This paper is concerned with outlining the role of ‘communication’ and ‘measurement’ techniques in the successful achievement of one of the longest and most complex financial…
Abstract
This paper is concerned with outlining the role of ‘communication’ and ‘measurement’ techniques in the successful achievement of one of the longest and most complex financial re‐structurings undertaken in commercial history. It sets out the background of a financial crisis which deepened and threatened to overwhelm Lloyd's, a three‐centuries‐old financial institution whose name is synonymous with ‘insurance’. This paper is based on an original presentation to the Insurance Institute of London in November 1996 entitled, ‘Lloyd's PR Under Siege’. It outlines some of the many difficulties faced in securing a successful resolution to a complex problem which had a worldwide dimension, from which important lessons can be drawn for ‘crisis management’ applied within organisations. In particular, reference will be made to the role played by quantitative and qualitative ‘attitudinal research’ among key audiences and to the deployment of ‘media evaluation’ techniques in support of communications objectives.
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J. Hill, P. Hostert and A. Röder
The importance of thoroughly monitoring the state of the environment in Mediterranean ecosystems has long been recognised. With regard to the spatial extension of large areas…
Abstract
The importance of thoroughly monitoring the state of the environment in Mediterranean ecosystems has long been recognised. With regard to the spatial extension of large areas threatened by various degradation processes it becomes obvious that terrestrial observation alone is hardly able to cope with this task. Remote sensing with air‐ or spaceborne sensor systems provides a comprehensive spatial coverage, is intrinsically synoptic, and collects objective, repetitive data and is thus ideally suited for monitoring environmentally sensitive areas. The major problem associated with its use is to quantitatively interpret a measured signal that has interacted with remote objects in terms of the properties of these objects. In parallel to the advances in remote sensing geographical information systems (GIS) have emerged as a fully functional support for resource management tasks. As an example for tracing and analysing environmental change with coupled remote sensing and GIS approaches we present a case study on the island of Crete which was carried out in the framework of research programmes supported by the European Union. Although it is known that grazing in Crete dramatically increased during the last two decades, it was not well understood how grazing pressure differs spatially and in how far it altered the landscape of Crete. One of the major rangeland areas of central Crete, the Psiloritis Mountains, have been selected to serve as a test site for answering these questions. On the basis of an extended Landsat‐TM and ‐MSS data set acquired between 1977 and 1996 it has been shown that time series analysis techniques based on vegetation fractions derived from spectral unmixing can substantiate a spatio‐temporal interpretation of degradation processes. In areas under massive grazing pressure such processes can be linked to the respective driving forces by GIS‐based analyses of natural and socio‐economic boundary conditions.
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Vasilis Grammatikopoulos, Athanasios Gregoriadis and Evridiki Zachopoulou
The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the impact of an “Early Steps Physical Education Curriculum” (ESPEC) in children's attitudes and awareness toward a healthy lifestyle…
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the impact of an “Early Steps Physical Education Curriculum” (ESPEC) in children's attitudes and awareness toward a healthy lifestyle in early childhood. ESPEC was a part of a five-European country intervention program named “Early Steps” project. Early Steps project was a European Union funded initiation that targeted at improving children's healthy lifestyle and social development. The main philosophy behind the “Early Steps” project was the use of physical education activities to help children acquire the basic knowledge of social interaction skills, and healthy and active lifestyle. The ESPEC was designed to improve children's awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. The curriculum comprised of 24 physical education lessons, which aimed through the acquisition of several motor skills at making children in early childhood engage more actively in a healthy lifestyle. Results showed that children developed several healthy habits through their participation in play experiences provided by the “ESPEC for healthy lifestyle.” Such findings could lead to the conclusion that (a) children's attitudes toward a healthy lifestyle can be influenced positively and enhanced in a carefully organized physical education program and (b) curriculum-based initiatives that aim at improving children's attitudes and behaviors, such as the “ESPEC for healthy lifestyle” program, can be implemented effectively in early childhood education.
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Ryan Rahinel, Rohini Ahluwalia and Ashley S. Otto
Humans engage in two types of processing. One system is the rapid, affect-based, and intuitive, “experiential” system, while the other is the relatively slower, cognition-based…
Abstract
Humans engage in two types of processing. One system is the rapid, affect-based, and intuitive, “experiential” system, while the other is the relatively slower, cognition-based, and reflective, “rational” system. Extant work focuses on the consequences of having one system relatively dominant over the other. In the current research, we show that consumers who use neither system to a great degree (i.e., low-system consumers) are vulnerable to undesirable outcomes. Specifically, four studies demonstrate that these consumers face confusion in the process of making judgments due to their lack of processing inputs and resolve this confusion by making judgments that are implied by salient stimuli, regardless of the stimuli's diagnostic value. The result is an unbalanced, easily biased, and “blown away by the gust of wind” judgment process that both policymakers and low-system consumers should be vigilant to.
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Kumiko Osajima, Brenda Sternquist and Sonia Manjeshwar
Japanese materialistic behavior and consumption trends are examined by comparing age‐cohort differences between the Japanese “new breed” and “second baby‐boomer age‐cohorts”…
Abstract
Japanese materialistic behavior and consumption trends are examined by comparing age‐cohort differences between the Japanese “new breed” and “second baby‐boomer age‐cohorts”. Price perception, brand loyalty, and shopping‐information sources of the two age‐cohorts are also assessed. Results suggest that the Japanese new breed is more materialistic, sensitive to prestige, brand loyal, and likely to use media as their shopping information source as compared to second baby‐boomer. On the other hand, second baby‐boomers are less materialistic, value conscious, less brand loyal, and more likely to rely on word‐of‐mouth communication as their information sources as compared to the Japanese new breeds.
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Massimo Dragan, Talar Sahsuvaroglu, Ioannis Gitas and Enrico Feoli
To investigate whether the desertification risk index (DRI) which was originally developed for the coastal area of Turkey in a previous work, could be used as an effective…
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate whether the desertification risk index (DRI) which was originally developed for the coastal area of Turkey in a previous work, could be used as an effective desertification indicator in other Mediterranean areas such as the Lebanon.
Design/methodology/approach
The calculation of the DRI is based on the use of climatic factors and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). As a result, climatic data were obtained and spatial interpolation techniques were applied to derive temperature and precipitation maps within a GIS environment while the NDVI was derived from satellite imagery. Spatial models were employed in order to produce the DRI map of Lebanon. Geographical analysis and standard statistical techniques were employed to investigate the relationships between: desertification risk and two topographic factors, namely, elevation and distance from the sea and desertification risk and the type of land cover. The accuracy of the index was assessed by comparison with recently published official maps and documents.
Findings
The paper demonstrates the efficiency of a desertification index to identify areas at risk. The DRI map proved to be accurate when compared to the map of desertification prone areas recently produced by the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture. The areas with the highest degree of desertification risk are located in the North‐Eastern part of the country, in the area of the Bekaa Valley. This is in agreement with the reports of the United Nations Convention for combating desertification. A strong correlation was found between desertification risk and distance from the sea (the larger the distance the higher the risk) while shrubland appears to be the land cover type with the highest risk of desertification.
Originality/value
This research work demonstrates how satellite imagery and modern spatial analysis techniques could provide an essential alternative to traditional methods.
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Qi Zhang and Youfa Wang
This study examined the secular trends in socioeconomic inequality in obesity during the period 1971–1994 in the United States. We analyzed the national representative data…
Abstract
This study examined the secular trends in socioeconomic inequality in obesity during the period 1971–1994 in the United States. We analyzed the national representative data collected from three waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between those years. The Concentration Index was calculated to measure the socioeconomic inequality in obesity across gender, age, and ethnic groups in each survey period. In general, socioeconomic inequality in obesity was reduced between the 1970s and 1990s in women and black men, although the trend was not statistically significant for black women and was stable in white men. Our results indicate that, first, the association between obesity and socioeconomic status (SES) weakened over time, and second, SES inequality was not an important contributor to the dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity in the United States. Our findings suggest that other social and environmental factors, which have influenced changes in people’s lifestyle, might better explain the increasing overweight problem in the United States. Effective intervention efforts for the prevention and management of obesity should target all SES groups from a population perspective.
Stanley F Slater and Kwaku Atuahene-Gima
This paper considers threats to the internal validity of field studies that utilize survey data. Compared to laboratory experiments and field experiments, field surveys should be…
Abstract
This paper considers threats to the internal validity of field studies that utilize survey data. Compared to laboratory experiments and field experiments, field surveys should be strong in realism, practical significance, and normative quality. However, there are substantial threats to internal validity that fall into the general categories of sampling and measurement. We consider these issues and how to deal with them. We pay special attention to the existence and impact of common method variance including strategies for avoiding it, methods for assessing it, and approaches to correcting for it. Our objective is to provide a road map for better use of survey methods.
The purpose of this paper is to outline the aims for this journal with the new editor.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the aims for this journal with the new editor.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper gives an overview of TLO in the past and the possible future direction for the journal.
Findings
It is found that: first, the LO as a prescription for organizational change “writ large” has little relevance to contemporary practitioners, consultants, and researchers; second, that the LO concept is in effect a contradiction in terms and therefore fatally flawed to the point it should be abandoned; third, if the journal is to continue the use of the LO concept that it does so pragmatically with a refocusing on tried and tested informal work‐integrated action learning and critical analysis and adopt a distinct critical edge; fourth, that if so, it must adopt broader and more culturally sensitive perspectives that recognise the limitations and biases inherent in this Euro/American‐centric concept and its practices; and fifth, that this of all journals needs to acknowledge and respond to the irresistible tide of the democratisation of information in the digital age and the growth of informal learning both in terms of the papers published and in the way it, as a journal, operates.
Originality/value
The author believes that as an international journal The Learning Organization is eminently placed to engage practitioners, professionals and academics in a progressive dialogue that, though characterized by a questioning stance, recognizes the opportunities to enhance not just organizational productivity and managerial power but also the quality of work environments for all personnel.
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This research examines the principal assumption underlying the learning organization literature that organizational learning leads to increased organizational performance and…
Abstract
This research examines the principal assumption underlying the learning organization literature that organizational learning leads to increased organizational performance and explores the role of organizational learning, culture and focused learning on organizational performance. The study is based on a stratified sample of 181 UK construction firms and adopts a structural equation methodology. As no scales exist from prior research, a new instrument is developed for a learning organization. The results suggest that double‐loop learning and cooperative cultures have a positive effect on organizational performance. The effect of competitive forces means that organizational learning focused on efficiency and proficiency leads to competitive advantage in the UK construction industry.