There is a growing awareness in the global business environment of the importance of managing the supply side, also referred to as the input side, of an organisation or supply chain as a strategically important area. South African managers are certainly also aware of the potential of the supply side to contribute to strategic competitive advantage in an increasingly difficult and competitive business environment. This seventh edition of Purchasing and supply management provides contemporary insights into this dynamic field. Purchasing and supply management introduces current concepts and management tools to make purchasing and supply management more efficient in functioning within the broader concept of supply chain management. It covers not only basic principles, but also the activities incumbent on a purchasing and supply manager. It addresses the relationships between purchasing and concepts such as strategic sourcing, and areas of application. This new edition has been comprehensively updated and includes case studies and multiple choice questions. It is student friendly, while at the same time remaining a valuable aid to the purchasing fraternity in South African business. Some of the more prominent topics that are included in this edition are the following: Purchasing and supply policies and strategies; Purchasing price determination and cost analysis; Evaluation and selection of suppliers; The management of quality; Sustainability in purchasing and supply; Supplier development; Electronic commerce and electronic procurement applications Purchasing and supply management is aimed at students in this field as well as practitioners in business. The editors of this standard South African text, Prof. Hannie Badenhorst-Weiss, Dr Orpha Cilliers, Ms Winnie Dlamini and Prof. Marcus Ambe, obtained valuable contributions from authors from a number of institutions.

This fourth edition of Strategic Marketing has been revised and updated to include the latest trends and examples in business. This edition provides a concise and thorough look at the strategic business issues todays managers must cope with.

The focus is on how organisations need to adapt and cope with the demands from the global and local business environment, and in the process better understand their responsibilities their own organisations needs and their own products and other offerings.

Over the years and with all the new developments in the world and technological advances, the four key questions all organisations must answer still remain as follows:

• Where are we now?
• Where do we want to be?
• How will we get there?
• Did we get there?

These questions sound easy and straight forward but it is not as simple as it sounds. It requires a thorough understanding of the organisation and all the elements in the business environment that can and will impact on the business. This edition addresses these questions in an easy to understand and practical manner and covers a range of topics including an analysis of the external business environment, a detailed analysis of customers and competitors, market analysis, analysing the internal environment. There after the focus moves to marketing strategy and metrics which is applicable to organisations and the importance thereof, and added to this is the management of customer experiences and market strategies, and a global view of strategic marketing from the organisation’s perspective.

Drawing for Civil engineering Second Edition has been revised and now includes computer applications and free Internet-downloadable software that can be used by students. The core function of this book is to cover the fundamentals of civil engineering drawing, draughting practice and conventions. Aimed mainly at second-level students at universities of technology and other tertiary institutions, the book outlines reinforced concrete drawings, steel structure drawings and surveying drawings. With its improved design, Drawing for Civil Engineering Second Edition is more accessible and comprehensive.

Half of all insect species are dependent on living plant tissues, consuming about 10 per cent of plant annual production in natural habitats and an even greater percentage in agricultural systems, despite sophisticated control measures. Plants possess defences that are effective against almost all herbivorous insect species. Host-plant specialization, observed in over 80 percent of these animals, appears to be an effective adaptation to breach these defence systems. The mechanisms underlying plant defence to invading herbivores on the one side, and insect adaptations to utilize plants for nutrition, defence and shelter on the other, are the main subjects of this book. For plants exposed to insect herbivores, these mechanisms include the activation of defence systems and the emission of chemical signals which may attract natural enemies of the invading herbivores and may even be exploited by neighbouring plants to induce an early defence.

Langland's Piers Plowman is a profoundly Christian poem which nevertheless has enjoyed a wide general appeal. Readers - both religious and non-religious - have been drawn by the power of Langland's fictive imagination, the rich variety of imaginary worlds in his great dream-poem. Langland's Fictions examines the construction of the ten dreams which make up the B Text of Pears Plowman, and explores the relation of these dream-fictions to those realities with which the poet was chiefly preoccupied. This relationship is discussed under three main headings: 'fictions of the divided mind', in which the poet's mixed feelings about matters such as the value of learning find expression in imagined scenes and actions; 'fictions of history', in which the main events of salvation history are relived in the parallel worlds of dream; and 'fictions of the self', in which Langland's doubtful sense of his own moral standing as a man and a poet apparently finds expression. This chapter also addresses the controversial question of 'autobiographical elements' in the poem. John Burrow's lively and considered study is a major contribution to our understanding of one of medieval literature's most enduring works.

There is a growing awareness in the global business environment of the importance of managing the supply side, also referred to as the input side, of business as a strategically important area. South African business managers are certainly also aware of the strategic significance of purchasing and supply management and the potential it holds for gaining a competitive advantage in an increasingly difficult and competitive business environment. This edition of Purchasing and supply management provides contemporary insights into this dynamic field of business management. Purchasing and supply management introduces new concepts and management tools to make purchasing and supply management more efficient in functioning within the broader concept of supply chain management. It covers not only basic principles, but also the activities incumbent on a purchasing and supply manager, as well as resources and areas of application. Furthermore, it addresses the relationships between purchasing and concepts such as logistics management and the more integrated system of supply chain management. This new edition has been comprehensively updated and includes case studies and multiple-choice questions which were not in the previous edition. It is therefore student friendly, but at the same time remains a valuable aid to the purchasing fraternity in South African business. Some of the more prominent topics that are included in this edition are the following: Purchasing and supply policies and strategies; purchasing price determination and cost analysis; evaluation and selection of suppliers; the management of quality; electronic commerce and electronic procurement applications; purchasing from small businesses. Purchasing and supply management is aimed at students in this field as well as practitioners in business.

With the development of the integrative supply chain management approach, traditional thinking about concepts such as purchasing, materials management, distribution and logistics management has become outdated. Speculation on the reasons for dynamic growth of supply chain management in South African businesses ranges from the opening up of the domestic economy to the pressure of global competitors, and technology advancements. The astonishing success of progressive organisations such as SA Breweries (now part of the international group AB-InBev), Sasol, Iscor (now called ArcelorMittal SA), Sappi and a number of retail groups (e.g. Truworths) in the international marketplace, however, is in no small part a result of their early adoption of the supply chain philosophy (customer value creation, total cost of ownership, integration of processes and the reduction of cycle time) and they have contributed significantly to the unprecedented growth of supply chain management in South Africa. Supply chain management identifies the strategic impact and evolutionary direction of the field in a global market environment and emphasises the changes in processes and management thinking required to introduce supply chain management in South African organisations. It covers topics such as supply chain strategies, supply chain integration, performance improvement, customer service, quality and inventory management, total cost of ownership, green supply chain management, e-commerce and information technology, negotiations, transport and distribution management, the retail supply chain, global supply chain management and SCM in the public sector. Supply chain management is aimed at all supply chain, logistics and transport management students.