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Browsing School of Commerce and Management Sciences by Author "Fransman, L."
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Item Can Namibia become a regional gateway by developing a logistics hub around Walvis Bay's Port?(NUST, Department of Communication, 2014) Savage, Christopher J.; Fransman, L.Many developing countries wish to become the 'gateway' to a region or part of a continent. One strategy involves encouraging logistics cluster development. These support global supply chains and enable the growth of the host country through the resulting trade as well as providing direct and indirect employment opportunities during the build and subsequent operation of the hub. Namibia has a desire to become the gateway to southern Africa and the SADC region. Previous work, (Munoz & River, 2010; Lambourdiere, Savage & Corbin, 2012) have established the criteria for successful clusters, whilst Savage (2013) looked at Namibia's potential for success using data from the NGLC's 2011 'State of Logistics' research (Jenkins, Savage & Fransman, 2012). This article reviews those findings using current survey data to assess Namibia's logistics industry's readiness to take on this gateway role.Item Customer service in the Namibian logistics industry: Benchmarking for the future. Paper presented at the 1st Namibia Customer Service Awards & Conference, 2014.(NUST, 2014) Fransman, L.; Salomo, E. N.; Savage, Christopher J.An efficient and effective logistics industry is essential if Namibia to achieve the objectives of its “Vision 2030” and “NDP_4” plans to stimulate growth through trade. Logistics can support trade, but only if it achieves the appropriate service levels. Namibia plans to develop a thriving port-centric logistics cluster, however for this to succeed it is vital that Namibia’s logistics industry delivers levels of customer service that match those required by international shippers and does so at a competitive price. This research used an exploratory approach through questionnaires and telephone interviews to gain a better understanding of those levels of service. The findings produced a preliminary view of the service levels offered by the logistics industry in Namibia. The results showed the service aspects that are of greatest importance to Namibian logistics users and indicated how well the industry is fulfilling them.Item The impact of the logistics gap on customer service in southern Africa: Evidence from Namibia and the Republic of South Africa. Paper presented at the 1st Namibia Customer Service Awards & Conference, 2014.(NUST, 2014) Fransman, L.; Heyns, G. J.; Luke, R.; Savage, Christopher J.Logistics is essential for the development of trade (& therefore potential wealth) in southern Africa. To enable this to succeed it is crucial that the industry provides good (international) standards of customer service. Therefore, it is important to understand the current level of service provision as well as: what influences it, which skills are required and thus the impact of any skills gap. Within this context, this paper addresses the question: “What is the impact of the logistics skills gap on customer service in southern Africa” drawing its evidence from Namibia and the Republic of South Africa. Previous research strands investigated skills requirements and shortages in the logistics industry of South African, determined stakeholder views on barriers to logistics development in Namibia as well as understanding of the service levels that are offered. This study uses the findings of these research strands, supported by additional data from literature as well as by stakeholder and academic feedback from conferences, workshops and publications. It gave a nuanced view of the probable extent and magnitude of the skills gap in the southern African logistics industry and evaluated the impact that this may have on the future service provision in the two countries and, in outline terms, the region as a whole. It identified differences and similarities between the two countries’ industries and established a base-line for future research in the SADC / SACU area. The work provides an independent view on logistics skills capability and the progress in capacity development, which is vital for the future development and welfare of the region. It emphasises the need to cultivate people related skills in parallel with infrastructure development to ensure that the serviceability offered is adequate to ensure that any predicted benefits are achieved.Item Logistics in Namibia: Issues and challenges, re-engineering for competitiveness.(2013) Savage, Christopher J.; Fransman, L.; Jenkins, A. K.Logistics is perceived to be important for Namibia’s growth and development, but it is a matter of conjecture as there is a dearth of documented information about the industry in Namibia. Furthermore, it is uncertain what the understanding of “logistics” is for key stakeholders in the country. This project’s objectives are to address some of these issues and lay the foundation for a more thorough investigation. The findings from key stakeholders of the logistics industry in Namibia include: universal agreement on the importance of logistics to Namibia, the variety in the understanding of the term logistics, the strength of the continuing influence of South Africa as the dominant economic power in southern Africa and contrasting views on the main factors limiting logistics development, including: infrastructure, attitude, government, customs, training, railways, corruption and driver shortage. The conclusions were published in the form of a conference paper showing the challenges and opportunities facing logistics in Namibia in 2012 (Jenkins et al., 2012). They were also disseminated as a report (Savage et al., 2012) and at a workshop in Walvis-bay, Namibia in September 2012. These reports, additional interviews and subsequent discussions highlighted some potential opportunities and problems. This paper summarises the initial phases of the project showing the methodology and findings; it then builds on that work to prioritise measures required to re-engineer Namibia’s logistics industry.Item Logistics in Namibia: Issues and challenges.(Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management, 2012) Savage, Christopher J.; Fransman, L.; Jenkins, A. K.Logistics is important for Namibia’s growth and development but there is currently a lack of information about the industry despite it being addressed in the country’s Fourth National Development Plan and the subsequent “Policy Note” from the World Bank. This article summarises the first phase of a research project that investigated Namibia’s logistics sector. The investigation was principally qualitative in nature and used semi-structured interviews which were analysed using data matrices as proposed by (Nadin & Cassell, 2004). Key findings included universal agreement on the importance of logistics to Namibia, the variety of understanding of the term logistics and the strength of the continuing influence of South Africa. There were contrasting views on the main factors limiting development that included: infrastructure, attitude, government, customs, training, railways, corruption and driver shortage. The findings are discussed drawing conclusions on the state of Namibia’s logistics industry and making recommendations for further work.