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Strategy has become one of the most overused and misused words in our business vocabulary. Chief executives love to talk about strategy because “it's the thing to do.” Managers love the word because it makes them sound more professional. Planners love “strategy” because it allows them to establish their own unique identity within the corporation. Which managers can stand before their subordinates, peers, or bosses and admit to not having a strategy?

Many U. S. businesses face slower economic growth, increased foreign competition, and customers who are increasingly sensitive to price. As a result, a brilliant strategy is no longer enough to guarantee marketing success. Rather, U.S. corporations are increasingly focusing on developing an operational competitive advantage in R&D manufacturing, sales, and marketing. In response to this challenge, strategic planners at such corporations as Xerox, Ford, and GTE have begun to introduce a new planning tool called “benchmarking.”

The value of competitive intelligence is recognized by everyone from CEOs to line managers. However, very few firms actively link their planning process with their competitive analysis. Moreover, managers in those few firms that do have an active competitive intelligence program are often disappointed with the quality of information they receive.

The paper aims to assess the potential of aircraft operation from city centres to achieve shortened travel times and the involved aircraft design process.

The paper describes the methodical approach and iterative procedure of the design process. An assessment of potential technologies is conducted to provide the required enhancements to fulfil the constraints following an inner-city operation. Operational procedures were analysed to reduce the noise propagation through flight path optimization. Furthermore, a ground-based assisted take-off system was conceived to lower required take-off field length and to prevent engine sizing just for the take-off case. Cabin design optimization for a fast turnaround has been conducted to ensure a wide utilization spectrum. The results prove the feasibility of an aircraft developed for inner city operation.

A detailed concept for a 60-passenger single aisle aircraft is proposed for an Entry-Into-Service year 2040 with a design range of 1,500 nautical miles for a load factor of 90 per cent. Although the design for Short Take-off and Landing and low noise operation had to be traded partly with cruise efficiency, a noteworthy reduction in fuel burn per passenger and nautical mile could be achieved against current aircraft.

The findings will contribute to the evaluation of the feasibility and impact of the Flightpath 2050 goal of a 4-h door-to-door by providing a feasible but ambitious example. Furthermore, it highlights possible bottlenecks and problems faced when realizing this goal.

The paper draws its value from the consideration of the overall sizing effects at aircraft level and from a holistic view on an inner-city airport/aircraft concept design for a 4-h door-to-door goal.

This experimental study investigates the connotative (measured) meaning of the concept “auditor independence” within three audit engagement case contexts, including two acknowledged in the literature to represent significant potential threats to independence. The study’s research design utilises the measurement of meaning (semantic differential) framework originally proposed by Osgood et al. (1957). Findings indicate that research participants considered the concept of independence within a two factor cognitive structure comprising “emphasis” and “variability” dimensions. Participants’ connotations of independence varied along both these dimensions in response to the alternative experimental case scenarios. In addition, participants’ perceptions of the auditor’s independence in the three cases were systematically associated with the identified connotative meaning dimensions.

Celebrate Michael Buckland's impressive legacy to LIS by showing his humanity, generosity and versatility.

This article is walk through a scientific career in LIS. Through personal anecdotes and life history and building upon Michael Buckland's legacy, it summarises the author’s own work seen through the prism of her interactions with Buckland, leading to scholarly contributions articulating significant statements about the field of LIS as well as pointers to past relevant publications.

Michael Buckland has a unique way of putting an end to thorny LIS issues as well as being a documentator extraordinaire.

It is a personal account, as such cannot be evaluated through the classical norms of empirical research as there is no ground truth. This account shows how chance encounters with fellow scholars can have a lasting influence on one's academic career as well as wider impact in a field.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce librarians, faculty, and other interested individuals to contemporary German literature in English translation.

German‐language authors born in 1950 or later and listed on the Contemporary Living Authors Comprehensive List developed by the German vendor Otto Harrassowitz are searched in OCLC's WorldCat database to determine the existence of English translations. A bio‐bibliographical list is then developed featuring all contemporary German‐language authors who have achieved an English language translation of at least one of their literary works.

Of the approximately 1,400 writers on Harrassowitz's comprehensive list, a surprisingly large number of almost 80 authors of the younger generation (born in 1950 or later) have been translated into English.

This bio‐bibliography of contemporary German belles lettres (of the younger generation) in English translation is the first of its kind. It can be used by librarians to check their current library holdings and to expand their collections of German literature in English translation.

Single-family houses are a common form of housing in Europe. Most were built in the context of the suburbanization after World War II and are now facing challenges arising from generational changes as well as increasing living and energy standards. According to the hypothesis of this paper, in several EU regions, single-family houses may face future challenges arising from oversupply and lack of adaptation to current demand. To examine this, the paper analyses the present situation and discusses the prognosis for the challenges described above regarding the three neighbouring north-western European countries Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, based on available data and a review of country-specific characteristics of housing markets as well as national policies. Despite an impending mismatch between demand and supply, planning policies still support the emergence of new single-family houses. The comparison of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands shows the growing polarization between shrinking and growing regions and central and peripheral sites apparent at different stages in the three countries. While a high rate of vacancies is already registered for some regions in Germany, in the Netherlands this phenomenon can only be seen near the borders and in villages within the Randstad conurbation. In Belgium also, this phenomenon is not yet widespread, but in some suburban neighbourhoods dating from the 1950's and 1960's more and more single-family houses are becoming more difficult to sell, indicating an emerging mismatch between supply and demand. This article proposes some instruments which enable municipalities to intervene in single family housing neighbourhoods which are largely dominated by private ownership. These instruments are not yet widely established in single-family housing neighbourhoods but that may become important in the future.

This study aims to follow a rigorous approach to identify, critically analyze and synthesize 75 papers published from 2000 to 2022.

The study presents a systematic literature review on identity expressiveness (IE), clarifying and expanding what is currently known about the concept.

To synthesize current knowledge on IE, the study uses the overarching framework of antecedents-phenomenon-consequences, using this same framework to identify gaps and future research directions. The findings show individual and brand-related factors such as the need for uniqueness and anthropomorphism as antecedents of IE, and eWOM/WOM, impulse purchases and upgrading to more exclusive lines as consequences of IE.

The study contributes to theory by synthesizing and mapping current understanding of the state of knowledge on the concept of IE while highlighting gaps in the extant literature and paving future research directions for scholars in the field.

The study offers useful insights for practitioners, broadening marketers’ actionable options in identity-based marketing. Marketers can use insights from this study to inform marketing strategy and communication campaigns for different types of brands.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind and offers an integrative review of the current literature on IE, thus enhancing understanding of the concept, its antecedents and consequences. The study also contributes to knowledge by highlighting future research priorities for researchers in this field of enquiry.

While the tourism industry has been busy responding to the demand for tourism facilities and amenities which seems determined by inexorable progression to achieve the projections that tourism will become the largest single component of international trade by the year 2000 (WTO, 1987), those researchers and administrators with the responsibility to devise and pursue rational processes of decision‐making, resource allocation and impact assessment have been challenged by a recent plethora of publications which have sought to explore the finer points of detail in research, analysis and practice. Those challenges have emenated from compendia of research techniques (Ritchie and Goeldner, 1987), from revisions to standard texts on tourism planning (Gunn, 1988A and 1988B), and not least from overviews of tourism planning (Inskeep, 1988) and tourism models (Getz, 1986). In a tradition traceable to previous standard works (e.g. Baud‐Bovy and Lawson, 1977; Kaiser and Helber, 1978; Mcintosh and Goeldner, 1984 et seq.; Mill and Morrison, 1985; Murphy, 1985) it is evident that “tourism requires systematic planning so that it is developed properly, responsive to market demands, and integrated into the total development pattern of the area” (Inskeep, 1988, p. 361). Despite the heritage of such advocacy it is possible to compose compendious inventories of examples where systematic planning and integration with other forms of development have not been evident (Baud‐Bovy, 1982). The reason for this may be the ascendacy of industry pragmatism over tourism planning (Gunn, 1977).