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The authors are engaged in a three‐year study of home information systems in the United Kingdom. The project addresses cable and satellite, multimedia CDs and paper‐based systems, and considers both supply (many of the companies involved are inward investors) and demand. Our aim is to profile and compare the expectations and perceptions (the ‘dreams’) of both sides. The first phase of the project (January‐June 1995) had led the team into households (some co‐terminous with families, some not) in both rural and urban Central Scotland. The initial visits, with as many members of the household as possible, were structured round an interview protocol covering four main areas: tasks; perceptions of technology; using the machine; the aesthetics of interaction. Subsequent visits explored salient issues which emergedfrom the protocol. Our preliminary findings suggest that the concept of integrated household channels is not being widely embraced by participants in our study who like to keep their technologies separate; that mixed motives (some of them task‐related) lie behind the purchase of systems; and that disposable time is a major constraint on use. We have derived a preliminary description of appropriation patterns: where do different systems fit in perceptions of home and work? of public and private space? of knowledge, information and entertainment?. The second phase of the project (October 1995‐May 1996) will consolidate this framework with results from a larger random sample in the EH12 postal area of Edinburgh.

The cardinal point to note here is that the development (and unfortunately the likely potential) of area policy is intimately related to the actual character of British social policy. Whilst area policy has been strongly influenced by Pigou's welfare economics, by the rise of scientific management in the delivery of social services (cf Jaques 1976; Whittington and Bellamy 1979), by the accompanying development of operational analyses and by the creation of social economics (see Pigou 1938; Sandford 1977), social policy continues to be enmeshed with the flavours of Benthamite utilitatianism and Social Darwinism (see, above all, the Beveridge Report 1942; Booth 1889; Rowntree 1922, 1946; Webb 1926). Consequently, for their entire history area policies have been coloured by the principles of a national minimum for the many and giving poorer areas a hand up, rather than a hand out. The preceived need to save money (C.S.E. State Apparatus and Expenditure Group 1979; Klein 1974) and the (supposed) ennobling effects of self help have been the twin marching orders for area policy for decades. Private industry is inadvertently called upon to plug the resulting gaps in public provision. The conjunction of a reluctant state and a meandering private sector has fashioned the decaying urban areas of today. Whilst a large degree of party politics and commitment has characterised the general debate over the removal of poverty (Holman 1973; MacGregor 1981), this has for the most part bypassed the ‘marginal’ poorer areas (cf Green forthcoming). Their inhabitants are not usually numerically significant enough to sway general, party policies (cf Boulding 1967) and the problems of most notably the inner cities has been underplayed.

This study examined the Twenty20 cricket competition launched in England and Wales in 2003. The findings identified that the competition has many of the characteristics which current diffusion models believe to be critical success factors. However, most research focused on American and Australian sports, and two key contextual factors are excluded: both timing and weather have been critical factors in the competition's success.

Millennials have an interest in luxury and premium products across all types of goods, but little is known about how this translates into their preferences for wine. In general, Millennials are spending less per bottle on wine than older generations, but what are the characteristics of the subset of Millennials who are spending more on wine? The purpose of this article is to develop an understanding of Millennials’ buying habits with regard to higher-priced, luxury wines.

A survey instrument was designed and used to collect responses from 189 Millennial wine drinkers in the US. Statistical tests and a binary probit model were used to analyze the results.

The findings suggest that there is a subset of US Millennials that present a viable market for luxury wines.

This research is limited by the sample itself, as a relatively small, convenience sample of Millennial wine drinkers.

Wineries interested in targeting a Millennial crowd will benefit by recognizing that male, married Millennials with annual incomes of over $50,000 are more likely to buy higher-priced wines. In addition, findings suggest that traditional and non-traditional outlets for wine information are being used as these Millennials seek out information about wine.

While Millennial wine consumers are still developing their tastes, this is one of the first articles to isolate the Millennials who are buying higher-priced wines. This research sheds light on a potentially lucrative consumer segment.

To examine student readiness for change and behavioral intentions regarding the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system (ERP). The study also integrates literature on technology acceptance, readiness for change, and change implementation to test an adapted version of the technology acceptance model (TAM).

Data were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 and AMOS 4.0.

Gender and perceived ERP benefits are related to students' readiness for change, and readiness for change is a significant predictor of students' attitude toward usage of the ERP system. Additionally, computer self‐efficacy is related to attitude toward usage and one's intent to use the ERP system.

First, is the use of self‐report data, external validation would have been preferred. Second, the potential for common method bias is a concern. Finally, it was not possible to sample a majority of the more than 12,000 students enrolled. Of the students in the sample 92 percent were business majors.

Organizational investments in technology must take into account more than the financial cost; they must be sensitive to user characteristics. Subsequently, the leadership of an organization should address and strategically plan for individual differences like an individual's readiness for change when implementing a new technology.

The TAM model remains stable using college students and with the addition of individual difference factors, such as the readiness for change.

In the diffusion of innovation framework, this study identified three distinct segments of golf product consumers using a cluster analysis and explored potential differences between segments on communication behaviours related to innovativeness. Results indicate that the members of each cluster show varying degrees of innovativeness for new golf products. Each cluster also was further distinguished based upon communication behaviours.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and make sense of the confluence of theoretical and practical preoccupations that contribute to the current interest in place management.

The paper presents an overview and interpretation of trends that have led both policy‐makers and academics to an interest in the management and development of places. It demonstrates how various streams of thought coalesce into five key concepts: participation, distinctiveness, knowledge, relationships and values – that provide, at their meeting point, a cross‐disciplinary conceptual framework for place management and development.

The field of place management is located – both strategically and challengingly – at the crux of key contemporary policy issues in development and governance. There is a need to draw together insights across disciplines into a conceptual framework that will help both practitioners and academics make sense of the challenges we face.

Understanding where we have come from helps them to chart where we are going. There is opportunity to build a new a theoretical and policy framework around place management that articulates why and how place is important in the context of larger development and governance debates.

As a big‐picture overview of a cutting‐edge space, this paper is intended to help both practitioners and academics position their work in its broader context.

Historians are well aware that adversity concentrates the mind most wonderfully. In the current business climate the best managers are finding that recession is having the same effect. When business cycles dip, everyone suddenly realises how important business efficiency is; and in the past training especially has been allocated a high priority during hard times. Unlike other forms of business efficiency improvement training is about people, not expensive equipment. And despite the increasing emphasis on the use of audio‐visual techniques to help improve training and educational communications, the hardware cost involved is usually relatively low.

Franchise relocation and sport introduction are becoming commonplace in professional sports. However, many franchises have found that developing fan acceptance is often challenging. The fan adoption process is presented as a systematic framework that guides strategy development from creating fan awareness through adoption. An examination of the Carolina Hurricanes inaugural season (1997‐1998) provides a variety of examples of how marketing strategy evolves throughout the fan adoption process.

Les parcs nationaux du Canada sont « dédiés au peuple canadien pour son bénéfice, son instruction et sa jouissance sous réserve des dispositions de la présente loi et des règlements; et ces parcs doivent être entretenus et utilisés de manière qu'ils restent intacts pour la jouissance des générations futures.» Telle est la législation définissant l'objectif de la politique des parcs nationaux au Canada qui consiste aussi à as surer que chaque parc national soit un échantillon représentatif des caractéristiques particulières de l'environnement naturel canadien.