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Public relations evaluation is a complex issue because of the hierarchy of effects of public relations activity and the involvement of third parties such as the press and broadcast media. Evaluation can be either summative or formative, although the two are frequently confused. This article establishes principles of evaluation that can form a foundation for a more sophisticated “toolkit” approach.

In this chapter, we identify three distinct transformational performance improvement (TPI) approaches commonly used to redesign work processes in health care organizations. We describe the unique components or tools that each approach uses to improve the delivery of health services. We also summarize what is empirically known about the effectiveness of each TPI approach according to systematic reviews and recent studies published in the peer-reviewed literature. Based on examination of this research, we discuss what knowledge is still needed to strengthen the evidence for whole system transformation. This involves the use of conceptual frameworks to assess and guide implementation efforts, and facilitators and barriers to change as revealed in a recent evaluation of one major initiative, the Lean Enterprise Transformation (LET) at the Veterans Health Administration. The analysis suggests ways in which TPI facilitators can be developed and barriers reduced to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of quality initiatives. Finally, we discuss appropriate study designs to evaluate TPI interventions that may strengthen the evidence for their effectiveness in real world practice settings.

The purpose of this paper, conducted within an emerging market context, was to investigate the influence of colour in packaging on the purchase intent of consumers for bottled water. Colour, whether in branding or packaging, has always been an important attribute in attracting the attention of consumers. For years, bottled water packaging has largely centred on the colours blue and white. The study looked into the effect of cold colours, warm colours and neutral colours on the purchase intent for bottled water. It also analysed the influence of the demographic variables of age group, gender, language and income group on colour preferences of the product.

An experimental design was utilised for the purposes of this study. Data were collected by means of a mall intercept survey of South African consumers within suburban supermarket stores.

The findings determined that while consumers appear somewhat indifferent between colours, there is a greater preference for neutral colours as opposed to cold and warm colours in bottled water packaging. It was also determined that income has a significant influence in colour preference for bottled water, with lower income groups preferring cold and warm colours and higher income groups preferring neutral colours.

This suggests that marketers of bottled water ought to pay close attention to these signals and optimise packaging accordingly. In particular, this study suggests that tailored coloured packaging can be used to target specific income groups in a more appropriate manner. This is particularly pertinent in an emerging market context, where income disparities are extremely prevalent. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs can seize this opportunity to introduce niche products and stimulate innovation in a relatively stagnant marketplace.

As discovered in the course of this research, few studies have been undertaken to examine the effect of colour in packaging in the context of emerging markets and, notably, sub Saharan Africa. As such, the authors believe this is a significant contribution to the knowledge base. It is hoped that the results of this study will assist marketers, SMEs and entrepreneurs in improving understanding of how colours differentiate a product, particularly in a commodity merchandise category such as bottled water, the knowledge of which may be leveraged to tailor the positioning in the market.

This paper aims to report an empirical study of the information‐related behaviour of emerging artists and designers. It also aims to add to understanding of the information behaviour of the group both as practising artists (a little understood category of information users), and also as “new practitioners”.

A literature analysis is used to guide creation of an online questionnaire, eliciting both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 78 practising artists participated, all having graduated in the seven years prior to the survey.

The group have generally the same information practices as more established artists. They place reliance on internet and social networks, while also using traditional printed tools and libraries. Browsing is important, but not a predominant means of accessing information. Inspiration is found from a very diverse and idiosyncratic set of sources, often by serendipitous means. Their status as emergent practitioners means that their information behaviour is governed by cost factors, and by needs for career advice and interaction with peers.

The study group are a convenience sample, all having access to the internet. No observation or interviews were carried out.

The results will provide guidance to academic and public librarians serving artist users, and to those providing career advice to them. It will also be valuable to those providing services to “new practitioners” in any field.

This is one of a very few papers reporting empirical studies of the information behaviour of artists, and has the largest sample size of any such study. It is one of a very few papers considering the information needs and behaviour of new practitioners.

A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balance economics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary to man′s finding the good life and society enduring as a civilized instrumentality. Looks for authority to great men of the past and to today′s moral philosopher: man is an ethical animal. The 13 essays are: 1. Evolutionary Economics: The End of It All? which challenges the view that Darwinism destroyed belief in a universe of purpose and design; 2. Schmoller′s Political Economy: Its Psychic, Moral and Legal Foundations, which centres on the belief that time‐honoured ethical values prevail in an economy formed by ties of common sentiment, ideas, customs and laws; 3. Adam Smith by Gustav von Schmoller – Schmoller rejects Smith′s natural law and sees him as simply spreading the message of Calvinism; 4. Pierre‐Joseph Proudhon, Socialist – Karl Marx, Communist: A Comparison; 5. Marxism and the Instauration of Man, which raises the question for Marx: is the flowering of the new man in Communist society the ultimate end to the dialectical movement of history?; 6. Ethical Progress and Economic Growth in Western Civilization; 7. Ethical Principles in American Society: An Appraisal; 8. The Ugent Need for a Consensus on Moral Values, which focuses on the real dangers inherent in there being no consensus on moral values; 9. Human Resources and the Good Society – man is not to be treated as an economic resource; man′s moral and material wellbeing is the goal; 10. The Social Economist on the Modern Dilemma: Ethical Dwarfs and Nuclear Giants, which argues that it is imperative to distinguish good from evil and to act accordingly: existentialism, situation ethics and evolutionary ethics savour of nihilism; 11. Ethical Principles: The Economist′s Quandary, which is the difficulty of balancing the claims of disinterested science and of the urge to better the human condition; 12. The Role of Government in the Advancement of Cultural Values, which discusses censorship and the funding of art against the background of the US Helms Amendment; 13. Man at the Crossroads draws earlier themes together; the author makes the case for rejecting determinism and the “operant conditioning” of the Skinner school in favour of the moral progress of autonomous man through adherence to traditional ethical values.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the successful generational cohort segmentation from global and country-specific formative experiences in the USA, to examine the justification of cohort segmentation in South Africa. It also describes the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the latest consumer cohort – Generation Y for the interest of retailers and marketing managers.

The study gathers secondary data by carefully scrutinizing books, journal articles, essays and dissertations. From these secondary sources, summaries of various findings and important scholarly insights into the qualifying factors for cohort formation and the important characteristics that make Generation Y an attractive consumer segment are provided.

Findings show that, generational cohort segmentation is reserved for countries whose defining moments meet some qualifying conditions. South Africa can segment consumers in terms of generational cohorts because the historic and political defining events the country experienced fulfil the requirements for cohort formation. Particularly, apartheid is suggested to be the country-specific defining event backing the labelling of Generation X and Y South Africans. Generation X should thus be “the apartheid, socio-economic instability cohort” and Generation Y should be “the post apartheid socio-economically liberated cohort” Findings also show that Generation Y South Africans constitute a majority of the growing middle class, termed “Black Diamonds”.

In addition to providing summaries of useful marketing-related reasons to target Generation Y consumers, this study assesses the qualification of South Africa’s historic and political events in forming consumer cohorts for generational marketing.

The chapter depicts the potential place of the spirit of non-violence and the spirit of peace in social affairs and economic circumstances. It deals with the approach of Mahatma Gandhi to non-violence and the approach of Saint Francis of Assisi to noble poverty, simplicity and peace as one of the great inspirations to Gandhi. These two concepts are closely interrelated, as they have analogous aspects in theory and practice. Both of them seem suitable to be used as the main characteristics of dealing with social and ecological problems.

The following part of the chapter describes the life and the credo of Mahatma Gandhi, emphasizing the importance of non-violence, an alternative approach to deal with emerging social difficulties. After it, the chapter presents the life and the philosophy of Saint Francis of Assisi and how Gandhi was inspired by him. It emphasizes the importance of peace, noble poverty, simplicity and their spirit in ecological and social affairs. The chapter then presents non-violence and poverty as spiritual notions and shows intermediary concepts and examples of feasible business models by which they could be applied in economic practices. Non-violence and peace can be the spirit of business strategies, and they have the potential to transform modern economic practices into a more humanistic and sustainable form.