It is argued that there is now hard evidence to suggest that directmail is more effective than advertising. But direct mail is more complexthan advertising. To be achieved on any…
Abstract
It is argued that there is now hard evidence to suggest that direct mail is more effective than advertising. But direct mail is more complex than advertising. To be achieved on any worthwhile scale a substantial investment in terms of people, creativity, equipment and technical expertise is demanded. How one firm provides these for its often specialised customers is described.
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This piece explores the philosophical origins of sense-making as defined in Brenda Dervin’s methodology.
Abstract
Purpose
This piece explores the philosophical origins of sense-making as defined in Brenda Dervin’s methodology.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper locates the origins of sense-making's rich ontological, epistemological and etymological heritage to the Classical Greece and the Pre-Socratic period. The Greek origins of sense-making‘s philosophical undercurrents surface again in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit before the idea is picked up again in twentieth century philosophy and library science.
Findings
This is a conceptual paper and no empirical findings are presented.
Originality/value
This paper makes an original contribution to the study of information seeking and to sense making theory and methodology.
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Shahin Shooshtari, Brenda M. Stoesz, Leslie Udell, Leanne Fenez, Natalia Dik, Charles Burchill, Elizabeth Sachs and Verena Menec
Information on the risk of dementia in aging persons with intellectual and/or developmental disability (IDD) in Manitoba, Canada is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Information on the risk of dementia in aging persons with intellectual and/or developmental disability (IDD) in Manitoba, Canada is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to estimate dementia prevalence in adults with IDD.
Design/methodology/approach
Anonymized population-level health and non-health administrative data (1979-2012) contained in the Population Health Research Data Repository of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) were linked to identify adults with IDD, and estimate the prevalence of dementia based on the presence of ICD codes. Prevalence of dementia was estimated for persons aged 18-55 years and 55+ years, and was reported by sex, type of residence, region of residence, neighbourhood income quintiles, and IDD diagnostic category.
Findings
Of the 8,655 adults with IDD identified, 8.1 per cent had an indication of dementia in their medical records; an estimate three times greater than that found for those without IDD (2.6 per cent). More than 17 per cent of Manitobans with IDD aged 55+ years had an indication of dementia, which was nearly twice the rate reported previously. Of those with IDD and dementia, 34.7 per cent lived in long-term care facilities.
Originality/value
Health and social support services are typically available to individuals with dementia aged 65+ years; thus, younger adults with IDD and dementia may not be eligible for those supports. To promote equity in health and access to care, dementia screening and increased supports for aging individuals with IDD are recommended.
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Steven H. Appelbaum and Brenda M. Fewster
The commercial aviation industry is an extremely competitive, safetysensitive high technology service industry. Socio‐technical systems, employees and customers must be the arenas…
Abstract
The commercial aviation industry is an extremely competitive, safetysensitive high technology service industry. Socio‐technical systems, employees and customers must be the arenas of an organization’s core competencies. The implications are vast and pervasive affecting no less than the organization’s structure, strategy, culture and numerous operational activities. In this article, select findings of a human resource management (HRM) audit are compared to the findings of a review of the literature on diversity, organization development (culture) and training and development. The audit, conducted by 13 executives from their respective organizations, contains extensive data on airlines from nine countries from around the globe. In this article we seek to extend the discussion of excellence in safety and customer service to applied systemic organizational HRM issues and critical success factors. Human resource management (HRM) expertise is required now, more than ever, to spearhead internal marketing strategies in order to gain employee commitment in order to foster excellence in safety and customer service.
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PETER BROPHY, PETER JACKAMAN, FT BELL, MIKE PEARCE, CN EASTCOTT and BRENDA WHITE
THE COMMENT by Don Revill in the August issue of NEW LIBRARY WORLD raises a number of interesting points. The allocation of library book funds between departments or between site…
Abstract
THE COMMENT by Don Revill in the August issue of NEW LIBRARY WORLD raises a number of interesting points. The allocation of library book funds between departments or between site libraries has always proved a sticky problem, and, as Revill points out, a variety of solutions have been advocated. Of course, the actual division of the funds presents no real problem (everyone is willing to spend the money!) once the bases on which this division is to be made have been decided. Thus the real decisions boil down to judgements of the relative value (to the university? to the state? to the librarian?) of such factors as:
Arthur Harkins and Brenda Fiala
Invention arises from creativity, while innovation arises from invention. Innovation is not the last step in this sequence; innovations must be implemented through small and large…
Abstract
Invention arises from creativity, while innovation arises from invention. Innovation is not the last step in this sequence; innovations must be implemented through small and large changes in organizational practices before they can become operationally successful. The comparatively higher frequency and wider distribution of this process defines an innovation society and its economy. This article proposes a focus on the individual as the first beneficiary of preparatory and on‐the‐job‐services to help evolve innovation societies for coping with five major “divides” currently driving the unequal distribution of global opportunity. To this end, the article proposes developing personal capital through role evolution, rehearsal, and assessment processes supported by “virtual” selves.
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While holistic studies devoted to the information behavior of humanist scholars have begun to appear more frequently in the literature, there has been, until quite recently, a…
Abstract
While holistic studies devoted to the information behavior of humanist scholars have begun to appear more frequently in the literature, there has been, until quite recently, a persistent tendency to consolidate humanists rather than attend to the variant gestalts, material working conditions, and values that might distinguish one from another. This chapter is a response to recent calls for more finely granulated descriptions of specific humanist disciplinary practices. It offers a close examination of the information behavior of theatre researchers, both academics and practitioners. For reasons that the chapter explores, theatre researchers constitute a user group that has been profoundly neglected. Using both quantitative and qualitative data obtained through a survey of listserv members of the American Society for Theatrical Research and the Theatre Library Association, the chapter examines the impact of theatre culture on theatre research practices. Moreover, inspired by Brenda Dervin's “Sense-Making Methodology,” this chapter offers the embedded perspective of a researcher who is herself a theatre scholar as well as a practicing librarian. The chapter ranges widely, illustrating its findings with, for example, published rehearsal memoirs, statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, white papers produced by the National Endowment of the Arts, performance theory texts. Topics covered include the history of theatre studies as an academic discipline, the multiple job-holding/unemployment culture of practitioners such as actors and directors, the differences in focus and methodology that distinguish practitioners from scholars, the marginalized status of dramatic literature in university English departments. Several themes that emerged through analysis of qualitative data are discussed: the contrast between scholarly rigor and the tendency of the practitioner to “satisfice,” the conflicting claims of text and artifact, the impact of geography and teaching-intensive institutional affiliation on researchers’ access to resources. The author concludes that it is not only inadvisable and inaccurate to generalize behaviors across humanistic disciplines; it is equally inaccurate to assume that all researchers within the same discipline will manifest the same characteristics, or even that the same researcher will apply the same strategies to all projects. The only generalization about the information behavior of the theatre researcher that can be made is that it is highly task and context dependent.
Hadyn Ingram and Brenda McDonnell
Explores way in which firms can improve service performance through people. Analyses the nature and characteristics of teamworking and ways in which performance can be measured…
Abstract
Explores way in which firms can improve service performance through people. Analyses the nature and characteristics of teamworking and ways in which performance can be measured and benchmarked. Suggests possible approaches to the management of performance in the future.
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Steven H. Appelbaum and Brenda M. Fewster
The commercial airline is an extremely competitive, safety‐sensitive, high technology service industry. People, employees and customers, not products and machines, must be the…
Abstract
The commercial airline is an extremely competitive, safety‐sensitive, high technology service industry. People, employees and customers, not products and machines, must be the arena of an organization’s core competence. The implications are vast and pervasive affecting no less than the organization’s structure, strategy, culture, and numerous operational activities. Completed by 13 respondents (executives), this audit presents a series of select findings of a human resource management audit carried out in 2001‐2 and contains extensive data on airlines from nine countries from around the globe. The conclusion drawn from these three bodies of work is that, with the exception of a handful of high performing airlines, the industry as a whole continues to function as per a traditional, top‐down, highly divisionalised, industrial model of operations and governance. This model is manifestly inappropriate in such a highly knowledge‐based service market as the airline industry. HRM expertise in general and employee and labour relations in particular are required now,more than ever, to spearhead the strategic development of a customer‐centric, learning‐oriented workforce that is capable of adapting quickly to the strategic goals and change imperatives facing the airline industry.