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1 – 10 of 82Reports on CARBOCAP®, a new type of optical carbon dioxide sensor, which guarantees high accuracy. States that CARBOCAP® uses a micromachine electrically tuneable Fabry‐Perot…
Abstract
Reports on CARBOCAP®, a new type of optical carbon dioxide sensor, which guarantees high accuracy. States that CARBOCAP® uses a micromachine electrically tuneable Fabry‐Perot interferometer (FPI) as a filter, which guarantees the high accuracy and stability of a dual‐wavelength instrument, without the problems of mismated filters and detectors, or the wear and tear of a rotating filter.
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Marjorie Peregoy, Julia M. Rholes and Sandra L. Tucker
This is a resource guide for librarians who wish to gather books and other materials to use in promoting National Women's History Week or, as it will be soon, National Women's…
Abstract
This is a resource guide for librarians who wish to gather books and other materials to use in promoting National Women's History Week or, as it will be soon, National Women's History Month. The emphasis is on history rather than on current women's issues. Most of the materials cited have appeared within the past ten years, but a few important older works are included as well.
John H. Bickford III and Cynthia W. Rich
Common Core State Standards Initiative mandates increased readings of informational texts within English Language Arts starting in elementary school. Accurate, age-appropriate…
Abstract
Common Core State Standards Initiative mandates increased readings of informational texts within English Language Arts starting in elementary school. Accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content is at the center of effective social studies teaching. Textbooks and children’s literature—both literary and informational—are prominent in elementary classrooms because of the esoteric nature of primary source material. Many research projects have investigated historical accuracy and representation within textbooks, but few have done so with children’s trade books. We examined children’s trade books centered on three historical figures frequently incorporated within elementary school curricula: Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller. Findings revealed various forms of historical misrepresentation and differing levels of historicity. Reporting such lacunae is important for those involved in curricular decisions. We believe children’s books, even those with historical omissions and misrepresentations, provide an unique opportunity for students to incorporate and scrutinize diverse perspectives as they actively assemble historical understandings. All secondary narratives, even historically representative children’s books, can benefit from primary source supplementation. We guide teachers interested in employing relevant and rich primary source material.
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Utilizes the groupthink framework to analyse successive decisions made by the same group of senior executives of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). These decisions related…
Abstract
Utilizes the groupthink framework to analyse successive decisions made by the same group of senior executives of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). These decisions related to NBC’s flagship late‐night television show, The Tonight Show. Based on this analysis, presents an enhanced groupthink framework that attempts to highlight why defective decision making occurred in one decision‐making situation but not in another consecutive decision. Concludes that the answer lies in the presence of group isolation from qualifed experts and the specific leaders’ behaviours of stating a preferred decision choice and not encouraging member opinions.
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Mental health conditions are common in the working population. Every organisation should have a comprehensive strategy that not only promotes mental health and provides effective…
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Mental health conditions are common in the working population. Every organisation should have a comprehensive strategy that not only promotes mental health and provides effective return to work support but that proactively responds to mental ill health in the workplace at an early stage. This will bring about better health for people and save costs for organisations.This article outlines the scale of the issue and draws on leadership research to explore how this could be used in the workplace to build a culture able to respond to and manage mental health effectively at work. It outlines how the Centre for Mental Health (formerly the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health) has addressed some of these issues by working with the Australian charity, beyondblue: the national depression initiative. The Centre has made beyondblue's highly successful National Workplace Programme available in the UK in order to build management competencies so that managers have the skills, knowledge and confidence to act.
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The purpose of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of how the concept of marketing is seen and put into practice in SMEs. Furthermore, it seeks to examine whether the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to get a deeper understanding of how the concept of marketing is seen and put into practice in SMEs. Furthermore, it seeks to examine whether the perceptions and practices differ according to the size, industry and customers of the SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted among SMEs in three industries in eastern Finland.
Findings
Marketing was seen as a means to inform the customers about the enterprise and its offerings. SME marketers were also interested in creating and maintaining customer relationships. The main aim of marketing seemed to be to create sales. Marketing thought and practices cannot be regarded as being uniform within SMEs. The results show that they vary depending on firm size and customers.
Originality/value
The study offers an insight into the little researched area of comparing marketing within SMEs. It brings empirical evidence of the perceptions of marketing and how they affect marketing management in small enterprises.
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Linda Pickett and Susan Carson
This paper presents the results and experiences of one school within a unique university/K-12 school district partnership that approached school reform through a framework of…
Abstract
This paper presents the results and experiences of one school within a unique university/K-12 school district partnership that approached school reform through a framework of peace education. Faced with the challenge of improving academic achievement in a district with a history of five years failing to meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act, university faculty collaborated with elementary school teachers to implement principles of peace education that have been successfully applied at Oldwood Integrated Primary School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As two university faculty involved in the project, we present challenges, theoretical perspectives, and the model that guided our initiative, the process, and results of social change in teaching practice.
Helen Reijonen, Jani Saastamoinen and Timo Tammi
The aim is to examine the importance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see in different network partners regarding successful tendering in public procurement, and whether…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim is to examine the importance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see in different network partners regarding successful tendering in public procurement, and whether this perception predicts the number of joint bids and wins.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected by an electronic questionnaire which was sent to the registered users of the leading electronic platform for public procurement in Finland. The data were analysed with statistical methods.
Findings
The findings suggest that a favourable perception of the importance of horizontal networks in public procurement is associated with a larger number of joint bids and better success in joint bidding. However, the results do not establish a positive correlation between vertical networks and consortium bidding.
Research limitations/implications
The data were collected from a single EU country. Since the criteria for bidding consortia may vary between countries, different results might have been achieved from other countries.
Practical implications
SMEs should be encouraged to form bidding consortia and acquire related experience. Policymakers should minimise barriers to consortium bidding, e.g. by offering more information. They should also assess the merits of joint bidding because they rarely encourage SMEs to bid as a consortium.
Social implications
Consortium bidding is a way of enhancing SMEs’ possibilities to participate in public tender contests, even in large contracts.
Originality/value
While consortium bidding has been recognised to enhance SMEs’ possibilities of participating in public procurement, there is limited research into how SMEs’ network collaborations relate to bidding as a consortium.
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This paper aims to empirically explore and theorise the application of technology control over customers during call-centre interactions. The author seeks to ascertain distinct…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically explore and theorise the application of technology control over customers during call-centre interactions. The author seeks to ascertain distinct types of technology-mediated control, with potentially distinct ingredients and consequences for repatronage and service relations.
Design/methodology/approach
During three stages of empirical research across Western and non-Western, developed and developing country settings and across call-centre types, customers who have experienced control during call-centre exchanges, as well as providers (operatives, supervisors and managers) are interviewed as part of ethnographic research also reliant upon observation and company documentation.
Findings
Findings suggest that, first, the rapid adoption of technology has facilitated the application of control during provider-customer interactions, second, such control may be more widespread than suggested in the literature and, third, there are various types, processes and ingredients of technology-mediated control. The discussion contrasts deliberate from accidental control.
Research limitations/implications
Studies on call-centre interactions often assume that relationships between providers and customers follow customer-centric expectations in service marketing theory. Only a minority of theorists in service marketing contest these assumptions, arguing instead that service providers may be using techniques to control customers by dominating and regulating processes and outcomes of interactions with customers. This study advances extant literature by theorising control types, their ingredients and impact on service provision.
Practical implications
Businesses may benefit from knowing when, how and how much customers are willing to revoke control. Customers are shown to accept being controlled, with customers’ tolerance for control being larger than anticipated.
Originality/value
This is a rare attempt to analyse control over customers seen through the eyes of providers across levels of decision-making within organisational hierarchies. Whereas research tends to study control in generic terms, the author demonstrates the multifarious and complex nature of control. The author challenges conventional thinking in the discipline by providing empirical evidence of, and theorising, how and why customers permit themselves to be controlled in service relations.
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Nicholas Catahan and Helen Woodruffe-Burton
This is an exploratory and qualitative study to consider approaches to capture, analyse and monitor perceptions from big data, to inform and contribute to place management…
Abstract
Purpose
This is an exploratory and qualitative study to consider approaches to capture, analyse and monitor perceptions from big data, to inform and contribute to place management research and practice of botanic gardens (BGs). This paper aims to address the ongoing significant threat to BGs due to funding being cut and the need to inform and develop sustainable revenue streams for their survival.
Design/methodology/approach
Guiding research questions for this study were: ‘What are the perceived strengths and areas for development for 2 BGs via a Leximancer Automatic Content Analysis (ACA) of TripAdvisor online reviews; and do they match BGs purpose of scientific research, conservation, display and education?’ A content analysis of 582 online reviews from 2007 to 2017 follows qualitative methodology techniques using a combination of manual and automatic text analysis (Leximancer text mining software). These approaches enabled a comparison of online TripAdvisor reviews with Likert-type or rating scale items of 1 to 5 stars.
Findings
Insights revealed the use of Leximancer and TripAdvisor (or similar innovations) as tools for potential place management, place marketing communications and monitoring purposes. Predominant perceptions extracted from reviews are not concerned with documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific discovery, conservation, display and education. Reviews clearly focus more upon aesthetics, facilities and services, which support previous studies. Overall, reviews highlighted positive sentiments towards the BGs.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations link to limited data across two BGs, synthesis and meaning of complex perceptions, matters of subjectivity and time needed to interpret information. Implications enable insights into BG “place” gleaned from big data in the form of user-generated content and electronic Word-Of-Mouth using Leximancer; viewed as a measure alongside management action plans. Future studies could strengthen debate and action regarding the use of Leximancer, and also public perception of BGs’ core functions, importance and value. The research supports potential to monitor and transform perceptions, values and beliefs. Outcomes could eventually inform policy and generate a much-needed shift in funds and resources for BGs by highlighting their relevance and value to society.
Originality/value
An empirical and methodological contribution via peer reviewed studies of visitor perceptions via online reviews of Britain’s BGs “place” and “space” analysed with Leximancer have never been published. This study critically explores potential visitor and place management needs of BGs. Managers can make better use of big data from social media platforms/digital channels, using a novel type of data analytical software like Leximancer for strategic planning; with more informed approaches to place management, innovation and development. A key contribution of this study is this ACA methodological approach for place management.
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