scholarly journals Trust and communication as predictors of customer satisfaction in business-to-business relationship marketing in the South African cement manufacturing industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phineas Mbango ◽  
Maxwell Agabu Phiri
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
South African ◽  
Relationship Marketing ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Cement Industry ◽  
Business Relationship ◽  
The South ◽  
The Face ◽  
Cement Manufacturing ◽  
Business To Business

Customer satisfaction has become relevant in the South African cement industry as it leads to customer loyalty and cooperation. In the current climate, to ensure long-term profitability, cement suppliers need to adopt strategies to ensure customer satisfaction. This study’s literature search has revealed that there is limited published research, particularly in South Africa, which deals with customer satisfaction determinants in the cement industry. The major objective of the study was to test if trust and communication influence customer satisfaction in the context of business-to-business relationship marketing in the South African cement manufacturing industry. The methodology involved a survey and was quantitative in nature. Data were collected from 362 major business-to-business cement customers throughout South Africa’s nine provinces using the face-to-face interview technique using a seven-point Likert scale structured self-administered questionnaires. The data collected in the empirical study were analysed using descriptive, correlation and regression analysis. The empirical results of this study suggest that, in order to maintain customer satisfaction, a cement supplier has to invest in ways of enhancing customer trust and communication. As a result this study makes both theoretical and practical contribution in the field of relationship marketing

scholarly journals Causes and outcomes of customer satisfaction in business-to-business markets relationship marketing in the South African cement manufacturing industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phineas Mbango
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
South African ◽  
Relationship Marketing ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Cement Industry ◽  
The Body ◽  
The South ◽  
Business Markets ◽  
Business To Business

Close relationships between cement manufacturers and their customers in business-to-business markets are becoming a necessity in today’s competitive markets. The literature search reveals that, three constructs of relationship marketing (trust, commitment and satisfaction) are the most studied and well known. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by adding two constructs (supplier competencies and communication) as vital causes to customer satisfaction and the outcome being customer loyalty and cooperation. The study produced a framework of dimensions of relationship marketing in the South African Cement Industry and its hoped will help marketing managers in the industry and related sectors in coming up with relationship marketing strategies that can go a long way in helping them retain, attract, satisfy, and achieve long-term profitable relationships for both the supplier and the customer. A judgemental sample of major cement customers (362) throughout South Africa’s nine provinces were contacted using face-to-face interview technique with self-administered questionnaires. The results support the conceptual model presented; supplier competencies, trust, commitment and communication have a positive association with satisfaction; and satisfaction, in turn, relates positively to all the two outcomes of cooperation and loyalty. It is recommended that a cement manufacturer must invest in strategies that enhance trust, communication, commitment and supplier competencies in order to satisfy its customers who will in turn contribute to customer cooperation and loyalty.

scholarly journals Customer satisfaction as a mediator between causes (trust and communication) and the outcome (customer loyalty) in business-to-business relationship marketing in the South African cement manufacturing industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phineas Mbango ◽  
Maxwell Agabu Phiri
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
Cement Industry ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Sequential Logic ◽  
Business To Business

Customer loyalty has become more relevant in the cement industry since the unbundling of the cartel system in 1994, the entrance of new competitors into the market and the effect of globalization. This study’s literature review reveals that there is limited published research in the Cement Industry, particularly in South Africa, which deals with customer loyalty management. The major objective of the study was to test satisfaction as a mediator between causes and outcome, the causes being trust and communication and the outcome being customer loyalty. The methodological approach followed was a survey and quantitative in nature. Data were collected from 362 major business-to-business cement customers throughout South Africa’s nine provinces using the face-to-face interview technique with self-administered questionnaires. The data collected in the empirical study were analysed using the structural equations modelling (SEM). The results show that in order to maintain customer loyalty, a cement supplier has to focus on strategies to build relationships on the basis of creating customer satisfaction and/or exceeding customer needs and wants. They also need to invest in enhancing customer trust and communication. Another important finding is that trust and communication have no direct effect on loyalty. Customer satisfaction is therefore the most important mediator as it leads to customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is crucial for business success in terms of repeat purchase, referrals (word-of-mouth marketing), retention and long-term profitability. There exists evidence from literature of an outcry for a need for future studies to examine causes and outcomes of satisfaction to specific industries. This study contributes to theory and practice by closing that gap, by providing a framework of causes and outcomes of satisfaction specifically aimed at the cement industry. Another contribution of this study is its examination of the sequential logic of causes and outcomes of satisfaction in business-to-business relationships in the cement industry. This study hopes to make a practical contribution in helping marketing managers of cement companies to come up with marketing strategies of ensuring customer loyalty

scholarly journals Factors that Inhibit Sustainable Adoption of Industry 4.0 in the South African Manufacturing Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1013
Author(s):  
Whisper Maisiri ◽  
Liezl van Dyk ◽  
Rojanette Coeztee
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Education System ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The South ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
Cultural Construct ◽  
Sub Saharan

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) adoption in the manufacturing industry is on the rise across the world, resulting in increased empirical research on barriers and drivers to I4.0 adoption in specific country contexts. However, no similar studies are available that focus on the South African manufacturing industry. Our small-scale interview-based qualitative descriptive study aimed at identifying factors that may inhibit sustainable adoption of I4.0 in the country’s manufacturing industry. The study probed the views and opinions of 16 managers and specialists in the industry, as well as others in supportive roles. Two themes emerged from the thematic analysis: factors that inhibit sustainable adoption of I4.0 and strategies that promote I4.0 adoption in the South African manufacturing industry. The interviews highlighted cultural construct, structural inequalities, noticeable youth unemployment, fragmented task environment, and deficiencies in the education system as key inhibitors. Key strategies identified to promote sustainable adoption of I4.0 include understanding context and applying relevant technologies, strengthening policy and regulatory space, overhauling the education system, and focusing on primary manufacturing. The study offers direction for broader investigations of the specific inhibitors to sustainable I4.0 adoption in the sub-Saharan African developing countries and the strategies for overcoming them.

Value management in the South African manufacturing industry: exploratory findings

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Bowen ◽  
Keith Cattell ◽  
Ian Jay ◽  
Peter Edwards
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Value Management ◽  
The South

scholarly journals V.—A Description of the Big Diamond recently found in the Premier Mine, Transvaal

1905 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 170-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. H. Hatch ◽  
G. S. Corstorphine
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Original Crystal ◽  
Actual Size

Great interest has been excited, not only in the Transvaal, but throughout the world, by the discovery at the Premier Mine, on Wednesday, the 25th January, 1905, of the largest diamond hitherto known. The stone was found by Mr. Wells, Surface Manager, in the yellow ground about 18 feet from the surface, a brilliant flash of light from a projecting corner having caught his attention. After a preliminary cleaning it weighs 3,024¾ carats. According to Gardner Williams the South African carat is equivalent to 3.174 grains; consequently the diamond weighs 9600.5 grains troy or 1.37 lbs. avoirdupois. Through the courtesy of the Directors of the Company, we have been enabled to make an examination of the stone, with the following result:—Roughly speaking, it measures. 4 by 2½12 by 2 inches; but its size and shape will be best realized by reference to the photographs reproduced on Plates VII and VIII, which represent the diamond from four different points of view and its actual size. These beautiful photographs were taken by Mr. E. H. V. Melvill for the purposes of this description. The stone is bounded by eight surfaces, four of which are faces of the original crystal, and will be referred to in this description under the letters A, B, C, D, and four are cleavage surfaces, the cleavage being of course parallel to the face of the octahedron. In the following description these cleavage surfaces are referred to under the letters E, F, G, H. They are distinguished from the original octahedral faces by greater regularity and smoothness.

V. ‘Capitalist Influence’ and the Transvaal Government during the Crown Colony Period, 1900–1906.

1968 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. N. Denoon
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The South ◽  
Mining Companies ◽  
South African War ◽  
Responsible Government ◽  
Material Interests ◽  
The Face

It has become a tradition to portray Transvaal history as a struggle between Boer nationalism and international capitalism, from the beginnings of large-scale gold mining in the 1880s until the electoral victory of General Botha and Het Volk in 1907. J. A. Hobson, writing in 1899–1900, predicted that after—as before—the South African War, the Imperial Government would have to face the dilemma of choosing between ‘an oligarchy of financial Jews, and the restoration of Boer domination’, since there was no other basis of political power. In his analysis of Transvaal white politics, he admitted that some gold-mining companies (the J. B. Robinson group, Barnato's and sometimes the companies of Albu and Goertz) were hostile to the influence of larger companies (Eckstein's and Consolidated Gold Fields), but denied that this affected the monolithic nature of international capitalism in the Transvaal. Later writers on the period, who have rejected almost everything that Hobson wrote, have nevertheless endorsed his interpretation. The Boer leaders were understandably happy to approve of such an analysis, since it placed them in a flattering light as the only realistic salvation for a magnate-dominated society. General Botha, for example, ardently courted the white working men on the Rand after the War, stressing the identity of material interests between farmers and artisans, in the face of the capitalist threat. General Smuts presented a more subtle and persuasive version of the argument, when attempting to persuade the Colonial Office to grant responsible government to the Transvaal and Orange River Colony.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document