Search results

In an attempt to gain insight into the effects of transparent communication on critical performances, this paper aims to explore performance measures and communication of a large‐scale service organization, i.e. the Dutch Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen, (NS)).

Semi‐structured interviews with employees of NS and external stakeholders were analyzed to study which performances are measured by NS, why they are measured, and how they are communicated to the employees and stakeholders.

An ambiguous view on transparency was observed. Although transparency is advocated by most employees and stakeholders, this study revealed the complexity of performance communication of a service organization. In this case, NS used to fully disclose performances but emphasized positive performances. This transparent communication strategy seemed to backfire and yielded a counterbalanced societal response from customer organizations which resulted in a strained relationship.

The findings are based on qualitative data of a limited number of interviews. Several types of actors were interviewed but not passengers of NS themselves.

From a communicative point of view, it might be wise to publish negative aspects as well as the positive ones to promote trust and corporate credibility. Building trust involves investing in positive experiences for customers and promotion of realistic expectations. To enhance trust, organizations must not only inform stakeholders and citizens about their performances but also invest in direct communication with their stakeholders.

This study explores performance communication of a service organization, and the ambivalent role of transparency of (internal and external) performance communication.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into performance communication from an important public service, i.e. the Belgian Railway, towards its employees (internal) and stakeholders (external).

A qualitative research approach was taken in the form of 11 in‐depth interviews among spokespersons, quality engineers, politicians, journalists, Ombudsman, and consumer organizations.

The research found that performance communication focuses too much on positive aspects. Although both insiders and outside stakeholders admit that the frequency, amount and quality of performance communication in the Belgian situation are insufficient, this situation seems to result in utilizing additional media types.

There is seemingly a lack of research on (public) performance communication. This paper puts the most relevant literature together and presents the results of a qualitative study.

This paper aims to answer the following questions: to what extent do city events typify cities and do they yield long‐term effects?

The paper comprises a literature overview of evidence‐based research regarding the impact of city events on tourists' perceptions of their host cities. In total, eight case studies are further analyzed.

Several events typify cities, contradicting the often proclaimed assumption that they are only serial reproductions which do not really make differences between cities. City events may increase one's knowledge about the specific city and stimulate positive feelings about the city. However, this is only true if certain conditions are fulfilled, such as connecting the event to the typical physical and other aspects of the city. Changes in tourists' perceptions decrease in the long run if the perceptions are only related to specific events. Long‐term effects are possible if the city events are embedded in broader marketing strategies supported by other stakeholders, such as residents. In practice however, this is rarely the case.

Results are based on a limited number of available empirical studies and focused on two key variables (differentiation and the duration of effects). Neither other variables, nor stakeholders other than tourists are taken into account. Perceptions of tourists are operationalized in different ways.

The paper brings together insights from previous empirical studies, in order to clarify the added value of events for city promotion. It contradicts the assumption of the homogenizing effect of such events and points out some key conditions for their success.

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the content, format and evaluation of printed public communication from police officers and governments regarding home burglary prevention in Belgium.

The content and format in this paper is analyzed through content analysis of 104 printed communication pieces in the Belgian province of Flemish‐Brabant in 2005. The evaluation is analyzed through five focus group interviews among professionals and common citizens.

The paper finds that police zones significantly differ in terms of communication efforts. The media mix is not diverse with poor collaboration between police officers and government information officers, while intermediaries (i.e. architects) are rarely used, culminating in poor targeted communication.

The paper shows that only printed communication is analyzed and more large‐scale empirical research is desired.

The paper shows that a richer media mix, more targeted communication, more national communication support and additional dialogue between and training of police officers and communication with professionals are advisable.

This paper combines two empirical studies and methods (content analysis and focus group interviews), resulting in a series of recommendations for further inquiry and future action.

In this paper the aim is to present Debate Dashboard, an online collaborative platform designed to support distributed knowledge management and decision making. The platform integrates an argument mapping tool with visual widgets with the objective of enhancing collective sense‐making and mutual understanding as well as to compensate for the costs of mediated communication in virtual collaborative environments.

The design of Debate Dashboard is based on the theory of common ground according to which participants involved in a conversation build mutual understanding thanks to the exchange of different types of feedback. Using the concept of grounding cost, the authors identified several features of the Dashboard supposed to favour mutual understanding and knowledge sharing. Such features have been implemented through six visual widgets selected through a benchmarking of currently available visualization tools.

The paper discusses the limitations and advantages of online argumentation to support online discussions and presents a review of current visualization tools. The design of a new platform able to integrate online argumentation and visualization technologies is described and it is argued that Debate Dashboard will improve online collaboration in many respects especially in terms of supporting the construction of shared knowledge representations for geographically distributed collaborative teams.

First, the work adds to the debate on the development of online argumentation platforms by offering an alternative theoretical perspective based on language and conversational studies. Second, it proposes for the first time to integrate argumentation and visualization technologies in the same tool to create an augmented collaborative platform able to overcome the limitations of both traditional online collaboration technologies, such as forums and wikis, as well as the criticalities associated with the use of argumentation technologies.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the stories of Syd Barrett musician, with Andrew Voyce, and their respective recovery journeys.

The authors use collaborative autoethnography to share their own perspectives on Syd Barrett and to contrast his story with that of Andrew, a co-author.

Both Syd and Andrew experienced serious mental distress. While Syd had only limited contact with mental health services, Andrew’s contact was extensive, with a 20-year history of admissions and discharges. In the end, when the psychiatric services listened to Andrew’s concerns and acted on them, he was able to enter into the journey of recovery.

The authors are restricted in the amount of available information on Syd Barrett, especially that related to mental health problems. The story of Andrew shows how recovery is possible even after years of serious mental illness.

Andrew’s story shows why professionals should never give up on people, with even the most seemingly severe and intractable problems. Could services have done more for Syd?

Mental illness still attracts huge stigma. Today there is a much more open culture. Would Syd have come out about his own struggles with mental health had society been more open?

Bringing together two stories of mental distress enables the authors to explore the concept of recovery.

The ways that individuals interact with and through music have changed dramatically over the past 70 years. The advent of radio, television, and film brought strange and unfamiliar forms of music into the most remote corners of the world (see Peterson, 2004), profoundly transforming the role of music in everyday life and the spaces in which it is consumed. The rise of the Internet in the past 20 years has highlighted an ever-increasing complexity in communication among people interacting in musical spaces. In the process, music subcultures have become less definitive, static, and exclusive; scenes have become increasingly archetypical and symbolic; while music communities have become more situational and recurring. While each concept highlights a different aspect of music-cultural space, it is important and useful to examine how their evolution highlights the relevance of interactionist approaches to the study of music.

The purpose of this paper is to increase understandings of the complexity of stakeholder relationships and their impact on environmental practices in music festivals in Western Canada, but also to highlight how managers can leverage their festival platform for stakeholders to create new partnerships that foster and support primary values around sustainability.

We use a community-based participatory framework to guide this study, and qualitative research methods in the form of in-depth interviews and surveys at three separate music festivals within the interior of British Columbia, Canada.

The majority of patrons are aware of the environmental impacts of music festivals and are more likely to attend a festival with effective practices. By making environmental sustainability a core value of the festival and communicating environmental objectives with both stakeholders and patrons, managers can begin to alleviate the operational barriers to environmentalism.

One of the primary contributions of this study is that it provides management with deeper understandings of a wide range of barriers to effective environmental practices in Western Canada. We consult directly with both festival management and attendees about environmental practices. This paper presents a fuller perspective of how to move beyond simple measures and craft a more sophisticated and flexible environmental strategy that reduces risk, anticipates obstacles and greatly improves the odds of successful implementation.