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The purpose of this paper is to study the popular educational broadcasting of Julius Sumner Miller and its intersections with contemporary science policy and education.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the popular educational broadcasting of Julius Sumner Miller and its intersections with contemporary science policy and education.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on archival research including resources so far unused by historians of science or of broadcasting and audio-visual resources of Sumner Miller’s broadcasts on Australian, Canadian and American television. It begins by contextualising Sumner Miller as both an academic and broadcaster. The second section interprets the core points of his educational philosophy which he articulated in his written and broadcast works. The final section uses his private papers contextualised by works on the history and philosophy of science to interpret and delineate the disparity between Sumner Miller’s influence as a populariser of science and the prevailing trends in scientific policy and teaching.
Findings
This paper proposes that reconstructing the themes and recurring points he asserted in his broadcasts reveals disjunction between Sumner Miller’s high-profile successes and the contemporary trends in both science policy and science education. This paper interprets the circumstance of an internationally known and influential science populariser who was coterminous with but against the grain of the notion of “big science”. He therefore sought to popularise science precisely as it was developing in ways he disparaged.
Research limitations/implications
This paper breaks new ground by interpreting the different sources, audio-visual and written, created by and about an influential television broadcaster.
Originality/value
Although he was widely and internationally known, and the range of his influence on science communication is generally noted, Sumner Miller’s broadcasting and the themes and educational philosophy espoused in it is little researched and contextualised. This paper sharpens understanding of his influence but also his points of intersection and disjunction with scientific culture. Hitherto unused archival resources contribute to this understanding.
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Examines proposed legislation introducing major changes to the law onthe sale and supply of goods. The current legislation set out in theSale of Goods Act 1979 and the Sale and…
Abstract
Examines proposed legislation introducing major changes to the law on the sale and supply of goods. The current legislation set out in the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Sale and Supply of Services Act 1982 is in need of reform. The Law Commission carried out an investigation into shortcomings of the present system and recommended a number of major changes. The new law will clarify some anomalies which have arisen over the years as a result of shortcomings in the current legislation. Retailers and distributors in all business sectors should take the opportunity now to review their existing terms and conditions of sale to ensure that they will not be “caught out” before the Bill reaches the Statute Book.
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In a full blaze of comings and goings, it is unnecessary to remind ourselves that the holiday season is upon us; mass travel to faraway places. The media have for months, all…
Abstract
In a full blaze of comings and goings, it is unnecessary to remind ourselves that the holiday season is upon us; mass travel to faraway places. The media have for months, all through the winter, been extolling a surfeit of romantic areas of the world, exspecially on television; of colourful scenes, exotic beauties, brilliant sunshine everywhere; travel mostly by air as so‐called package tours — holidays for the masses! The most popular areas are countries of the Mediterranean littoral, from Israel to Spain, North Africa, the Adriatic, but of recent years, much farhter afield, India, South‐east Asia and increasingly to the USA.
The division between town and country in most areas of the world is marked and shows little evidence of any closer association, but in this country recent history with its wide…
Abstract
The division between town and country in most areas of the world is marked and shows little evidence of any closer association, but in this country recent history with its wide economic changes has made the division less deep than in times past, but still within living memory. Time was when country folk were almost a distinct breed, living under conditions for the most part primitive.
Books and periodicals on aeronautics: A buying list
Juan Wang, Jie Fang and Yuting Wang
This study disentangles the impact of consumers’ adoption of mini-program channels on social media on their purchase behavior in e-marketplaces from a multichannel retailer’s…
Abstract
Purpose
This study disentangles the impact of consumers’ adoption of mini-program channels on social media on their purchase behavior in e-marketplaces from a multichannel retailer’s perspective and examines the moderating roles of two types of brand messages (informational and transformational messages).
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 2,204 transaction records from a Chinese multichannel retailer, this study used a Poisson regression model with fixed effects for empirical testing. The case of the WeChat mini-program in China was employed.
Findings
Adopting mini-program channels on social media reduces consumers’ purchase frequency but increases their purchase breadth in e-marketplaces. Moreover, informational messages worsen the negative effect of mini-program channel use on purchase frequency. In contrast, transformational messages reduce the negative effect of mini-program channel use on purchase frequency and amplify its positive effect on purchase breadth.
Practical implications
Managers can effectively leverage mini-programs to widen the range of consumers’ product purchases in e-marketplaces and the intensity of transformation messages posted within mini-programs to alleviate their negative impact on purchase frequency in e-marketplaces.
Originality/value
Previous studies only focus on the intrachannel impact of mini-program channels; however, this study highlights their cross-channel impact. Its findings underscore the dual role of mini-program channel use in e-marketplaces. Additionally, the nuanced moderating effects of informational and transformational messages enrich our understanding of mini-program channels on social media. Moreover, a substitution framework is utilized to understand the cross-channel effects generated by mini-program channels, demonstrating the applicability and generalizability of the framework in a new context.
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Ruigang Wu, Xuefeng Zhao, Zhuo Li and Yang Xie
Online employee reviews have emerged as a crucial information source for business managers to evaluate employee behavior and firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to test…
Abstract
Purpose
Online employee reviews have emerged as a crucial information source for business managers to evaluate employee behavior and firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between employee personality traits, derived from online employee reviews and job satisfaction and turnover behavior at the individual level.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors apply text-mining techniques to extract personality traits from online employee reviews on Indeed.com based on the Big Five theory. They also apply a machine learning classification algorithm to demonstrate that incorporating personality traits can significantly enhance employee turnover prediction accuracy.
Findings
Personality traits such as agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness are positively associated with job satisfaction, while extraversion and neuroticism are negatively related to job satisfaction. Moreover, the impact of personality traits on overall job satisfaction is stronger for former employees than for current employees. Personality traits are significantly linked to employee turnover behavior, with a one-unit increase in the neuroticism score raising the probability of an employee becoming a former employee by 0.6%.
Practical implications
These findings have implications for firm managers looking to gain insights into employee online review behavior and improve firm performance. Online employee review websites are recommended to include the identified personality traits.
Originality/value
This study identifies employee personality traits from automated analysis of employee-generated data and verifies their relationship with employee satisfaction and employee turnover, providing new insights into the development of human resources in the era of big data.
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Juan M.C. Larrosa, Emiliano M. Gutiérrez, Gonzalo R. Ramírez Muñoz de Toro and Juan I. Uriarte
The purpose of the study is to investigate micro determinants for dynamic wine pricing in Argentina. We test whether attributes and time affect the price rate of change. The rate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to investigate micro determinants for dynamic wine pricing in Argentina. We test whether attributes and time affect the price rate of change. The rate of change is selected given the inflationary context of the country. The analysis provides valuable information for wine marketing decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
The modeling approach relies on panel data analysis for exploiting the data cross-section and time dimension. The contribution explores a massive price dataset at a weekly frequency. The dependent variable is the weekly price variation rate for product/wine and covariates are attributes, time and nominal variables. Given that endogeneity issues arose, the estimations rely on a two-stage least squares and instrumental variables with cluster-robust errors.
Findings
Estimations show that attributes, time and cost variables are statistically significant, with clear seasonal patterns and quality segmentation affecting pricing: wines made out of specific grapes such as Chenin, Merlot and Seedling or composing a broad category such as red wine, exhibit price undershooting (price rate of change below average). On the other hand, wines out of grapes such as Bonarda, Margaux, Mistela, Moscatel, Oporto, Tannat and Sauvignon Blanc show price overshooting (rate of change above average). In summary, wine made from determined grapes and specific wineries show divergent pricing.
Research limitations/implications
Covariates such as alcohol content, label descriptor information, winery history, substitute competition and vintage, among others, have not been considered given that the research analyzes more than 750 wine products. Another limitation is that the work does not explore many time-series covariates, such as promotions and idiosyncratic shocks.
Practical implications
The contribution presents new information on wine pricing patterns affected by weeks, months and years, including the effect of the prolonged 2020 Argentine lockdown. It also analyzes estimations on pricing at the level of grape/blend and wineries previously unknown in this market. The information can influence inventory decisions on the side of the sellers and purchase decisions on the side of consumers.
Social implications
The analysis includes fine but also low-cost wines that form part of the diet of low-income families in the country. The work detects a divergent pattern in pricing divided by the quality/price of the wine. It also presents information on price timing that may help consumers in the best moment to buy.
Originality/value
The contribution analyzes unprecedented information on weekly wine prices and presents evidence of pricing tactics from a point-of-sale perspective: It identifies different adjustment speeds related to product features and time effects.
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