ALBERT

Notes: The passing of the information age is announced and explained, andwe are welcomed to its successor and paradigm for the immediate future,the communication age. The vital importance of the communication age toK-12 education is outlined. Special notice is made of the emergingwide-bandwidth Internet technology, which allows transmission of"libraries per second", and which forces changes on botheducation and business. Will education remain misengaged with attemptsto come to grips with the information age, or will it move ahead withthe challenges and freedom available through the communication age, withthe Internet an integral part of the curriculum?

Notes: The Kidlink project began in 1990 with the goal of creating aglobal dialogue among the ten to 15-year-old youths of the world. Theprimary medium for this exchange has been through e-mail mailing lists.Over four years, that project has experienced nearly an order ofmagnitude growth. This growth has entailed major changes in both the waythe dialogue itself has been structured and in the organization of thevolunteers who run the project. Growth is much more of a challenge forthose Internet projects that provide contact with individuals than forthose that are primarily providing access to information. The success ofKIDLINK provides a useful model for others.

Notes: A new form of "museum" has emerged which takes advantage of theInternet's seemingly limitless format options for electronicpresentation and ability to tailor in-depth presentations to nicheaudiences. Constraints of ownership and geographic location are lessenedas Internet-based museums point to sources across the globe. Collectionswhich are physically impossible to construct are being mountedelectronically. Offers a sampler of museums and galleries around theworld which are making use of WorldWide Web or Gopher servers.

Notes: Relies on critical theories of technology and democratic disclosureto construct normative communication principles for the development ofthe national information infrastructure. Suggests that efforts toprivatize the information highway, which are currently underway,undermine the network's long-range potential to encouragecitizen-to-citizen discussion of public issues.

Notes: Many Internet researchers state that computer networks provide anegalitarian forum where users are not labeled by gender, race, age,national origin or disability. This assertion ignores the experiences ofmany women using electronic communication systems. Focusses on severallegal issues of special relevance to women, including pornography andhate speech, stalking and sexual harassment, and exclusionary practices.Suggests that the conceptual models used in this research and Internetwork may help to determine future legal practices.

Notes: The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 established theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and charged it to"provide for the widest practicable and appropriate disseminationof information concerning ... its activities and the resultsthereof". The search for innovative methods to distribute NASA'sinformation led a grassroots team to create the NASA Technical ReportServer (NTRS), which uses the World Wide Web and other popularInternet-based information systems.

Notes: The "collaboratory" concept has recently entered thevernacular of the scientific community to reflect new modes ofscientific communication, cooperation and collaboration made possible byinformation technology. The collaboratory represents a scientificresearch center "without walls" for accessing and sharingdata, information, instrumentation and computational resources. Theprincipal applications of the collaboratory concept have been in thephysical and biological sciences, including space physics, oceanographyand molecular biology. Discusses the attributes of the collaboratory,and applies the concept developed by computer and physical scientists tothe design and operation of the SIPPACCESS prototype informationsystem for complex data to be used through the Internet by sociologists,demographers and economists. Examines obstacles to collaboratorydevelopment for the social sciences. Concludes that four major obstacleswill inhibit the development of collaboratories in the social sciences.

Notes: Many Mexican universities are now offering Internet access to theirfaculty and users. This access is provided by computer services staffwho traditionally have been responsible only for the technical aspectsof establishing, maintaining, and updating the university computersystems. The computer specialists are finding themselves largelyunprepared to assume this new role as information specialists. Examinesthe newly emerging and evolving roles of these computer specialists.

Notes: Examines the characteristics of bibliographic information retrievalsystems, particularly online public access systems, in terms of thedifficulties children have in using them. The specialized focus oflibrary and information science, the highly abstract nature ofbibliographic representation, and the evolving cognitive development ofchildren are all contributing factors to these difficulties. Describesrecent research and development in interface design, followed byimplications for the design of Internet navigators. The new generationof Internet browsers can give students the ability not only to searchfor information, but also to create and disseminate information usingthe same medium. Such capacity adds a significant dimension and newmeaning to the concept of information retrieval. Concludes thatthoughtful and developmentally appropriate interface design is criticalto the success of children's use of this powerful new resource.

Notes: Evaluates the principal tools available for the retrieval ofinformation from the Internet, e.g. Hytelnet, Archie, Gopher, WAIS, andthe World Wide Web (WWW). Principally concentrates on an evaluation ofthe user interface and search software for each of the aforementionedtools. Concludes with a brief perspective of Internet informationretrieval and the implications for the future.

Notes: An enormous volume of literature has evolved which promisesremedies for any organization's new product development woes.Unfortunately, new product development is an inherently uncertain andcomplex process which is generally not amenable to standardizedsolutions. Based on extensive consulting experience, addresses threecommonly held misconceptions regarding the new product developmentprocess. Provides examples to illustrate each of the misconceptions andpresents the lesson to be learned from each. Finally, discussesrecommendations for management.

Notes: Discusses and contrasts the theories of double jeopardy and brandequity. A model of attitudes, habit, brand loyalty and brand equityoutcomes is proposed in order to reconcile the two theories. Results ofa study designed to test the model are presented. Results indicatesupport for both theories of brand equity and double jeopardy since bothdirect and indirect relationships were found between attitudes/habit andbrand equity outcomes. The indirect relationships were mediated by theconcept of brand loyalty. Implications for managers are discussed.

Notes: Looks in depth at the development of the marketing mix using the 4Ps - product, price, promotion and place, to meet target needs.Also investigates courses offered and required in marketing, anddiscusses the most appropriate ones for the students involved.

Notes: Most recent work in the area of new product development has been ofa theoretically prescriptive basis, ignoring, to a large degree, thecurrent state of affairs in US corporations. The study examines, on acomparative basis, consumer and business products organizations,practices being utilized to guide the development process and keyfactors influencing the success/failure of the process. Results from anempirical study reveal that: (1) there is no one best means to structurethe process; (2) top management commitment to and support of the processis a critical factor; (3) knowledge of markets and customers remainselusive; and (4) more similarities than differences exist between thepractices undertaken by and the factors influencing success/failure inconsumer versus business products organizations.

Notes: The effectiveness of marketing activities in firms with productmanagement is, in part, determined by the extent to which theorganizational structure is aligned with the uncertainties in themarketplace. Investigates the relationship between various dimensions offirm's marketing organizational structure (i.e. centralization,formalization and structural differentiation) and the degree to whichthe product manager confronts environmental uncertainty. Claims theempirical results indicate that the organizational structure whichapplies to the product manager is related to uncertainty in the marketenvironment of the firm and that product managers' authority is notmatched to the degree of uncertainty in the environment. Discusses theimplications of these results in terms of the product manager'sperformance in varying organizational structures.

Notes: The introduction of the original Mazda 323 five-door into the SouthAfrican market in 1977 launched the brand from virtual obscurity toinstant success. The 323 became the top selling derivative in thecountry and the brand became a household name. However, during the 1980sthe brand's equity steadily eroded and it was perceived to be a staid,boring marque with a poor image. Describes how the brand wassuccessfully revitalized in the early 1990s. Draws a distinction betweenrevitalization and the successful "renaissance" advertisingstrategy. Reviews the outcome of the renaissance campaign, ini additionto Mazda's current performance, concluding that the brand has beensuccessfully revived - to the point that Mazda's market share inSouth Africa is the highest achieved by the brand anywhere in the world.

Notes: Business faces formidable challenges in the 1990s. With thesechallenges will come greater requirements for relevant marketinformation, quality offerings, increased productivity, leadership, andconsumer orientation. As new technology and computers are designed tohelp meet the ever-increasing information needs of society, personal,professional, and industrial consumers will search for better ways toidentify the computers and related high-tech products which will enablethem to meet their individual and organizational needs. In this search,consumers will look for traditional brand name recognition of newproducts, user friendliness, functionability, and product positioningthat meets their individual expectations. Examines the emergence ofbrands in the marketing of computers and related high-tech products soas to explore the trends of developments in this vital area.

Notes: Reviews how the DuPont Lycra division is focussing more on globalbrand management starting with the development of a new worldwideadvertising campaign for Lycra in women's apparel. Describes how aninternational team selected the winning advertising theme and agency viateleconferencing. Discusses results of a uniform worldwide consumeradvertising campaign and the cost savings as a result of the reductionin the number of advertising agencies. Presents the backgroundinformation on how DuPont Fibers Department has used product, category,and brand management and discusses the future implications.

Notes: There has been overwhelming discussion about the death of theproduct management system. Focusses on how the product management systemis changing, and how firms can best anticipate and manage this change.Claims organizational change is inevitable and that marketingorganizations must anticipate and prepare for it. Concludes that productmanagement is not dead - merely evolving and at a rapid pace, andthat punctuated equilibrium provides a useful model for productmanagement for the next "equilibrium" period.

Notes: Private label brands may be in danger as a result of recent changesin the marketing strategies used by private label firms. The primarycompetitive advantage of private label brands, good quality at lowprices, may be lost if private label firms continue to modify and expandhow their brands are marketed. Specifically, changes in private labelbrands' advertising, packaging, sales promotion, and product improvementstrategies indicate that private label brands are moving closer thanever to manufacturer brand status. To the extent that these changesresult in higher average retail prices and/or lower gross margins forretailers, the advantages of private brands to both consumers anddistributors will diminish, illustrating that the historical"wheel of retailing" hypothesis may be applicable to privatelabel brands. Investigates the aforementioned trends and providessuggestions for manufacturers and retailers for future brand managementstrategies.

Notes: Profiles heavy buyers of store brand products and compares themwith light buyers in terms of demographics, socio-economic, andattitudinal variables. The results suggest that younger, unmarried, andsmaller sized households tend to avoid store brands. As compared withheavy buyers, light buyers of store brands are less familiar with themand perceive them to be of lower quality, less value for money and asriskier choices.

Notes: Social values represent desired end states of being or desirablebehaviors such as self-respect, warm relations with others, orexcitement. These abstract social cognitions help shape productattitudes and through them guide overt behavior. Empirical research hassupported this theoretical structure of values-attitudes-behavior, butonly for a relatively few high involvement products. A sample of 323adult women shoppers rated the importance of the nine social values fromthe list of values; reported their attitudes toward snack foods,convenience foods, and cooking; and described purchase frequencies for avariety of foods. The shoppers' food attitudes were consistentlyassociated with self-reported food purchases. Moreover, ratings ofseveral values were associated with attitudes toward snack foods and useof convenience foods, suggesting that social values may influence buyerbehavior for low as well as high involvement products. The findings haveimplications for food marketers who want to promote their products moreeffectively, consumer theorists who want to understand the impact ofvalues on consumer behavior, and public makers who would like toinfluence food expenditures by consumers.

Notes: In an increasingly competitive marketplace, greater emphasis isbeing placed on brand image development as the basis for consumerdiscrimination. Advertising has a central role to play in developingbrand image, whether at the corporate, retail or product level. Itinforms consumers of the functional capabilities of the brand whilesimultaneously imbuing the brand with symbolic values and meaningsrelevant to the consumer. These two functions of advertising closelyparallel the informational and transformational schools of advertisingeffects and theories on the central and peripheral routes to consumerpersuasion. Such dichotomous approaches to explanation are unlikely torepresent the reality of consumer choice in that brand image is likelyto be formed by the simultaneous absorption of advertising messagesbased on both the functional and expressive capabilities of brands.

Notes: Most existing product innovation-decision models view decisionmaking from a very cognitive perspective in that they presume thatdecision to adopt a new product is preceded by steps that parallelproduct information procurement and evaluation. Argues that such anapproach is unnecessarily limiting given that a substantial proportionof individuals do not base their decisions on attribute processing, evenfor relatively complex products. Critically evaluates two of the mostwidely cited adoption models and based on this analysis proposes a moreholistic model that incorporates real world decision factors, andpresents its managerial implications.

Notes: Organizational conflict mediates management and innovator interestin commercializing technology. Issues (or circumstances) resulting fromconflicting goals should be considered by companies in developingpolicies toward laboratory-generated technology. These issues includewhere the technology was developed, relationship with the laboratory'sactivity, "deliberateness" of the discovery, protectability,exclusive rights, processes versus products, maturation necessary, andcost to commercialization. Companies must weigh these issues in decidingto work with laboratories on innovations or continued commercialdevelopment.

Notes: Branding is an effective marketing strategy tool that has been usedwith frequent success in the past. Today, branding is experiencing a newpopularity resulting from new, innovative applications. Although therehave been instances where branding has been less than successful,marketers are beginning to find the appropriate applications in a givensetting. Issues and problems concerning branding strategy today includethe selection of a brand name. This fundamental issue will impact on thesuccess of a branding strategy. Once a name is selected, marketers haveto choose the advertising strategy to support and communicate the name.Finally, keeping the brand in a strong position is a critical concern.New areas of branding include corporate, industrial, and servicebranding. These nontraditional branding environments are becoming thefuture for marketers using branding strategy. To add to the new brandingareas, there are new branding techniques. These techniques include brandextensions and ingredient branding. New strategies, techniques, andarenas for branding have to be managed. The organization must supportand identify with the strategy. The goals, objectives, and mission ofany organization should be in line with the branding strategy employed.

Notes: Points out that since consumers are seldom familiar with all thecompeting brands or the attributes of these brands, brand uncertaintyexists in every market. Presents theoretical and empirical evidence fromseveral disciplines to demonstrate that brand uncertainty affects brandattitudes and preferences, and consequently affects brand performance.Demonstrates the importance of actively managing brand uncertainty.Identifies and discusses marketing tools that can be used to reducebrand uncertainty at different stages in the consumer decision process.Discusses how managers can modify these tools to deal withhigh-involvement versus low-involvement products, how these tools shouldbe scheduled for maximum impact, and the amount of control managers haveover each tool.

Notes: This study examines how brand- and country-related intangibleassets influence the market shares of brands and their marketingeffectiveness (particularly price effectiveness). Using the case of thesmall car segment, seems to provide some interesting implications forbrand management in global markets where the intangible assetsassociated with brand and country names are important. Found that acountry name (e.g. Japanese name) produces positive value to brandsoriginating from particular countries. Documents that long-termpopularity positively influences brands' short-term market shares andmarketing effectiveness. Also discovers that a brand can generatepositive brand-specific assets, i.e. brand popularity, without apositive country name equity. Discusses managerial implications andrecommendations, within the context of global competition.

Notes: Discusses the link between AIDS and marketing for companies, andthe effect this has had on conventional and unconventional products.Defines three levels of marketing "unmentionables": taste,ethical and legal. Owing to the subject-matter, language and images usedin anti-AIDS campaigns, marketing has new freedom and can use its powerto shock the public. Concludes that, although some topics which werepreviously unmentionable are now acceptable, society continues toproduce new taboos.

Notes: Due to increasing global competition, the issue ofcountry-of-origin has received a great deal of attention recently.Examines country-of-origin image stereotyping by businesspeople in theGulf States of the Middle East. Assesses the attitude of businesspeopletoward various products of seven countries: the USA, Japan, Germany,England, France, Italy and Taiwan, that are the most active in the GulfStates. To develop effective global marketing strategies, firms requiredecisionmaking support in the form of information about the perceptionof their products in the international markets. The study found thatcountry-of-origin stereotyping is present in the Gulf States market. Thestudy provided evidence that "Made in the USA, Japan, andGermany" clearly emerged as most favoured countries of origin. Inaddition, the image of English products trailed behind products fromother European countries except Italy. Profile differences were analyzedstatistically. Age, education, sex, and income level were variouslyrelated to consumers' attitudes to products made in different countries.

Notes: Reports on a preliminary study which examined the impact ofmembership fees on consumer attitude and choice. Consumers participatedin a computerized simulated shopping experiment in which repetitivechoices were made from a set of videotape rental stores. Paying amembership fee had a short-term impact on attitudes and choice. It issuggested that it is often a wise practice for retailers to buildmembership fees (even very small ones) into their pricing structure.Paying such a fee appears to make consumers resistant to the offers ofcompetitors in the short run and may provide some insulation fromcompetitive attacks.

Notes: Describes the results of a survey of 281 adult women in the state of Florida. We used the 15 adjective pairs of the Malhotra self-concept scale to measure their self-image. A valid and reliable self-report scale measured their fashion innovativeness, thus identifying those consumers most likely to buy new fashions after they first appear in the market. T-tests compared the mean scores on the self-image adjective pairs between 30 innovators and 251 later adopters. Pearson correlation analysis was also performed. The results of both analyses showed that the fashion innovators described themselves uniquely as more comfortable, pleasant, contemporary, formal, colorful, and vain than the later adopters. The results were quite consistent with an earlier published study of college students, lending confidence to this approach to profiling fashion innovators and suggesting that using self-image could be a fruitful way to appeal to these important consumers.

Notes: Focuses on how brand managers in fast-moving consumer goods industries view their contacts with the various interfaces, allocate their working time and perceive the significance and quality of these contacts. Based on the product management literature, several hypotheses are proposed and empirically examined using data collected from a sample of 161 product managers, working for 48 companies in five different sectors in Greece. The results show that brand managers working in various sectors differ in the perception of their contacts with the various interfaces.

Notes: The processes of consumer perception and decision making remain relatively complex phenomena despite the depth of research undertaken in the area. One way in which these processes may be influenced is through the explicit mentioning of product attributes in advertising. This study investigates consumer perceptions of mentioned product attributes in magazine advertising for a specific product category. Results confirm a clear relationship between attributes specifically mentioned in advertising for the three selected brands and respondents' rating of those attributes against evaluative criteria for the product category. Factor analyses of respondents' ratings indicate a clear convergence of factors extracted and the mentioned attributes for each brand.

Notes: At an early stage in the new product development process, marketers often evaluate several concept statements in terms of customer preferences to choose the best concept for further development. Purchase intention scale is often used to measure consumer preferences at this stage when the product is still a concept statement or a mathematical position on a perceptual map. This paper discusses the limitations of two methods of aggregating individual preferences, namely plurality (first-choice) and the Condorcet (pair-wise majority) methods. The plurality method is subject to the top-box paradox while the Condorcet method suffers from the paradox of voting. The Copeland method is presented as an alternative to the Condorcet method when the latter fails to identify the majority's choice. Some limitations of predicting product trial are also presented.

Notes: Most airlines utilize a revenue maximizing technique called yield management (YM), which allows the airlines to allocate their fixed capacity of seats to various fare categories in the most profitable manner possible. The discriminatory pricing goal is to sell only non-discounted seats to the business travel segment. Suggests that yield management techniques may also be appropriate in certain retail settings where capacity (i.e. product inventory) is not necessarily "perishable" in the same sense as unsold seats on an airline flight however, its value may decline with the culmination of a well-defined shopping period (e.g. the "Christmas holiday" shopping period). Examines how knowledge of customer price sensitivity as it pertains to this shopping period, coupled with the appropriate use of discount pricing, can maximize the revenue gained from sales of a seasonal product associated with a specific holiday.

Notes: Service industries, such as public bus transport, are time-bound, which makes it impossible to inventory their service output. The potential revenue from an empty seat on a bus is lost for good once the service run is complete. Conversely, when demand for a seat on a service run exceeds supply, the revenue is also lost. As public bus transport has a high fixed to variable cost ratio, these demand and supply imbalances have a significant impact on cost recovery performance. Addresses a number of factors that influence the cost recovery performance of public bus transport using data from one of Australia's largest operators. It considers the shortcomings of current fare price structures and how these may be changed to reflect operational cost drivers in a way that improves cost recovery performance. The various non-monetary costs passengers incur when purchasing and using public transport are also considered along with methods of reducing these to increase the revenue-generating performance of operators' fixed capacity.

Notes: Data from national brand manufacturers suggest they are more willing to take legal action against other independent manufacturers than against retailers when they think their trademark brands have been infringed. Imitation by other independent manufacturers prompts national brands to be more likely to improve their products than imitation by retailers. Those manufacturers who have taken legal action against imitating retailers are less fearful of possible retaliation tactics, such as delisting, or losing shelf space in the retail environment.

Notes: In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to positioning and, more specifically, positioning of service brands. This is so because of the unique characteristics of services. Although some authors argue that there are no marked differences between positioning in services and that of physical goods, the vast majority of marketing scholars believe that it is difficult to embark on positioning strategies in services. Sheds some light on this issue within the context and aims to contribute to the debate.

Notes: A brand is a kind of sign by which we can distinguish one commodity from another. Commodity prices, as well as consumers' utility and firms' profit, are affected by brands. Presents a theoretical framework that incorporates aspects of brand in microeconomic analysis. The theory developed makes it possible to infer the quality of differentiated products from the price distribution of the second-hand market for that product. A case study illustrates the workings of the methodology; the application evaluates the quality of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers.

Notes: The marketer's principal objective is typically to build a relationship with buyers, rather than merely to make a single sale. Ideally, the essence of that relationship consists of a strong bond between the buyer and the brand. Outlines six strategies for building that relationship: linking the brand to a particular need; associating it with a pleasant mood; appealing to subconscious motives; conditioning buyers to prefer the brand through reward; penetrating perceptual and cognitive barriers to create preference; and providing attractive models for buyers to emulate. The choice of an individual strategy or combination depends mainly on the nature of the branded product or service. The success of the strategy depends heavily on the marketer's understanding of the preference building and bonding process.

Notes: There is research evidence that suggests that perceptions of price unfairness give rise to consumer resistance to prices and result in decreased profit to the firm. However, it is as yet unclear what factors influence perceptions of unfairness. Answers the question, "What is fair?" by proposing that consumers sometimes infer a firm's motive for a price and that the inferred motive influences perceived price fairness. A study provides evidence that consumers use contextual information to infer a firm's motive. When consumers infer a negative motive, the price is perceived to be unfair and when consumers do not infer a negative motive, the same price is perceived to be fair. Suggests that marketers should: provide reasons for prices; consider consumers' likely inferences of motive and either avoid taking actions that are likely to give rise to inferences of negative motive or manage the motive inferred; and consider the inferences that consumers may make for other marketing actions in addition to price.

Notes: Rather than taking the more traditional approach of measuring brand equity for accounting or strategic reasons, the approach taken here is concerned with optimizing brand equity through parsimonious manipulation of the marketing mix. To this end a macro-model is first developed; this model is then operationalized and tested (in terms of predicted versus actual brand share) in three Korean markets. The contribution of the paper lies in the development of a methodology through which management can efficiently build brand power in their markets. The statistical methods (factor analysis and preference regression) are commonly used in commercial research and the research requirements to build such a model are quite modest - the proposed model makes a theoretical contribution but can also be used as a practical managerial tool.

Notes: An experimental design is used to examine the effect of products' country-of-origin on first-mover advantage. Specifically, focuses on the effects of favorable/unfavorable country-of-origin on first-mover advantage, as well as its effects with regard to "early followers" and "late followers". The results have direct implications for products entering international markets as a first mover, "early" follower, or "late" follower. Results indicate that with increasing number of competitors entering an international market, a product's favorable country image begins to lose its strategic importance. Consequently, the pursuit of first-mover advantage may be more relevant than a positive country-of-origin effect. Also, the results suggest that for products from countries with a less than favorable image, it may be more useful to be a "follower" than a "first-mover" because the advantage of being first in a market can be negated by the unfavorable country-of-origin effect.

Notes: Assesses how branded ingredients affect consumer product quality perceptions, confidence in product quality perceptions, product evaluations, taste perceptions, purchase likelihoods, and reservation prices of host brands of varying quality. In two experiments, we find that branded ingredients consistently and positively affected moderate-quality host brands, but only occasionally positively affected higher-quality host brands. Suggests that managers of both moderate and higher-quality host brands consider implementing branded ingredient strategies, albeit for different reasons. While moderate-quality host brands can improve their competitive position by using branded ingredients, higher-quality host brands generally do not. However, higher-quality host brands may benefit most by securing the most desirable branded ingredients for their own use, thereby blocking moderate-quality host brands from using a branded ingredient strategy to improve their competitive position.

Notes: Examines the product life cycle (PLC) concept as presented in much of the marketing literature, and the implications of PLC-based strategic action for marketing practitioners. A range of problems is identified with the PLC, and an evolutionary perspective for product management decisions is considered. Concludes that an evolutionary perspective is more appropriate than PLC-based approaches, and proposes an evolutionary model known as "Lamarckism", which is better able to account for the realities of product evolution than the Darwinian model.

Notes: Identifies some managerially relevant factors that influence the size of the price premium that consumers will pay for national brands over store brands in grocery products. We define price premium as the maximum price consumers will pay for a national brand over a store brand, expressed as the proportionate price differential between a national brand and a store brand. Overall, perceived quality differential accounts for about 12 percent of the variation in price premiums across consumers and product categories and is the most important variable influencing price premiums.

Notes: This study concerns consumer responses to new product offerings in the category of high-tech audio equipment. For the purposes of the study, consumers were categorised as high-innovators or non-innovators. The general objective of the research was to determine how differing groups of consumers view innovativeness, and how innovativeness is assessed, with particular reference to high-tech product offerings. The research was carried out in two stages; a series of focus groups was run to determine the dimensions of the problem, and a questionnaire derived from this. The questionnaire was then administered to visitors at a consumer-oriented trade show. Statistical analysis of the questionnaire revealed that there are significant differences between groups of consumers regarding the relative importance of various factors in the process of assessing innovativeness.

Notes: Examines the way in which the performance of the pharmaceutical product manager is evaluated. Attempts to provide a picture of the principal functions on which the Canadian pharmaceutical product manager is evaluated, as well as of performance appraisal systems currently used in the pharmaceutical industry. Two methodologies are used, both in-depth interviews and survey, in order to provide the most comprehensive examination of this area. Additionally, examines whether or not these systems are proving useful in linking job tasks to performance appraisal in order to achieve the goals of the organization.

Notes: Reviews instructional approaches based on the use of different media to provide examples of strategies and evaluation tools for media integration. Uses an introductory information systems undergraduate course taught at the George Washington University as an example.

Notes: The emergence of online education creates opportunities for positive education changes centering on improved learning rather than on reaping economies of scale. We can develop online strategies for using class time more productively; courses can be arranged to correspond to the varying learning curves of different students; and degrees can be tailored to the actual competencies students achieve. Further, the online world based in hypertext and virtuality creates the possibility of providing entirely new educational materials and environments. These improvements depend on faculty seizing control of the way technology is used in education.

Notes: Represents a case study of an instructional health-care department's journey through a technological metamorphosis. Highlights the process and challenges that instructional departments undergo so as to provide guidance for those interested in bringing about a technological transformation. Explores motivations for technological change, a planning process including budget needs, assessment of infrastructure, and priority determination for direction of resources. Defines a needs assessment process, including determination of the resource needs and interest levels of administrators, faculty and students, as well as the prudence of investigating pre-existing models. Finally, addresses strategies for technological success.

Notes: Two main areas of activity can be identified in the field of network security: the local area network and the common point between networks. Presents an overview of two projects concerning the above-mentioned areas. While the first will concern security architectures based on active firewall components, the second presents a secure intranet solution. The combination of active firewall components with the DMZ concept can translate a security policy into reality and will result in a high level security firewall system. One of the most important security problems in an intranet is to ensure that every user has access only to the information which is relevant for his/her work. In our project this is solved using role-dependent information access for each user.

Notes: The Java programming language supports the concept of downloadable executable content; a key technology in a wide range of emerging applications including collaborative systems, electronic commerce, and Web information services. Java enables the execution of a program, on almost any modern computer regardless of hardware configuration and operating system. Safe-Tcl was proposed as an executable content type of MIME and thus as the standard language for executable contents within e-mail messages. However, the ability to download, integrate, and execute code from a remote computer, provided by both Java and Safe-Tcl, introduces serious security risks since it enables a malicious remote program to obtain unauthorised access to the downloading system's resources. In this paper, the two proposed security models are described in detail and the efficiency and flexibility of current implementations are evaluated in a comparative manner. Finally, upcoming extensions are discussed.

Notes: Finding specific information on the Web can be difficult and time-consuming due to the Web's tremendous size and the current speed of network connections. Information agents that search the Web on behalf of users are invaluable. Since information needs are diverse, there should be tools for users to build their own agents that specialize in finding the information they want. These tools should be usable by non-programmers. This paper describes ARIS, a shell for constructing information agents without coding. Our approach is akin to expert system shells, where the user supplies the knowledge for each specialist agent, and a common engine utilizes the agents' knowledge. An agent's search is guided by knowledge about how Web sites in a given domain are typically structured. We also report on our experiences with two agents built using ARIS.

Notes: The study described in this article aimed to gather insights into what people think when they search the Internet for information. The premise is that people relate to information services and systems metaphorically. In other words, they identify the system or service as analogous to something perhaps more mundane or commonplace. These are known as wild metaphors. They help to explain the unknown or unfamiliar and help us to learn new things. They arise from our individual beliefs and backgrounds but they are also inevitably influenced by our collective experience of contemporary media characterisations of the Internet. This study relates the analogies that academics in Australia report for the Internet with the satisfaction that they derive from information seeking on the network. It provides some insight into how academics in Australia perceive the Internet when they use it to search for information.

Notes: The Internet has the potential to facilitate understanding across cultures and languages by removing the physical barriers to intercultural communication. One possible contributor to this development has been the recent release of freely-available automated direct machine translation systems, such as AltaVista with SYSTRAN, which translates from English to five other European languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), and vice versa. However, concerns have recently been raised over the performance of these systems, and the potential for confusion that can be created when the intended meaning of sentences is not correctly translated (i.e. semantic processing errors). In this paper, we use an iterative paradigm to examine errors associated with interlingual divergence in meaning arising from the automated machine translation of English proverbs. The need for the development of Web-based translation systems, which have an explicit cross-linguistic representation of meaning for successful intercultural communication, is discussed.

Notes: This paper examines the concept of the Internet as a virtual cultural region with its own demographics and psychographics. Longitudinal studies of the changing make up of Internet users have been running for much of the 1990s and market intelligence companies have been applying their proprietary segmentation models to this data and also creating new models specifically for the Internet. At a more sociological level, what are the cultural norms and cutoms of the population of the Internet cultural region? This paper complements the market intelligence research by an investigation into the applicability of cultural classification schemes as exemplified by Hofstede with a view to information extant and prospective Internet involvement. Finally, practical recommendations are made in order to reduce the risk of activities likely to cause irritation of and non-response from this burgeoning new market.

Notes: Eight college and university Webmasters in three midwestern states were interviewed to explore their communications practices and activities by applying a traditional mass media gatekeeping perspective. The results suggest that gatekeeping theory is a valuable approach for studying individuals responsible for the mediation of messages in the emerging online media. Webmasters' personal characteristics and attitudes were found to influence their media content decisions, they share common values used to determine content and design, and they face a variety of organizational and related constraints, some exclusive to Web gatekeepers in an academic setting. Examples of gatekeeping activity and observations by the informants are presented, and suggestions for future research are included.

Notes: Considers the world-wide emergence of "educational superhighway" policies: government programmes aiming to connect school systems to the Internet - and explores their relevance to education. By examining the key actors and motives behind educational Internet initiatives the paper argues that such policies are primarily economically not educationally driven. The implications of this are then considered in the light of increasing global information priorities.

Notes: The Internet environment, with its packet-switched network and lack of resource reservation mechanisms, has made the delivery of low bit-rate real-time communication services particularly difficult and challenging. The high potential transmission delay and data packet loss under varying network conditions will lead to unpleasant and unintelligible audio and jerky video play-out. The Internet TCP/IP protocol suite can be extended with new mechanisms in an attempt to tackle such problems. In this research, an integrated transmission mechanism that incorporates a number of existing techniques to enhance the quality and deliver "acceptable" real-time services is proposed. These techniques include the use of data compression, data buffering, dynamic rate control, packet lost replacement, silence deletion and virtual video play-out mechanism. The proposed transmission mechanism is designed as a generic communication system so that it can be used in different systems and conditions. This approach has been successfully implemented and demonstrated using three separate systems that include the Internet Phone, WebVideo and video-conferencing tool.

Notes: This paper examines the issue of fraud on the Internet and discusses three areas with significant potential for misleading and fraudulent practices, namely: securities sales and trading; electronic commerce; and the rapid growth of Internet companies. The first section of the paper discusses securities fraud on the Internet. Activities that violate US securities laws are being conducted through the Internet, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission has been taking steps to suppress these activities. The second section of the paper discusses fraud in electronic commerce. The rapid growth of electronic commerce, and the corresponding desire on the part of consumers to feel secure when engaging in electronic commerce, has prompted various organizations to develop mechanisms to reduce concerns about fraudulent misuse of information. It is questionable, however, whether these mechanisms can actually reduce fraud in electronic commerce. The third section of the paper discusses the potential for fraud arising from the rapid growth of Internet companies, often with little economic substance and lacking traditional management and internal controls. The paper examines the three areas of potential Internet fraud mentioned above and suggest ways in which these abuses may be combated.

Notes: The increasing dimension and heterogeneity of global Web systems make their management with tools based on the client/server model more difficult. The mobile agent technology overcomes the limits of traditional approaches and proposes solutions that are suitable for the management of distributed and heterogeneous Internet-based systems. The paper describes the MAMAS environment and its implementation with a mobile agent technology. MAMAS has the goals of monitoring the whole system, introducing dynamic corrective actions and modifying system policies at run-time. MAMAS achieves these objectives by answering the guidelines of both security and compliance to standards. The choice of Java as the implementation language has made it possible to achieve portability, to exploit the language security features, and to provide Web accessibility. The MAMAS compliance with CORBA ensures interoperability with legacy management platforms.

Notes: Examines the general requirement for security technologies in order to provide a basis for trust in the e-commerce environment. The discussion is supported by the findings from two surveys, conducted by the authors, among general Internet users (i.e. potential target consumers) and commercial businesses. These surveys considered both the attitudes to e-commerce in general and opinions relating to the associated security requirements. Attempts were also made to assess the respondent's knowledge of the existing security safeguards that may be applied. The survey results suggest that, while there is significant concern among Internet-based consumers regarding the security of their purchasing activities, these are outweighed by the merits offered by the medium. The results also suggested a lack of awareness or understanding of the security technologies that are available and it is concluded that overcoming this problem would help to establish a wider foundation of trust in the new technology.

Notes: Although benchmarking has touched many areas of an organization, including information systems, very few examples are available on how this powerful methodology can be used to specifically address one of the fastest growing elements within information systems - the World Wide Web. This paper presents a case study on how benchmarking was used to determine how one organization's Web site compared to Web sites of related schools and professional organizations. The results of the benchmarking study provided a measure of how our Web site compares to the sites of related organizations, ideas on how we may further enhance our site, and also a way to regularly evaluate our site.

Notes: WebCT has been used to support traditional teaching techniques for the entire 1997-98, and half of the 1998-99, academic years. It was used within the structure of over 60 courses (enrolling a total of more than 1,000 students) in the English, Theology, Modern Languages, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Management Information Systems, Law, Pharmacy, Medicine, and Business programs. Concerned with the impact WebCT might have within a traditionally oriented liberal arts teaching environment, the author explored the views of the students, rather than the faculty and system administrators, who were required to use the WebCT tools in their classes. Data from students addressing the use of WebCT in their classes are now available for three full semesters, providing an expanded assessment over earlier findings. The ramifications of the use of WebCT as a course adjunct and course presentation tool are addressed based upon the data collected from Creighton University students over the past 18 months of WebCT use.

Notes: Defines total quality management (TQM) as a business approach whichfocuses on the continuous improvement of an organization's businessprocesses, and business process re-engineering (BPR) as a fundamentaland radical restructuring of those processes, characterized bydiscontinuous improvement. Suggests that while BPR has been promotedaggressively as the approach to use if TQM fails, many of the mostsignificant BPR successes have been in organizations with a successfulhistory of TQM. Presents a case study of D2D Ltd which has evolvedrapidly from being the captive manufacturing division of ICL plc, tobecome a successful contract manufacturing business, supplying some ofthe world's leading computer giants. The cultural ideology of TQM hasprovided the environment necessary to sustain new and radical processredesigns. Business process re-engineering has become an integral partof D2D's culture, a process-driven culture built on the ideals andconcepts of total quality management.

Notes: Examines how NatWest Life is using teamworking to manage for"excellent performance" amongst its staff. Achieves this byimplementing teambuilding workshops which encourage employees to worktogether in planning their own agendas and way of working. Concludesthat it is staff behaviors that strengthen operational efficiencies.

Notes: Reengineering is becoming an increasingly popular option for corporations seeking radical process change. Central to the success of reengineering is the coordination of information technology (IT) throughout the organization. Essentially, IT represents the core mechanism of information flow. When companies improve core IT processes, such as gathering data only once, integrating cross-functional systems or increasing information speed to customers, radical business process change is possible. However, for IT to be an enabler of reengineering or organizational change, it is imperative that managers are conversant with the various methods by which IT can help advance process change. At the same time, management needs to be aware of the numerous pitfalls that may doom any change effort using IT.

Notes: Investigates the perceptions of staff in regard to critical success factors (CSFs) for successful BPR implementation in the public sector. The research methodology involved semi-structured interviews and staff surveys within a large public sector organisation. The results of the study show that many of the key CSFs identified for BPR in the private sector are equally relevant to the success of BPR in the public domain. The factors deemed most important for successful BPR in the public sector included items such as: top management support, commitment and understanding of BPR; communication; empowerment; and alleviation of downsizing fears. Also identifies a number of unique characteristics of public sector organisations which have a bearing on the application of BPR. These include: the existence of many intricate overlapping processes with multiple stakeholders; the existence of a professional workforce; and the existence of defined internal organisational boundaries.

Notes: The growing importance of the service sector in almost every economy in the world has created a significant amount of interest in service operations. In practice, many service sectors have sought and made use of various enhancement programs to improve their operations and performance in an attempt to hold competitive success. As most researchers recognize, service operations link with customers. The customers as participants act in the service operations system driven by the goal of sufficing his/her added values. This is one of the distinctive features of service production and consumption. In the paper, first, we propose the idea of service operations improvement by mapping objectively the service experience of customers from the view of customer journey. Second, a portraying scheme of service experience of customers based on the IDEF3 technique is proposed, and last, some implications on service operations improvement are given.

Notes: An overview of the success/failure literature in new product development points to a long list of critical success factors (CSF), which define what should be done to enhance new product success rates but not how to do it. The net result is failure rates which are marginal improvements on previous decades. The basic tenet of this paper is that the effective use of market information throughout the new product development process (NPD) can enhance the success rates of new products. We examine the contingencies affecting the perceived utility and use of market information in the NPD process and develop propositions describing these contingencies. The outcome of our discussion is a conceptual framework, which can aid research in this critical area of organisational activity.

Notes: Notes that benchmarking is an under-utilised tool in the field of innovation. Examines consumer brands in the UK cosmetics and toiletries sector and attempts to use both soft and hard metrics in terms of benchmarking measurement. Considers various types of benchmarking approach and also the nature of both "hard" and "soft" measurement. Focuses on numerous factors relating to brands, using data from the cosmetics and toiletries sector. Concludes by underlining the need for organizations to pay attention to both quantitative and qualitative dimensions if benchmarking is to be effective.

Notes: The article will propose strategic community management as a new management style and innovation technique for large, established companies, that is implemented through the creation of a variety of strategic business communities. The article will take up, as a new model case of the use of strategic community management in business, the expansion of Japan's multimedia communication market achieved by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Inc. (hereafter, NTT), Japan's largest telecommunications carrier, over roughly the past four years. The article will explain how NTT cultivated this new multimedia market, which was spawned from its creation of business communities (both internal and external, and including communities with customers) using strategic outsourcing and various strategic partnerships with businesses in other industries.

Notes: The study of franchising as a small business growth strategy is only weakly researched and understood. This preliminary, qualitative investigation examines the experiences of 17 operational and five "failed" franchises in the UK, in translating their business concepts into a franchise format. It reveals that small firms select franchising as a growth strategy for both economic and idiosyncratic reasons, but that economic reasons tend to prevail. The findings suggest that franchising is a viable growth strategy for small firms and that per se it creates few major problems for growth-oriented small businesses. It is argued that further research is needed, particularly into the experiences of "failed" franchises and into the problems encountered by growing small firms who do not adopt franchising as a growth strategy.

Notes: The transition from centralised to market economy created a number of difficulties for Polish enterprises and many of them went bankrupt, especially after the Soviet market had been lost. While large companies, such as steelworks, coal mines, railways, etc, have been protected by the government for social reasons, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could survive only when they, by themselves or with some external assistance, were able to introduce internal changes and adjust to the market environment. Polish SMEs may be divided into two groups: emerging private firms and split firms which were created by a partition of large state-owned enterprises. The various reasons for failure are discussed for both groups and compared with those described in the literature. A general model of consultancy intervention is presented and the attitudes of Polish enterprises towards change are described. In general, the state-owned and split firms are reluctant to change unless their situation is critical, and if restructurisation is done it is rather superficial. Thus, a successful consultant has to be not only convincing and flexible but also must assess how deep a change is wanted by a given enterprise. This paper presents the approach used in helping the split firms by the University of Mining and Metallurgy (UMM), Faculty of Management Consulting Group. In order to find solutions for a given firm, a working team consisting of representatives of an enterprise and university was set up. The team devises a strategy of enterprise survival and prepares a detailed plan of the steps to be taken. This approach, which in many cases has proved to be successful, consists of trying to infuse the employees with the philosophy of enterprise survival and organising a series of relevant training activities. When the employees fully understand the essence of all the actions necessary for enterprise survival (privatisation, improvement of marketing, creation of systems of motivation, quality control, management information and other), the consulting group's role as "company doctor" is limited to the supervision of the change planning process and the assessment of the solutions chosen. This system of triggering employee initiative has been found to be not only effective but also cheap, an aspect which in the case of small enterprises should not be underestimated.

Notes: Large owner-users of real estate increasingly search for methods to streamline their operations and reduce expenses without decreasing services to building occupants. This paper describes a model successfully adopted by a variety of corporations to accomplish these objectives. Key to achieving these results is the establishing of Standard Service Agreements between occupants and service providers and the 'bundling' of similar services under a unified management umbrella.

Notes: Many organisations have increased collaborative performance by introducing new technologies and new processes; by integrating these with innovations in the working environment they can catalyse additional and sustained improvements in collaborative performance. If planned, designed and managed as an integrated system encompassing people, process and place issues, the workplace environment can be a powerful catalyst for business change.

Notes: Even the most experienced and hardened negotiators tend to 'lighten up' when they step onto foreign soil. Current global conditions, however, allow for a systematic, diligent and professional approach to lease and purchase negotiations. This paper encourages corporate real estate professionals to do the right thing - wherever they may be.

Notes: The proportion of real estate in a non-property company's asset portfolio has increased to anextent where it has become an asset capable of enhancing corporate wealth. This initial study hopes to establish the foundation and provide background information on corporate real estate holding profiles of listed Singapore businessfirms. Using financial statement data and firm market values from 1987 to 1996, this paper provides an analysis of real estate holdings in both absolute and relative terms. Real estate holdings by business segment and asset subtype,growth in corporate real estate holdings over time; and key financial characteristics of corporate real estate (eg real estate as a percentage of shareholders' equity and real estate relative to market value of the firm) are included in the paper.

Notes: The cost of occupying and utilising a real estate asset, whether leased or owned, if an important element of controlling corporate resources. Yet, the focus of corporate real estate departments is often in the areas of acquisitions, dispositions and facilities rather than cost control. This paper takes the reader through the methods of identifying and controlling costs as the transaction progresses through the real estate life cycle.

Notes: Provides two definitions of TQM which address TQM critical factors.Also examines a number of self-assessment frameworks and explains therole they play in determining the TQM critical factors.

Notes: This paper presents findings from a major research study investigating management training and development (MTD) activity within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East Midlands. Despite the fact that the academic evidence linking training and development with business performance remains inconclusive, the previous UK Government clearly signalled the importance of improving skills levels to promote business success. The Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) are charged with a key role in stimulating MTD activity within SMEs, a sector where MTD has traditionally been given a low priority. The system of government-backed support for SMEs is currently under review, and the continued existence of the TECs in their present form largely depends upon their ability to provide proactive, tailored solutions to local business needs. It is, therefore, an extremely opportune time to review the TECs' performance. Based on detailed analysis of the activities of six TECs in the East Midlands, the paper examines how they define MTD, establish the MTD needs of SMEs within their respective catchment areas, and formulate appropriate strategies to meet those needs. The reasons why generic MTD products are not generally taken up by SMEs are explored; supply-side obstacles hinder the promotion of generic products by the TECs and demand is constrained as owner-managers are reluctant to adopt such initiatives, although the boundaries between these two sets of factors are blurred. After reviewing the ways in which the TECs evaluate their activities, the paper concludes by offering some recommendations as to how the TECs could increase the take-up of MTD by SMEs and improve the targeting of SMEs for assistance.

Notes: Much of the research into quality circles has been directed towardsthe organizational context in which they operate. This has tended toemphasize the need for commitment of senior management, rather than theoperation of quality circles themselves; an emphasis further enhanced bythe location of quality improvement within the management of changeliterature, with its focus on management led, top down change. Describesan investigation into two quality circles within the same company,indeed operating the same plant and working under the same linemanagement. Within the company the two quality circles had acquiredreputations for greatly varying levels of performance. The investigationidentified a close relation between the social cohesion of the groupsfrom which the circles were drawn and their performance. Theinvestigation showed that: within a single, favourable organizationalcontext with a supportive senior management the impact of qualityimprovement initiatives can be greatly affected by workplacesubcultures; and effective quality circles require the support andcommitment of supervisory management.

Notes: Strategy formulation can no longer be based on a process ofconception, as the underlying conditions change before a formulatedstrategy can be implemented. It should be based on a continuous learningprocess which involves, inter alia, learning about theorganization's goals, the effect of different actions towards thesegoals and the way in which these actions should be implemented. First,highlights the importance of an organization's knowledge base bydemonstrating the relationship that exists between strategy formulationand organization learning. Then presents the role of performancemeasurement systems in stimulating cognitive and behavioural learning.Places the concept of organization learning in a strategy formulationcontext in order to show the effect of the nature and speed ofenvironmental changes on the organization's learning processes.

Notes: Proliferation of advanced production technology and challengingcompetition created by the increasing internationalization of businessactivities have placed great emphasis on production quality and customersatisfaction. Quality improvement, cost cutting, and profit maximizationare critical strategies for coping with the rapidly changing environmentof the 1990s. Effective blending of these strategies can be achievedthrough employing advanced philosophies of production management: totalquality management, workforce activity-based management, or quality ofwork life. Reviews these philosophies and examines the criteria thatcontribute to a successful implementation programme as demonstrated inone facility of the world's largest producer of paper-machine"clothing". Concludes by identifying factors that should beconsidered when designing a model for total quality management. Themodel emphasizes the integration of the autonomous team concept and thesociotechnical approach of organizational design as a major factor forsuccess.

Notes: Compares and contrasts the findings of an empirical analysis of theTQM critical factors in different parts of the world. Indicates thatquality movement is on the rise worldwide. However, the emphasis on theTQM critical factors may vary from one region in the world to another.

Notes: No previously published research has developed a comprehensive setof requirements or critical factors that spans the literature. Offers aset of nine critical factors and 58 supporting performance measurementsof world-class operations (WCO) that have been synthesized from variousauthors. Proposes that it can be very useful to an organizationattempting to identify those characteristics often mentioned in WCOliterature that may provide an opportunity to implement coremanufacturing strategies and a total global strategy. Managers candevise a plan to assess the current stages, determine the performancemeasurements, assign responsibilities and resources within theorganization and monitor the progress for achieving company-wideimprovements towards WCO status and global competitiveness.

Notes: Performance measures form an important feedback-loop in strategicchange which represents a process of constant learning. However,complete learning can only be achieved if a performance measurementsystem takes into account different value systems that exist within anorganization and adapts dynamically to changes in the competitiveenvironment. First establishes the role that performance measures playin the process of strategic change. An approach for the design ofperformance measurement systems for use in strategy evaluation andimplementation is then presented. Finally, demonstrates the ways inwhich a performance measurement system can be made flexible to accountfor changing conditions.

Notes: Investigated the effects of ISO 9000 standards on the US textileindustry through an industry survey. Examined the relationship betweenproduct quality and ISO standards. Provides results on the effects ofISO 9000 on the textile industry, especially on product quality.Implementation of ISO helps to improve product and process quality,reduces rework and defective supplies, and can be used as a marketingtool. The cost of ISO 9000 certification was negligible compared to thebenefits it provides. ISO certified companies reported that their totalcosts went down with regard to maintaining quality. With theimplementation of ISO, management becomes committed to quality. ISOcertified companies seem to have focused more clearly on quality ofproducts and operations. ISO certification motivates employees toimprove quality.

Notes: A postal survey was conducted into the use of performancemeasurement in companies using total quality management. A total of 89responses were obtained from 22 companies. The results from the analysisof the data show that even in companies using TQM, there is a gapbetween the factors of performance perceived by employees as beingimportant, and the factors which are emphasized by their organizations.However, some of the key goals of TQM - customer service andsatisfaction, and quality improvements - are among the highestrated factors in terms of both importance and emphasis.

Notes: Discusses the best practices adopted by some of the leadingmanufacturers in four Asian countries - Japan, South Korea,Singapore and Taiwan. Data were gathered from visits to 22 companiesduring 1992, 1993 and 1994. Presents the continuing and emerging bestpractices under the headings: leadership and planning; customer focus;people management and process management. Discusses future developmentsand progress in the four countries. The analysis shows that thesecompanies are quite advanced in the areas of leadership, planning,customer focus and people development and management. The companies hadadopted a very wide range of strategies and improvement programmes andhad planned significant improvement programmes for the future.

Notes: Examines the penetration of the small- to medium-sized enterprise(SME) sector by the rapidly growing practice of benchmarking, hithertomore usually employed by large companies. The specific needs of thisbusiness type have to date been sadly neglected by both academic andgovernmental attempts at disseminating "best practice".Following a survey of over 200 SMEs, which clearly identified a"performance information gap", the author has undertakenextensive quantitative and qualitative interviews with 25 seniormanagers, and built a picture of both current usage and the perceived oractual barriers to greater use of the technique. Concludes that thepractice of benchmarking in SMEs is embryonic, that little progress canbe made by even enlightened managers until the barriers are understood,and that a range of tools and techniques which are capable ofaccommodating the idiosyncrasies of small businesses need to bedeveloped and made accessible.

Notes: Understanding cyclical activity is an important component of efficient portfolio management. Property appraisal models that do not explicitly take into account cyclical fluctuations may produce unrealistic valuation estimates resulting in property assets being incorrectly added to or removed from the general investment portfolio. In this paper we use conventional spectral analysis techniques to examine property and financial assets for evidence of cycles and co-cycles. One finding is that the very pronounced cyclical patterns that appear in direct real estate markets and the economy as a whole are very much less obvious once they have filtered through to securitised property markets and financial assets markets.

Notes: The operations strategy literature has identified four primary dimensions on which a firm competes with another. These are: price, quality, flexibility, and delivery dependability. Of these, quality is perhaps the most critical dimension in terms of the impact on the degree of competitiveness imparted to a firm by a competitiveness dimension. In this paper, we propose a quantitative measure - quality competitiveness index (QCI) - to determine the degree to which a firm's quality practices and policies are instrumental in improving its competitiveness. The QCI can be effectively employed for benchmarking among competing firms. More importantly, however, the process leading to the determination of QCI is itself an educative one - the weaknesses and strengths of a company with respect to its quality practices and policies come right to the fore and the company can usefully employ this information to improve competitiveness for quality.

Notes: This paper describes the extent to which Australian university alumni offices currently apply benchmarking principles. Not surprisingly, there is considerable diversity in the way that the offices measure, evaluate, and progress their operations. Benchmarking has been adopted by only half of the respondents to a survey of management practices. To some extent, the differences reflect differences in alumni officers' perceptions of the primacy of various customer groups, and the extent to which the top echelons of the universities advocate quality management practices. Resource constraints and concerns about meeting target performance measures are key deterrents to the adoption of benchmarking. Those associations that adopt benchmarking out-perform those that do not on the following dimensions: commitment to quality management practices; communication with employees; continuous improvement, emphasis on customer satisfaction; and participative management. Organisations that have adopted quality management principles vary according to how they implement benchmarking, including the types of benchmarking partners adopted.

Notes: This paper describes the application of a new variant of process benchmarking called value stream mapping to the development of a supplier network around a prominent distributor of electronic, electrical and mechanical components. This involved mapping the activities of the firm, identifying opportunities for improvement and then undertaking with the firm an improvement programme. The resulting supplier association programme involved around 50 key suppliers across eight product category areas. The paper explores the different methods employed together with the support structure that was created. It concludes with evidence of the early results of the programmes as well as a number of key learning points for other organisations wishing to follow a similar path.

Notes: Chronicles the USA's provision of telecoms services from the early 1970s. States it is unknown whether competition has been a success and whether today's competition is better than Bell's monopoly position of old. Pinpoints competition and subsidization and looks at how the US system works. Concludes that for competition proper all subsidy forms should be eliminated, which means access charge, etc., but wonders whether this could actually happen?

Notes: Chronicles a series of errors in the Telecommunications Act by using a "fairy tale" scenario to aid in explanation of this US 1996 procedure. Addresses local market jurisdiction and dual cost standards. Concludes many of the Act's goals remain largely unfulfilled as local exchange customers will not see the benefits the Act was hoped to deliver, until technology allows better delivery.

Notes: Suggests this analysis' principal objective is to demonstrate that recent merger activity in US Bell operating companies can foster increased incentives for out-of-region entry. Reveals that the local telephone industry can serve to enhance competition by fostering more pronounced incentives for out-of-region entry.