This research investigated technology change management at Bridgestone/Firestone in the Port Elizabeth metropole. From a manufacturing organisation’s point of view it is clear that technology change is a constant force that determines competitiveness. The thesis outlines the specific requirements needed for utilising the concept of technology change management at Bridgestone/Firestone. The literature survey was aimed at placing the concept of technology change management and the correct organisational structure and organisational focus points in perspective to ensure successful technology change and its implementation at Bridgestone/Firestone. The purpose of the empirical study was to test managements perseptions of technology change management at Bridgestone/Firestone and to contribute useful information to the organisation. From the findings improvements and recommendations were suggested as guidelines for any tyre manufacturer to follow to improve technology change management. The empirical study results show that there is room for improvement. The responses to statements outlined areas that need improvement and those that do not according to the views of Bridgestone/Firestone’s management.

The research problem addressed in this study was aimed in assisting the management of Bridgestone/Firestone, Port Elizabeth plant, in selecting an appropriate process for the formulation of an operations strategy. The author embarked on a literature survey to gain understanding of the challenges that are occurring in the market environment. The theories and techniques around operational strategies were extensively researched in an effort to effectively and efficiently assist the management of Firestone in achieving a competitive advantage over rival competitors. Other areas of focus include the content, development, principles and concepts in developing an operations strategy. The author details the process of the formulation of an operations strategy as well as the discussion of four models/procedures deployed in organisations that would enhance strategy formulation. It is evident from the findings of the empirical study that a high percentage of the respondents “agree” that the strategy deployed within Bridgestone/Firestone, Port Elizabeth plant is appropriate, yet an alarmingly high percentage believe it to be “ineffective.

To minimize devastation and maximize opportunities provided during a corporate crisis, public relations professionals should collaborate with lawyers on crisis response strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine coverage of the Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/ Firestone, Inc. tire recall from May 2000 through May 2001 to determine whether there was a difference between the strategies used by each company and whether Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. used more traditional public relations than traditional legal strategies during each crisis stage.A content analysis was conducted of articles covering the crisis from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post containing sentences attributed to each company's spokespeople. The search yielded 234 usable articles with 2,192 sentences.Coders identified strategies as traditional public relations, traditional legal, mixed, diversionary, or other. A chi-square was used to test the hypotheses.The first hypothesis, which said there would be no significant difference between strategies used by each company, was rejected. The second and third hypotheses, which said Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. used significantly more traditional public relations than traditional legal strategies during each time period, were accepted. / Department of Journalism

This dissertation investigates the effect of endogenous and exogenous events on firm behavior and performance. These are fundamental questions in economics. The contribution of this study is threefold. First, it provides estimates of the impact of mergers on railroad efficiency, which has important antitrust implications. Second, it provides new estimates of the effect of negative events on the market value of Johnson & Johnson, Bridgestone, and Toyota, which is important to the understanding of how markets punish corporate errors. Third, it develops better ways to estimate these effects. Chapter 2 uses the event study approach to determine how product recalls due to exogenous and endogenous shocks affect the value of the firm. Three recalls from Johnson & Johnson, Bridgestone, and Toyota have been studied in this chapter. The traditional event study method assumes that markets are efficient, a questionable assumption in the short run. Thus, the current stock value of a firm may not reflect its true market value. To address this potential problem, frontier based methods are used, including data envelopment analysis, corrected ordinary least squares, and stochastic frontier regression analysis. Stochastic frontier methods are shown to be more appropriate when market behavior is not fully rational. The evidence shows that endogenous events due to firm errors are more detrimental to firm value than exogenous negative events that are beyond the control of the firm. That is, the market is more forgiving of negative shocks that the company cannot control. Chapter 3 studies the effects of merger activity on the efficiency and productivity growth of U.S. Class I railroads from 1983 to 2008. In this chapter, I assess the effects of merger activity on efficiency, and identify the major factors associated with productivity growth. Unlike previous research, I use data envelopment analysis with an attribute-incorporated Malmquist productivity index. This approach allows firm specific measures of efficiency and productivity to be calculated for firms with differences in technology. The approach allows a decomposition of the attribute-incorporated Malmquist productivity index into technical, efficient and attribute components, the impacts of railroads mergers, and the real source and change of productivity. I find that (1) the technology efficiency performance of the seven survivor firms has grown through time; (2) mergers overall do not lead significant technology and scale efficiency gains, but there are differences across mergers; (3) mergers in the 1980s do not have significant different effect on efficiency change compared to those in the 1990s; and (4) the productivity gains are mostly attributed to the network and operation attributes change and industry technology improvement. Overall, the mergers have no direct impact on the efficiency gains or losses during our study period. The application of these techniques to product recalls and railroad merger models demonstrates how they can provide superior estimates over traditional estimation techniques. It is hoped that these applications will motivate the use of these techniques in other settings. / Graduation date: 2012