Managing transition from a small to a large business - the case of a drill rod manufacturer

Transitioning from a small entrepreneurial company to a larger, “structured”, organisation presents both organisational and management challenges to the founding entrepreneur and stakeholders. Various theories have been put forward that have studied the behaviour of the entrepreneur. However the dynamics that evolve with the change process from the behaviour and decisions of the entrepreneurial founder and managerial structures that emerge have not been well researched. Through a case study research this paper reports a longitudinal study done over three years on a company that is into manufacturing of drilling rods. Theory of organisation transition and a framework for longitudinal researching of entrepreneurial organisations making transition into structured organisations was used. The change process was studied through a conceptual framework that has five informational factors. New management systems and structures were put in place; a new manufacturing strategy and business model were developed. The “verbal culture”, of small companies was replaced by written instructions and proper records keeping, the manufacturing process was documented and standardised through the implementation of Total Quality Management. This paper contributes to the understanding of how an entrepreneurial company transition to a structured one and strengthens our ability to assist entrepreneurs in achieving sustainable growth

Development and analysis of business models in the South African motor body repair sector

Every enterprise makes use of a business model either explicitly or implicitly. A business model is an abstract of a business plan and is complimentary to the firm’s business strategy. It shows linkages within a business process as it transforms inputs into outputs, and how the enterprise creates and delivers value to its customers. Through a case study research two business models used by South African auto-body repairers were developed and analysed. One is for auto-body repair shops that are recognised by the South African Insurance Association, the panel system, and the other is not. The business models are presented as causal loop diagrams. Design parameters used to describe the architecture were content, structure, governance and complimentaries. These business models were used to explain low margins experienced in this sector. The business model helps small enterprise entrepreneurs, stakeholders in the automotive sector and policy makers to understand the logic of auto-body repair shops

Unified Geometrically Nonlinear Formulation of All Higher-order Shear Deformation Theories for Cross-ply Plates

Several higher-order shear deformation theories have been proposed for laminated plates, based on the expansions of displacements across the thickness, which are the same for all layers. In this study, a unified formulation of all higher-order theories is presented for cross-ply laminated plates based on polynomial expansions of displacements in the thickness coordinate z. It includes all the models available in literature. The governing equations for linear static and free vibfation response, and for buckling under inplane load are derived. The expressions for the stiffness matrix, inertia matrix, geometric stiffness matrix, and the load vector are developed for a simply supported rectangular plate using Navier's solution. A general purpose, single programme has been developed for all higher-order laminated plate theories

PO and ID BCG vaccination in humans induce distinct mucosal and systemic immune responses and CD4(+) T cell transcriptomal molecular signatures.

Protective efficacy of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) may be affected by the methods and routes of vaccine administration. We have studied the safety and immunogenicity of oral (PO) and/or intradermal (ID) administration of BCG in healthy human subjects. No major safety concerns were detected in the 68 healthy adults vaccinated with PO and/or ID BCG. Although both PO and ID BCG could induce systemic Th1 responses capable of IFN-γ production, ID BCG more strongly induced systemic Th1 responses. In contrast, stronger mucosal responses (TB-specific secretory IgA and bronchoalveolar lavage T cells) were induced by PO BCG vaccination. To generate preliminary data comparing the early gene signatures induced by mucosal and systemic BCG vaccination, CD4(+) memory T cells were isolated from subsets of BCG vaccinated subjects pre- (Day 0) and post-vaccination (Days 7 and 56), rested or stimulated with BCG infected dendritic cells, and then studied by Illumina BeadArray transcriptomal analysis. Notably, distinct gene expression profiles were identified both on Day 7 and Day 56 comparing the PO and ID BCG vaccinated groups by GSEA analysis. Future correlation analyses between specific gene expression patterns and distinct mucosal and systemic immune responses induced will be highly informative for TB vaccine development.Mucosal Immunology advance online publication 30 August 2017; doi:10.1038/mi.2017.67

South African research in the hydrological sciences: 1999-2002

The principal activities of South African researchers in hydrology and water resources during the reporting period have been concerned with ground- and surface-water interactions, rainfall-runoff modelling, the establishment of improved regional water resource databases, the management of transboundary water resource systems, the ecological reserve, and quantifying the impacts of streamflow reduction activities. Most of these studies have focused on supporting the radically new provisions of the National Water Act of 1998