Christopher Hendrik Ruehl and Diana Ingenhoff
Over the last years, many corporations have started to maintain profile pages on social networking sites (SNS), but research on how and why organizational stakeholders use these…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the last years, many corporations have started to maintain profile pages on social networking sites (SNS), but research on how and why organizational stakeholders use these profile pages has not kept pace. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies a combined perspective of uses-and-gratifications (U & G) and social cognitive theory (SCT) to investigate the reasons why politicians and digital natives consume and interact with corporations on SNS. In total, 65 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Findings
Results suggest that the two stakeholder groups differ in their motivations, as well as behavior to use corporate profile pages. Digital natives seem to prefer Facebook to interact with companies, politicians prefer Twitter. Corporate YouTube pages are almost not important to any of the groups.
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative nature of the study does not allow for generalizations of the findings to larger populations. Suggestions for further research are addressed in the discussion section.
Practical implications
The study results have numerous implications for the practice of communication management. Fans on SNS do not tend to interact with corporations to a large extent, but are loyal followers. Once a connection between an individual and a company is established, it is likely to last. This enables corporations to gain rich information from their networks to be included in customer service, product development, issues management and recruiting.
Originality/value
This is the first study in the field of communication management, which applies a micro-level approach to interviewing users of corporate communication; in order to reveal the reasons why and how they use corporate social networking profile pages.
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As Internet usage continues to grow, the desire of individuals to create Web sites has also increased. This has led to the publication of materials on the various uses of Web pages…
Abstract
As Internet usage continues to grow, the desire of individuals to create Web sites has also increased. This has led to the publication of materials on the various uses of Web pages and how to develop them. This annotated bibliography is a sampling of items published concerning HTML and homepages. The audience ranges from educators to businessmen to individuals who want to create a homepage. Materials that were selected for inclusion are in both traditional paper formats and those available on the Web.
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Purpose – To describe the evolution of an integrated ‘lean’ and ‘agile’ supply chain process that employed Just‐in‐time (JIT) lean manufacturing approaches at an electronics…
Abstract
Purpose – To describe the evolution of an integrated ‘lean’ and ‘agile’ supply chain process that employed Just‐in‐time (JIT) lean manufacturing approaches at an electronics company. Design/methodology/approach – A case study was designed to examine the links between specific efficiencies and cost savings that derived from transitions in the evolution of the integrated lean and agile supply chain. The case study focused on the company's supply chain management innovations that led to specific improvements in production processes that in turn resulted in enhanced financial outcomes. Findings – The data revealed how specific quality enhancing and lean manufacturing components evolved over a period of seven years in a two stage transition from a ‘lean’ supply chain to one that represented an integrated lean and agile paradigm based on the decoupling point approach (Christopher & Towill, 2001). Research limitations/implications – A single site case study limits the generalizability of the findings. Additional research is necessary to replicate the findings in other firms/industries. Practical implications – By incorporating improvements in production processes in the supply chain, managers can determine how inefficiencies in the supply chain process can be tracked and eliminated to improve a firm's financial performance. Originality/value – Research that documents links between different managerial functions, e.g. supply chain management, improved manufacturing processes, and accounting issues (e.g. cost reduction and improved profitability), is particularly useful.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians has been on the shelf for two years now, and the pride and excitement I felt when it first appeared, due to my small contributions…
Abstract
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians has been on the shelf for two years now, and the pride and excitement I felt when it first appeared, due to my small contributions to its content and completion, have not diminished. As a reference librarian, I use it constantly myself and with patrons to answer a wide spectrum of questions. As a cataloger, I turn to it for birth and death dates, help in establishing names and uniform titles, and for the date of composition for music (to be stored in field 045 of the MARC format). As a researcher, I delve into it time and time again for the opinions of respected scholars and for data in worklists and bibliographies.
Examines some of the difficulties facing any company in its pursuit ofquality profile achievement. Areas covered include defining qualitywithin the Sutcliffe Group and reviewing…
Abstract
Examines some of the difficulties facing any company in its pursuit of quality profile achievement. Areas covered include defining quality within the Sutcliffe Group and reviewing some of the difficulties the Group faced in its pursuit of quality as a “contract” organization in 2,000 different client locations. Concludes with a detailed description of Sutcliffe′s quality initiatives for sustaining growth, improving client retention and focusing every employee′s objective on the provision of a superior service.
KWJ Treadaway MSc CChem FRSC and CL Page MA PhD CEng MIM MICorrST
In a joint research programme, BRE and Aston University are studying the basic processes of corrosion in reinforced concrete. This will provide essential knowledge for predicting…
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In a joint research programme, BRE and Aston University are studying the basic processes of corrosion in reinforced concrete. This will provide essential knowledge for predicting long‐term durability and performance of reinforced concrete and for the assessment of repair work.
1. What guidelines would you offer a Muslim, Hindu and Sikh having to choose a meal from typical English foods without breaking their religious food laws? Which protein rich foods…
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1. What guidelines would you offer a Muslim, Hindu and Sikh having to choose a meal from typical English foods without breaking their religious food laws? Which protein rich foods would be permitted to each of these groups?
ALTHOUGH the active European and Asiatic land war has not begun so far as the bulk of the English are concerned and there are no visible signs of war's ending, advantage has been…
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ALTHOUGH the active European and Asiatic land war has not begun so far as the bulk of the English are concerned and there are no visible signs of war's ending, advantage has been taken by many bodies to outline their after‐war proposals. Stale as we know that simple statement to be, we want to insist again that no one should be deflected for long from this reconstruction problem on the grounds that the decisive phases of war are still before us. Improbable as it seems, peace might “break out” at any time and might be catastrophic if food, clothing, homes and employment were not available on a scale at present scarcely dreamed. All the reports on reconstruction we have seen—of the Labour Party, N.A.L.G.O., the Educationists, as well as the more national ones, the Beveridge, the Uthwatt and those, so far as they exist, of the political parties, have common factors. The imperative of the moment is to relate these and to admit without party bias, the grounds of agreement so that some sort of work may begin. If this is not done—and who is to do it?—the whole of reform may be suffocated in a mass of indigestible verbiage. Libraries are vital, we say and believe, but in the general welter of words the many words of the excellent McColvin Report will not have fair consideration we fear. Our readers know that a strong committee of the Library Association has been giving assiduous study to the much shorter statement which is to embody library aspirations. We hope that it may not be long delayed, although we recognize that undue haste might lead to prolonged repentance.
In conducting marketing analysis, planning, implementation and control, managers need information at almost every point in the cycle. One marketing executive put it this way: “…to…
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In conducting marketing analysis, planning, implementation and control, managers need information at almost every point in the cycle. One marketing executive put it this way: “…to manage a business well is to manage its future and to manage the future is to manage information”. Discusses the communication flows needed to manage business development activities effectively and relates them to practical illustrations and examples.
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Too many American executives are clueless when it comes to business etiquette, and in today's global marketplace they pay a high price for their ignorance, maintains Letitia…
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Too many American executives are clueless when it comes to business etiquette, and in today's global marketplace they pay a high price for their ignorance, maintains Letitia Baldrige, doyen of good manners. The former head of protocol in the Kennedy White House is acknowledged as a national authority on proper behavior. She now consults on business etiquette to major corporations, and is editor‐in‐chief of the Washington D.C.‐based monthly publication, Executive Advantage.