HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly the single most important and daunting health problem facing Africa. Globally too, this is one of the most serious health, medical and social preoccupations of our time (Chinery-Hesse, 2000: 1). The aim of this research study is to evaluate the strategic impact of HIV/AIDS on first level component suppliers to the motor industry located in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. To achieve this aim a literature study was undertaken to determine the patterns of development, the infection statistics and to explore strategic options and actions for dealing with the effects of the disease. An empirical study has been conducted to assess the opinions of senior management within first level component suppliers. The results from the study indicate that most companies in the selected group believe that HIV/AIDS will have a serious impact on their organisations. In conclusion, various recommendations have been made with regards to the findings ascertained in the literature review and empirical study.

Over the past couple of decades traditional manufacturing techniques have been replaced by lean production around the world. This change in production methodology brought about the opportunity for numerous companies to reduce costs and customer lead time through the application of this lean philosophy. The worldwide shift from traditional manufacturing to lean manufacturing can be ascribed to the success of Toyota Motor Company. Lean manufacturing refers to a manufacturing improvement process in order to minimize or eliminate waste while maximizing production flow (Tapping, et al., 2002:30). A value stream includes all the operations and processes to transform raw material into finished products or services. Value stream is a management tool used for the planning of a production process involving lean techniques through systematic data capturing and analysis (Tapping 2002 et al., 41). Value stream is a proven process for planning the improvements that will allow companies to develop lean practices. One key to Toyota’s success that GMSA and many other South African companies have not been able to emulate is the transformation of their suppliers to apply the lean philosophy. This lack of supplier transformation is due to various reasons including supplier proximity, supplier relationships, supplier performance levels, and the ordering policies used for supplied parts. Even though many manufacturing organizations realize the importance of practicing lean manufacturing techniques, few organizations apply lean techniques with the required knowledge and tools to transform their organization from traditional manufacturing to lean manufacturing. This research project is based purely on the lean manufacturing principles and philosophies. The aim of the study is to make GMSA’s suppliers aware of the principles and processes of lean manufacturing and to develop a lean implementation strategy to assist organizations with the successful implementation of lean practices. In order to correctly implement and sustain lean manufacturing practices this study will also focus on supplier support and development and the behavior an organization must exhibit to make this transformation a success. The research methodology comprised the following steps: • A literature study was performed by the researcher to get a better understanding of the principles and philosophies of lean manufacturing; • A second literature study was also performed to get a better understanding of the continuous improvement philosophies of lean manufacturing including supplier support & development; and • To accomplish the objectives of this study, interview sessions were conducted with four senior managers of General Motors South Africa. The researcher selected the interviewees from the following departments within General Motors South Africa: Global Purchasing and Supply Chain; Supplier Quality and Development; Vehicle Assembly Operations and Material Supply. The interviewees from General Motors South Africa were identified as qualified data sources for this research project, as their professional opinions and viewpoints could best address the research questions.

Luxury fashion brands seem to contradict sustainability. The values of sustainability are commonly associated with terms such as sharing, collaboration, austerity, and collective thinking. Luxury, however, is associated with excess, self-indulgence, delight and decadence (Kapferer & Bastien, 2012:360). Further paradoxes exist where the apparel of the luxury consumer is often manufactured by labourers in low wage-paying producing countries. High wastage is evident in the seasonality of the fashion industry. However, work opportunities are created by the fickleness of the fashion industry and the constant need to own the most current designs (Black, 2012:8). Owing to the high visibility of luxury fashion and the contractions between one -- on the one hand -- supplying income to families by way of employment and -- on the other hand -- not complying to sustainable international human resource practices, fashion brands are the focus of many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that use the mass media to expose any social wrongdoing in the industry. Luxury fashion brands are constantly in the spotlight, as highlighted in articles posted by the Clean Clothes campaign, a custodian for employees in the global garment industries; Greenpeace; and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). An example of such practices was when Greenpeace reported in 2009 that shoe brands such as Timberland and Clarks were manufactured from leather sourced from the hides of cattle in illegally deforested areas in Brazil. This provided negative publicity for these luxury shoe brands as well as for the Brazilian government that was financing this project (Vurro, Russo & Perrini, 2009:609). The luxury fashion brand industry, as well as the consumers of luxury fashion labels, are accused -- often only for the sake of sensationalism -- of living in the lap of luxury whilst maintaining a supply chain that is riddled with unsustainable practices. The social structure and hierarchy of patrons within a community have, since the Middle Ages, been signalled by the clothes they wore. Social class was a birthright. Today, sporting luxury brands continues to serve as status symbols, but unlike mediaeval times, it is not limited to people with a high social standing at birth as one can work for status, and purchase the items because one deserves them. (Han, Nunes, & Drèze, 2010:15). In 2009, during the International Herald Tribune (IHT) Suzy Menkes, the fashion editor at The Herald, called for “luxury”’ and “fashion” to be separated. Luxury prides itself in its handcrafted garments manufactured by respected tradesmen in the industry. The outcome is that the manufactured goods are made to last a lifetime (Gibson, 2012:23).

Lean manufacturing has become an integral part of the global automotive industry where manufacturers strive to improve quality, reduce costs while providing customers with more variety. Organisations are implementing the Lean Production System (LPS) as a process improvement methodology to deliver their products faster, better quality and at a lower cost (Laureani & Antony, 2012). This is accomplished through the elimination of waste and continuous improvement (Kaizen). Through the effective implementation of lean principles, an organisation can realise cost competitiveness, process improvement and ultimately gain a competitive advantage. Although the theory of lean manufacturing is based on the implementation of tools, techniques and operational methods, many organisations that have implemented Lean have not reaped its full benefit. Thus, the realisation that lean manufacturing must consist of more than the summation of its operational based principles, tools and techniques. It has to be approached as a philosophy, which encompasses the entire organisation (Womack & Jones, 1996). Lean is a way of thinking and not merely the implementation of thoughts (Bhasin & Burcher, 2006). Laureani & Antony (2012) added that the fundamentals behind Lean are continuous improvement, waste elimination and employee empowerment. Lean introduction is more than the redesign of processes; the most important change must be in the knowledge of the employees (Dombrowski, Mielke & Engel, 2012). The literature clearly states that the successful implementation of a lean production system depends on more than the application of lean tools and techniques. Many authors and researchers hint that another critical factor associated with its implementation is the human aspect of the organisation. Hence, this study will examine the human related Key Success Factors (KSF‟s) required for the successful implementation of a lean system.

This treatise investigates the restaurant industry, entrepreneurship, franchising and restaurant franchising in order to develop a model that will enable a full service restaurant concept to be converted into a successful franchise system. Restaurants play a significant role in our lifestyle, and dining out is a favoured social activity. The industry plays an important role in the transfer of skills as many people start working in the restaurant industry before moving onto more formal careers. The restaurant industry offers many opportunities for entrepreneurial activity as a result of the relatively low barriers to entry. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity regardless of the resources at hand and it requires a willingness to take calculated risks in order to build something of value from virtually nothing. The success of emerging economies such as China and India has proven that the only growth sectors in these economies are small and medium enterprises, which are driven by entrepreneurs. Franchising is considered to be a viable growth strategy for small business as it provides a means of raising capital and a method of expanding the business in a relatively low risk manner. There are many well established restaurant franchise brands that originated in South Africa, starting out as successful single outlets and then by means of the business format franchise model, developed into multi unit franchise systems. There are certain basic generic steps that must be followed when developing a franchise system. This was verified by the empirical study of this treatise which was conducted as a single unit case study on the Dulce Franchise Group. Finally, as a result of the analysis of the literature study and the findings of the case study, a restaurant franchise conversion model was developed.

Since General Motors initiated its automobile dealer franchise system in about 1930, it has had a vested interest in the survival of those who have signed the 'Dealer Sales and Service Agreement’. Through its Motors Holdings dealers,General Motors makes a direct retail profit, and so its concern for them is obvious; but they are a small proportion (i.e. less than 10 percent of all General Motors Dealers in Canada), and its major concern is to ensure that those privately owned GM franchised dealers remain in business through both good and bad economic times, to bring in the wholesale revenue to the corporation through the sale of G.M. cars, trucks, parts, and accessories. Deducted from the Gross Sales Revenue of the Dealership, are the many factors in the category called Cost of Sales, to give the Gross Profit. Two significant factors in the Cost of Sales category are the building rent factor, and the employee salaries. Efficient management of each, independently and together, contributes greatly to the profits of a business. It has for a long time been a GM policy to encourage its franchised dealers to have its Service and Parts Department cover at least eighty percent of the total overhead of the business in order to permit the Sales Department to operate competitively in the new and used car markets. By its success in those markets, increasing Service and Parts business is generated. However, if the customers are not satisfied with the Service and Parts sales, they will not return to buy new and used cars, so the Service and Parts departments are in fact playing key roles in the growth and profitability of the automobile dealership. A basic assumption in this thesis is that a service customer who obtains fast, low cost, quality service is a satisfied one. Thus to capture service business, and as pointed out above, in turn, new and used car sales, the dealer must concentrate his efforts on meeting each of the three requirements as best he can. His means of doing so is to properly manage his employees and facilities, and as the size of his business increases, this task becomes more and more complex The relative effect of a manpower plan and a facility plan is difficult to assess, considering all of the possible interactions a service customer's job may have with each; and so, at best it has been an intuitive judgement on the part of a General Motors Service Department advisor, or the dealership General and Service managers. The technique of computer simulation offers a better insight into the effects of manpower and facility operating policies and changes in those policies, by quantifying every basic element, and determining the interaction of every element with every other one, in order to eliminate that intuitive requirement of previous techniques. Computer simulation does not however make the final decision, but if properly employed can be offered as a strong, new tool to back up those important decisions which must be made. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

A computer controlled dry kiln system, designed and assembled at Virginia Tech, was used in a comparison study of end check damage and acoustic emission count rate for red oak wood samples using two variations of a drying schedule based upon a standard 4/4 red oak drying schedule (T4D2). Time was the controlling variable for the system. In run A, the lumber samples were dried using eight large step changes in temperature and relative humidity. In run B, a similar charge was dried over the same time period using 48 smaller step changes in temperature and relative humidity. The lumber samples that were dried with the schedule featuring large changes in temperature and relative humidity suffered much more extensive end check damage than the wood samples dried with a schedule employing smaller changes in temperature and humidity. The acoustic emission count rate data were not recorded in the final tests due to equipment malfunction. Acoustic emission count rate data recorded from preliminary drying runs indicated that the acoustic emission count rate from a sample board increases with large changes in the ambient air temperature and relative humidity. It then decreases to zero as the wood surfaces achieve an equilibrium state. The automated kiln control system performed successfully. / M.S.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As Spar began to grow, its stores became increasingly proactive resulting in the better SPAR stores wanting to compete and to expand but being frustrated by their many conservative SPAR retail colleagues. In order to increase effectiveness and competitive advantage, SPAR had to consider a new approach. This came in the form of Category Management and the extent to which it would be understood, evaluated and implemented. SPAR was being forced to do things in different ways. Many consumer packaged goods companies believe that Category Management is the "new way". These companies are expanding great amounts of energy and cash to be the player in the category management arena. Category Management is regarded as a process that involves managing product categories as business units and customizing them on a store-by-store basis to satisfy customer needs. The ideal in this process is to identify the optimal mix and stock each store with specific products customers wish to purchase. In simple terms, Category Management can be identified as the process of bringing the right product to the consumer at the right time and price. As a discipline, this process is in its infancy within the boarders of South Africa. The scope of the study is to introduce the Spar model for implementing Category Management into the voluntary trading environment. The biggest challenge identified is that if a robust analysis process is not undertaken by SPAR, the actions of going forward would be insufficient to develop clear Category Management strategies which could be included in the overall business strategy. Without successful analysis, SPAR will not be able to transform itself successfully. Organizationally, culturally, and technically, Category Management is fundamentally different to what has gone before. Many facets of the SPAR business have to change in a relatively short space of time for Category Management to work. Category Management helps establish new strategic intents and plans. It is a go-to market strategy that, when adopted within an organization, sets the tone and direction for all strategic and tactical decisions. The Category Management process is consumer focused and is the most effective and efficient means whereby the retailer and its suppliers can together generate value for their end customer. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Namate SPAR begin groei het, het sy winkels toenemend proaktief begin word, wat daartoe gelei het dat die beste SPAR-winkels wou meeding en uitbrei, maar deur hul talle konserwatiewe SPAR-kleinhandelskollegas gedwarsboom is. Ten einde doeltreffendheid en mededingende voordeel te verhoog, moes SPAR 'n nuwe benadering oorweeg. Dit het die vorm van Kategoriebestuur en die mate waarin dit verstaan, geëvalueer en geïmplementeer sou word, aangeneem. SPAR is genoodsaak om dinge anders te doen. Baie maatskappye wat verpakte verbruikersgoedere verkoop, is van mening dat Kategoriebestuur die "nuwe rigting" is. Hierdie maatskappye bestee groot hoeveelhede energie en kontant om dié speler in die kategoriebestuursarena te wees. Kategoriebestuur word beskou as 'n proses wat behels dat produkkategorieë as sake-eenhede bestuur word wat op 'n winkelgrondslag pasgemaak word ten einde in kliëntebehoeftes te voorsien. Die doelwit van hierdie proses is om die optimale mengsel te identifiseer en elke winkel te bevoorraad met bepaalde produkte wat kliënte wil koop. In eenvoudige terme kan Kategoriebestuur omskryf word as die proses om die regte produk op die regte tyd en teen die regte prys aan die verbruiker te bied. As 'n dissipline staan hierdie proses in sy kinderskoene binne die grense van Suid-Afrika. Die omvang van die studie is om die SPAR-model bekend te stel vir die implementering van Kategoriebestuur in die vrywillige handelsomgewing. Die grootste uitdaging is dan indien SPAR nie 'n deeglike ontledingsproses onderneem nie, die aksies vorentoe nie voldoende sal wees om duidelike Kategoriebestuurstrategieë te formuleer wat in die algehele sakestrategie ingesluit kan word nie. Sonder 'n suksesvolle ontleding sal SPAR homself nie suksesvol kan transformeer nie. Organisatories, kultureel en tegnies verskil Kategoriebestuur fundamenteel van dit wat voorheen gegeld het. Vir Kategoriebestuur om te werk, sal talle fasette van die SPAR-onderneming in 'n betreklik kort tydjie moet verander. Kategoriebestuur dra by tot die formulering van nuwe strategiese doelwitte en planne. Dit is 'n bemarkingstrategie wat, indien dit binne 'n organisasie gevolg word, die toon en rigting vir alle strategiese en taktiese besluite aangee. Die Kategoriebestuursproses is verbruikersgerig en is die doeltreffendste wyse waarop die kleinhandelaar en sy produkverskaffers tesame waarde vir hul eindkliënt kan genereer.

Pang Chun-bor. / Summary in Chinese. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 97-99.

The adoption of just-in-time in satellite operations within an automotive manufacturer, is rapidly becoming a trend within motor industry clusters. This type of organisation within an organisation adopts a lean structure to operate effectively and efficiently. The objective of this paper is to unveil factors which influence this type of workplace, particularly focusing on which factors which are relevant to Faurecia East London Plant. The literature study was used to illustrate the various theories relevant to manufacturing techniques, employee motivational and job satisfaction theories. The empirical study tested factors illustrated in the literature study. The empirical study was also to develop a specific model suitable for satellite organisations. The model presented together with the literature and empirical study was used to formulate findings and solve the main and sub-problems.