Organisational theorists and managers have long shown interest in the role of innovation in organisations as innovation plays a crucial role in sustaining competitive advantage. A recent study revealed a gap between what leading corporations say about innovation and what they do. The gap is large: while 80 percent of companies acknowledged the importance of innovation in their business, only four percent were confident that they were good at it. The present study assessed innovation in a local FMCG organisation. An attempt to ascertain the factors determining innovation delivery in the company was made. The current investigation demonstrated that the overall perception on the company's innovation was high, notably the emphasis on the importance of innovation. Positive strong innovation capabilities have been demonstrated: high innovation commitment, a strategy that promotes innovation and that is clearly communicated and understood by all levels, adequate resources and facilities that keep the company competitive and, very important, an effective process. However, to sustain growth through innovation, the organisation needs to address a number of key issues such as unfavourable employee attitudes towards innovation, risk management, management creativity and the company structure. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration) )--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2008.

Thesis (MTech (Quality (Engineering)))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) is a segment of quality assurance which guarantees that food products produced are uniform and controlled to the appropriate quality standards for their required use and as expected by the marketing authority. A survey was carried out to assess the awareness and implementation level of GMP guidelines amongst manufacturers in the Western Cape, South Africa. Based on a literature review on GMP in the food manufacturing establishments a research problem was identified forming the crux of the research which reads as follows: “the lack of enforcement of approved standards within the food manufacturing establishments in the Western Cape Province, South Africa may result in the food product quality being questioned by consumers”. The objective of this study was to assess the awareness and implementation of GMP among food manufacturing establishments in the Western Cape. The literature was reviewed to discover what is currently known concerning GMP in the food manufacturing industries. Fresh food produce manufacturing establishments in the Western Cape Province South Africa were targeted for this study, with 52 responding to the questionnaires. Data was collected by means of self-administered structured questionnaires and individual face-to-face interviews with six of the establishments that participated in the questionnaires. Data for the questionnaires was analysed by means Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19 software programme in order to generate descriptive statistical results and to determine potential areas for improvement in the establishments surveyed. Data for individual face-to-face interview was recorded by transcribing and analysed by inductive reasoning. In particular, Cronbach’s alpha was utilized to test the reliability of the key items of GMP.

No description available.

This study was concerned with the capability of food processors to conduct a product recall, when necessary, with the least time and cost expenditures. An evaluation was made of the effectiveness of the procedures, policies, and organization by which food processors have conducted or would conduct a product recall. Based upon this assessment, a model product recall program was designed to enhance the ability of food processors to conduct product recalls more efficiently. The study concludes that product recalls are very costly to conduct, and, therefore, every effort should be undertaken to prevent situations from occurring which require product recalls. The use of stringent quality control procedures and packaging improvements are thus recommended. Food processors are encouraged to adopt product recall programs in order to reduce the cost of conducting a product recall. If food processors do not take the initiative in these areas, consumerists will likely continue to pressure Congress for more stringent federal regulation of the food industry.

No description available.

Background: Eco-labels have become an important tool in products’ promotion, especially in the food industry, where it is used to promote products with ecological, ethical and/or sustainability attributes that consumers are looking for. Even though researches have demonstrated that consumers develop a positive attitude towards green products, some remain skeptical about green claims from marketers which are sometimes considered as ambiguous. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand consumers’ attitude towards eco-labels and the impact of trust on their intention to buy eco-labelled products, focusing on Generation Y from Europe and on eco-labels from the food industry. Methodology: The research is based on a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design. The data are collected thanks to secondary data and an online survey. Conclusion: The findings show that the Generation Y is well aware of eco-labels and has a positive environmental motivation, both impacting the intention to buy eco-labelled food products. Trust has also a small indirect impact on the intention to buy, since it affects the consumers’ environmental motivation.

This research investigates the determinants of retailer power within retailer-manufacturer relationships by specifying and testing three models of retailer power. It is based on a sample of 55 Irish food manufacturers and their experiences of relationships with Irish and British retailers. The study adopts the view that the existing body of research into relationships with retailers is fragmented, and that a more complete understanding of these power relations may be obtained by simultaneously focusing on three sets of factors. The factors are industry specific, firm and product specific, and relationship specific. Much of the existing empirical work investigating power relations implicitly assumes power to be unidimensional through the measures employed. Consequently, the current study investigates retailer power, measured as a unidimensional construct. However, the work proceeds to explicitly acknowledge that power is multidimensional by examining retailers' power over manufacturers' product related and margin related activities. In examining these two dimensions of power, findings ofa more strategic nature are obtained. The analysis draws on the importance French and Raven (1959) attributed to observability as a determinant of power. While neglected throughout the power literature, observability, by introducing monitoring activities, provides a bridge with the transaction cost literature. In this way, specific investments, and the role of retailers' branding strategies, are incorporated into our study of power. The relationship between retailers' monitoring activities and power is specified. Proceeding from monitoring activities, the analysis sheds light on the determinants of inter-firm integration between retailers and food manufacturers. The role of specific investments, symmetric dependency, brand portfolio and retail influence on price are highlighted. The analysis of retailers' product related power supports the role of retail concentration, product shelf-life, manufacturer specific investments and retailers' product monitoring activities. Examining retail margin related power points to the importance of retail concentration, own brand penetration, the importance of economies of scale in manufacturing, product shelf life and manufacturer specific investments. Finally, retail power, measured as a unidimensional construct, is found to be related to own brand market penetration, the importance of economies of scale in manufacturing, manufacturer specific investments and retailers' monitoring activities.

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce by Research in the field of Management to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, June 2017 / The field of social entrepreneurship is gaining prominence in academic research through its ability to drive innovation and solve complex societal problems. There is a growing interest in this field due to the inherent appeal of entrepreneurship as well as the need to address social inequalities. However, despite the growing interest in social entrepreneurship, there is limited academic research in the subject – especially with regards to the nexus between institutional influence and scale of social enterprise. The majority of social entrepreneurial endeavours in South Africa are found in the food industry. Despite the magnitude of the role that social entrepreneurs play in this industry, research remains limited. Definitional debates with a bias towards conceptual research over empirical research dominates current study on social entrepreneurship – resulting in a lack of consensus among researchers on what social entrepreneurship means. In addition to the above, social entrepreneurship literature has devoted insufficient empirical and theoretical work to the study of scaling of social impact. The majority of the theoretical work has been geared towards the development of practitioner frameworks. The empirical research in the field has also been limited, specifically with regards to understanding the drivers of successful scaling of social entrepreneurial organisations. The majority of these empirical studies have utilised comparative case study approaches. Using institutional theory as a lens, this research aimed to develop a conceptual framework that can be utilised by social entrepreneurs, as well as relevant stakeholders in order to promote the scale of individual social enterprises, particularly in the South African food industry, by developing a “roadmap” to scaling. In addition to the above, the focus was on food security in the South African food industry. It is intended that the conceptual framework can indirectly address the broader societal issues surrounding food security. The above was achieved through a qualitative study. Perceptions of institutional influence on scale as well as start-ups, and drivers of scale were identified through conducting a literature review. A conceptual framework was then established from these constructs. The next step involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 14 social entrepreneurs in the food industry to validate the constructs, and identify the relationships between the constructs. The data was then analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological approach. The result of the qualitative research is a conceptual research framework, with certain hypotheses. The empirical study identified social innovation as well as the implementation of impactful governmental policies as the most critical institutional influencers of scale. In addition, using SCALERS model as a reference, the empirical study identified lobbying, alliance building, and staffing as drivers to scale. It is noted that that lobbying and alliance building can be linked to government policies as it relates to the collaboration of social enterprises in order to influence policymakers, in addition, staffing relates to the use of volunteers to bring new innovative solutions to the business – these drivers of scale (based on SCALERS model) reinforce the identified institutional influences as critical to scale. If all of the above are present, with all things being equal, then social ventures are more likely to scale – resulting in economic growth and in addition, social issues such as food security will be addressed. From a social entrepreneurship perspective, this study made a substantial contribution in shifting the social entrepreneurship research focus from conceptual, definition biased research towards empirical research that strengthened theoretical research on social entrepreneurship. / XL2018