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The purpose of this paper is to analyse three innovative Master's programmes designed for public and voluntary sector managers across three EU countries.

The paper compares similarities and differences between the programmes in order to shed light on the “innovation journey” which the authors took in establishing these programmes, and on the distinctive pedagogies which have been designed and developed to help address the complex dilemmas and challenges facing public and voluntary sector managers in the three countries.

The paper draws on theories of innovation and entrepreneurship to illustrate how these programmes were created, and how both new curriculum content and new approaches to pedagogy had to be developed.

The paper addresses the current and future learning needs of these public and voluntary service managers.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on issues of assessment in leadership and management programmes for mid career public managers. Drawing on experiences of such programmes from across Europe, the paper examines the potential conflict between traditional perspectives on academic study, with the typically‐associated focus on testing what has been learned, and the expectations and needs for competence and relevance for the work‐place.

The paper aruges that two key distinctions are crucial – on the one hand, between formative and summative assessment (i.e. between assessment and feedback during a programme to help participants learn, as opposed to assessment at the end of a programme to judge and determine if they have met the grade), and on the other, between participant‐centred and institution‐centred approaches (i.e. between commitment to collaborating with individual participants to ensure that their personal learning and development objectives are met, and a more traditional perspective reflecting a culture of “the institution knows best” and of concern to protect academic standards).

From the evidence gathered the conclusion is reached that, despite the claims made about the developmental objectives of such programmes, mostly, the assessment processes tend to accord with traditional academic perspectives, and give only limited weight to learning and skills for the workplace.

The paper argues for more emphasis on formative assessment and participant‐centredness and also for greater clarity about purposes in such management programmes. It advocates more imaginative and innovative learning and development approaches to mirror better the diverse realities and requirements of a public service organisational context.

Marketers and advertisers have ignored the individuality and diversity of older consumers. Communicating, developing relationships and building loyalty with mature individuals is different. Based on market research done at American Express Financial Advisor and learning from other marketers, new principles have emerged on how to communicate with mature individuals. This learning goes beyond merely using larger point sizes. Traditional advertising techniques need to be inverted. There is a need to be conditional ‐ allowing individuals the freedom to roam within a marketing or advertising concept according to their personal station in life. Time is not of the essence ‐ consumers are “careful buyers who do their homework”; they are “information hungry” and “have the time to investigate their purchases. Other points raised include the fact that arrogance does not sell, MTV quick‐cut editing is out, and it is necessary to remember that “mature excitement” is different from “adolescent excitement.”

Examines the individual buyer‐supplier relationships of the four major Japanese automobile manufacturers. Building on the relationship marketing and the interorganizational trust literature, relates their supplier management practices to the type of supplier organizations they use, the relative sales revenues, number of employees, and profitability of both buyers and suppliers, and the level of equity held by automakers in their suppliers. Major finding reveals that the major Japanese automakers have far more diversity than commonality in their supplier policies, and suggests that a comparison of major Japanese companies individually, not collectively, is a rich area of research into buyer‐supplier relationships.

This chapter examines the influence of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy on some of the most important Supreme Court decisions of the past three decades. Mobilizing the epistemic community framework, it demonstrates how network members, acting as amici curiae, litigators, academics, and judges worked to transmit intellectual capital to Supreme Court decision makers in 12 federalism and separation of powers cases decided between 1983 and 2001. It finds that Federalist Society members were most successful in diffusing ideas into Supreme Court opinions in cases where doctrinal distance was greatest; that is, cases where the Supreme Court moved the farthest from its established constitutional framework.

Summarizes the basic principles of Bioenergetics along with its origin in Riechian psychology. Clarifies that Bioenergetics is used at Cranfield not as psychotherapy, but as an aid to personal development for a specific population of high‐functioning individuals, i.e. managers. Places the Bioenergetic body‐mind notion into a philosophical context of human goodness and potential; thus expanding the focus to body‐mind‐spirit. Examines five body‐mind types through the following aspects: how they operate at work; how they were formed; key attitudes; unique gifts; body shape; development path; how they are best managed. Case histories illustrating the different types in various modes of consultant intervention, i.e. individual development, team building and culture change.

Research into inter‐organisational relationships has been one of the key drivers in the development of services marketing theory. Yet the understanding of the nature of such relationships, and the management of the relationship process, remains limited. Focusing on the development of buyer‐seller relationships in an archetypal professional business service, this paper aims to critically examine the nature and format of inter‐organisational service relationships.

Research reported in the paper is based on case study research across multiple dyads (n=7) in the occupational health sector supported by large‐scale survey data.

Argues that, rather than adhering to a single format in terms of characteristics or pattern of development, relationships are diverse and complex. A typology of “ideal type” relationship formats, ranging from quasi‐transactional to internalised, is proposed. Each of these ideal types is characterised by a unique set of causal and resultant conditions.

The paper is based on data from a single, albeit archetypal, professional business service. Consequently future research should address the replicability of the results across other service sectors.

The identification of these discrete relationship formats and their key characteristics along a continuum provides an empirical basis on which service professionals can develop targeted strategies for the management of particular inter‐organisational relationships.

Building on preceding research, the paper provides empirically based analysis of the nature and format of inter‐organisational relationships in professional service markets.

This study aims to develop a measurement instrument, which involves four usability dimensions of efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, and learnability, as a way of assessing the usability of academic digital libraries.

To generate measurement items, previous research related to usability frameworks, usability guidelines, and empirical usability tests was reviewed. The measurement instrument was then verified in terms of reliability and validity, empirically using data from 230 actual users of an academic digital library. To ensure the reliability of the instrument, internal consistency of measurements, measurement item reliability, and construct reliability were examined. Construct validity, which consists of convergent validity and discriminant validity, was also examined on the basis of confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling.

The usability evaluation instrument suggested in this study comprises four dimensions: efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, and learnability, and three to four items were identified to measure each dimension.

To date, while many of the usability studies have relied on either experimental methods or inspection methods, few studies have been conducted to identify evaluation measures that can assess the usability of a digital library from a survey method. This study is one of a few studies to develop a measurement instrument tailored to academic digital library environments.

YouTube's vast and engaged user base makes it central to firms' digital marketing effort. With extant studies focusing on viewers' post-view engagement behavior, however, research into what motivates viewers to click on and watch YouTube videos is scarce. This study investigates the implications of marketers' video optimization practices for video views on YouTube.

The study employed a data set of videos (N = 4,398) gathered by scraping YouTube's trending list. Using a combination of text and sentiment analysis, the study measured four video optimization practices: information content of video titles, emotional intensity of video titles, information content of video descriptions and volume of video tags. It then analyzed the effect of these video optimization practices on video views.

The study finds that greater availability of information in video titles is negatively associated with video views, whereas intensity of negative emotional sentiment in video titles is positively associated with video views. Further, greater availability of information in video descriptions is positively associated with video views. Finally, an inverted U-shaped relationship is found between volume of video tags and video views. Up to 17 video tags can contribute to more video views; however, beyond 17 tags, the relationship turns negative.

This study investigates the effect of marketers' video optimization practices on video views. While extant studies mainly focus on viewers' post-view engagement behavior, such as liking, commenting on and sharing videos, this study examines video views. Similarly, extant studies investigate videos' internal content, while this study investigates elements of the video metadata.