This study, in very broad terms, is concerned with the contribution of marketing to the success of small companies with particular reference to the textile industry in Egypt. There is abundant evidence that marketing has a fundamental role to play in firms of every size, even in small companies with limited resources. Nevertheless, an examination of the literature reveals that the marketing concept was introduced as a concept applicable to big companies and little attention, therefore, has been paid to marketing in small companies, particularly in underdeveloped countries such as Egypt. Small companies, however, cannot adopt the same marketing strategies as used by large ones. The study, therefore, examines possible marketing strategies for small companies with specific reference to Egypt. In addition to investigating the environmental factors prevailing in Egypt as a developing country and how these factors affect marketing development in small companies, it suggests that the ana lysis must be conducted in the light of Islamic teachings regarding marketing since Egypt is an Islamic country. These teachings, it is argued, are consistent with the societal marketing philosophy. However, it is suggested that there is a distinct lack of awareness and understanding of the Islamic marketing philosophy among the managers of Egyptian small companies - indeed of all Egyptian enterprises. It follows that linking the societal marketing concept to the Islamic doctrines may contribute to persuading the Egyptian management, with special reference to small companies' managers as exemplified by the textile industry, to adopt and implement the societal marketing approach in their business. In this regard, it may be useful to point out that the present study is the first attempt to deal with marketing strategies of Egyptian small companies on the one hand, and handling this problem within the framework of Islamic teaching and a developing economy on the other. To achieve the ends specified above, a thorough examination of the literature relating to Islamic marketing teachings as well as the literature pertaining to the applicability of the societal marketing concept and marketing techniques to small companies in general and in Egypt in particular, was carried out and based upon this examination specific hypotheses have been formulated and tested. The empirical investigation was undertaken in small Egyptian manufacturing textile companies in both the public and private sectors. The study was conducted using a sample of 5 public firms and 100 private companies representing the total number of firms working in this industry. Personal interviews employing three structured questionnaires was the method used for data collection from these companies. The findings of the field work reveal that the managements of the two kinds of companies investigated for the most part pay only limited attention to marketing and consider the societal marketing concept irrelevant to their business. In addition, there is an association between the degree of marketing development and the specific environmental variables which have been suggested as influencing the status of marketing in these companies, namely: 1. The lack of awareness, understanding and adoption of the Islamic marketing doctrines. 2. The small size of companies. 3. Government control over the marketing mix elements and other areas of decision making. 4. The shortage of competent managerial know-how, particularly in the field of marketing. 5. The lack of competition in practical terms.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Organizations enter into strategic alliances for economic value that cannot be achieved by working alone. Despite the potential benefits many alliances fail to meet their goals, destroy value, and end in termination. Success within alliances is neither automatic nor assured. The ways that organizations arrange their alliances to contend with impediments to success is of great practical and theoretical importance. This thesis studies how formal and informal arrangements arise over time and influence the performance of U.S. fire departments. The first study empirically describes how formal contracting influences performance of the alliance and its members. I analyze a sample of responses by US fire departments to fires over 11 years, and I describe how contracting affects four dimensions of performance: arrival minutes, resolution minutes, property damage, and casualties. I find (i) the effect of contracts varies across qualitatively different outcomes, (ii) that contracts deliver separate costs and benefits at the level of the alliance and the organization, and (iii) that estimates are sensitive to matching on pre-contracting covariates including social context. The second study examines the role played by social context in contracting. Looking at the hazard of contracting between pairs of alliance partners I examine the effects of increased embeddedness in (i) focal relationships and in (ii) networks of outside relation- ships. I find that qualitative differences in prior interactions partly explain the decision to formally contract. I find that differences in arrangements with other partners affect formal contracting both directly and indirectly through interpretations of dyadic history. These findings suggest that models of relational mechanisms that accumulate within a relationship work both in parallel and interactively with broader social networks. The third study investigates how the design of alliances affects the performance of their members. I distinguish between (i) the extent to which departments rely on their own resources versus those of their alliance partners, (ii) the formality of arrangements, and (iii) performance in terms of property damage and casualties. I find that formal contracts are needed to improve some aspects of performance while informal arrangements are sufficient for others. This finding suggests a nuanced relationship among alliance structures and outcomes.

Organizations enter into strategic alliances for economic value that cannot be achieved by working alone. Despite the potential benefits many alliances fail to meet their goals, destroy value, and end in termination. Success within alliances is neither automatic nor assured. The ways that organizations arrange their alliances to contend with impediments to success is of great practical and theoretical importance. This thesis studies how formal and informal arrangements arise over time and influence the performance of U.S. fire departments. The first study empirically describes how formal contracting influences performance of the alliance and its members. I analyze a sample of responses by US fire departments to fires over 11 years, and I describe how contracting affects four dimensions of performance: arrival minutes, resolution minutes, property damage, and casualties. I find (i) the effect of contracts varies across qualitatively different outcomes, (ii) that contracts deliver separate costs and benefits at the level of the alliance and the organization, and (iii) that estimates are sensitive to matching on pre-contracting covariates including social context. The second study examines the role played by social context in contracting. Looking at the hazard of contracting between pairs of alliance partners I examine the effects of increased embeddedness in (i) focal relationships and in (ii) networks of outside relation- ships. I find that qualitative differences in prior interactions partly explain the decision to formally contract. I find that differences in arrangements with other partners affect formal contracting both directly and indirectly through interpretations of dyadic history. These findings suggest that models of relational mechanisms that accumulate within a relationship work both in parallel and interactively with broader social networks. The third study investigates how the design of alliances affects the performance of their members. I distinguish between (i) the extent to which departments rely on their own resources versus those of their alliance partners, (ii) the formality of arrangements, and (iii) performance in terms of property damage and casualties. I find that formal contracts are needed to improve some aspects of performance while informal arrangements are sufficient for others. This finding suggests a nuanced relationship among alliance structures and outcomes.

Nowadays, companies started to realize the impact of a good maintenance strategy on the production process. Quality, performance as well as availability are affected by maintenance; existing maintenance strategies help to optimize the production process to achieve high quality products with a low production cost. A new strategy of maintenance has immerged recently, e-maintenance provides an easy solution to follow up with maintenance, it provides condition monitoring, documentation, and it also gives you the best maintenance solution that fits your goals and vision. Articles related to e-maintenance was studied and analyzed to know the steps to implement a cost-effective e-maintenance. The authors came up with a model that describes the implementation process in three main steps.

vii, 151 leaves / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.) from the Dept. of Mathematics, University of Adelaide, 1972