published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Also available on the Internet. Includes bibliographical references.

SPAR Eastern Cape is a special organisation. It is an extraordinary place to work and have fun at. The organisation celebrated its twentieth “birthday” in 2013. Operating in a very difficult sector, this business has done extremely well in establishing itself as one of the leading businesses in the Eastern Cape. The success of this incredible business is driven by employees from all levels. With an extreme conviction in the apothegm that “none of us is as smart as all of us”, the organisation is built around high performance teams through a unique culture called: Amafela Ndawonye (referred to as Amafela hereafter). “Amafela” has been in operation at SPAR Eastern Cape since the organisation’s inauguration in 1993. Organisational cultures are dynamic. Organisational cultures shift, incrementally and constantly, in response to external and internal changes. Trying to assess an organisational culture is therefore complicated by the reality that one is trying to hit a moving target. However, a possibility exists that culture enhancement can be managed as a continuous process rather than big shifts (often in response to a crisis). A stable destination with regards to organisational culture should never be reached. The culture of an organisation should always be learning and developing. This prompted the researcher to ask the question, as an organisation responds to internal and external changes; can it lose its relevancy in the process? The primary objective of this research is to determine whether the commitment to the culture of “Amafela” and relevancy thereof at SPAR Eastern Cape is declining. The first step in achieving this objective was an in-depth theoretical study. The second step, and in order to achieve this objective, was an empirical survey conducted to canvas the opinions of (N= 149) respondents at SPAR Eastern Cape. The main findings of this research conducted at SPAR Eastern Cape can be summarised as follows: The organisational culture was assessed according to how respondents interpret the organisation’s existing organisational culture, and thus underlining areas in need of enhancement. In general the outcome of the survey exhibited that a large number of employees at SPAR Eastern Cape denoted that the culture of “Amafela” is still strong and is still relevant in the organisation. In this research, good to excellent levels of consistency for all eleven factors of “Amafela” were achieved. The items are therefore parallel in the test. Organisational leaders will influence the function of the people within the organisation. Moreover, leadership will set the present and future course of the company. This research articulates a correlation between leadership and “Amafela” factors. The eleven dimensions of the “Amafela” factors ranked according from favourable to less favourable. Customer focus emerged as the factor which most respondents agreed and strongly agreed with. It can be concluded then, that the culture of “Amafela Ndawonye” at SPAR Eastern Cape has the full support of the employees and is still relevant in the organization.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Marketing)-Dept. of Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2006 xiii, 140 leaves / Retailing in South Africa is one of the most challenging and competitive sectors. The South African retail business environment is seemingly becoming tough and uncertain, with intense competition from both domestic and international companies. South Africa has a varied and fascinating retailing landscape. A feature that retailers need to understand is the different demographics of the South African population and consumers from different races; this resulted in inadequate shopping facilities in the black townships and an oversupply in the traditionally white areas. Gaining access to new markets in South Africa is one of the challenges facing the retail sector. The purpose of this study is to evaluate customer service at Pick’ n Pay stores in selected shopping malls within the greater Durban area. It examines the opinions and perceptions of customers from selected shopping centres.

La présente thèse traite des chaînes de magasins. Le but est de comprendre comment ces entreprises ont cherché à conquérir les clients (ou consommateurs) des petites villes et des villages, territoires inexplorés de l’histoire du commerce de détail et de la consommation. La notion de « conquête des clients » désigne deux activités fondamentales du commerce de détail. La première est de mettre les marchandises à la disposition des consommateurs : c’est la fonction principale du secteur, selon les économistes. La seconde consiste à capter ces consommateurs. Capter, selon la définition de Franck Cochoy, c’est tenter « d’avoir prise, d’attirer vers soi, de garder ce ou ceux que l’on a attiré(s) » (Cochoy 2004, p. 12). La période considérée court de 1920 à 1960 : ces années voient le développement des chaînes dans les petites localités suisses, et permettent d’aborder la conquête des clients dans des contextes économiques variés, de crise, de guerre et d’abondance. L’ouvrage se base principalement sur l’étude des archives de la société Gonset, active dans la partie occidentale du pays. Il ne s’agit cependant pas seulement d’accumuler des connaissances sur ce détaillant helvétique et ses concurrents. L’objectif est aussi d’enrichir l’histoire du commerce de détail, l’histoire de la consommation et la sociologie économique grâce à l’étude du cas suisse. Ce pays, en effet, est un cadre privilégié pour appréhender la conquête des clients hors des grandes villes : son réseau urbain se compose principalement de petites villes et de villages. / This thesis deals with chain stores. Its goal is to understand how these firms have endeavoured to conquer the customers (or consumers) of small towns and villages, unexplored territories of the history of retail trade and consumption. The concept of “conquest of customers” refers to two basic activities of retail trade. The first is to put the goods at the consumers’ disposal, which is the main function of the sector, according to economists. The second is to “capt” (capter in French) these consumers. To “capt”, according to Franck Cochoy’s definition, means to “try to exert a hold over, or attract to oneself, or retain those one has attracted” (Cochoy 2007, p. 204). The period under examination covers from 1920 through 1960. Those years witness a significant increase of chain stores in small Swiss communities and enable us to approach the conquest of customers in varied economic contexts, in times of crisis, of war and of abundance. This publication is mainly based on the study of Gonset Company’s archives, active in the western part of the country. However, it is not merely a matter of accumulating knowledge about this Swiss retailer and his competitors. The objective is also to enrich the history of retail trade, the history of consumption, and economic sociology thanks to the study of the Swiss case. This country, indeed, is an ideal framework to take account of the conquest of customers outside major cities: its urban network is mainly composed of small cities and villages.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Marketing)-Dept. of Marketing, Durban University of Technology, 2006 xiii, 140 leaves / Retailing in South Africa is one of the most challenging and competitive sectors. The South African retail business environment is seemingly becoming tough and uncertain, with intense competition from both domestic and international companies. South Africa has a varied and fascinating retailing landscape. A feature that retailers need to understand is the different demographics of the South African population and consumers from different races; this resulted in inadequate shopping facilities in the black townships and an oversupply in the traditionally white areas. Gaining access to new markets in South Africa is one of the challenges facing the retail sector. The purpose of this study is to evaluate customer service at Pick’ n Pay stores in selected shopping malls within the greater Durban area. It examines the opinions and perceptions of customers from selected shopping centres.

Under det senaste decenniet har den svenska elektronikhandeln präglats av en allt hårdare konkurrenssituation och lägre lönsamhet. Det har lett till att stora butikskedjor gått i konkurs. För att vända trenden måste företagen hanterar sina butiksverksamheter effektivt. Det blir därmed avgörande hur butikschefen sköter butiken. Av den anledningen är det intressant att undersöka butikschefers arbetssätt för att se vad som leder till hög lönsamhet. Vår genomgång av tidigare forskning visar på att det finns en kunskapslucka gällande hur en butikschef bör arbeta för att öka lönsamheten. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur butikschefer arbetar och utifrån det identifiera faktorer i butikschefers arbetssätt som påverkar resultat och leder till skillnader i butikers prestationer. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och bygger på intervjuer med 10 butikschefer. Respondenterna har delats in i en högpresterande fokusgrupp och en jämförelsegrupp för att tydliggöra skillnader i arbetssättet. Studien visar på flertalet skillnader i hur butikschefer i fokusgruppen hanterar de vardagliga arbetsuppgifterna. Den största skillnaden består i ledarfilosofin butikscheferna utövar, vilket genomsyrar alla beslut butikscheferna i fokusgruppen tar. / Background During the latest decade the Swedish electronic industry has been exposed to intensified competition and lower profitability. The consequences have been that major retail chains have gone out of business. In order to survive, the companies need to handle their stores as efficiently as possible. As a result it’s crucial how the store manager operates the store. Therefore it is interesting to study how store managers practice their work in order to see what leads to high profitability. Our review of research reveals that there’s a knowledge gap of qualitative studies regarding how store managers should work. Aim The aim of the study is to investigate how store managers works and from that identify factors in the store managers way of work that affects the result and leads to differences in store performance. Methodology The study is made with a qualitative approach and is built on data from interviews with 10 store managers. The respondents have been divided in to a high-performance focus group and a comparison group in order to clarify the differences in their approach of work. Conclusion The study shows a number of differences in how high-performance store managers handle their work. However, the biggest difference is the leadership philosophy they choose to practice, which affect everything they do.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1959. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 368-374).

The thesis deals with price comparison of organic and conventional foods within retail chains in the South Bohemian Region. The work includes a price comparison between organic food retail chains and specialized stores and compare prices of organic foods in individual retail chains. The thesis is awarded within the grant project GAJU 019/2013 / S.