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Considers what companies need to survive in the restaurant industry. Cites a quality product as a priority. Suggests good evaluation techniques. Uses case studies to highlight these points. Discusses the concept of players within the market and the different issues they face. Concludes that, whilst a vareity of facts will come and go, there will remain no substitute for excellent food.

There is no direct correlation between total information technology (IT) spend and business profitability ‐ an outrageous claim one might think. But this is the fact of the matter as proved in research we have carried out with Andersen Consulting. It does not mean that IT never improves business performance ‐ it means that how money is spent is more important than the amount. So what makes IT investments pay off and deliver long‐term value to a business?.

This study aims to explore aesthetic atmospheres and their affordances in urban squares to advance knowledge on the research and design of attractive living environments.

Descriptions of pleasant and unpleasant experiences of urban squares were collected using qualitative questionnaires with open-ended questions. The theoretical framework and the lens of aesthetic affordances were applied to pinpoint and understand the connections between the place attributes and experiences.

This study found four distinct aesthetic atmospheres formed by perceived synergies of both the material and immaterial aspects of the environment. It was also found that the atmospheres may shift. A model that shows the aesthetic atmospheres and their potential affordances as layered and emerging is presented.

Everyday aesthetics considered as affordances open new research perspectives for the understanding of what generates attractive living environments – or not.

Aesthetics affordances may provide the design professionals and alike means on how to design places that engender specific aesthetic atmosphere.

Gathering and discussing commonplace aesthetic experiences in everyday life may enhance democratic participation in place development among people with different levels of design expertise.

This study combines theories of place with a novel concept of aesthetic affordances to identify distinct aesthetic atmospheres. A holistic overview structure of how the various constituents of aesthetic atmospheres relate to each other provides new ways of studying and understanding urban aesthetic atmospheres.