Small firms have been attracting increasing attention in recent years. An awareness of their potential contribution to an ailing economy has given rise to a multitude of…
Abstract
Small firms have been attracting increasing attention in recent years. An awareness of their potential contribution to an ailing economy has given rise to a multitude of assistance schemes and benefits. Financial organisations, government departments and other interested parties are all trying to assist start‐ups and the development of new enterprises. Local authorities, too, are becoming aware of the role they can play.
Diane Broughton, Lissa Blackburn and Lesley Vickers
The article explores the role of information brokers andinformation consultants, their development, reasons for their emergence,their main characteristics and activities and their…
Abstract
The article explores the role of information brokers and information consultants, their development, reasons for their emergence, their main characteristics and activities and their relations with libraries. Finally, the future of information brokers/consultants is examined.
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Discusses the issue of charging for public library services.Implementing a charge for services is viewed against a background ofincreasing demand for services and falling budgets…
Abstract
Discusses the issue of charging for public library services. Implementing a charge for services is viewed against a background of increasing demand for services and falling budgets. Puts forward arguments both for and against charging for services, and discusses the effect which new technology is having on services, and the debate about charging. Also discusses alternative methods for the library service to raise additional income. Concludes that charging for services is not the only option open to the library to raise money.
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Professor Jean Rudduck will use a grant from BLRDD, over 18 months commencing in January 1987, to look at post‐graduate teacher training courses in six settings. The project will…
Abstract
Professor Jean Rudduck will use a grant from BLRDD, over 18 months commencing in January 1987, to look at post‐graduate teacher training courses in six settings. The project will cover issues related to the retrieval, organisation, presentation and criticism of information and knowledge. Among topics investigated will be formal introductions to the library, students' use of books and libraries, their management of course work assignments, their perceptions of knowledge and information handling and their experiences of study skills teaching as part of teaching practice. Much useful background information can be found in LIR Report 24, The sixth form and libraries: problems of access to knowledge by Jean Rudduck and David Hopkins (£9.50 from the British Library Publications Sales Unit, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ). For additional information please contact Professor Jean Rudduck, University of Sheffield, Division of Education, Arts Tower (Floor 12), Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN (Tel: 0742–768555). BLRDD is hoping to support a parallel study which will look at similar issues in undergraduate teacher training courses.
TONY WARSHAW, LIZ BOWMAN, TERRY HANSTOCK, ALLAN BUNCH, EDWIN FLEMING and WILFRED ASHWORTH
Two new members of staff are joining BLRDD in September: Lawrence Howells, who is at present working in the Science Reference and Information service, will become a project…
Abstract
Two new members of staff are joining BLRDD in September: Lawrence Howells, who is at present working in the Science Reference and Information service, will become a project officer, and Ros Cotton, who is currently working in the Library Association Library, will be the new dissemination officer.
Nicholas Ford, Paul Trott and Christopher Simms
The purpose of this paper is to explore older people’s food consumption experiences. Specifically, the paper seeks to provide understanding on the influence of food intake on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore older people’s food consumption experiences. Specifically, the paper seeks to provide understanding on the influence of food intake on consumer vulnerability and how this manifests within people’s lives.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts an interpretive, exploratory approach, using in-depth interviews with 20 older consumers in the UK. Thematic analysis is conducted, establishing patterns and contradictions with the data.
Findings
The findings demonstrate how biological, psychological and social age-related changes can contribute to reduced food intake in later life. The loss of control over one’s consumption experiences as a result of inappropriate portion sizes acts as a source of both immediate and future vulnerability. Resultant food wastage can serve as an immediate reminder of negative associates with ageing, while the accumulative effect of sustained under-consumption contributes to increased frailty. As a result, consumer vulnerability can pervade other contexts of an individual’s life.
Practical implications
The research reveals opportunities for firms to use packaging development to reduce experiences of consumer vulnerability through reduced apportionment of packaged food products. However, this needs to be considered within a multi-demographic marketplace.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to literature by providing a unique lens with which to understand consumer vulnerability. The findings offer a developmental perspective on the experience of consumer vulnerability, revealing the stages of proximate, immediate, intermediate and ultimate vulnerability. This perspective has the potential to offer more detailed, nuanced insights into vulnerability in other contexts beyond food consumption.
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Robert P. Hamlin, Michael Gin, Fiona Nyhof and Joe Bogue
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether consumer focus groups can generate reliable data when used as a consumer research input to copy/graphic design development for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether consumer focus groups can generate reliable data when used as a consumer research input to copy/graphic design development for retail food packaging.
Design/methodology/approach
Six focus groups of six consumers each (n=36) were used to assess four concept designs for a manuka honey cordial product. The focus groups were used to rank the design concepts and to generate specific consumer-driven recommendations to develop/improve each of the designs. A new version of each design was then developed using these recommendations. The eight designs (four original and four improved) were tested together, using a quantitative field experiment at a supermarket in the area from which the focus group sample was drawn.
Findings
The results showed that the focus group rankings of the four original designs were largely predictive of the outcomes of the field trial. The improved designs also consistently outperformed their original equivalents in the field trials. Very large improvements were recorded with respect to the weaker original designs.
Research limitations/implications
The research only studied a single product type. However, the results demonstrate that focus group outcomes can be extended onto larger populations if the focus group sample is large enough.
Practical implications
These results support the use of consumer focus groups as a research input to package graphic design development.
Originality/value
Focus groups are used regularly in research where the applicability of their results to larger populations is assumed. This is the first research to formally test that assumption.
Ron Dvir, Fiona Lettice, Carol Webb and Yael Schwartzberg
To present a generic empowerment ecology framework to guide the operation of Future Centers and to empower Future Center visitors to respond to the challenges facing them and…
Abstract
Purpose
To present a generic empowerment ecology framework to guide the operation of Future Centers and to empower Future Center visitors to respond to the challenges facing them and develop and implement innovative solutions.
Design/methodology/approach
An in‐depth case study was conducted in Be'er Sheva PISGA Future Center in the educational sector in Israel. Visits to a further 20 Future Centers around the world and a literature review helped to generalize the key findings and develop and validate the framework further.
Findings
Although empowerment is not always explicitly discussed in Future Centers, it is an important underlying philosophy. The framework developed in this research helps to ensure empowerment issues are systematically addressed and contains four perspectives: operating principles; resources; supporters and processes. These combine to form the empowerment ecology.
Research limitations/implications
The empowerment ecology framework has been developed from observation predominantly in one Future Center. It should now be more fully tested and validated in other Future Centers.
Practical implications
This paper provides a framework to help Future Center practitioners and other future oriented working environments stakeholders to explicitly address empowerment issues.
Originality/value
This paper provides a detailed description of the operation of a regionally focused Future Center in the educational sector. The paper presents a novel empowerment ecology framework for use in facilitated user‐centered collaborative working environments, such as Future Centers.
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Fiona Lettice, Norman Roth and Ingo Forstenlechner
To present a measurement framework to capture the importance of the use of knowledge within the new product development (NPD) process.
Abstract
Purpose
To present a measurement framework to capture the importance of the use of knowledge within the new product development (NPD) process.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review enabled 200 product development measures to be compiled. These were categorised into six dimensions: stakeholder contribution, operating context, reuse, invention, exploitation, and NPD performance. Four companies applied selected measures and assessed the cube for its ability to improve measurement and management of their NPD process. This process refined the approach. A web‐based questionnaire (with 130 responses) assessed how a wider population perceived their performance and capability to measure performance in each of the six dimensions.
Findings
Respondents consider themselves capable of delivering good products and services, but are less confident in their ability to manage and measure knowledge reuse, invention and exploitation activities.
Research limitations/implications
Full implementation of the measurement cube was not possible. Further research should assess the comprehensiveness, applicability and usefulness of the approach in more detail.
Practical implications/implications
Introduction of the measurement cube and measures in the six dimensions identified would enable companies to go beyond traditional financial measures for their NPD processes and move towards a more performance‐oriented culture.
Originality/value
This paper synthesises the results from many other isolated studies on NPD metrics. In addition, it focuses on the measurement of the NPD process from a knowledge perspective, providing an integrating framework (the measurement cube), which is unique.