mompati local municipality that flies in the face of what can be termed good records management. An informal visit to some of the salons in the region revealed an apparent laxity with which transactions were recorded. Worst still, Informal conversations with a few hair salons operators seem to suggests that records management may be a problem among hair salons as some even see it as more a liability than asset. This suggests that hair salons in Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipality might not be taking records management seriously. The question then is, how wide spread is this negative attitude towards records keeping in Dr Ruth Mompati local municipality? Or could this be the general sentiment in the hair salon industry as a whole? The purpose of this study was to assess the status of records management among hair salons in Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality. The key finding of this study is that most hair salons in Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipality do practice records management to a certain extent. However, there are certain records that hair salons in the area regard as of no importance and therefore are neglected. The study also revealed that those hair salons that engage in good records management outperform those that do not. The study further revealed that most of the salons keep paper records although they would prefer electronic format. Lack of access to computers was cited as the greatest problem in keeping electronic records. Details of the study including findings, conclusions and recommendations are presented and discussed in the main report.

Thesis (M. Tech. ( Business administration )) - Central University of technology, Free State, 2012 / Proliferation of the hair salon business in the Bophirima region has led to intense competition for customers and this can have unfortunate consequences for hair salon’s competitiveness hence survival and economic performance. The only choice left for hair salons in the words of owner/managers who were informally interviewed is to obtain accurate information on market trends and customer preferences so as to tailor products and services to meet customer preferences. From a strategic management perspective, it makes perfect sense that in the highly competitive arena that hair salons in the Bophirima find themselves, research on industry environment to obtain accurate information on market trends and customer preferences so as to tailor products and services that meet customer preferences is a must if they are to prosper. In other words, hair salons in the Bophirima region need to conduct marketing research if they must prosper. Conceptually, it is argued in this study that market research will reveal variables such as market demand, market opportunities, market threats, etc. which if scientifically analysed can produce information that can aid management in making informed decision that can lead to superior business performance. Unfortunately, there is the perception among the few hair salon operators informally interviewed in the Bophirima region that for small businesses such as hair salons, engaging in marketing research will be too expensive, cumbersome, and time consuming hence unnecessary. However, this perception may not be true as normative assertions and research evidence elsewhere suggests that for service organisations, regardless of size, marketing research leads to superior performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of marketing research within the hair salons in the Bophirima region and the impact that hair salon’s engagement in generally accepted (conventional) elements of marketing research activities have on the economic performance (as measured by profitability). Analysis of data obtained from 118 owner managers suggest that marketing research may not be something they engage in although they are very much aware of the business benefits of engaging in marketing research. The findings also suggest possible positive link between marketing research activity and profitability. Details of the research as well as conclusions and recommendations are presented and discussed in the report that follows.

Thesis (D. Tech. (Cost and Management Accounting)) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2011 / The focus area of this research project is on the pricing function in an organisation. The discussion of the pricing function commences with a generic perspective and concludes with the pricing of academic programmes at a typical public higher education institution, namely the Central University of Technology, Free State. The following summary sets out the key issues addressed in this study: a) The pricing function b) The pricing plan c) Pricing and its effect on the affordability of public higher education The analyses conducted proved that a comprehensive pricing plan does not exist at the Central University of Technology, Free State for the pricing of the various academic programmes, and that higher education has, despite the increasing trend in government funding, become less affordable for students at the institution. The affordability issue at the Central University of Technology, Free State can be partly attributed to the lack of a comprehensive pricing plan with clear attainable pricing objectives, and a pricing strategy to accomplish the stated pricing objectives. Another contributing factor to the affordability issue is the lack of an integrated cost accounting system and costing policies that outline measures to address the cost efficiency of the institution. Implementation of the recommended pricing plan should assist management in determining tuition fees on a scientific basis, and will also enable the management of the Central University of Technology, Free State to explain to all relevant stakeholders how the tuition fees of the various academic programmes are calculated.

Thesis (M. Tech. (Business Administration )) - Central University of Technology, Free State, / Traditionally, commercial banking in South Africa has been dominated by the big four namely Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA), First National Bank (FNB), Nedbank, and Standard Bank. Although still dominated by the big four, other smaller banks such as Capitec and African Bank have made inroads into retail banking. This situation arose due to liberalization of the financial services sector since democratisation in South Africa in 1994 which has paved the way for proliferation of the banking industry. This has in turn led to intense competition among banks for customers. Banks in South Africa therefore have the uphill task of retaining their existing customers whilst acquiring newer ones. As a result, South African banks are being compelled to become more customer focused/ oriented. Meanwhile, a key component of most initiatives to become more customer-oriented is the successful implementation of customer relationship management (CRM). A compelling view of CRM is that organisations generate a great deal of data about customers that they can use to build customer profiles in order to serve them better. South African banks therefore need to adopt and implement innovative CRM strategies to maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Most banks have a section that only deals with business clients. This is referred to in banking parlance as Business Banking. One of the critical elements of Business Banking is the high level of relationship banking – a service designed to meet the financial needs of clients through the development of a long-term relationship. This type of service delivery is unique and expensive compared to the traditional retail bank delivery system. As a result, the bank must be in position to monitor the profitability of each relationship to ensure that the right clients are serviced in the right way and are meeting the required value proposition. Therefore, if the South African banks in general need to adopt and implement effective CRM strategies, then the need is even greater for the Business Banking section in order to survive in the marketplace. Absa Business bank went through an operating model change in 2011 which necessitated some structural changes including changes in its CRM practices. Mindful of the value of retaining existing customers and attracting new ones, Absa would want to know whether its current CRM practices are effective in ensuring that customers become more loyal to Absa business bank. In general terms, this study investigated the concept of CRM and its influence on customer loyalty and retention. Specifically, the study investigated Absa Business Bank’s CRM practices in relation to customer loyalty and retention using primary data from employees, management, and customers from the Eastern Cape Region in South Africa. The results of the study are very revealing. Among others, the study shows that bank staff commitment to offering excellent service; building trust with customers; communicating with customers in a timely manner; and proactive conflict handling are important for bank image, customer word-of-mouth behaviour towards the bank and these ultimately influence bank customer retention and loyalty. On the basis of evidence from the study it is safe to conclude that customer loyalty can be attributed to CRM and more specifically those aimed at building trust, demonstrating commitment to service, communicating with customers in a timely, reliable and proactive fashion, and handling conflict efficiently. This report contains the major findings of the study alongside recommendations for practice and further research.

Thesis (M. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2008

Thesis (D. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2009

Thesis (D. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2005 / The primary objective of this research has been to undertake a critical investigation of the application of the budget process and the achievement of budget objectives in the Free State Provincial Government. The emphasis has been specifically on the planning and control functions of management. The justification for the research is the continuous demand for unlimited public services and the limited availability of the state‟s financial resources. The undertaking proceeded from the hypothetical viewpoint that a budget is designed to assure that public resources are spent according to the preferences of the taxpayer and the legislature. A budget promotes consistency in the process of resource allocation, and its implementation should be enforced by constant evaluation and monitoring. The research includes the following aspects: - The problems encountered by the Free State Provincial Government in its endeavors to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the budget. - The fundamental principles of budget management in general, and in particular various types of budget and budget management techniques. - The evaluation of budgets as a basis for reporting on performance and the importance of such performance reports. The research methodology followed relies both on a survey of relevant literature and on empirical data. The former consists of a discussion regarding the extent to which the present budget system promotes effective and efficient budget control management and the achievement of budget objectives. As part of the empirical research an “ex post facto” analysis was undertaken of external audit reports and appropriation accounts over a period of fourteen years. In addition the fishbone or root-cause analysis approach was followed to identify core symptoms. The theoretical and empirical research yielded the following results: - The partial disturbance of the input/output relationship means that performance cannot be measured against profit as in the private sector. To compensate for this deficiency management should focus on financial statements and on audit and performance reports to measure performance. - Management needs to have an unimpeded access to budget information on the financial management system right from the beginning of each new financial year. - Estimates of expenditure (projections) should be captured on a monthly basis in the financial management system. With the implementation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, budget projections must be regarded as compulsory. - Press reports and reports of the Auditor-General indicated that shortcomings relating to audit committees still exist both on national and provincial levels. This deficiency has a negative effect on the effectiveness of the internal audit function. - An annual percentage deviation in various departments between voted amounts and expenditure was substantial. In some instances the deviation - Losses should be monitored constantly, and management should be aware of the impact of losses and claims on financial resources. Their prevention should be part of each department‟s financial strategy. - Budget manipulation reduces the budget‟s effectiveness and efficiency as a means of performance measurement. The first possible solution to solve the problems associated with the budget is privatization of the service or function. The second possibility is the implementation of a quality control program. Its objective would be to reverse poor performance. To be successful, the quality control program should rely on clear accountabilities, effective partnerships and devoted leadership. A third recommendation might be the implementation of a quality assurance and quality control division for each department. The first component would gather all the necessary documentation to assure quality while the second would monitor effective application. The first requirement in measuring performance will be the motivation of all staff to be committed to the improvement of service delivery. The second challenge will be to train them accordingly. The third challenge will be the development of a performance report procedure for each department. A further recommendation is the analysis and reduction of underspending. Finally, accounting officers must implement effective and transparent processes of financial and risk management. Broadly viewed, the integration of budget and strategic planning initiatives of the National Treasury are a slow process that cannot be implemented overnight. National departments and provinces are, however, requested by National Treasury to improve on the outputs and the development of robust output performance measures and service delivery indicators. This viewpoint supports the proposed budget-management model aimed at effective objective achievement or sustainable development of the Free State. In future the budget management process could be based on this model to improve service delivery.