National Research Database of Zimbabwe
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The effectiveness of line extension strategies on brand sales performance: case of Unilever Zimbabwe Harare branch
No full textThe study was to determine the effectiveness of line extension strategies on brand sales performance with reference to Unilever Zimbabwe Harare branch. The research was centered on Unilever’s most recent line extensions for its Lifebuoy and Vaseline brands. The objective of the study was to establish the impact of introducing a new flavor or variant on brand sales, to determine the effectiveness of new formulation on repeat purchases and to measure the effect of new packaging on brand sales. The main sources of data used in the research are primary and secondary data. Two research designs were used which are explorative and descriptive research designs. A sample size of 100 respondents was used. The sample frame consisted of management, employees, and customers. Probability sampling was used to select the targeted respondents, there after stratified sampling and simple random sampling were used respectively. Questionnaires were administered to customers and employees, for management interviews were conducted. The results of the research tools indicated that line extensions in the form of new flavor and formulation were most successful in increasing sales and customers. The study also showed that line extensions in the form of new packaging did not positively impact brand sales. The study concluded that line extension strategies in the form of a new flavor or formulation had resulted in an increase in sales and customer base for Unilever Zimbabwe. This further lead to an increase in profitability, market share and brand awareness. Findings from data collection showed that customers liked the new flavor Lifebuoy lemon fresh and the improved formulation for the brand. However some customers indicated that they still viewed Vaseline as a less premium brand as compared to Nivea one of its major competitors. The researcher recommended that Unilever need to fully understand its target market and conduct competitor analysis to fully understand why its target market for Vaseline still prefer purchasing other brand and are not loyal to the company’s brand. Unilever also needs to introduce more flavors for its Lifebuoy brand as competitor brands a still offering a wider portfolio as compared to their own product portfolio. Celebrity endorsements and competitor analysis are further areas of study and are very vital in today’s hyper competitive environment and helps establish a competitive edge for an organization
Effects of land use changes on water quality in Eerste River, South Africa
No full textLanduse/land cover change is the key factor causing water quality changes worldwide. Stellenbosch town in the Western Cape, South Africa depends on Eerste River water for drinking and irrigation. The water quality of Eerste River downstream of Stellenbosch has been reported to be deteriorating. The main objective of this study wasto assess the spatial and temporal variation of water quality due to land use changes in Eerste River. Water samples were collected from 8 selected sampling points on the river during the period 12 February to 1 April 2016. To assess the variation of water quality, temperature, DO, EC, TDS, total phosphorus, nitrogen ammonia, turbidity, salinity, oxidation reduction potential, and chemical oxygen demand were analysed using standard methods. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used toextract the most important factors and physico-chemical parameters affecting water quality while Cluster Analysis (CA) was used to group similar sampling sites.PCA results for historical data,Factor 1 describes 31.4 % total variance with a strong significant loading of ammonia, orthophosphate and total phosphorusCA identified 3 classes from 8 sampling points. Site 1, 2, 3 and 4 formed Group 1; at these sample sites the water is relatively clean and Site 1 and 2 fall within in a protected area. Site 5 and 6 are classified in the same group situated after industries and wineries and site 7 and 8 form group 3 located before and after the wastewater treatment plant.The status of water quality indicates that turbidity, nitrates and nitrogen, ammonia exceed the South African Water Targets from sampling sites. It can be concluded that water quality variation is mainly driven by and nitrates. As such the City of Cape Town which monitors water quality downstream of Stellenbosch should decrease the number of monitoring sites from four to three sampling points. For the year 1985to 2015, the forest cover has been decreasing from about 15 % to about 10% and from 2010 to 2015 decline was about 8% to about 2% while there is an increase of settlements from 1985 to 2015 about 38% to 55%. Bareland has been decreasing from 8% to 3%. There is a strong significant correlation (p<0.05) between water quality and land use changes.,WAterNe
The effectiveness of network marketing in enhancing market share: a case of Doves Assurance company
No full textThe study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of network marketing in enhancing market share of an organisation in the funeral sector in Zimbabwe. Doves Morgan was losing market share at a very alarming rate despite employing competitive strategies. The company therefore introduced Shiri plan network marketing strategy. The study therefore analysed the effects of referrals on market share, the commissions paid to network marketing agencies had an effect on market share through network marketing was likely to improve the market share of an organisation and lastly analysed the effects client prospecting on market share. The research used descriptive and explanatory research designs in finding the data. The study was conducted using a sample size of 40 respondents. Respondents were interviewed and completed questionnaires. The research findings were that commission given for recruiting new customers was attractive to non-members. More, so referrals have increased the market share of Doves because when agencies go out to source the customers those customers also refer others as well. Lastly client prospecting does not increase market share because most prospects promise that they will come and join the plan but they do not honour their promises. The study recommend that Doves Morgan should increase the amount of commission that is given to sales agencies for recruiting new members this is because money motivates people to get new assures for the Shiri plan. Most importantly under the referral system Doves Morgan should also use online referral system such as web browser on the websites
Towards a Framework for the Integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Meteorological Science in Seasonal Climate Forecasting: The Case of Smallholder Farmers in Zimbabwe
No full textGlobal evidence shows that seasonal climate forecasting can be a useful strategy in adapting to the effects of climate change on agricultural production. Meteorological science based seasonal climate forecasting has been broadly promoted as an important adaptation tool in this regard. However, calls are now mounting for the integration of meteorological based forecasting knowledge with traditional ecological knowledge based systems of seasonal forecasting to minimize system deficiencies in forecasting. Using a mixed methods approach, the study investigates the interface between the two knowledge systems and what integrating them would entail in practice in Matobo District, Zimbabwe. The paper finds that farmers are already utilizing both types of knowledge albeit in an uncoordinated fashion. Those farmers that integrate the two knowledge systems tended to make more definitive farming decisions concerning seasonal climate patterns. The paper recommends a more systematic parallel integration system that recognizes the importance of both knowledge systems
Are all customers really the same? Comparing service quality and satisfaction between residential and business telecommunications customers
No full textOrientation: The study focused on the moderating role of the type of customer on the
relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.
Research purpose: The study sought to examine differences in the relationship between
service quality and customer satisfaction because of the type of customer.
Motivation for the study: Previous studies have not examined the relationship between
service quality and customer satisfaction between residential and business customers.
Research design, approach and method: The study used a cross-section of 203 customers
(108 residential and 95 business) in the fixed-line telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe.
Moderated regression analysis was performed to test the research hypotheses.
Main findings: It was established that the customer category (residential versus business)
does not moderate the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction. Practical/managerial
implications are, generally, that it is not necessary to segment customers by customer category
(residential versus business) when managing service quality to achieve customer satisfaction.
Contribution/value add: The main theoretical contribution of the study is the comparison of
the effect of servic
An Appraisal of the Role of Women’s Rotating Savings and Credit Associations on Household Livelihoods: A Case of Mkhosana Township in Victoria Falls
No full textIn the post and current economic, political and financial climate of Africa, Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) have been rediscovered as organizations with potential to foster household livelihood security and to reduce poverty in Africa. In many developing countries, women are discriminated upon in terms of their access to capital means of production; basic needs support, employment opportunities and formal financial institutions have long been excluding a majority of women. There is, therefore, a shift away from a formal financial institution by women to member controlled Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs). This study assesses the role played by women’s ROSCAs on household livelihoods of members. The study was carried out in Mkhosana, ward 11 of Victoria Falls in Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe. The study employed mainly purposively sampling and data was collected using questionnaires and indepth interviews. Research revealed that ROSCAs members engage in simple ROSCAs, consumer durable ROSCAs and building material ROSCAs and members are selected based on trust. The study found that participation in ROSCAs has enabled households in Mkhosana Township to accumulate assets, improve food security and address a number of households’ shocks. However the major handicap with ROSCAs is the defaulting of members, absenteeism and poor records keeping. The study therefore recommends that the government should influence formal financial institutions to provide capacity building trainings for ROSCAs members on effective group leadership, simple record keeping and financial management skills which will Aid in the sustainability of the groups.
Keywords
A study on the effects of family background on high school students’ academic performance: a case of Bulawayo urban schools.
No full textThis study focused on the effects of family background on high school students’ academic performance, a case of Bulawayo urban high schools.
One of the major aspects of the social pillar of life in Zimbabwe is education. Family backgrounds have been highlighted as of great important in moulding the performance of children in schools worldwide. The study was a case of Bulawayo urban high schools thus a sample of forty respondents that is thirty- two form four and four students and 10 parents was chosen. 12 teachers and two school development committee chairpersons served as key informants. Stratified sampling was used to select key informants. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to collect data from students and data from parents, and key informants was collected through interviews. Findings show that family size, financial status, distance travelled to school, level of parental academic attainment, single parenthood, domestic violence and parental guidance tremendously affect students’ academic performance. The study recommended that teachers must be made aware of various stakeholders who solve children’s social problems and parents and teachers’ relationship must best be strengthened to insure constant communication and consultation. The study also seek scholarships to help students from low socioeconomic status households. The study also recommended the employment of social workers in the school setting to effectively solve students’ social problems
Women’s participation in water governance and reform in Zimbabwe: A case study of four A1 resettlement farms in Mazowe catchment post the fast track land reform and resettlement programme
No full textIt is now a globally acknowledged fact that there exists a human right to water for “basic needs†that allows everyone to enjoy an adequate standard of living that guarantees one the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. What is less known however is what that right means to different people in different contexts especially poor and marginalized rural women in the developing world who use water holistically for multiple purposes that are all aimed at lifting themselves out of the endemic feminized poverty that has been associated with them. In this thesis based on an empirical study conducted on four A1 small scale resettlement farms in Mazowe Catchment I locate different social groups of women on the farms at the intersection of formal and informal norms and institutions that determine whether they are included or excluded from accessing, using and controlling water for personal, domestic, food production and livelihood purposes, from the local to national levels. Situating the international human right to water in a local context; the aim is to interrogate the extent to which this right as conceptualized at international and national levels resonates with how women within these rural communities use water in its multiplicity to ensure general social well being within their households and the community at large. Set against a legal pluralist environment, the extent, to which the different social networks within which different women are embedded impact on their capability to realize the right to water, is also interrogated.
Grounded theory research methodologies that encompass the use of in-depth individual interviews with key informants, group interviews and focus group discussions as well as case studies within a catchment study were used to unravel the complex institutional and normative frameworks associated with access to water and participation in its governance. The women’s law approach was used in the research to explore from the women’s different lived experiences, the discrimination they encountered which was intersectional as based on political, economic, social, cultural and other prohibited grounds. The findings show deep seated tensions between customarily informed norms and institutions that entitle rural women to have open access to water for drinking, sanitation, food production and livelihood purposes from common pool resources such as rivers, streams, wetlands and riparian land on one hand and formal IWRM informed laws and policies bent on cost recovery and profit maximization implemented by ZINWA officials on the other. This situation, which happens against unclear and pluralist dispute resolution frameworks that are both formal and informal have the most dire impact on women as the traditionally acknowledged major water users for reproductive and productive purposes. As drawn from the findings made in this study, my key recommendations are that the State; (i) conducts nationwide human rights and Constitution awareness campaigns focusing specifically on rural communities for the eradication of gender based discrimination and gender stereotypes that negatively impact on rural women’s realization of their human right to water and participation in its governance; (ii) adopts in its policies the broader framework of the human right to water for rural women as understood customarily; within the 2013 Zimbabwe Constitution; Article 14 of CEDAW and in accordance with the UNCESCR’s General Comment 15 of 2002; (iii) effectively strengthens and enhances local traditional dispute resolution mechanisms that deal with water conflicts through judicial training and the promotion of traditional environmental conservation methods that are pro-poor.,Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affair
Adsorption of volatile n-alkanes and polar organic solvents by water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) root biomass: Thermodynamics, mechanism and effect of chemical treatment
No full textThe use of lignocellulosic materials as biosorbents has both environmental and
economic benefits. They are biodegradable, safe to use and most importantly renewable
and less costly. The objectives of this present study were to study the effect of treatment
on the performance of water hyacinth root biomass as a biosobent for n-hydrocarbons
and polar organic solvents. Water hyacinth, a lignocellulosic material was chemically
treated by two methods, nitric acid and organic solvent. The effect of the treatment was
studied by Fourier Transform Infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric
analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and other analyses.
FT-IR absorption bands were obtained at 3421, 2855, 1457 and 1035 cm-1 (O-H stretch,
C-H vibration, C-H asymmetric deformation, and C-O stretch, respectively) and 1508,
1541 and 1559 cm-1 (all aromatic skeletal vibrations characteristic of lignin), as well as
a C=O carboxylate stretch vibrational band at 1654 cm-1. The chemical composition
and FT-IR analyses showed that treatment resulted in a decrease in the amount of lignin
in the biomass. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirm the root
biomass to be amorphous and not to have a strongly structured surface. The XRD
revealed that treatment increased crystallinity. Thermogravimetric analysis studies
displayed that the treated biomass is more thermally stable than the untreated biomass.
The surface area of the biomass increased upon treatment. Thermodynamic parameters
for the adsorption of n-alkanes hexane to nonane on ground dried water hyacinth
(Eichhornia crassipes) root biomass were studied between 40oC and 70oC column
temperature using gas solid chromatography, before and after treatment of the root
biomass with mineral acid and organic solvent. The enthalpy of adsorption (ï„Ha) values
of 20.42KJ.mol-1 for hexane to -44.44KJ.mol-1 for nonane were obtained for the
adsorption of the n-alkane series on untreated water hyacinth root biomass. Mineral
acid and organic solvent treatments led to greater adsorption bond strength, with ï„Ha
values of -34.01 to -36.33 kJK-1mol-1 respectively after mineral acid treatment, and -
40.98 to -46.7 kJ.mol-1 after organic solvent treatment. Factors affecting the adsorbentadsorbate
interaction are discussed. The adsorption properties of dried water hyacinth
root biomass towards four polar solvents (dichloromethane, ethylacetate, diethylether,
and acetone) were studied by inverse gas chromatography between 400C and 700C. The
enthalpy of adsorption (ï„Hads) values obtained for the polar probes range from -51.234
for acetone, an amphoteric probe to -74.658 kJ.mol-1 for dichloromethane an acidic
probe for untreated biomass. Mineral and solvent treatments led to reduction in the
values of enthalpy of adsorption due to removal of high energy sites on the surface of
water hyacinth root biomass. The Lewis acidity, Ka, and Lewis basity Kb parameters
were calculated from the net retention volumes, Vn of the probes. The b a K K ratios
for the untreated, acid-treated and organic solvent treated biomass were found to be
9.2175, 6.7425 and 6.5733 respectively, indicating that all the surfaces of the untreated,
mineral acid and organic solvent treated water hyacinth root biomass are basic in nature.,Bindura University of Science Education Research and Postgraduate
Centr
Nutrient dynamics and plant assemblages of Macrotermes falciger mounds in a savanna ecosystem
No full textTermites through mound construction and foraging activities contribute significantly to carbon and nutrient fluxes in nutrient-poor savannas. Despite this recognition, studies on the influence of termite mounds on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in sub-tropical savannas are limited. In this regard, we examined soil nutrient concentrations, organic carbon and nitrogen mineralization in incubation experiments in mounds of Macrotermes falciger and surrounding soils of sub-tropical savanna, northeast Zimbabwe. We also addressed whether termite mounds altered the plant community and if effects were similar across functional groups i.e. grasses, forbs or woody plants. Mound soils had significantly higher silt and clay content, pH and concentrations of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), organic carbon (C), ammonium (NH4þ) and nitrate (NO3_) than surrounding soils, with marginal differences inphosphorus (P) and sodium (Na) between mounds and matrix soils. Nutrient enrichment increased by a factor ranging from 1.5 for C, 4.9 for Mg up to 10.3 for Ca. Although C mineralization, nitrification and nitrification fraction were similar between mounds and matrix soils, nitrogen mineralization was elevated on mounds relative to surrounding matrix soils. As a result, termite mounds supported unique plant communities rich and abundant in woody species but less diverse in grasses and forbs than the surrounding savanna matrix in response to mound-induced shifts in soil parameters specifically increased clay content, drainage and water availability, nutrient status and base cation (mainly Ca, Mg and Na) concentration. In conclusion, by altering soil properties such as texture, moisture content and nutrient status, termite mounds can alter the structure and composition of sub-tropical savanna plant communities, and these results are consistent with findings in other savanna systems suggesting that increase in soil clay content, nutrient status and associated changes in the plant community assemblage may be a general property of mound building termites