The Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) was implemented on 1 September 1995 in the context of the country's political and economic liberalisation and the major structural shift in government policy and the trade regime. In an intensely competitive global environment, the strategies of a few dominant motor vehicle manufacturers, mainly operating from the Triad regions of North America, Europe and Japan, impact significantly on the developments of the global automotive industry. Over the past decade the small, highly protected and inwardly focused South African automotive industry has become fully integrated in the global strategies of foreign parent companies. As South Africa's leading manufacturing sector, the automotive sector is contributing significantly to the country's economy in terms of exports, investment, employment and the gross domestic product. The objective of the study was to establish and measure the relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool in the global automotive environment by capturing the responses and perceptions of direct automotive industry exporters and stakeholders for * the South African automotive industry in general, and * the companies forming part of the empirical survey. To satisfy the objectives of the study, the research methodology incorporated an extensive primary and secondary research phase (qualitative and quantitative). A structured empirical survey was used to collect the primary data. The survey data were captured and processed by the Bureau for Market Research (BMR), Unisa. The main findings of the study are that: * The promotional relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool is embedded in the programme's ability to trigger interest in the South African automotive industry, to generate business and to attract investments. * The MIDP is successful in contributing to the automotive sector's international competitiveness and is therefore a very important promotional tool for convincing foreign parent companies to consider South Africa as an investment destination. * The South African automotive industry would not be able to cope with global competition without the MIDP. * Different factors impact on the business operations of the South African automotive industry in general and the specific company in particular and the factors are viewed differently by the selected groups based on their demographic details. The process of trade liberalisation is forcing many South African companies to encounter both intensified competition and new forms of competition. The South African government's target of a 6 percent economic growth rate by 2010 will largely depend on the ongoing successes achieved in priority sectors such as the domestic automotive sector. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

The aim of this master thesis project is to investigate how cities strive to be globally competitive affect local residents in informal settlements, generically called slum dwellers. This question is approached trough a case study of one of Rio de Janeiro’s informal settlements ‘favela’ Santa Marta. The favela’s public spaces have been studied in order to reveal how Rio’s search for increased global status has affected the management of the spaces and consequently the favela dwellers. Rio de Janeiro is using a well-acknowledged strategy towards global competitiveness, the hosting of international mega-events. Within the near future the city is presenting two of the world’s most well-known events: the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games. The games are being used as a tool to attract tourists and foreign investments, which are expected to help the city to Compete Globally. However, our findings show that this is happening at the expense of the city’s vulnerable slum dwellers and that Rio to some extent is Losing Locally. For example, slum areas that can contribute to presenting Rio as an attractive city, or have an unexploited economic potential, are increasingly integrated to the formal city. The residents of these areas are affected in several ways, for example through being evicted on behalf of more economically beneficial establishments. Remote slums with no interest for investments are however still separated from the formal city and left without support for its residents. Trough our research we have found that when a city set out to be globally competitive, it uses neoliberal market strategies, like hosting mega-events, since that is apprehended as the only trajectory towards development. Although, we suggest that the known strategy for development should be revised in order to not violate human rights. / Målet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur städers strävan efter global konkurrenskraft påverkar de lokala invånarna som bor i informella bostadsområden, så kallade sluminvånare. För att besvara frågeställningen har vi utfört en fallstudie av det informella bostadsområdet ‘favela’ Santa Marta i Rio de Janeiro. Santa Martas allmänna platser har studerats för att få en förståelse för hur Rios strävan efter global status har påverkat hanteringen av favelans allmänna platser och följaktligen dess sluminvånare. Rio de Janeiro använder sig av en internationellt erkänd strategi för att bli globalt konkurrenskraftig, nämligen att anordna internationella mega-event. Inom en snar framtid kommer Rio vara en av värdstäderna för fotbolls VM, och två år senare ska staden vara värd för de Olympiska sommarspelen. Sportevenemangen används som ett politiskt verktyg för att attrahera turister och internationella investeringar som ett steg mot ökad global konkurrenskraft. Resultatet av vår studie visar dock att detta sker på bekostnad av stadens utsatta sluminvånare och att strävan efter global uppmärksamhet kan ha negativ inverkan på lokal nivå. De slumområden i Rio som kan tänkas bidra till en attraktiv bild av staden, alternativt innehar outnyttjad ekonomisk potential, blir integrerade i den formella staden. Invånarna i dessa områden blir negativt drabbade på en rad olika sätt. Exempelvis har ett flertal människor blivit vräkta då området de bor på kan användas till mer ekonomiskt lönsamma ändamål. Avlägsna slumområden utan ekonomiskt intresse blir dock ignorerade. Resultat från vår studie visar att när städer planerar för en ökad global konkurrenskraft använder de sig av neoliberala marknadsstrategier, som mega-event, eftersom detta anses vara det enda tillvägagångssättet för ekonomisk utveckling. Vi föreslår dock att denna rådande strategi behöver utvecklas, uppdateras och få sällskap av alternativa vägar mot utveckling då den i dagsläget leder till att mänskliga rättigheter bryts.