Business Commons^™

Investigation Into The Glazing Sector Of The Construction Industry In The Cork Region: To Identify The Main Criteria Used In The Window And Glazing Selection Process, Michael A. Mc Avoy

Theses

The selection of glazing and windows is an important element in the architecture of a building in terms of both aesthetics and practicality. Other related issues include sustainability, and the potential effects of glazing selection on the environment. It is essential that glazing experts contribute to the design process at an early stage in order to maximise the efficiency of the windows while still allowing architects to create their visions and unique buildings. This study focuses on the current systems used in the window selection process for the Cork region, and will propose changes based on the findings of the …

The Impact Of The Implementation Of Modularisation And Semesterisation On Academic Staff In Cork Institute Of Technology: A Qualitative Study, Regina O'Flynn

Theses

This study investigates the perceptions of academic staff in Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) on the implementation of modularisation and semesterisation in CIT. The study was undertaken when the institute was at the initial stages of changing to a modularised and semesterised system of education delivery. The study investigated the reasons for such fundamental changes. The findings contribute new knowledge to the literature on change management, while specifically adding to an understanding of managing change in a higher educational institute in Ireland. Forty-five academic staff and five members of senior management were interviewed.

The study revealed overall reluctance among academics …

Socially Responsible Advertising In The Fashion And Cosmetic Industry : The Female Consumers’ Perspective, Christine Murphy

Theses

This study explores the portrayal of women in advertising in the fashion and cosmetic industry. While traditionally, companies have employed the use of highly attractive thin women known as the thin ideal in their advertisements, there have been some moves in the industry towards the use of women of various ages and sizes in an attempt to celebrate female beauty as a whole instead of focusing on the thin ideal. This has been in response to criticisms of the industry as dominant contributors to high levels of negative body images, dissatisfaction, extreme dieting and eating disorders among girls and women. …

Do Campus Incubation Centres Provide A Successful Linkage Between Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Ventures And The Irish Institutes Of Technology?, Fiona Fox

Theses

This study is an examination of the issues that are pertinent to the development of linkages, which campus incubation centres provide between their host Institutes of Technology (loT) and their tenant firms. This research incorporates the views, opinions and recommendations of new firm entrepreneurs, campus incubation centre management, senior academic staff and researchers. This study responds to the lacuna of research on campus incubators hosted by the Institutes of Technology. This study confirms that campus business incubators that are affiliated to the loTs are still in their infancy. The research acknowledges that these campus incubators are in a ‘startup’ phase …

Viral Marketing In Tertiary Level Educational Establishments, Vicky O'Sullivan

Theses

Technological evolutions, principally developments in electronic and digital social media, have introduced new marketing paradigms, such as viral marketing. Viral marketing is a relatively new phenomenon which offers marketing practitioners significant opportunities to reach target audiences in a credible and attention grabbing way.

Students have rapidly adopted new social technologies, and they use these media to enrich existing offline personal relationships that they have with friends within their tertiary level environment. Students have a predilection to forward messages to friends, and value messages they receive from friends. This is because students trust friends, and also believe that friends will know …

A Conference Centre : The Case For Cork., Eddie Chambers

Theses

This current research study is an examination of the impact on business in Cork City that the building of a Conference Ireland will have. It examines the current Conference Centre facilities available in Ireland and the imperative need for such a facility to be built in Cork to ensure that business in the City grows. This research study presents the ideas, estimations and beliefs of respected individuals that have a vested interest in the building of a Conference Centre in Cork City. There are a number of challenges facing the Docklands region, the proposed site of a Conference Centre with …

Ireland: A Branding Phenomenon? An Examination Of "Ireland The Brand"., Sarah O'Mahony

Theses

This study is an examination and assessment of the branding phenomenon, ‘Ireland the Brand’. An investigation into the current image of ‘Ireland the Brand’, was conducted as part of this research study, focusing particularly on the aspects of the brand relating to the foreign direct investment sector (Ireland Inc.), and the Irish tourism industry brand (Tourism Brand Ireland). Many events and aspects of Irish history contributed to the subsequent awareness of the values of ‘Ireland the Brand’. It included the Great Famine, which led to mass emigration, marking the beginning of a substantial Irish community abroad, the Irish diaspora. Also, …

Customer Satisfaction : The Case Study Of A Service Company, Emre Ilkme

Theses

This research was undertaken in Derichebourg Multi services to gain an understanding of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction and improving the customer service are important as this serves to create loyal customers in the business, since market competition has increased. If a company fails to respond to the customer needs and expectations, the satisfaction will not be provided and so customers will lose loyalty to the company and may eventually change the companies altogether. Thus, the importance of customer satisfaction and related subjects has been highlighted in this research. Satisfaction causes have been identified and the recommendations made to increase the …

Cork City : The Untapped Tourism Potential, Frank O'Sullivan

Theses

This research focuses on Cork City and the attributes of the city, which possess the ability to enhance the tourism product, yet remain largely ignored. The study includes the opinions, perceptions and analysis of key figures in the local tourism industry. The study highlights the key promotional bodies representing Cork City as a tourism destination and their shortcomings.

The research delves into the initiatives and projects charged with enhancing the tourism product. The access providers are examined in terms of their significance and contribution to the local tourism market. The impact of the European Capital of Culture is analysed. Cork …

A Study Into The Use Of Business Process Reengineering In Re-Designing Procurement Processes Within The Southern Health Board, Treasa Dempsey

Theses

Prior to undertaking the implementation of an integrated finance and procurement information system, the Southern Health Board (now know as the Health Service Executive - Southern Area) undertook a Business Process Reengineering project to redesign, standardise, streamline, and document their procurement processes. This study examines how useful Business Process Reengineering can be in a public sector environment, using the project undertaken in the Southern Health Board, as a case study. The literature on BPR, in conjunction with the material from the BPR project, and interviews from relevant project team members, is examined. The case study demonstrates that it may be …

The Cost And Benefits Of Upskilling The Irish Labour Force, Peter Daly

Theses

This study assesses the position of Irish businesses in relation to upskilling their workers in the globalised business environment. There is a scarce amount of data published on the implications for Irish businesses and their interaction state supports for upskilling the Irish labour-force.

This study has found that Irish businesses recognise that they now operate in a global market and that they believe that a strong third and vocational level of skills exist but work based skills must improve. Outsourcing parts of the business process is not considered a preferred option of skills replacement by Irish businesses but business networks …

The Organisational Impact Of Outsourcing On Multinational Businesses Operating In Ireland, Veronica Perdisatt

Theses

This study is an examination and assessment of the effectiveness of outsourcing arrangements currently employed by a sample of multinational organisations operating in Ireland. Informed by previous research, this study employs field research in the form of interviews with experienced and successful practitioners in the outsourcing industry. The study responds to issues of focus, which include the analysis of benefits of outsourcing programs, barriers to achieving outsourcing benefits and identification of unexpected or indirect impacts of outsourcing. This research highlights that from the perspective of operating from a small open economy, outsourcing is one strategy that organisations are increasingly adopting …

Integrated Marketing Communications: Student Recruitment At Cork Institute Of Technology, Mervyn O'Mahony

Theses

Competition has, and will continue to intensify further in the third-level educational sector to attain increased student numbers into the future. Third-level Institutes must focus on marketing activities, and understand that without an effective marketing communications strategy, the possibility of attracting increased numbers of students is negligible.

Cork Institute of Technology faces unprecedented funding shortfalls. This coupled with a soon to be introduced new funding mechanism, based on student numbers, has made it imperative for CIT to exploit new and innovative marketing media to generate awareness of the Institute and the courses it has to offer.

The students of today …

The Future Of The Irish Manufacturing Industry In Relation To Global Competitiveness, Joceley Martins Wilson

Theses

This study is an examination of the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector in Ireland. As the speed of globalization intensifies, new demands are constantly being levied on the manufacturing sector. In order to maintain this very important sector in Ireland, the manufacturing industry must promote constant innovation, automation and specialization, specifically in niche areas where there is a requirement for specific specialized skills, and where the labor cost is not a prohibitive or fundamental issue.

Innovation has been a key success factor for the manufactures to date, and will continue to be an ai'ea of focus as competitive forces …

Teenage Consumer Behaviour: Factors That Influence Their Purchase Decisions Towards Clothing Brands., Regina Baylor

Theses

This study explores the perceptions held by Irish teenage consumers in relation to branded clothing and investigates the different factors which influence them in their decision-making process. In seeking to expand the understanding of teenage consumer behaviour and the factors that influence their clothing brand choices, this study focuses predominantly on the susceptibility of teenage consumers to peer and reference group influence. This study examines the social and psychological concepts of attributing status, social value and specific purchase intent to clothing brands in relation to teenage consumer decision-making.

This study is therefore interested in exploring the hypothesis that branded clothing …

Little To Large: Critical Success Factors & Implications For Sme's In Kerry And Rural Ireland., Noelle Foley

Theses

This research is unique in that it profiles the growth trajectories of three global knowledge based companies in rural Ireland. The chosen companies were start-up small businesses that became international global leaders in their selected fields. The selected companies range from different industries but share similar growth trajectories and factors which have enabled high growth. There was a gap in research regarding the growth factors which have allowed small to medium-sized enterprises develop into large corporations. This study took an in-depth look at how each company has managed the vital factors in their growth transition in the hope of applying …

Developing A Virtual City For Emergency Preparedness Planning And Training, Jon K. Morgan

Theses

Existing techniques for emergency preparedness planning and training fail or lack the ability to convey training on a broad scale and timely fashion. Skill sets that are required for planning, mitigation, response and recovery issues are lost through information overload or failure to identify other channels in which to convey the information. In order to resolve some of the issues with currently existing methods such as tabletop training exercises (TTX), instructional video learning and full-scale exercises we can turn to virtual environments.

In a virtual environment teams can interact with their surroundings from the comfort of the office without having …

Management Challenges Of A Culturally Diverse Workforce In The Irish Hotel Sector: An Investigative Study Of Four And Five Star Hotels In Cork, Amy Jordan

Theses

In recent years Ireland has changed from a nation of emigration to one of immigration, facilitated by the Irish Celtic Tiger, the globalisation of labour markets and the erosion of labour restrictions across frontiers. Thus there is increased employee diversity in the Irish work environment, with many different races, cultures, norms, values and religions now in evidence in the Irish workforce. These changes have a significant effect on managers as the Irish workplace becomes increasingly culturally heterogeneous, and forms the basis for change in management practice.

Primary research was undertaken in the form of six interviews with hotel managers to …

Non-Eea (European Economic Area) Entrepreneurs Face No Additional Barriers Than Their Eu Counterparts, When Starting A Business In Ireland., Anthony Garvey

Theses

Do ethnic minority entrepreneurs (EMEs) seeking to start up a business in Ireland operate on a level playing field with their EU counterparts? Or are there unique barriers that EMEs face and if so, what are they and how do we tackle them?

This dissertation examines all of these questions and reveals whether racism or red tape, lack of finance or language skills is suffocating ethnic entrepreneurship more.

It explores the very latest research papers, and reports and combines both qualitative and quantitative data, with a series of semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire aimed squarely at entrepreneurs.

The dissertation discovers …

The Relationships Between Ethical Climates, Ethical Ideology, And Organisational Commitment, Martinus P. Putranta

Theses

A critical problem which faces higher education institutions in Indonesia is that of being able to generate staff’s commitment notwithstanding the inability of the institutions to provide their staff with comparable remuneration. This research sought to ascertain the potential of alternatives to extrinsic rewards in facilitating staff’s commitment in the Indonesian Catholic higher education institutions context. Two ethics-related variables, namely, institutional ethical climates and staff’s ethical ideology were chosen as the possible predictors. The choice was deemed relevant in respect of the endeavours of the institutional leaders to introduce codes of ethics to their institutions. A conceptual model delineating the …

The Application Of Social Marketing In Reducing Road Traffic Accidents Among Young Male Drivers - An Investigation Using Physical Fear Threat Appeals., Brian Harman

Theses

In 2004, the Irish government rolled out its new two year road safety strategy which aimed to reduce road deaths in the Republic of Ireland to no more than 300 road fatalities by 2006. The strategy failed to reach its target. There were 368 road fatalities on Irish roads in 2006. The effects of the penalty points system, which was introduced in 2003, is considered responsible for reducing Irish road fatality figures to their lowest level since 1964 (335 deaths). However the beneficial effects of the penalty points system have proved transitory and road deaths have risen in recent years. …

"Assessing The Attitudes Of Regional Business Toward Research And Development (R&D) And Networking Activities In The South West Of Ireland", Denis O'Flaherty

Theses

This project seeks to understand and measure the levels of Research and Development (R&D) and Networking Activity amongst regional business in the South West of Ireland. The South West region of Ireland is a unique and beautiful place, but presents challenges and obstacles in terms of running a business within the region.

It is now generally accepted by policy-makers that Ireland is going to become increasingly dependent upon its indigenous businesses, most of which can be classified as Small-to- Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The question of R&D and networking was framed within the context of location, given the physical characteristics of …

' An Investigation Into The Impediments Of Rfid Adoption In Ireland, Emer O'Connor

Theses

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology increases the ability of organisations to acquire a vast array of data about the location and properties of any entity that can be physically tagged, and wirelessly scanned within certain technical limitations. Many companies can benefit from its adoption, companies such as Manufacturing, Logistics, FMCG/Retail, Libraries and Pharmaceutical. This Research investigates the impediments to RFID adoption in Ireland. Internationally the lack of standards, cost of the technology along with other factors are cited as major constraints to the adoption of RFID. In an Irish context these factors hold true. Following an extensive research process, this …

Determining Continual Improvement Process Methods Within Quality Management Systems, Diane M. Bové

Theses

Institutionalized standards require organizations to actively define and implement quality management systems, which includes active participation in continual improvement efforts. Interpretations and practices vary on implementation methodology.

Traditional views of quality do not integrate the technical disciplines into a defined science which would support a standardized approach for continual improvement implementation.

In order to optimize improvement efforts, a conceptual hypothesis is proposed to integrate quality through combining and collaborating implementation efforts of engineering, control, assurance, improvement and costs. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a roadmap to assist in choosing effective quality improvement methodologies and toolsets that assist …

An Analysis Of Lean Management Procedures In The Irish Audi And Volkswagen Dealer Network, Clive Atkinson

Theses

This study provides an analysis of lean management procedures within Irish motor retailers from the perspective of senior managers working in franchised Audi and Volkswagen dealerships. Richardson (2007) suggests the danger for some organisations operating in good economic conditions is the ability of poor performers to earn healthy profits through little effort, thereby creating a lack of urgency to improve processes within the business. This may be applicable to motor dealerships in Ireland since the advent of the “Celtic Tiger”. Advocates of lean management contend the implementation of lean techniques can increase efficiency within an organisation and create a sustainable …

Is There A Mass Market For Ethical Fashion In Ireland?, Shirley Quinn

Theses

The following research dissertation was carried out with the intention of solving the question of whether there is a mass market for ethical fashion in Ireland. To answer this question, awareness of ethics in fashion among Irish consumers was investigated, along with general attitudes to ethical fashion, and whether ethics affects fashion purchase behaviour. The research was carried out over the space of six months and comprised a triangulated multi-method approach, consisting of primary and secondary research. Quantitative descriptive research was conducted through a questionnaire and the primary qualitative method used was a focus group. Secondary research took the form …

An Examination Of Relationship Marketing Strategies In Department Stores., Suzanne Hanley

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine relationship marketing strategies in department stores. The objectives of relationship marketing strategies are to make customers feel special (Dwyer et al. 1987) to feel as though the company cares for them (Tzokas and Saren, 1997) and wants to satisfy their individual needs (Buttle, 1996). This thesis sets out to ascertain the effectiveness of various relationship marketing strategies adopted by department stores and to generate theory regarding future customer retention strategies for the industry.

Indications of the effectiveness of relationship marketing are derived through qualitative and quantitative methods employed in the study. In …

Improved Sales Performance Through Effective Sales Training., Michael Falahee

Theses

Ireland’s economic success has been unprecedented between the period of 1993 and present. A number of internal and external factors accounted for this success. The economic performance was driven primarily by a relatively small number of foreign based firms who chose Ireland as their European base. Factors such as globalisation, an increasing domestic cost base and changes in EU legislation have lessened the Irish economy’s attractiveness to foreign direct investment.

Ireland has strong production and operational capabilities; it must develop expertise in two areas to ensure continued future success. These two areas are, building expertise in export sales and marketing …

An Investigation Of Women’S Career Progression Decisions As A Significant Determinant Of The Under-Representation Of Women At Senior Management Levels In Ireland, Christine Cross

Theses

Recent decades have witnessed unprecedented changes both in the world economy and in the composition of workforces internationally, resulting in a significant rise in female economic activity rates. Women’s increased involvement in the labour force is, however, not paralleled within the management levels of organisations. The persistent nature of the dearth of women in executive roles provides the context for this study. The unique focus of this thesis is women in middle-level management positions, as managers at this level are viewed as successors to senior organisational roles. Thirty female managers were interviewed, from organisations representing a wide range of industry …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Role Of The Accountant In The Implementation Of An Integrated System: A Case Study In Cork County Council., Julie Griffin

Theses

The last decade has been a lime of continuous rapid change in the business environment. To survive in this environment, organisations have had to become more competitive and customer focussed. The promised benefits of integrated systems made their implementation a popular attempt at achieving success in the private sector. The implementation process for, and the benefits of integrated systems in the private sector are well documented.

Integrated systems are still a relatively new phenomenon in the public sector. The researcher was working, as an accountant, in Cork County Council, when it was tendering for and implementing a new integrated system. …