3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Industrial policy implementation : the case of the bus industry in South Africa(2018) Khathi, Princess GugulethuThe South African bus industry has been neglected for a very long time in the main automotive sector support programs such as the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) and the Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP). The need for rehabilitation of the industry has been triggered by the increasing demand for public transport in the country which was not being met by the supply. Industrial policies such as investment incentives, public procurement and local content were introduced to stimulate the development of the industry. The study sought to assess the industrial policy implementation mechanisms of these instruments. The in depth assessment of the implementation processes of the industrial policy targeting the bus industry reveal some weaknesses with regards to the way in which the policy that governs the sector has been implemented. There are important lessons that can be learned by the government for consideration with regards to other designated sectors that are targeted for industrial policy support. The findings suggest a need for a review of the Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles - Automotive Investment Scheme (MHCV-AIS), improved monitoring and evaluation of public procurement and localisation policies as well as improved enforcement capability by the respective institutions.Item Impact of sales staff turnover on customer equity in the South African luxury automotive industry(2016) Mbonwa, Sthandweyinkosi NtokozoThe purpose of this study was to understand the impact of sales staff turnover on customer equity in the South African luxury automotive industry. The concept customer equity has three elements that load onto it, namely; value equity, brand equity and relationship equity. For the purpose of this study, the focus was on relationship equity as this is the one customer equity element that the Sales Executives are able to influence. Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon (2001) are of the view that customer equity drivers vary in importance for different industries. In relationship orientated industries (e.g. banking and automotive industry), relationship equity may be the most important driver of customer equity. Relationship equity is also known as retention equity as it entails the customers conscious decision to stick with a certain brand even after having conducted thorough research and analysis of other brands (Lemon, Rust, & Zeithaml, 2001). The study used a quantitative research method and the data is founded on the results from 73 surveys received from customers who own luxury vehicles, namely Audi. The data was analysed utilising multiple regressions, using the independent t-test to accept or reject the proposed hypotheses. Understanding the impact of sales staff turnover on relationship equity in the automotive sector is critical as this industry currently suffers from very high Sales Executive turnover. Original Equipment Manufacturers and dealer management need to understand the impact of this high staff turnover on the customers and ultimately potential future sales so that they may be able to mobilise effective strategies to minimise any negative impact caused by sales staff churn. The theoretical framework for this study is taken from a model by Vogel, Evanschitzky, and Ramaseshan (2008), which looks at the 3 drivers of customer equity and how these drivers effect customer loyalty intentions and future sales. This study found that sales staff turnover has a strong, significant relationship to relationship equity, meaning that sales staff turnover negatively affects relationship equity for the organisation, and therefore negatively affects the customer experience.Item The effect of post-purchase dissonance on customer equity for the car industry of South Africa(2017) O'Brien, Kirsten; ; Gundersen, Kirsten KimCustomer lifetime value (CLV) is important for all businesses. Increased customer lifetime value means increased profit, so it is in a company’s interest to increase customer lifetime value as much as possible through any appropriate methods. The relationship between post-purchase dissonance and customer lifetime value has not been explored in the studied literature but it has been found that, when dissonance is cause by a consumer’s experience of a product not living up to their expectations, loyalty decreases. This led the researcher to hypothesise a correlation between dissonance and customer lifetime value, which this study aimed to investigate. The research was conducted in the South African car industry and aimed to add the existing knowledge and, practically, to inform businesses whether taking action to decrease dissonance would have a significant positive effect on customer lifetime value, thereby better informing marketing strategies and budgets to have the most beneficial outcome. Using the data set of 116 respondents from around South Africa from a variety of age groups, the data collected was analysed to assess the potential relationships.Item Learning experiences of female artisans in the automotive industry(2017) Teti, Thandokazi NdilekaGender inequality persists in artisan employment in South Africa as males continue to outnumber females significantly in artisan employment and the trends point to highly gendered industry participation. Females who manage to enter artisan occupations in the highly gendered workplace are faced with historically ingrained attitudes of males towards females. Discriminatory practices, social norms and persistent stereotypes shape the females’ learning experience. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore the learning experiences of female artisans in the South Africa automotive industry, during the work-based phase of their apprenticeship. A qualitative exploratory research study approach was adopted using semi-structured face–to-face interviews. Fourteen female apprentices, learnership candidates and artisans were interviewed, including two industry training experts. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used. The findings revealed that the general experiences of the female participants were challenging. The quality of learning they received is not equal to that of their male counterparts and the workplace culture consists of prejudice, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, stereotypes and barriers to employment. Interestingly, the participants were uncritical of the experience of gender discrimination, although, they were very critical of racial discrimination. This suggests a need to conduct and create awareness sessions about gender discrimination in the industry for both genders.Item How is the South African state promoting investiments that increase local content in the production of automobiles? : a critical evaluation of investment promotion and industrial policy (1994-2014)(2016) Biniza, SiyadumaSouth Africa’s industrial policy is fundamentally aimed at transforming the domestic economy into a labour-intensive growth path in order to create jobs (the dti, 2013a, p. 10). In pursuit of this aim the industrial policy takes a transversal approach to promote particular types of economic activity or particular economic sectors (the dti, 2013a, pp. 15-17; Zalk, 2014, p. 335). Using the case of the automotive sector, this study analyses the role played by the state and how institutional aspects of the industrial policy and investment promotion affected policymaking and the outcomes. The findings were that, due to incoherent institutional support and informational asymmetry, industrial policy has supported export growth in spite of the continued dependence on imports; and did not support employment, because it was biased towards OEMs and did not differentiate between the different categories of components according to job-creation potential. Institutional aspects of industrial policy-making and implementation then – not the ownership power of multinational corporations – has entrenched unequal power relations within the automotive value-chain, which undermines the broader socio-economic goals of industrial policy. Hence, due to both the policy measures and the institutional design South Africa’s industrial policy has not been oriented towards more labour-absorbing activities, especially in the impact on local components manufacturing. The result has been growth in exports with limited integration of local producers into the global value-chains of multinational OEMs, except in the case of vertically integrated multinational component producers, at the expense of local value-addition and job-creation.