Search results

With corporations reinventing and changing themselves with increasing frequency and speed, what is the real estate industry doing to enable that change? This paper presents the perspectives of a corporate tenant, a developer and an interior designer to answer the question of what some companies are doing to make workspace more flexible and to shorten the cycle time for the processes by which workspace is constructed, procured and fitted‐out for new occupancy. The following questions will be answered ‐ In the low vacancy market prevalent in so many parts of the United States, what strategies are corporate real estate executives in high‐growth companies using to acquire space fast? ‐ What trends are emerging in the industry to streamline the processes to build, acquire, fit‐out and manage space? ‐ How is the industry changing its product to ensure that the space that is delivered can meet a variety of users and uses as occupants churn through the space in unforeseen ways?

Teaching research as a cognitive process rather than a set of skills and thereby ensuring critical thinking has been a concern of instructions librarians for some time. This article explains the design, rationale, and use of an innovative assignment, the encyclopedia entry, in a 200 level library credit course that targets sophomores and transfer students. At Western Washington University this course, “Library 201: Introduction to Research Strategies”, has historically required students to produce a free‐standing annotated bibliography. The encyclopedia entry assignment integrates “point of need” relevance into the course because the students choose sources that provide information which will actually be used in writing an encyclopedia entry.

Aims to investigate the effect of communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to young consumers in the UK on their fast‐food purchasing with reference to McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).

Focus groups were conducted to clarify themes and inform a questionnaire on fast‐food purchasing behaviours and motives. Attitude statements were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis.

Most respondents (82 per cent) regularly purchased fast food from one of the companies; purchases were mostly impulsive (57 per cent) or routine (26 per cent), suggesting relatively low‐level involvement in each case. While there was scepticism regarding the CSR activity being promoted, expectations about socially responsible behaviour by the companies were nevertheless high. Four factors were isolated, together explaining 52 per cent of the variance in fast‐food purchasing behaviour. They were brand value, nutritional value, ethical value and food quality.

The research was conducted with students, and while these represent a key‐target market, any further research should target a more diverse public.

There are important implications for global fast‐food companies in terms of protecting and developing their brand value; they need to respond to the wider food‐related debates in society, in particular, those concerning healthy eating and food ethics. They also need to ensure that their business practices are fully consistent with the values expressed in their CSR initiatives.

The special value of the paper lies in its joining together of current perspectives on CSR and consumer value in the UK food industry as it explores both through the perceptions of young consumers of fast food.

This paper seeks to address the complex nature of fast fashion buying through case studies with a supermarket, department store and own brand label. The phenomenon of fast fashion raises questions about traditional approaches to sourcing and buying, which are addressed here.

Case studies were compiled with companies managing fast fashion, alongside other purchase and retail activities, namely a supermarket, department store and specialist fashion chain.

Reveals the buying practices for fast fashion, namely, a combination of global and local suppliers, a leagile approach is typical; trust is an important factor in the supplier‐retailer relationship to ensure fast delivery at an agreed quality; and integration of key internal activities and processes to facilitate the speed of buying decisions that may be required.

Gives insight into the factors affecting buying behaviour for fast fashion.

Features the Fast Food Diner software program produced by British Meat and aimed at teachers and pupils studying Food Technology at Levels 3 and 4 of the National Curriculum.

Snacking is commonly regarded by the general public as unhealthy, believing that it is more beneficial to stick to an eating pattern of three meals a day. Similarly anyone on a weight reduction programme will avoid snacks, reducing the frequency of eating occasions to two to three times a day. However there is evidence to suggest that snacking is not the evil once thought and individuals that snack throughout the day have positive advantages over individuals who conform to a rigid pattern of three meals a day. Increasingly western populations appear to be moving away from the “gorging” to the “nibbling” pattern of eating, probably as a direct result of the increased availability of fast foods and snacks. Reviews the literature in the area of snacking and frequency of eating with respect to energy and nutrient intakes, body weight, body composition and energy balance and indicates the direction for further research.

The equation of unified knowledge says that S = f (A,P) which means that the practical solution to a given problem is a function of the existing, empirical, actual realities and the future, potential, best possible conditions of general stable equilibrium which both pure and practical reason, exhaustive in the Kantian sense, show as being within the realm of potential realities beyond any doubt. The first classical revolution in economic thinking, included in factor “P” of the equation, conceived the economic and financial problems in terms of a model of ideal conditions of stable equilibrium but neglected the full consideration of the existing, actual conditions. That is the main reason why, in the end, it failed. The second modern revolution, included in factor “A” of the equation, conceived the economic and financial problems in terms of the existing, actual conditions, usually in disequilibrium or unstable equilibrium (in case of stagnation) and neglected the sense of right direction expressed in factor “P” or the realization of general, stable equilibrium. That is the main reason why the modern revolution failed in the past and is failing in front of our eyes in the present. The equation of unified knowledge, perceived as a sui generis synthesis between classical and modern thinking has been applied rigorously and systematically in writing the enclosed American‐British economic, monetary, financial and social stabilization plans. In the final analysis, a new economic philosophy, based on a synthesis between classical and modern thinking, called here the new economics of unified knowledge, is applied to solve the malaise of the twentieth century which resulted from a confusion between thinking in terms of stable equilibrium on the one hand and disequilibrium or unstable equilibrium on the other.

Recognizing the differences between generations Y and Z, this exploratory study uses generational cohort theory as a framework to examine the brand perception of McDonald's, an international brand which has grown up with consumers for over 30 years in China. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Measures of brand perception was built based on Aaker's brand personality model. A total 1,103 valid questionnaires were collected through an online survey platform. Factor analysis is the primary method to analysis the data.

The findings of this study reveal a favourable brand perception of McDonald's among young Chinese consumers which is consistent with Aaker's brand personality model and support the use of generational cohort theory as a market segmentation tool for brand perception. The differences between the two generational cohorts are not shown to be significant.

The most important contribution of this study is the evaluation of the personality of a major brand in China for Gen Z, a topic with very little existing research. Also, this research suggests future in-depth research into generational cohort theory in a Chinese context by recognizing homogeneity and heterogeneity exist simultaneously between generational cohorts.

This paper aims to explore the place of disabled guests in the new world of hotel and holiday accommodation shaped by the sharing economy.

The paper uses Levitas’s (2013) Utopia as Method as a methodological tool to develop the hypothetical future scenarios, which are used to explore the place of disabled guests in peer-to-peer holiday accommodation.

Analysis of the hypothetical scenarios suggests that without state intervention, the place of disabled guests in both traditional hotels and peer-to-peer holiday accommodation is far from secure.

This is a new area and the authors’ discussion is therefore tentative in its intent.

Planners and policymakers should consult with, and take account of, the needs of disabled people and other socially excluded groups when regulating shared economy enterprises. It may be helpful to put in place broader legislation for social inclusion rather than regulate peer-to-peer platforms. Any recourse to markets as a means of resolving access issues needs also to acknowledge the limited power of socially excluded groups within both traditional and sharing economy markets.

The hypothetical scenarios discussed within this paper offer planners, policymakers and tourism stakeholders opportunities to think through the access and inclusion needs of disabled guests in the shared economy sector.

The paper extends discussion of hospitality and disability access to include shared economy approaches and the place of disabled guests in the new world of holiday accommodation shaped by the sharing economy.