Thesis (M. Com. (Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / Unemployment is one of the most economically crippling challenges facing South Africa today. The Department of Trade and Industry identified the Textile and Clothing Industry as a labour absorbing industry for many developing countries, including South Africa. However, the capacity of the sector to create jobs in South Africa has been changing. This study therefore aims to examine the probable causes of employment in the textile and clothing industry of South Africa and to propose policy recommendations that to alleviate the unemployment issues in the industry. The determinants of unemployment are analysed using co-integration analysis from an econometric perspective with annual time series data from 1986 to 2016. The study identifies domestic demand, real output, wage rate, and imports as some determinants in the textile and clothing industry. The results suggest that the model is co-integrated at 5% level of significance and there is a long-run relationship between employment and its determinants. For further examination of the relationship between unemployment and its determinants, the study conducted the Vector Error Correction Model and VECM Granger Causality techniques. The model was found to converge back to equilibrium at 0.183 convergence speed. These techniques revealed that the linear model is a good fit, passing both diagnostic and stability tests. The study also conducted the impulse response functions and variance decomposition to assess how shocks to economic variables reverberate through a system. Employment show an increase given positive economic shocks to output and wage rate. The study has recommended subsidization and incentivizing of the industry by government to assist in keeping operational costs low and improve output. For imports, the study suggested a mutual co-operation through joint ventures between South African companies and Chinese firms. South Africa may benefit from the transfer of technology and expertise, increased production capacity and job creation. Keywords: Employment, unemployment, long-run relationship, labour-intensive, demand, output

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Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 31). Also available via the Internet.

South Africa has abandoned apartheid and re-entered the global economy where factors like the lack of global competitiveness and global recession, amoung other factors, are contributing to poor performance of South African firms. This poor performance has resulted in many firms restructuring, shrinking, closing down and losing hundreds of thousands of jobs. The South African government is promoting SMEs as alternative employment source. The problem is the high rate of SMEs closure. To sustain jobs, SMEs must survive and grow. Critical to aiding SME growth is the understanding of various internal and external factors which determine success or failure. This study investigates “skills” as one of the significant internal factors. The literature reviews eight models by authors Glancey (1998), van Vuuren&Nieman (1999), Erikson (2002), Wickham (1998), Man et al (2002), Ucbasaran et al (2004), Darroch&Clover (2005) and Perks&Struwig (2005) to present the integrated model for entrepreneurial performance as “integrated ↑E/P = f(key skills) x [1 + h.(supporting skills)] ”. The key skills are represented as multiplicative, symbolising the fact that the absence of any one key skill will lead to zero performance. Based on this model, several propositions are put forward. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the key set of competencies identified by the eight models reviewed (as presented in the detailed model) can be applied to a specific industry (the textile and clothing industry) at a specific geographic location (Johannesburg). The cross-sectional, ex post facto, formal empirical study involved interviewed 570 manufacturing SMEs (197 successful and 373 less successful SMEs). The study ascertained which skills the SME owner/managers perceived as important for success; how they rated their competencies in the said skills; and whether they had been trained in those skills. The instrument used was a structured questionnaire. The statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, frequencies, factor analysis, Cronbach alpha coefficient, Chi-square; t-test and one-way ANOVA tests. The analysis was concluded with a Scheffe’s multiple comparison procedure. The main findings of the study are: 1. Key skills that enhance SME success include the ability to gather resources, marketing, motivation, legal, financial and operational management skills. 2. Successful SMEs considered key skills to be more important and rated themselves more competent in most of the key skills than did less successful SMEs. 3. Successful SMEs had been trained in more skills categories than less successful SMEs, with most of the successful SMEs having received training in all the key skills identified. This study recommends that the training of SMEs should focus on developing those skills identified as key internal factors influencing SME success by following the training model “Training for ↑E/P = training in key skills x [1 + training in supporting skills] ”. The study concludes by listing limitations and suggesting further research. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Business Management / unrestricted

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The purposes of this study were to measure and compare the knowledge level of sales personnel employed by a ladies' apparel manufacturer and to examine the need for a training program for sales managers, sales secretaries, and sales representatives. The data were gathered through a four-part questionnaire developed by the researcher. Sales personnel were rated as having low, medium, or high knowledge. The majority rated as having medium knowledge. No significant differences in knowledge level were evident relative to sales position or length of employment. Training needs tended to have little variance among respondents.

The clothing industry is multifaceted and is characterised by garments with a short life cycle, unstable customer needs and varying fashion styles. This affects the accuracy of demand planning. In SA, the clothing industry has experienced a decline in the number of clothing manufacturers and manufacturing outputs as well as fluctuations in employment. This study investigates demand planning practices in the Gauteng clothing industry. A descriptive and exploratory study was conducted based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The structured data was descriptively analysed using SPSS and inferentially analysed using the Kruskal‒Wallis test as well as content analysis for the unstructured questions. The findings revealed that demand planning practices in the Gauteng clothing industry are conducted using the hierarchical and optimal demand planning approaches. The results also revealed that there are certain factors which affect the way demand planning is conducted in the clothing industry in Gauteng. These factors includes: scheduling, fashion clothes, point of sale system, imports, estimation, recession and lead time. Furthermore, the study revealed that there are differences in the factors affecting demand planning regarding the three key clothing stakeholders (fabric suppliers, clothing manufacturers and fashion designers). The study revealed that key demand planning practices employed in the Gauteng clothing industry are production planning, uncertainty prevention, forecasting and production machine capabilities. These practices are important attributes of the hierarchical and optimal demand planning approaches. The study recommends that the hierarchical demand planning approach is more effective when planning for basic clothes (which involved planning horizon of twelve months), while the optimal demand planning approach is effective when planning for fashion clothes (which involved planning horizon of six months). The study recommends that the Gauteng clothing industry should consider factors which affect demand planning when planning for customers' needs as they affect the level of productivity in the organisation. / Entrepreneurship Supply Chain Transport Tourism and Logistics Management / M. Com.(Logistics)

Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) is an evolving discipline, and incorporates the environmental and social performance dimensions of sustainability with the traditional measure of economic performance; current SSCM research indicates a skew towards economic performance and its interaction with environmental performance, while social performance is underrepresented (Pagell and Wu, 2009, Schaefer, 2004, Sharma and Ruud, 2003). The UK clothing industry represents a relevant research focus due to its supply chain complexity, and scale and scope of its environmental and social impacts; this thesis further recognises the tendency for academic research to focus on Large Enterprises (LE) (Curran and Blackburn, 2001) and investigates how SSCM is implemented in UK SME clothing supply chains to understand how and why they address economic, environmental and social performance and the potential contribution to developing the SSCM concept. An inductive case study methodology is employed and the research focuses on 4 UK clothing SMEs with primary data collection a series of semi-structured interviews, supported by observation, company documentation and archival data. Three theoretical lenses are applied and the findings indicate that SMEs manage their supply chains for sustainability in ways that strongly align with their specific characteristics and apply a greater emphasis on long-term, trust-based and mutually beneficial supplier relationships. A rich view of SSCM practice in SMEs is developed, which reflects the more intangible and human components of sustainability and supply chain relationships, and how these can be harnessed to achieve firm specific commitments. This thesis fulfils an identified need to study how sustainability is addressed in SME supply chains within a single industry; SSCM research to date has focused on large organisations and multiple industry perspectives. It contributes to knowledge in both the SSCM and SME research fields by identifying key gaps within the combined literature, critiquing sustainability models and developing a conceptual framework from the findings, which aims to embed social performance and offer a more integrated approach to SSCM in this context.

Bachelor's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.