Thesis (M.Sc.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed on Jan. 10, 2006) "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Management." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MScIng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

The important focus of this research is to describe nd explain male consumer behaviour in the purchase of beauty and skin care products. In the Thai context there appears to be a change in behaviour as an increasing number of males, predominately in their working years (21-50 years), are purchasing these products. Until recently the general view was that males pruchased products that were more functional wheras females were more likely to buy symbolic and self-expressive products. The chief purpose of this research is to examine in some depth the phenomena of male consumer bevaviour in buying skin care products in Thailand as it suggests that a significant change may be taking place. / Thesis (DBusinessAdministration)--University of South Australia, 2008.

Consumer brand loyalty has been a topic of interest among both academics and business executives in recent times. A business's main concern is how to sell its products and services. With a large number of available alternatives in today's competitive world, consumers generally do not stick to a specific product for life. Advertising and an increased feeling of empowerment might make consumers switch brands as soon as they feel the need to do so. The challenge is for businesses to maintain their consumer brand loyalty. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2006.

Treatments with natural products rich in anti-oxidants have attracted remarkable interest in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry to combat oxidative stress and reverse the effects of ageing. Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) is a South African fynbos plant, well-known for its strong anti-oxidant capacity and use in many cosmetic products. However, little published research exists on its potential as an anti-ageing treatment. The anti-ageing properties of fermented and green rooibos were investigated using an in vitro cell culture model designed to evaluate the involvement of mitochondrial dysfunction in the age related decline in preadipocyte function. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deficient preadipocytes, ρ0 3T3-L1preadipocytes, were generated following continuous long-term exposure to sub lethal concentrations of ethidium bromide (EtBr). Depletion of the mtDNA resulted in a significantly reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, rate of proliferation in culture, as well as an increased glucose utilization and lactate production. Treatment with the green rooibos (100 μg/mL) stimulated cell growth rates for both the wildtype and mutant cell lines. MtDNA depleted cells showed arrest in the G1 phase (48.8 ± 3.34%) compared to wildtype cells (44.6 ± 1.38%), which was significantly attenuated after treatment with green rooibos for mutant (42.0 ± 0.83%) and wildtype (36.5 ± 5.80%) treated cells. The results obtained for glucose utilization and lactate production, indicated a significant increase in glucose utilization along with a concomitant increase in lactate production after treatment with both green and fermented rooibos for wildtype and mutant cell lines. A significant improvement in mitochondrial membrane potential was also later observed after treatment with green and fermented rooibos on both the wildtype and mutant cell lines. The results obtained indicate that rooibos extracts, particularly the green rooibos, exhibit effects which preserve the functional capacity of preadipocytes exposed to ageing related insults, and indicate that rooibos could cause a metabolic shift in cells redirecting carbon flow away from mitochondrial metabolism, and towards lactate production and consequently, cells become resistant to mitochondrial dysfunction.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 174-177.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006. / Although most businesses require accurate sales forecasts in order to survive and to be successful, very little attention has been devoted to examine how sales forecasting processes should be managed, and the behavioural factors associated with the management of forecasting. Sales forecasting activities and research have by and large concentrated on the techniques or on the systems used, rather than on the forecasting management philosophy, which considers the organisational, procedural, and personnel aspects of the process. Both forecasting modelling and IT systems form the basis for the forecasting process, but the third element, namely the organisation, is potentially the most important one. Researchers have argued that improvements in this area could have a greater impact on the level of forecasting accuracy than improvements with regard to other aspects. After developing predetermined forecasting standards and principles, an audit on the author's organisation was conducted. This revealed that no formal forecasting --- existed, and that a number of business practices were in effect contaminating procedures and possibly affecting the integrity of the data. Very little forecasting knowledge existed, sales were predicted very sporadically, and simple averaging techniques were adopted. Life cycles of products, trends, seasonality or any other cyclical activity were never modelled. This obviously resulted in a very poor level of forecast accuracy, affecting a number of business activities. A decision was made to research the topic of forecasting management, develop a best practice model, and apply it to the organisation. The best practice model was based predominantly on the research work of Armstrong and Mentzer. This model requires the forecasting process to be developed in two specific phases, namely a strategic phase, in which the forecast is aligned to the organisation, the internal processes and the people, and the operational phase, in which more tangible aspects of the forecasting process are identified and constructed. This new forecasting approach and a dedicated forecasting software programme were successfully implemented, improving the overall accuracy level of the forecast.

Diss. Stockholm : Univ., 2002.

Date: 2020-06-09 Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Ida Kvist (93/03/23), Anna Messerschmidt (95/06/14) Title: Environmental protection as a driver for employee satisfaction and retention Tutor: Ali Farashah Keywords: employee retention, employee satisfaction, cosmetics industry, CSR Research question: How are the employee satisfaction and retention within the cosmetics industry impacted by the company’s external CSR actions regarding environmental sustainability? Purpose: The relationship between CSR and internal stakeholders has often been neglected in previous studies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether a company’s CSR strategy can positively influence employee satisfaction and retention. Thereby, three different CSR dimensions are compared in order to draw comparisons based on the results. The cosmetics industry was chosen as a focus area as its products and packaging are a great concern regarding environmental pollution. Method: Because the turnover rate among retail employees is particularly high, a quantitative survey across salespeople and sales managers of the cosmetics industry was conducted. The data was analyzed with the use of IBM SPSS statistics. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, environmental CSR has a significant influence on employee satisfaction. Yet, it showed no influence on employee retention. Furthermore, the findings suggest that internal CSR plays an important role in satisfying and retaining employees. Social CSR on the other hand showed a negative influence on employee satisfaction.

More and more companies are realising the benefits of implementing management systems, integration of these systems would lead to a more efficient and effective management system. Environmental, quality, health and safety management systems are discussed as well as how each is implemented independently. Where the systems overlap or have common goals, in order to avoid duplication and unnecessary extra work, the development and implementation as an integrated management system (IMS) is essential and forms the major part of this project. A long term plan to implement the IMS is developed and will be implemented in this company through stages. A holistic approach is being used to improve not only the effluent but also the process and raw materials. The company being focussed on is broken down into different sections and each section carefully investigated to find possible process improvements. The company is looking to become as automated as possible to reduce human error, but due to financial concerns, everything is to be done as economically as possible, or over a longer time span. The company is looking to implement an environmental management system (EMS) to become ISO 14000 certified and a quality management system (QMS) to become ISO 9000 certified as this would: • improve product marketing, • minimise long term costs, • ensure the future development of the company, and • help give the company an edge in the highly competitive market. A brief background of the organisation is given in order to determine the current (pre-implementation) status of the company. The EMS, QMS and Operational Health and Safety are discussed as well as how each is implemented independently. A gap analysis of each of the management systems is carried out and where the systems overlap or have common goals, these systems are integrated. The different functional departments of the organisation nl. inventory, production and administration are investigated and suggestions on how to improve these are documented. These suggestions are to be carried out first as these are the most obvious and currently cause the most problems. Once these problems are fixed, the gap analysis of each system is to be looked at and implemented. The water use of the organisation is investigated and some practical ways of decreasing the water use are suggested. Different ways of treating the effluent is discussed and it is decided that the best setup would be two tanks in series, including a flow equalisation tank and a chemical neutralisation tank. Depending on the pilot plant investigation an extra tank can be used to improve the water quality. One of the fundamental foundations to an effective and efficient management system is management commitment and the management at AIC are not committed enough. Employees should be motivated through fair pay, training and recognition as this will reduce human error and also improve the general feeling in the organisation. The IMS will be greatly enhanced if business ethics and social responsibilities are incorporated. Training seems to be the major problem in the organisation at present and once the appropriate sections of the IMS have been completed, training should become part of the company’s routine.