An exploration of business level strategy at the bottom of the pyramid: a case study of Twizza, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Sityoshwana, Ludwe Lusu
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54486 , vital:26569
- Description: This qualitative study focuses on business level strategy adopted by Twizza to compete in the bottom of the pyramid market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Twizza enjoyed huge success between the years 2010 - 2014 as a medium to large sized manufacturer of carbonated soft drinks in the Eastern Cape. In light of this, the current study seeks to answer the following: What business level strategy did top management at Twizza adopt to compete and grow in the BoP market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa? The study takes the form of a case study to explore and understand the patterns of decisions adopted by Twizza’s top management in competing at the bottom of the pyramid. As such, the main objective of the study was to identify the business level strategy adopted by Twizza which enabled their superior performance within the BoP market. The study adopts Porter`s typology to explore business level strategy. Stratified, purposive sampling was used to identify 4 top managers as participants in this study. A total of 7, semi-structured, interviews were used to collect critical incidents from top management of Twizza. This was the primary data used in this study. This type of data was combined with relevant information which was gathered via published press articles and on-line commentary. The study found that central to Twizza’s business strategy were four pillars, namely, strict control and management of manufacturing costs, product quality equal to that of market leaders, the ability of the organisation to manufacture its own raw materials and ability to ensure product availability to the market to the market. These findings reveal that Twizza employed a hybrid strategy, anchored by cost leadership. Thus, Twizza incorporated elements of differentiation and best value strategies to offer its customers affordable quality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Sityoshwana, Ludwe Lusu
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54486 , vital:26569
- Description: This qualitative study focuses on business level strategy adopted by Twizza to compete in the bottom of the pyramid market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Twizza enjoyed huge success between the years 2010 - 2014 as a medium to large sized manufacturer of carbonated soft drinks in the Eastern Cape. In light of this, the current study seeks to answer the following: What business level strategy did top management at Twizza adopt to compete and grow in the BoP market in the Eastern Cape, South Africa? The study takes the form of a case study to explore and understand the patterns of decisions adopted by Twizza’s top management in competing at the bottom of the pyramid. As such, the main objective of the study was to identify the business level strategy adopted by Twizza which enabled their superior performance within the BoP market. The study adopts Porter`s typology to explore business level strategy. Stratified, purposive sampling was used to identify 4 top managers as participants in this study. A total of 7, semi-structured, interviews were used to collect critical incidents from top management of Twizza. This was the primary data used in this study. This type of data was combined with relevant information which was gathered via published press articles and on-line commentary. The study found that central to Twizza’s business strategy were four pillars, namely, strict control and management of manufacturing costs, product quality equal to that of market leaders, the ability of the organisation to manufacture its own raw materials and ability to ensure product availability to the market to the market. These findings reveal that Twizza employed a hybrid strategy, anchored by cost leadership. Thus, Twizza incorporated elements of differentiation and best value strategies to offer its customers affordable quality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The identification and evaluation of key sustainable development indicators and the development of a conceptual decision-making model for capital investment within Gold Fields Limited (GFL)
- Authors: Jacobs, Phillip A H
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Industrial management -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Case studies Environmental protection -- South Africa -- Case studies Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Case studies Business ethics -- South Africa -- Case studies Industries -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies Industries -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies Gold Fields Ltd -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:820 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008304
- Description: The current trends in sustainable development (SO) were examined in this study, which brought about the realisation that SO has become a business imperative. Mining, which is a highly impacting industry, is faced with the dilemma of implementing the principles of SO despite the realisation that its activities are severely limited by· the finite nature of the resource it is capitalising on. This reality, however, does not detract from the non-negotiable requirement for the industry to meet the increasing pressures to act responsibly towards the environment and the community in which it operates. Gold Fields has stepped up to the plate and has already taken several steps to achieve this end. These include the adoption of SO in its Vision, Values and strategies and the development and implementation of a SO framework to ensure the integration of the principles of SO into the business. Furthermore, Gold Fields has also entered into voluntary activities that further cement the commitment the company has towards so. These other initiatives include, inter alia, its International Council on Mining and Metals membership, UN Global Compact participation, becoming a signatory to the cyanide code, IS014001, and so on. This study focussed on several indicator categories and the identification of a set of supporting sustainable development indicators (SOls) for each, which included environmental, social, economic, technological, and ethics, legal and corporate governance (not in order of priority). These indicators were assessed by a carefully selected group of respondents whose collective wisdom and expertise were used to identify and weight supporting SOls for each of the indicator categories. These supporting SOls were in turn used to develop a model that is able to assist in the business's decision making processes when capital investment is being considered . A water treatment project that is currently being considered by Gold Fields was utilised to demonstrate how the decision making model can be applied to two different scenarios. The result clearly and successfully demonstrated that by proactively taking environmental, economic, social, technological, and ethics, legal and corporate governance considerations into account, a gold mining company is able to increase the level of SO of a capital investment project.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Jacobs, Phillip A H
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Industrial management -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Case studies Environmental protection -- South Africa -- Case studies Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Case studies Business ethics -- South Africa -- Case studies Industries -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies Industries -- Moral and ethical aspects -- South Africa -- Case studies Gold Fields Ltd -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:820 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008304
- Description: The current trends in sustainable development (SO) were examined in this study, which brought about the realisation that SO has become a business imperative. Mining, which is a highly impacting industry, is faced with the dilemma of implementing the principles of SO despite the realisation that its activities are severely limited by· the finite nature of the resource it is capitalising on. This reality, however, does not detract from the non-negotiable requirement for the industry to meet the increasing pressures to act responsibly towards the environment and the community in which it operates. Gold Fields has stepped up to the plate and has already taken several steps to achieve this end. These include the adoption of SO in its Vision, Values and strategies and the development and implementation of a SO framework to ensure the integration of the principles of SO into the business. Furthermore, Gold Fields has also entered into voluntary activities that further cement the commitment the company has towards so. These other initiatives include, inter alia, its International Council on Mining and Metals membership, UN Global Compact participation, becoming a signatory to the cyanide code, IS014001, and so on. This study focussed on several indicator categories and the identification of a set of supporting sustainable development indicators (SOls) for each, which included environmental, social, economic, technological, and ethics, legal and corporate governance (not in order of priority). These indicators were assessed by a carefully selected group of respondents whose collective wisdom and expertise were used to identify and weight supporting SOls for each of the indicator categories. These supporting SOls were in turn used to develop a model that is able to assist in the business's decision making processes when capital investment is being considered . A water treatment project that is currently being considered by Gold Fields was utilised to demonstrate how the decision making model can be applied to two different scenarios. The result clearly and successfully demonstrated that by proactively taking environmental, economic, social, technological, and ethics, legal and corporate governance considerations into account, a gold mining company is able to increase the level of SO of a capital investment project.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Assessment of the status of lean implementation at selected South African Revenue Service branch offices
- Authors: Samela, Thandile
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Lean manufacturing -- Evaluation , Production management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8702 , vital:26422
- Description: Governments around the world want to deliver better education, better health care, better pensions and better transportation services. They know that impatient electorates want to see change, and fast. But, the funds required to meet such expectations are enormous, particularly in the many developed economies where populations are aging and the public sector's productivity has not kept pace with that of the private sector. The need to get value for money from governments at all levels is therefore under the spotlight as never before. However, cost-cutting programmes that seek savings of 1 to 3% per year will not be sufficient and, in some cases, may even weaken the quality of service (Bhatia & Drew, 2006). One of the key innovative means to improve productivity, and do more with less, is through the implementation of lean initiatives. The purpose of this study is to conduct an 'Assessment of the status of lean implementation at selected SARS (South African Revenue Service) branch offices'. Literature review was conducted to investigate the origins of lean and how the service industry tapped from this philosophy, which was initially developed for the manufacturing sector. The lean philosophy has now been widely adopted in various service industries, from government agencies such as the South African Revenue Service to financial institutions such as ABSA bank, including the healthcare industry. The findings of the research indicated that even though the organisation has made a strategic decision to implement lean, this has not been entirely successful as there is a lack of understanding of lean among managers and team leaders. There are some pockets of excellence though. The researcher recommends that a comprehensive road map be developed to guide the organisation into a sustainable lean implementation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Samela, Thandile
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Lean manufacturing -- Evaluation , Production management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8702 , vital:26422
- Description: Governments around the world want to deliver better education, better health care, better pensions and better transportation services. They know that impatient electorates want to see change, and fast. But, the funds required to meet such expectations are enormous, particularly in the many developed economies where populations are aging and the public sector's productivity has not kept pace with that of the private sector. The need to get value for money from governments at all levels is therefore under the spotlight as never before. However, cost-cutting programmes that seek savings of 1 to 3% per year will not be sufficient and, in some cases, may even weaken the quality of service (Bhatia & Drew, 2006). One of the key innovative means to improve productivity, and do more with less, is through the implementation of lean initiatives. The purpose of this study is to conduct an 'Assessment of the status of lean implementation at selected SARS (South African Revenue Service) branch offices'. Literature review was conducted to investigate the origins of lean and how the service industry tapped from this philosophy, which was initially developed for the manufacturing sector. The lean philosophy has now been widely adopted in various service industries, from government agencies such as the South African Revenue Service to financial institutions such as ABSA bank, including the healthcare industry. The findings of the research indicated that even though the organisation has made a strategic decision to implement lean, this has not been entirely successful as there is a lack of understanding of lean among managers and team leaders. There are some pockets of excellence though. The researcher recommends that a comprehensive road map be developed to guide the organisation into a sustainable lean implementation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Overcoming supply line barriers to the implementation of lean manufacturing in the Transwerk Uitenhage Plant
- Authors: Madwara, Nomonde Juliet
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Production management -- South Africa -- Uitenhage
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8621 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/552 , Production management -- South Africa -- Uitenhage
- Description: The objective of this study is to assess the Lean Manufacturing practices by Transwerk Uitenhage and to reveal the barriers to implementation of lean manufacturing strategies experienced by their supply line. This will be compared to what the literature says and suggestions to overcome these barriers will be developed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Madwara, Nomonde Juliet
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Production management -- South Africa -- Uitenhage
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8621 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/552 , Production management -- South Africa -- Uitenhage
- Description: The objective of this study is to assess the Lean Manufacturing practices by Transwerk Uitenhage and to reveal the barriers to implementation of lean manufacturing strategies experienced by their supply line. This will be compared to what the literature says and suggestions to overcome these barriers will be developed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
The impact of smart cards on South African rural pensioners' lives
- Authors: Nyoka, Zanele
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Old age pensioners -- South Africa -- Management Smart cards South African Post Office
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:818 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008052
- Description: E-commerce technologies have many possible applications both in commercial and non-commercial operations. The development and implementation of these applications is on the increase especially by government and its agencies, for the delivery of services. Specific to this study is the distribution of old age pension benefits to recipients that reside in the rural areas of South Africa. Of importance to this study are the factors that promote and impinge on the development, implementation and acceptance of these applications. A specific project, the Pension Biometric Project was implemented by the South African Post Office in line with the government's initiatives of improving service delivery, and in response to the encroaching digital economy. The research problem is to investigate the pensioners' perception and their experience of three areas of this project, its implementation, its acceptance and its uses and impact. The research was conducted in the constructivist paradigm, using the case study research method. Three data collection methods were used, i.e. a document study of SAPO project documentation, on-site observations and interviews with pensioners. It was found that despite problems in implementation, the pensioners were accepting of the new system, although they were ignorant of the functionalities of the smart card. Consequently, few pensioners were making use of the banking facilities of the card, or had changed their economic behaviour. The study has also found that two themes are overriding all findings of the study. These two themes are ignorance and dignity. Ignorance has had a causal effect on adoption of the smart cards and dignity has been found to be a result of the project. The overriding implication of this study is that pensioners' ignorance around issues of service delivery by government and its agencies needs to be eradicated, otherwise there is no reliable way of measuring efforts against actual delivery. Also, the fact that dignity has emerged as an overriding theme needs to be deliberately strengthened, and maybe even driven as a specified objective of the Pension Biometric Project. Recommendations in this regard are provided as well as ideas for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Nyoka, Zanele
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Old age pensioners -- South Africa -- Management Smart cards South African Post Office
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:818 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008052
- Description: E-commerce technologies have many possible applications both in commercial and non-commercial operations. The development and implementation of these applications is on the increase especially by government and its agencies, for the delivery of services. Specific to this study is the distribution of old age pension benefits to recipients that reside in the rural areas of South Africa. Of importance to this study are the factors that promote and impinge on the development, implementation and acceptance of these applications. A specific project, the Pension Biometric Project was implemented by the South African Post Office in line with the government's initiatives of improving service delivery, and in response to the encroaching digital economy. The research problem is to investigate the pensioners' perception and their experience of three areas of this project, its implementation, its acceptance and its uses and impact. The research was conducted in the constructivist paradigm, using the case study research method. Three data collection methods were used, i.e. a document study of SAPO project documentation, on-site observations and interviews with pensioners. It was found that despite problems in implementation, the pensioners were accepting of the new system, although they were ignorant of the functionalities of the smart card. Consequently, few pensioners were making use of the banking facilities of the card, or had changed their economic behaviour. The study has also found that two themes are overriding all findings of the study. These two themes are ignorance and dignity. Ignorance has had a causal effect on adoption of the smart cards and dignity has been found to be a result of the project. The overriding implication of this study is that pensioners' ignorance around issues of service delivery by government and its agencies needs to be eradicated, otherwise there is no reliable way of measuring efforts against actual delivery. Also, the fact that dignity has emerged as an overriding theme needs to be deliberately strengthened, and maybe even driven as a specified objective of the Pension Biometric Project. Recommendations in this regard are provided as well as ideas for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
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