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Three types of PbTe samples, e.g. nanoparticles, nanowires and bulk ingots, have been prepared. The investigation of the Seebeck coefficient of PbTe nanoparticles and nanowires clearly shows the sign change in the temperature range of 575~650 K, which is not observed for bulk ingots. Unfortunately, this temperature range is within the proposed operation temperature range for thermoelectric devices using PbTe and hence, such a change will affect their proper performance. The observed sign change of Seebeck coefficient is not simply caused by the composition variation at high temperature. It is mainly attributed to the extrinsic-to-intrinsic-semiconductor transition for PbTe nanocrystals due to the competing factors between quantum size effect increasing band gap and self-purification process decreasing their charge carrier concentration, which shift the transition point of nanocrystals to lower range as compare to that of bulk samples. Thus, such phenomenon should be considered carefully in the design of thermoelectric devices using semiconductor nanocrystals, which have attracted much attention recently.

Explores ways of developing the marketing mix for the market in drinking tea, rejecting a number of existing marketing mix models. Adapts methods popular in product design and applies them to the marketing mix of the tea‐drinking market. Uses Suh’s principle of product design, explaining it in detail, then applies this to drinking tea, using a random sampling survey to discover consumer needs, perceptions and attitudes. Reports also on an empirical study of 799 Taiwanese households to find out more about the Oriental tea market. Presents the data analysis, including a comparison of brand loyalty. Indicates that market segmentation and marketing mix should be developed simultaneously and claims that this paper provides a method for doing that.

This collection of stories captures the lives of people whose lives have changed as a consequence of the policy to close long‐stay hospitals. Not everyone lived in a long‐stay hospital, but those who haven't probably would have if they were still around. They give a snapshot of the impact of probably the most important public policy in the UK to affect people with learning difficulties over the last 40 years.

Delivering real‐time services (Internet telephony, video conferencing, and streaming media as well as business‐critical data applications) across the Internet requires end‐to‐end quality of service (QoS) guarantees, which requires a hierarchy of contracts. These standardized contracts may be referred to as service level agreements (SLAs). SLAs provide a mechanism for service providers and customers to flexibly specify the service to be delivered. The emergence of bandwidth and service agents, traders, brokers, exchanges and contracts can provide an institutional and business framework to support effective competition. This article identifies issues that must be addressed by SLAs for consumer applications. We introduce a simple taxonomy for classifying SLAs based on the identity of the contracting parties. We conclude by discussing implications for public policy, Internet architecture, and competition.

Bringing corporate strategies to life and engaging with staff have become key concerns of HR directors and CEOs alike in recent years. Active engagement and meaningful involvement in that strategy are difficult to achieve. This paper aims to document two successful internal communication projects in a multinational company, T‐Mobile.

“Open” was already an award‐winning paper‐based internal communication that, as part of T‐Mobile UK's overall strategy for multi‐channel internal communication, was migrated to a digital platform. This represented a cultural shift for the employees within the organization.

T‐Mobile and Words & Pictures co‐developed an approach involving cartoon characters, each representing a strategic business focus, which captured the imagination of the mobile operator's employees and delivered impressive online statistics of engagement, including increased reader time and 95 percent readership enjoyment. This was supported by an increased employee understanding of key strategic issues.

Words & Pictures concludes that other organizations wishing to achieve similar digital engagement should first understand the employees and their needs for communication and secondly should see the digital platform as a genuine opportunity to reinforce the brand.

This T‐Mobile and Words & Pictures case study focuses on two award‐winning internal communications projects that were successful in improving employee engagement through the transferal from paper to digital communication.

Sabar holds the Joanne and Haime Constantiner Chair for Jewish Education at Tel Aviv University. Her fields of specialization are Jewish education, curriculum development and qualitative research methods and in particular its ethical aspects. Prof. Sabar is the recipient of the “Tel Aviv award” for research in Education for the year 2005.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the forms that combinations of digital manufacturing, logistics and equipment use are likely to take and how these novel combinations may affect the relationship among logistics service providers (LSPs), users and manufacturers of equipment.

Brian Arthur’s theory of combinatorial technological evolution is applied to examine possible digital manufacturing-driven transformations. The F-18 Super Hornet is used as an illustrative example of a service supply chain for a complex product.

The introduction of digital manufacturing will likely result in hybrid solutions, combining conventional logistics, digital manufacturing and user operations. Direct benefits can be identified in the forms of life cycle extension and the increased availability of parts in challenging locations. Furthermore, there are also opportunities for both equipment manufacturers and LSPs to adopt new roles, thereby supporting the efficient and sustainable use of digital manufacturing.

The phenomenon of digital manufacturing-driven transformations of service supply chains for complex product does not yet fully exist in the real world, and its study requires cross-disciplinary collaboration. Thus, the implication for research is to use a design science approach for early-stage explorative research on the form and function of novel combinations.

Digital manufacturing as a general-purpose technology gives LSPs an opportunity to consolidate demand from initial users and incrementally deploy capacity closer to new users. Reengineering the products that a manufacture currently uses is needed to increase the utilization of digital manufacturing.

The authors outline a typology of digital manufacturing-driven transformations and identify propositions to be explored in further research and practice.

The term “library management” covers many different aspects of the way that a library is operated and conjures up different concepts in the minds of different people, depending on their own interests, agendas and requirements. Research into the subject is even more difficult to define because the application of research in one field can be vital to the development of another. Some researchers would not consider their research central to library matters at all, whereas the practising librarian might well see it as casting new light on a difficult area of understanding or development.