M.Comm. / In summary, e-commerce will absolutely change the way in which many company decisionmakers and business leaders think, as their companies compete in an online virtual world of business: a real-time, highly competitive marketplace. Companies will be required to rethink their core business processes and then create new strategies for performing e- businesses (Fellenstein & Wood, 2000:105). Forehand (2001:22), who is managing partner and CEO of Accenture, formerly known as Andersen Consulting, has the following views on succeeding in the New Marketplace: • "The New Economy pioneers have unearthed a few truths about how to win in the new marketplace. Speed is the new mantra. Change is the only constant. Content carries a premium. Consumers have perfect information. Brands signal trust. Value drives loyalty. And so on. These are quite important considerations, because when you take a step back and think about it, the way we conduct business really has been radically altered. Forever. • It's not easy to keep an organisation thriving as each new technology change surfaces. (And we've barely tapped the awesome potential for mobile commerce through wireless technology.) Success requires a sense of urgency across the entire organisation. It requires deep cultural change. It requires different and new relationships with customers, employees, alliance partners and even competitors. The end result is often significant business transformation that gets to a company's core business model. • Leading companies will put the customer at the centre of everything they do. Think about the implications of that to your business model. About a year ago we conducted research in the area of customer relationship management (CRM), which concluded that superior customer capabilities could account for 50 percent of the difference in return on sales between low and high performing companies. Those companies that can effectively put the customer at the centre of their business add tens of millions of dollars to the bottom line. • Leading companies will put technology on the personal agenda of every senior executive. Information technology has clearly progressed beyond the early days when it was relegated to the back office. But leaders of tomorrow will look at technology as much more than an enabler of business strategy. Technology will become a creator of business strategy. • Leading companies will apply the same rigour to human performance that they do to all areas of the business. There is an enormous challenge in getting the human element of an organisation equipped to operate in an increasingly digital world. Part of that challenge is finding and keeping talent. And the other is maximizing an individual's performance. Ensuring that people have the right skills, knowledge and behaviours is quickly becoming a company's biggest gating factor to future success. Not technology, not financial capital: human capital. • Leading companies will operate at speed. This is about an emerging leadership style that enables companies to be responsive to a dynamically changing marketplace. Leadership used to be structured and hierarchical. But now leadership requires quick wits, quick decisions, judgement calls, guts and passion. To operate at speed, companies will create internal environments that support and promote constant innovation. Success can often breed complacency, which dampens a company's sense of urgency and its ability to capitalise quickly on good ideas. The winners of tomorrow will realise the power of innovation and bring a start-up mentality inside". The above extract highlights various factors, which will become clearer as one progress through the dissertation. At the end, if one returns to this section, it is hoped that the new insight gained into the online world of the Internet will become apparent. This dissertation considers research into the various business models for Internet-based start-ups, the expectations of the customer, how to satisfy these expectations by means of customer service and how to build customer loyalty. Also considered are what relationships, if any, exist between a successful business model and customer loyalty. More emphasis will be placed on business-toconsumer as opposed to business-to-business transactions and models throughout the dissertation. The research method used in this dissertation is that of a literature study. A literature survey is conducted of the various business models used, customer expectations, customer service and the building of customer loyalty by Internet organisations. The collected information is described, interpreted and evaluated on a qualitative basis to address the purpose and the objectives of the study. With the above as background, this study proposes a business model and identifies factors that build customer loyalty, which will make a contribution towards guiding start-up ventures in strategically directing their business into a globally competitive and customer-focused world. The important findings that were identified in this study are: • Design a business model based on the following components — people, innovation, focus, speed, equity, technology, size, metrics, strategic vision and leadership. (These are the prime levers that today's Internet start-ups use to compete against the incumbent world of business.) • Carry out regular market research to establish exactly what it is that your customers expect from your web site. Constantly innovate, and by meeting or exceeding customer expectations, the customer expectation gap will be narrowed, which will lead to increased customer satisfaction, with a higher likelihood of customer retention. • Establish relationships with your customers and provide them with a unique online experience by utilising technology in such a way that every customer interaction is kept simple and saves the customer time and money. Providing this kind of customer service will build customer loyalty and enhance the company's brand name.

The Internet has provided marketing with many new tools and given old tools new or improved meanings. The Net poses tremendous challenges for scholars in many lines of research, from usability studies and consumer behaviour research to marketing and advertising research. Because the World Wide Web (the Web) presents a fundamentally different environment for marketing activities than traditional media, conventional marketing activities are being transformed, as they are often difficult to implement in their present form. This means that in many cases these marketing activities have to be reconstructed in forms more appropriate for the new medium. A lot of technological changes have affected the marketing environment of today. Companies must adapt to these changes in order to improve their marketing strategies. This has, among other things, resulted in an emphasis on relationship marketing. The purpose of this thesis is to explore what strategies are used in practice by companies in order to market and promote their products and services by using their Web sites as well as to build effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In order to fulfil the research purpose, interviews were conducted at a number of companies (medium and large), and questionnaires were mailed to various companies in the motor retail industry. The result shows that a company can use traditional as well as online marketing and promotion strategies when conducting business. This can also help companies to gain better relations with their customers. The different marketing and promotion strategies are useful for attracting new business as well as maintaining and stimulating existing relations. The research problem addressed in this study was to determine the factors that are effective in marketing and promoting of Web sites as well as the methods used in building CRM.

1 Abstract This thesis deals with the issue of due managerial care in the Czech legal order. While using descriptive, analytical and comparative methods, it offers a complex discussion of this duty of members of statutory bodies of juridical persons which functions as cogent regulation of a certain level of loyalty and due care applied while acting on behalf of a juridical person. This work describes and analyses the mentioned issue. Sources of this thesis originate both from Czech and foreign legal backgrounds, some of the foreign ones include the Munich Commentary on the Act on Stock Companies or case law made under the law of the US state Delaware. In the beginning of this thesis, the nature of the relationship between members of statutory bodies and juridical person, which is determining for compensation of damage caused by the breach of duty to act with due managerial care, is inquired. Further, both components of the duty to act with due managerial care are individually explored, both the duty of care and duty of loyalty, along with commentary on the positives and negatives of their implementation in the Czech legal order. The thesis also deals with difficulties related to inverted onus of proof in proving compliance with the duty of managerial care or with the specific compensation for damage caused...

M.Com. / South Africa exists, that focuses on Customer Relationship Management and Customer Loyalty. The study investigates Customer Relationship Management and its influence on Customer Loyalty at Liberty Life in South Africa. Over the past twenty years, the importance of the services industries to the world economy has grown. In the South African economy the services sector contributed 71.4% of South Africa’s total GDP in 2006. The world economy is struggling in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Customers are cancelling their policies as they struggle to survive the down turn in investment and credit markets. Liberty Life experiences persistency problems as customers cancel their policies. Liberty Life is required to focus on its relationship with customers to increase customer loyalty. To establish the influence of trust, commitment, two-way communication and conflict handling on Customer Relationship Management and its influence on Customer Loyalty at Liberty Life in South African, an empirical investigation was conducted. The sample consisted on 254 customers visiting the customer walk-in-centres situated in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban. The study indicated that a significant positive relationship exists between trust, commitment and conflict handling, and Customer Relationship Management at Liberty Life. The study further revealed that a significant negative relationship exists between two-way communication and Customer Relationship Management at Liberty Life. In addition, the empirical investigation revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between Customer Relationship Management and Customer Loyalty at Liberty Life in South Africa. The study provided strategies for Liberty Life to improve and maintain its relationships between the organisation and customers if Liberty Life exhibits trustworthy behaviour, shows genuine commitment to service, communicates information to customers efficiently and accurately, thereby also listening to their iii customers and handling potential and manifested conflicts skilfully. This will ultimately, contributes to Customer Loyalty, which will ensure economic prosperity for Liberty Life.

[pt] Este estudo investiga se há fidelização às salas de cinema e como ela é desenvolvida em um contexto onde a escolha do filme não é levada em consideração. Através de uma pesquisa de campo, são levantadas as variáveis que podem exercer influência no conjunto de consideração dos consumidores de cinema e como essas variáveis se associam à fidelidade. Os resultados indicam indícios de fidelização e de possibilidades de se utilizar a estrutura analítica empregada para aumentar os níveis de fidelização das empresas do setor. / [en] This study investigates possibilities to determine loyalty for movie theaters and how it is developed in context where film preferences are excluded. A survey was used to identify the influence of variables on consumers` evoked set and if or how these variables are associated with loyalty. Although findings show significant but low degrees of loyalty, they provide an analytical framework to increase loyalty levels for movie theater businesses.

M.Comm.

This thesis is devoted to analyzing the current level and historical development of customer satisfaction level in a hotel. The aim of such is to figure out, to what extent customers are content with accommodation and supportive services provided by the hotel, analyze in details the feedback provided by guests, discover the problematic areas and provide solutions to improve those. As a part of the thesis current approach to customer satisfaction measurement will be presented and recommendations will be made on how to modify it to reach more accurate and useful overview of the issue.

The main research objective of this study was to determine whether Wi-Fi affects customer's loyalty and how its impact differs depending on the type of restaurants: coffee shops, fast food restaurants, and casual dining restaurants. For the study I designed a primary field survey to collect data and performed multiple linear regression analysis to test the study hypotheses. Findings show that Wi-Fi service factors turned out to be significant for all types of restaurants for both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. Wi-Fi service factors were more important for coffee shop loyalty than fast-food restaurants or casual dining restaurants. However, not all of the Wi-Fi usage factors were significant consistently. Furthermore, Wi-Fi service factors were much more important for coffee shop loyalty than fast food restaurants or casual dining restaurants. Findings are expected to assist hospitality marketers to utilize Wi-Fi service as a point of service towards their customers.

Customer relationship management (CRM) presents a new paradigm shift to the old traditional marketing strategies that are known and practiced by many organisations in South Africa and across the globe. Competition is not an excuse for failure anymore. Organisations that do not have any concrete strategies in dealing with the customer will not survive in the market. The ultimate goal of CRM is to enable organisations to forge closer ties with the customer so that a solid bond can be created to enhance loyalty and satisfaction. The goal for this research was to identify the CRM strategies used by a single organisation and thereafter suggest improvements to enhance customer loyalty. The results of the study could assist the management of the organisation to improve the CRM strategies which will hopefully enhance retention and prevent customer attrition. A literature review was conducted to unveil various elements of CRM, and strategies that can attract and retain customers. It helped in identifying themes for the empirical study. An in-depth interview was conducted with the general manager of the organisation to gauge his perception, and CRM practices in the organisation. An interview guide was used during the interview process. Four main topics namely: implementation of CRM, customer loyalty, customer complaints and conflict, and employees training and motivation were utilised for the interview guide and followed by further probing. Based on the responses obtained, analyses were made by comparing the responses to what literature revealed so that shortcomings could easily be identified.The study revealed that there were several inconsistencies with what was practised by the organisation and what the literature study revealed. Bearing in mind the shortcomings identified in the empirical study, the researcher made the following recommendations. The CRM implementation approach needs to be carefully planned with a clear defined vision and mission statement that focus on customer centredness. The organisation needs to invest in modern and innovative channels of communication and strategic partnership to reach the right customer. The organisation has to develop effective market segmentation and targeting to know the customer well. Consistent and highly relevant customer experiences should be drawn-on to fulfill the organisation’s promise of trust and reliability. The organisation should adopt competitive pricing strategy to limit customer sensitivity on price. The organisation should invest in employees’ development and welfare. Further research can be conducted to investigate the perception of other food retailers on the CRM strategies practiced. Further research can also be conducted in the organisation to investigate the perception of employees and customers on the CRM strategies practised.

Brands are major role-players in the organisational business strategy; and they are recognised as one of the most valuable assets a company can possess. The entry of low-cost competitors has redefined the entire competitive landscape of the health-care industry through their ability to transform their value chain, in order to drastically reduce prices. With the fierce rivalry amongst the competitors, and a quest for companies to achieve competitive advantage, companies must design their strategies better than their competitors. For a company to be successful in such an environment, customer-brand loyalty is a critical issue. The main objective of this study was to measure brand loyalty in the medical-devices industry of South Africa, and to establish the key influencing factors of brand loyalty in this industry. The measurement of brand loyalty in the medical devices industry is founded on a conceptual brand-loyalty framework for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry developed by Moolla (2012). The 12 brand loyalty factors identified by Moolla are: customer satisfaction; switching costs or risk aversion; brand trust; involvement; repeat purchases; relationship proneness; commitment; perceived value; brand relevance; brand affect; brand performance and culture. The empirical study was conducted among 250 medical practitioners across the private sector and public sector health-care system of South Africa. The methodology adopted in the study included the sampling procedure, the data collection, the questionnaire development and the statistical techniques used to analyse the results. The results were analysed with regard to: Factor analysis; Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients, mean values and inferential statistics. The results were presented in a conceptual framework, in order to measure brand loyalty in the medical devices industry of South Africa. The results of this study concluded that the brand loyalty influences, as identified by Moolla, are important for measuring brand loyalty in the medical devices industry. The empirical results focused on the demographic profile of the respondents, the validity of the questionnaire, the reliability of the results obtained, as well as the importance of the research variables. The analysis enabled certain conclusions to be drawn relating to the significant factors of brand loyalty in the medical devices industry in South Africa. A comparison was conducted relating to age group, gender profile, the health-care sector and the medical specialization – to determine whether there were any significant differences in the influence of the brand-loyalty factors identified. The chapter concluded with a conceptual framework for the medical-devices industry adapted from Moolla (2012) framework.