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The purpose of this paper is to show how boards can get in touch with their value critical stakeholders, those who can make or break the company.

The paper first develops the hypothesis that boards often are out of touch with reality. It then introduces the concept of value critical stakeholders and proposes that boards introduce an outreach program to get in touch with them. For each of the proposed five elements in an outreach program, the paper reviews what boards already are doing to be in touch.

The review of existing practice shows that for each of the elements in an outreach program, there is enough practice available for boards to develop a comprehensive approach to get in touch with the value critical stakeholders.

To prevent a future governance crisis, get in touch and promote long‐term value creation, boards need an explicit program of reaching out beyond the boardroom, not only to the immediate stakeholders, but also the societal stakeholders, who can make or break the company. This paper shows how it can be done.

The paper introduces the new concept of value critical stakeholders and describes how it can be used to help boards get in touch with reality.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of staged customer experiences on customer switching costs in the banking industry.

Brand touchpoints in the banking industry are identified by exploratory research using focus group sessions with bank customers and staff and refined by exploratory factor analysis using an independent sample of bank customers to form the staged customer experience construct. The proposed research model is then validated by confirmatory factor analysis with an independent sample using structural equation modeling.

Customer experience in the banking industry consists of four related but distinct stages (i.e. pre-touch, in-touch, post-touch and service failure). The first three stages have direct and indirect effects on switching costs that are partially mediated by relationship quality.

Customer experience is an industry-specific construct with complicated effects on switching costs. Thus, the staged customer experience construct should be examined in different industries and applications to understand its implications.

Bank customers demand experiences that achieve desirable results in everyday situations and switch to other service providers easily if this demand is not met. Banks should focus on brand touchpoints that are both important to customers and increase switching costs to keep customers from defecting.

This research expands upon findings in the customer experience literature by exploring factors that link staged customer experiences with switching costs in the banking industry. In addition, a paradox is identified in the staged customer experience model that requires managers’ attention in order to design an effective customer experience strategy.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between migrants’ psychological well-being and the extent to which they keep in touch with people in their country of origin.

An online survey completed by 1,328 Australian migrants from 4 cultural groups (Anglo, Southern Asian, Confucian Asian and other European) assessed 2 facets of well-being, namely, flourishing and psychological distress and the use of 3 modes of online communication, namely, social media, messaging services and phone/video services.

Overall, keeping in touch with family and friends in their country of origin was associated with more flourishing and less distress amongst migrants. Nonetheless, the preferred modes of communication and how those usages relate with well-being varied considerably across cultural groups. In the Anglo group, communicating through messaging and phone/video services was associated with lower distress and communicating in all modes was associated with higher flourishing. Furthermore, the latter link was accounted for by having a meaningful conversation.

These findings suggest that the psychological well-being of migrant populations may be supported by an understanding of the distinct roles played by specific communication modes that are used to stay in touch with family and friends back home.

This research aims to identify critical brand touchpoints that generate value for customers and brands and examine their effects on two relational outcomes: relationship quality and word of mouth (WOM).

Three studies combining qualitative and quantitative research provide evidence distinguishing four different stages of customer experience in the telecom industry and develop a research model of staged customer experience; structural equation modeling analyses are used to validate the proposed model and test for the examined effects.

Customer experience in the telecom industry consists of four related but distinct stages (i.e. pre-touch, in-touch, post-touch and service failure) and these stages have direct and indirect effects on WOM. Furthermore, the effects of customer experience stages on WOM are partially mediated by relationship quality.

The research model introduced here will allow academics and practitioners to focus their efforts on important touchpoints that influence relationship quality and WOM. Future research should examine the proposed model of staged customer experience in different applications and industries.

A common myth among marketers is that firms should design a painless experience if they want a superior market position. While avoiding a drain on financial resources, the prime objective should be to provide a holistic customer experience that is valuable to customers and the brand alike. Marketers should disregard touchpoints and stages that do not provide noticeable value.

This research answers the call for a more appropriate model to elucidate the factors that link customer experience with relational outcomes.

This study investigated how college students’ pace of life and perceptions of communication technologies shape the choices they make when engaging in mediated communication with their parents.

We conducted 21 interviews to explore how students’ understandings of various communication technologies, the rules and patterns of technology use in their families, and the circumstances surrounding their use of technologies while at college influence the number and type of media they use to communicate with their parents.

We found that perceived busyness and generational differences played a large role in limiting technologies used, with environmental factors, the purpose of communication, and complexity of message also contributing to technology choices.

This study extends media multiplexity theory by investigating media choice and relational tie strength in an intergenerational context.

Use of thin film microstrip patch antenna for leaf moisture studies.

In this paper, the studies on the effect of leaf used as in‐touch overlay on thin film microstrip patch antenna in the X band (8‐12 GHz) is reported. The patch was used as the transmitting antenna and a pyramidal horn antenna was the receiving antenna. Three leaves Furcarea Gigantea, Kalanchoe Pinnata and Cereus Prerogonus have been used as overlay. All these leaves have high chlorophyll content, but are different in their surface texture and rate of moisture loss.

Size of leaf, orientation with respect to direction of propagation and moisture content dependent changes in the patch antenna output are observed. When the size of the overlay is larger than the patch and the feedline is in contact with it, frequency changes are more, whereas when only patch is in contact with the leaf, amplitude changes are more. Thin film microstrip antenna can provide a means for sensing moisture content in leafy vegetation.

The study of moisture effects of leafy vegetation using the technique of in‐touch overlay on microstrip components can be used to generate data base about the plant conditions in various places.

The qualitative study examines the development of purposely created interpersonal relationships in an intercultural context. Contact with a local host is a way of helping expatriates deal with the challenges of an international assignment. Since the quality of contact with the host is pivotal to benefit most from this experience, the purpose of this paper is to examine which factors influence contact quality.

The authors conducted a case study analysis of 33 expatriates and ten accompanying partners who were put in touch with a local host, with whom they undertook a broad range of activities during a period of nine months.

Nine factors influenced the development of the contact (similarities, motivation, benefits, anxiety, expectations, busy schedules, suboptimal timing, communication breakdown, and cultural differences). Key factors were similarities, motivation, and benefits.

While some of the factors (e.g. similarities) are predictable according to the Social Penetration Theory, four factors were uniquely applicable to purposely created relationships such as contact with a local host: motivation, expectations, anxiety, and suboptimal timing.

The study provides suggestions that could stimulate the contact with a local host, making the intervention more valuable for organisations who wish to support their expatriates in this way.

This longitudinal study is one of the first to examine in detail the process of development of purposely created interpersonal relationships in an intercultural context. Furthermore, the study is new because it also examines unsuccessful relationships.

Considers the need for company managers to maintain awareness of technological innovation in order to remain competitive in international markets. Examines several areas in which new technology can be critical to a company′s success, some of the methods managers can use to stay in touch with technological innovations, and cites some examples of such methods as employed in successful organizations today. Concludes that the methods used will depend on the individual nature of the company.

The continuation of legislative developments affecting the employment and welfare of people at work is creating a need for a thorough re‐assessment of personnel sections, and maybe an audit to see how the latter are coping with new needs. At any one time so much is in the pipe‐line (as I write, there are proposed codes of practice in three areas by ACAS, and proposed regulations by the Health and Safety at Work Commission) that it almost needs a separate crystal ball section forecasting future needs for advice and assistance to line management in keeping in touch with changing requirements. It is not just that proposals are difficult to keep in touch with, but that what happens to them becomes confused.

To study nonreciprocal effects in microstrip components due to ferrite thin film overlay.

The possibility of obtaining non reciprocal characteristics in the X band microwave region in the absence of external magnetic field by a simple process of using Mg, Co, Zn ferrite thin films as in‐touch overlay over λ/2 microstrip rejection filter was investigated. Microstrip rejection filter is basically a reciprocal component. The ferrite thin films were deposited by electroless plating.

It was found that frequency, pH and ferrite overlay material dependent changes occurred and differences in forward and reverse loss also observed, in some cases greater than 30 dB. Owing to the overlay the rejection properties of the filter is lost and there is an increase in insertion loss. The best non reciprocal effects are seen at higher frequencies. The presence of permeability related effects like magnetostatic modes interfering with the normal propagation of the microstrip circuits might be causing the changes in the circuits.

There is scope for true planarisation of ferrite‐based components by using the ferrite in thin film form as in‐touch overlay.