Jeremy R. Franks, Jessica Hepburn and Rachel S.E. Peden
This study aims to explore the impacts of long-term trends in the closure of abattoir businesses in the UK on the robustness of the network of abattoirs which provides private…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impacts of long-term trends in the closure of abattoir businesses in the UK on the robustness of the network of abattoirs which provides private kill services.
Design/methodology/approach
This proof-of-concept study uses responses from a farmer and an abattoir survey in a spatial analysis to help visualise the private kill network. Monte Carlo simulation is used to estimate the impacts of possible further closures of private kill abattoirs on the robustness of the private kill network.
Findings
In August 2020, 18% of the area of the UK was more than 45 km from a private kill abattoir, 21% was serviced by one, 14% by two and 47% by three or more abattoirs. After randomly removing 9 and 18% of private kill abattoirs, to reflect the current trend in the closure of private kill abattoirs, the area of the UK more than 45 km from a private kill service and the areas with one and two providers increased, whilst the area with three or more providers decreased for each scenario. This approach, therefore, can be used to quantify the network's resilience to further closures.
Research limitations/implications
The additional information that would be needed to allow this approach to help policymakers identify strategically valuable abattoir businesses is discussed.
Originality/value
No other national or international study has attempted to quantify the robustness of the network of private kill abattoirs.
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Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832) was an eccentric 18th Century English genius of many interests. He was the leader of a group of social and political reformers known as the…
Abstract
Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832) was an eccentric 18th Century English genius of many interests. He was the leader of a group of social and political reformers known as the philosophical radicals that included John Stuart Mill. While Bentham never held a government position, his writings influenced many who did. Bentham’s ideas and works touch on a variety of disciplines including: administrative management, criminal justice, economics, law, organizational theory and decision making, philosophy, political science, public administration, public policy, social welfare, and sociology. Bentham was a wordsmith adding such terms to the popular lexicon as: "minimize," "maximize," and "rational." He was also the first person to use the term "international." This article looks at Jeremy Bentham’s contributions in three areas: organizational theory and decision-making, public policy analysis, and administrative management. The article argues that although his ideas and works have been dismissed as passé in the post 1960s era of selective social consciousness and heightened political correctness, Bentham has much to say that is still important and relevant today
Anne Marie Turvey and Jeremy Lloyd
The purpose of this study is to investigate contemporary pre-service English teacher education in the UK and the transition, for one individual, from pre-service into early-career…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate contemporary pre-service English teacher education in the UK and the transition, for one individual, from pre-service into early-career English teacher. The investigation explores how standards-based education reforms are narrowing the scope of professional practice in UK schools, especially in regard to the creativity of teachers and students.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use critical autobiography (Haug, 1992; Miller, 1995; Rosen, 1998) and dialogic storytelling strategies (Doecke and Parr, 2009; Parr et al., 2015), that are grounded in Bakhtinian (1981) theories of language, education and creativity.
Findings
The essay critically illustrates how standards-based reforms are narrowing the professional practice of English teachers in secondary classrooms in England and compares this with one account of pre-service teacher education in which prospective teachers are taught to appreciate the situated nature of teaching and learning and the power of creative practices to engage students in their learning and development.
Originality/value
The critical and creative use of dialogic storytelling strategies allows the authors to present rigorously contextualised accounts of English teacher education and English teaching in England. The reflexive accounts complement the increasing numbers of studies that are showing the injurious effects of standards-based education reforms on English teaching and learning in schools.
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Paul Jeremy Williams, M. Sajid Khan, Rania Semaan, Earl R. Naumann and Nicholas Jeremy Ashill
A key issue for B2B industrial firms is to better understand the drivers of customer value and contract renewal decisions, due to the long-term supplier-customer relationships…
Abstract
Purpose
A key issue for B2B industrial firms is to better understand the drivers of customer value and contract renewal decisions, due to the long-term supplier-customer relationships. When the B2B firm is operating across national boundaries, there is added complexity to the renewal decision, because the drivers are also influenced by cultural considerations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the main drivers of customer value creation and contract renewal intentions, for a large B2B firm operating in both the USA and Japan and compare the two data sets.
Design/methodology/approach
The company, which provided the data for the study, is a US Fortune 100 firm in the facilities management industry, operating worldwide. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire from a sample of the firm’s customers in two of its largest markets, the USA and Japan. The authors used PLS to analyze the data, and compare and contrast the drivers.
Findings
The findings highlight both similarities and differences across the two countries for the most influential drivers of customer value and contract renewal. Although no differences were found when examining the effect of relational drivers on contract renewal, differences were observed for utilitarian drivers: product quality and price.
Practical implications
The authors expected the relational drivers of contract renewal to be stronger in the high-context culture of Japan, but found that there were no differences with the US market. While relational drivers are important in the decision-making process in both countries, it seems that managers should focus more on price considerations in Japan. In contrast, product quality is relatively more important in the USA, when negotiating contract renewals with customers.
Originality/value
Noticeably absent from the B2B services literature is its application to international markets. In particular, research is lacking on the specific drivers of customer value and contract renewal intentions in the USA and Japan, despite the importance of long-term on-going contractual relationships in these markets. This study has provided additional insights into the complex world of contract renewal between international buyers and sellers of large industrial systems.
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We are precious few in number. Naturally the editor of this worthy journal counts; playing it safe, so I am sure do most of its readers. To play it even safer I had better include…
Abstract
We are precious few in number. Naturally the editor of this worthy journal counts; playing it safe, so I am sure do most of its readers. To play it even safer I had better include my own worthy newspapers' bosses—and publisher — MP Mr Robert Maxwell, who at the present rate of projected take‐over is about to become the new Lord of the Sun and a few other things besides. Throw in a handful of others … Our Harold, hallowed is his name (though not to many these days), Ted Heath, but not, for goodness sake, Mr Jeremy Thorpe or the latest would‐be party leader Mr Desmond Donnelly, and that's it. There you have the specially gifted, the super élite, the gold‐capped cream of the nation. (No wonder we sing to God to save the Queen!).
Peter Schlegel, Lars C. Gussen, Daniel Frank and Robert H. Schmitt
This paper aims to provide an approach of modeling haptic impressions of surfaces over a wide range of applications by using multiple sensor sources.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an approach of modeling haptic impressions of surfaces over a wide range of applications by using multiple sensor sources.
Design/methodology/approach
A multisensory measurement experiment was conducted using various leather and artificial leather surfaces. After processing of measurement data and feature extraction, different learning algorithms were applied to the measurement data and a corresponding set of data from a sensory study. The study contained evaluations of the same surfaces regarding descriptors of haptic quality (e.g. roughness) by human subjects and was conducted in a former research project.
Findings
The research revealed that it is possible to model and project haptic impressions by using multiple sensor sources in combination with data fusion. The presented method possesses the potential for an industrial application.
Originality/value
This paper provides a new approach to predict haptic impressions of surfaces by using multiple sensor sources.
Details
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Dana Murano, Jason D. Way, Jonathan E. Martin, Kate E. Walton, Cristina Anguiano-Carrasco and Jeremy Burrus