South African Formula One Grand Prix: a dream or nightmare.

In 2004 a group of South African based companies submitted a bid to the Formula One Management to host a South African Formula One Grand Prix, from 2009 in Cape Town. The group approached the government to establish a public-private partnership, due to the: • escalating hosting and infrastruture development cost, resulting in very few Formula One Grand Prix host countries undertaking hosting without government involvement; and • believe that the economic benefits of hosting the event would stretch further than the business realm of its members, in particulary in the toursim industry. A literature review of the hallmark sporting events revealed that sport has become a major business industry and a perceived tool for improving the economies of host countries, regions or cities. This has empowered the owners of mega sporting events to generate bidding wars amongst prospective host countries. Paying the price has commonly led local event organisers to motivate the allocation of public funding, emphasising the indirect economic benefits that the event will generate. This motivation is though seldom accompanied by a detailed and independent economic impact assessment, to substantiate the claimed benefits. The findings of this study based on a literature survey indicate that: (i) There is a relationship between hallmark events, such as the FIA Formula One Grand Prix Championship, and tourism. However, the increased tourism post the event may be exaggerated, either with regard to the percentage growth or effective period or a combination thereof. If increased tourism is the basis for the subsidy it should be noted that the Western Cape, in particular Cape Town, is already SA’s premier tourist destination. Whereas cities like Johannesburg and Welkom, that have existing motor racing facilities requiring upgrading, do not have Cape Town’s tourism icons. It could further be argued that the tourists visiting SA for the F1 GP event would more likely tour to the Western Cape than vice versa. (ii) Although the SA F1 Bid Company has provided indicative numbers with regard to job creation and expected tourists as a result of the event, they rely on industry norms and experiences with other current F1 GP event host countries rather than critically assessing the economic and social impact of the event in a South African context. The overall lack of a detailed economic impact assessment and the reluctant feedback from the Government has made it impossible to assess conclusively whether the event will have positively or negatively impact on South Africa. However, literature sources reveal that in the majority of cases and mainly for the government partner, the hosting mega sporting events do not yield a profitable return.Mr. S.M. Nchabalen

Exploring The Antecedents Of Successful E-business Implementations Through ERP : A Longitudinal Study of SAP-based Organisations 1999-2003

This research was carried out between 1999 and 2003 on the use of e-business applications in ERP-based organisations. A composite research method based on structured case studies was developed for this study. It combined the application of case methods by Carroll et al. (1998], Klein and Myer (1998), and Eisenhardt (1989). This was used to provide a focused, yet flexible structure, as a dynamic approach to case study interpretive research. The research method used three distinct models at three progressive stages of the study, to provide a multi-faceted view of each case. This composite case-based method was developed to maintain the balance between research rigour and relevance. A pilot case study of nine Australian SAP sites helped ground the theory of the study. This was followed by three stages of study of eleven international cases within a diverse industry context. The method revealed the antecedents of e-business success using the findings from case analyses against three separate research models B2B interaction, e-business change, and virtual organising. A final conceptual framework was developed as new theory of e-business transformation. The theory views e-business transformation as realising the benefits from virtual organising within complex B2B interactions by utilising the facilitators of successful e-business change. The research demonstrates that successful e-business transformation with ERP occurs when value propositions are realised through integration and differentiation of technologies used to support new business models to deliver products and services online. The associated management practice evolves through efficiency from self-service, effectiveness through empowerment towards customer care, and value enhancement from extensive relationship building with multiple alliances. The new theory of e-business transformation identifies the stages of e-business growth and development as a comprehensive plan that should assist managers of ERP-based organisations in migrating their company towards a successful e-business organisation. The detailed analysis of the findings offers a foundational per11pectlve of strategies, tactics and performance objectives for e-ERP implementations. The strength of the theory lies in the synthesis of multiple case analyses using three different lenses over three separate time periods. The triangulation of the three research frameworks provides a method for study at appropriate levels of complexity. It is evolutionary in nature and is content driven. Other researchers are urged to apply similar multi-viewed analysis

Economics handbook

1996 handbook for the faculty of Economic

Exchange as a determinant in corporate citizenship : exploratory action research into the social construction of corporate citizenship

This study attempts to achieve two things. Firstly it contextualizes corporate citizenship drawing on scholarly, government, media, legal and business discourses which when viewed as a whole, reveals the importance of exchange as a central determinant in how all the major themes or subfields of corporate citizenship function and subsequently become valued within public discourse. Secondly, it reports on exploratory action research where I as a researcher occupied a central role in understanding and contributing towards how organizational settings socially construct and evolve corporate citizenship in real time through various exchange behaviour, drawing from four years field research within BP and its interactions with the external world. This research contributes to new knowledge by building a rare contextual understanding into how cultural change evolves over time within an organization, from its public face, through policy, down into employee and stakeholder reactions, including identifying the crucial role played by Cultural bridges’ in shifting entrenched organizational culture towards embracing new, more sustainable ways of doing business, and additionally how practitioners can legitimately act as a researcher in facilitating this process by assisting an organization to move from simple, transactional relationships to more sustainable integrated social, financial and environmental exchange between business and its broader context. Importantly, this research develops entirely new theoretical models for understanding the social application and commercial value of corporate citizenship to both business and society

Queensland Institute of Technology: Handbook 1989

The Queensland Institute of Technology handbook gives an outline of the faculties and subject offerings available that were offered by QI