The main purpose of the study is to determine strategies for retaining valuable current customers and acquiring attractive new customers for Corobrik; therefore, the problem to be investigated is the reason for Corobrik’s inability to gain significant market share in the brick market over the last five years. Although there has been tremendous growth in the building industry, Corobrik has not been able to fully capitalise on the situation despite increasing its own capacity. A competitive-strength evaluation will form the basis of this study in order to determine customer preferences, as well as competitor performance relating to these preferences. The study will be limited to the Gauteng Province owing to the enormous number of customers in South Africa as well as to time constraints. The market in Gauteng is substantial enough to yield a fair representation of what is to be achieved with the study. A questionnaire will be distributed to Architects, Contractors and Distributors, which represent the different market segments, and the data will be collected by means of telephonic interviews. McDonald & Dunbar (2004) expounded on a method of competitive-strength evaluation, entailing a method of understanding the customers’ preferences and understanding their views of competitor performance in relation to the customers' own preferences. Based on this method, a questionnaire was drafted which will be distributed to role players in the market in order to collect the required data. This research study can be seen as exploratory, since future research tasks could be discovered during the study. This study will be a ‘snapshot in time’ because of time constraints, and could possibly yield different results if repeated at any other time. The questionnaire is such that the data could be analysed and certain propositions could be compared with the ratings. Therefore, a semi-quantitative study is possible, i.e. people’s perceptions can be measured. It is important that the study be done in a ‘field setting’ to reflect what would occur under actual conditions. In addition, exactly the same questionnaire was used for all respondents, minimising the possibility of the respondents or the researcher manipulating the ratings reflected in the survey. The main findings revealed that sales to Distributors and Contractors constitute approximately 85 per cent of the total product sales of Corobrik and that Distributors and Contractors perceived Corobrik as expensive, Price being rated as their most important DBC. Architects rated Quality and Aesthetics as the most important DBCs and they rated Corobrik the best performer in these categories. This finding implies that Corobrik manages to satisfy Architects’ most important needs; however, Price was also Corobrik’s worst performing DBC in terms of the Architect ratings. Corobrik does satisfy the needs of Architects fairly well; however, this study was limited to the brick industry and did not attempt to compare face bricks with rival materials such as glass, aluminium, wood, plaster and paint and others. Consequently, Corobrik’s performance was not compared with that of the manufacturers of these rival products with regard to the relevant DBCs. It is, therefore, recommended that such a study be conducted in order to determine how well Corobrik performs in comparison with the rival companies. In addition, Corobrik should consider a marketing objective of developing new products for existing market segments (Architects), i.e. products that are able to compete with glass, aluminium and other rival materials, or that could even be used to compliment one another. This initiative could lead to increased market share, not only in the brick market but also in the bigger construction market. It appears that Corobrik has to date followed the marketing strategy of supplying existing products to new segments such as the residential market, and the researcher’s impression is that this new segment does not really want the product because of its affordability. Therefore, Corobrik needs to consider developing new products for the relatively new residential market, but with the emphasis on affordability. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / M.B.L.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

This study considers the problem of the consumer in light of work presented by classical economists who discussed consumption. Richer assumptions about the tasks of an individual consumer and technology of consumption activities are used to develop a static model of consumer behavior. This model is extended through the introduction of opponent-process theory to develop a dynamic model which includes habit formation. Particular emphasis is placed in Chapter 2 upon the psychological underpinnings of consumption activities and the allocation of time aspect of these activities. It is assumed that a consumption activity is defined as a production function combining commodity and time inputs to produce satisfaction. Chapter 3 presents the framework over which preferences about different activities are defined. Preference relationships are assumed to be rational, transitive, and constant over time and location. In addition, satiation in a particular consumption activity is assumed to exist and the ranking over satiation states is defined. Chapter 4 deals with the behavior of a time and income constrained consumer who seeks to choose an optimal bundle of commodity and time inputs over the ordered activity set. The solution to this problem is characterized by affordable allocation of resources from the highest ranked down to the lowest ranked activity. Comparative statics results associated with this solution are considered for non-labor income, wage rate, and price changes. It is shown that besides the production substitution effects brought about by changes in the wage rate and in commodity prices, the net effect of changes in economic variables is predominantly at the lower end of the preference ordering. Chapter 5 presents both a psychological version of opponent-process theory and an economic interpretation of this theory which is used to describe habit dynamics. Chapter 6 combines the static consumer problem and the dynamic description of activity productions under habit formation to present an extended problem of a dynamic consumer behavior.

No description available.

The United States is in an emerging period of transition, shifting to online multimedia campaigns. This research attempts to explore general knowledge of multimedia expansion, and through qualitative research methods provide a successful model for the development of an effective promotion tool. Findings from the heuristic study showed users preferences for varying forms of media, thus demonstrating the need to provide content in many different forms. The findings from this study aide in the development of multimedia, and illustrate the need for further studies in the use of multimedia as a promotion tool. / Department of Telecommunications

by Chan Ka Wah. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984. / Bibliography: leaves 175-184.

Huang, Xun. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-87). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY / Bibliography: leaves 74-75. / by Peter Manning Guadagni. / M.S.

by Leona Tam Wing Yin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-122). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vi / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter I: --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.0 --- Overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Objective --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- The Service Switching Behavior Model --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- The Design --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of This Study --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- Outline of This Study --- p.5 / Chapter Chapter II: --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT --- p.7 / Chapter 2.0 --- Overview --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Review of Relevant Studies in Services --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Unique Characteristics of Services --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Classification of Services --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Measurement of Service Quality --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Review of Past Studies in Service Switching Behavior --- p.16 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Characteristics of Service Switchers --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2 --- Limitations of Past Studies --- p.18 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Conceptual Model --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- The Conceptual Framework --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Definition of Constructs --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Causal Relationships among Constructs in the Conceptual Model and Hypotheses --- p.25 / Chapter 2.4 --- Summary --- p.32 / Chapter Chapter III: --- METHODOLOGY --- p.33 / Chapter 3.0 --- Overview --- p.33 / Chapter 3.1 --- Research Methodology --- p.33 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Research Strategies and Three-Horned Dilemma --- p.33 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- The Research Strategy Chosen for This Study --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- The Design --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- The Sample --- p.36 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- The Data Collection Procedure --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2 --- Operationalization of Constructs --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.43 / Chapter 3.4 --- Research Activities --- p.45 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Pretest for Selection of Services for the Study --- p.45 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Pretest of the Questionnaire --- p.48 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- The Main Study --- p.48 / Chapter 3.5 --- Summary --- p.48 / Chapter Chapter IV: --- ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS --- p.50 / Chapter 4.0 --- Overview --- p.50 / Chapter 4.1 --- Scale Assessment --- p.50 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Unidimensionality of the Constructs --- p.51 / Chapter 4.1.1.1 --- Exploratory Factor Analyses --- p.51 / Chapter 4.1.1.2 --- Confirmatory Factor Analyses --- p.52 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Reliability --- p.53 / Chapter 4.2 --- Structural Equation Modeling --- p.54 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- The Structural Equation Models for All Three Services Combined --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2.1.1 --- The Full Model for All Three Services Combined --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2.1.2 --- The Modified Model for All Three Services Combined --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- The Structural Equation Model for Fastfood Restaurants --- p.61 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- The Structural Equation Model for Hair Salons --- p.61 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- The Structural Equation Model for Banks --- p.62 / Chapter 4.3 --- Discussion --- p.63 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Results of the Service Switching Model for All Three Services Combined --- p.63 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Comparison of Structural Model Results of Overall Model and Individual Models --- p.64 / Chapter 4.4 --- Summary --- p.67 / Chapter Chapter V: --- CONCLUSION --- p.68 / Chapter 5.0 --- Overview --- p.68 / Chapter 5.1 --- Summary of the Research --- p.68 / Chapter 5.2 --- Contributions of the Research --- p.72 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Theoretical Contributions --- p.72 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Managerial Implications --- p.76 / Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations --- p.82 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Research Design --- p.82 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Sample and Sampling Procedure --- p.83 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Data Collection Procedure --- p.84 / Chapter 5.3.4 --- Measurement --- p.85 / Chapter 5.4 --- Future Research Direction --- p.85 / Chapter 5.4.1. --- The Use of More Comprehensive Model as the Conceptual Framework --- p.85 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Testing the Effect of Situational Factors on Service Switching --- p.86 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Testing the Effect of the Customer's Personal Characteristics --- p.86 / Chapter 5.4.4 --- Using Different Service Classification Schemes to Choose Representative Service Industries to Be Tested in the Conceptual Model --- p.87 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.87 / FIGURES: / Figure 1 --- p.89 / Figure 2 --- p.90 / TABLES: / Table 1 --- p.91 / Table 2 --- p.92 / Table 3 --- p.94 / Table 4 --- p.95 / Table 5 --- p.97 / Table 6 --- p.98 / Table 7 --- p.100 / Table 8 --- p.102 / Table 9 --- p.104 / Table 10 --- p.106 / Table 11 --- p.108 / Table 12 --- p.109 / APPENDIX --- p.110 / REFERENCE --- p.115

by Hwang Fai, Kam Pui Sze. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-63). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Definition of e-learning --- p.1 / Traditional Classroom Learning vs. E-learning --- p.2 / Significance of Interactivity and Multimedia in E-learning --- p.2 / Cultural Difference in Learning Styles and Habits --- p.4 / Benefits of E-learning --- p.5 / Substantial Cost and Time saving --- p.5 / Meet Need-driven Demand --- p.5 / Flexibility and Convenience Enhancement --- p.6 / Create Learner-friendly Environment --- p.6 / Increased Retention --- p.6 / Improved Collaboration and Interactivity among Students --- p.7 / Ease of Information or Materials Update --- p.7 / Limitations of E-learning --- p.7 / Huge Initial Capital Investment --- p.8 / Technology Dependent --- p.8 / Technology cannot completely replace Human Contact --- p.8 / Personnel Resistance --- p.9 / Not all Courses are delivered well by Computer --- p.9 / Not all People are suitable for E-learning --- p.9 / E-learning on the Corporate Level --- p.10 / The Corporate E-learning Market --- p.10 / Barriers of Implementation --- p.11 / Significance of E-learning on the Corporate Level --- p.11 / Cost Savings to Corporations --- p.11 / Performance Improvement --- p.12 / Competitive Position --- p.12 / E-learning Development In Hong Kong --- p.13 / Chapter II. --- OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH / Chapter III. --- RESEARCH HYPOTHESE --- p.17 / Conceptual Framework: Flow construct --- p.17 / Research Hypotheses --- p.19 / Direct Influence on Flow --- p.19 / Direct Influence on Perceived Playfulness --- p.21 / Direct Influence on Intention to Use E-learning --- p.21 / Chapter IV. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.22 / The Sample --- p.22 / Definition of Variables --- p.23 / Chapter V. --- RESULTS --- p.24 / Results for Tests for Direct Influence on Flow --- p.24 / Results for Tests for Direct Influence on Perceived Playfulness --- p.25 / Results for Tests for Direct Influence on Intention to use E-learning --- p.26 / Chapter VI. --- DISCUSSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.28 / Chapter VII. --- LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY --- p.35 / Chapter VIII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.37 / APPENDIX --- p.46 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.56