An analysis on the marketing of engineering services for the cement manufacturing industry in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

South African organisations that offer engineering services to the local and foreign market contribute significantly towards South Africa’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The importance of engineering services in South Africa motivates the need to gain new insight into a sub-group of service marketing specific to the Sub-Saharan Africa cement market. The primary objective of this research is the evaluation of how engineering services currently conduct business in Sub-Saharan Africa and compare it to what is found in available literature. The comparison of these two should identify key areas for improvement and determine whether these companies are built upon a unified service perspective as described in literature. The research design used for this study is a descriptive narrative inquiry and all qualitative data was gathered by means of a literature review and conducting interviews. The literature review and interviews conducted indicate that suppliers and cement producing customers operating in the SSA market are faced with three main challenges when doing business. These three challenges include: geographical location, increased market competition and exchange rate fluctuations. Overcoming these challenges partially determine the success of a company doing business in this market area. It would also appear that the marketing strategies of service focused businesses looking after the cement industry in Sub-Saharan Africa are partially built upon a unified service perspective as described in available literature.