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1 – 10 of 105Do you get vague requests about the need to improve teamwork as often as we do? Sometimes these requests come from distraught personnel managers who have identified training needs…
Abstract
Do you get vague requests about the need to improve teamwork as often as we do? Sometimes these requests come from distraught personnel managers who have identified training needs that fall into the teamwork area but haven't the faintest idea how to set about validating or meeting such needs. At other times the requests come from line managers themselves. Usually they are disappointed with the productiveness of their own workteams and, whilst they cannot quite put their finger on what is specifically wrong, use the expression ‘teamwork’ in an all‐embracing, generic way. There were similar felt needs in ICL's International Marketing Division. As increasing emphasis was placed on profit centres, project management, matrix management and the like, the need for increased teamwork was voiced more and more often. Accordingly, it was decided to do something about teamwork as part of a larger management development programme. What ‘something’ would best do the trick was left to the authors; Paul Whiteley as the in‐company training man trying to help meet management training needs for the marketing side of the operation and Peter Honey as an external consultant with experience in the teamwork area.
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Labour came to power in 1997 and immediately transferred many features of its party political news management style into government, overseeing the departure of most of the civil…
Abstract
Purpose
Labour came to power in 1997 and immediately transferred many features of its party political news management style into government, overseeing the departure of most of the civil service communications leadership within two years, and developing the media management role of politically appointed special advisers. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the changes in custom and practice that operated behind the scenes in government communications between 1997 and 2015, asking to what extent such changes challenge public trust in government in a liberal democracy.
Design/methodology/approach
This study takes a longitudinal, qualitative approach through in-depth interviews with former civil servants, journalists and special advisers, together with documentary and archival evidence. The data were analysed thematically through the text-processing software, NVivo.
Findings
The paper finds that although the controversy over the 2002 dossier on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction was an extraordinary episode, the creative approach to news management that characterised this case still operates within UK Government communications: the bypassing of civil servants, a partial approach to the facts, selective briefing of favoured journalists, a lack of due process in the management of information and a disregard for the letter and spirit of propriety codes. This has implications for public trust and confidence in the workings of liberal democracy.
Originality/value
The study adopts a mediatisation approach to the study of public relations, using the concept of the “cross field” to demonstrate how PR professionals share media management responsibilities with a number of different promotional actors. PR professionals in government must therefore navigate between the hidden, competitive and demanding worlds of politics, the media and bureaucracy, working with journalists, politicians and political operatives to craft the narratives that seek to drive public opinion.
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Peter Schofield and Peter Reeves
This paper aims to explain voter perceptions and voting behaviour in the 2010 UK General Election on the basis of this theory, by evaluating the differential impact of government…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explain voter perceptions and voting behaviour in the 2010 UK General Election on the basis of this theory, by evaluating the differential impact of government performance on key political issues defined as hierarchical voter satisfaction factor types. The validity of the three-factor theory of satisfaction in explaining consumer decision-making for products and services is well-established.
Design/methodology/approach
British Election Survey (2010) data are used to test the relative influence of hierarchical voter satisfaction factor types in predicting the perceived overall performance of the former Labour government and actual voting behaviour. Sequential and multinomial logistic regression models are used in the perceived overall performance of the former Labour government and actual voting behaviour, respectively.
Findings
“Basic” factors explain more of the variance in perceived overall government performance and voting behaviour than “performance” factors. There are significant positive main and interaction effects on Conservative and Liberal Democrat party votes from Labour’s underperformance on the “basic” factors. The results have important implications for political marketing and voting behaviour research.
Originality/value
The study establishes the relevance of the three-factor theory of satisfaction within a political marketing context. It demonstrates that, controlling for party loyalty, perceived government performance on the hierarchical voter satisfaction factors explains voter perceptions and voting behaviour to a significant degree. In particular, it highlights the criticality for voting behaviour of both the direct and indirect impacts of “basic” factor underperformance.
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Tina Flaherty, Christine Domegan and Mihir Anand
With the explosion of digital technologies in contemporary daily life, fuelled by a pandemic and remote working, online learning and shopping and the proliferation of social…
Abstract
Purpose
With the explosion of digital technologies in contemporary daily life, fuelled by a pandemic and remote working, online learning and shopping and the proliferation of social platforms, much remains nebulous about the opportunities these technologies hold for social marketers beyond their previously documented use as communication and promotion tools. This paper aims to provide a rich examination of the variety of digital technologies used within social marketing and establish the scale of integration between digital technologies and social marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
Following systematic literature review procedures, a systematic literature review through eight databases was conducted. The systematic review focussed on the assessment of social marketing studies that incorporated a wide range of mature and emerging digital technologies such as the internet, mobile platforms and social media channels. A total of 50 social marketing studies (2014–2020) were analysed.
Findings
The review found that there have been major advancements in the technologies available to social marketers in recent years. Furthermore, the adoption of digital technologies by social marketers has evolved from a communication or promotion function where generic information is pushed to the citizen, towards the use of these technologies for a more personalised design, content and behaviour change intervention. In some studies, the digital technologies were the primary means for interactions and collaborations to take place. The review also found that digital technologies target more than the individual citizen. Digital technologies are used to target multi-level stakeholders, policy makers and partners as part of behavioural change interventions.
Originality/value
Only two previous reviews have synthesised digital technologies and their use in social marketing. This review provides a recent depiction of the range and scale of integration within social marketing. Specifically, it demonstrates the expansion beyond a persuasive application to their use for research, segmentation and targeting, collaboration and co-creation, the product and facilitator of service delivery. Finally, this review provides a heat map to illustrate the integration between digital technologies and key concepts and criteria within social marketing.
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Jan Lees, Rex Haigh and Sarah Tucker
The purpose of this paper is to highlight theoretical and clinical similarities between therapeutic communities (TCs) and group analysis (GA).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight theoretical and clinical similarities between therapeutic communities (TCs) and group analysis (GA).
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review shows comparison of TC and group-analytic concepts with illustrative case material.
Findings
Findings reveal many similarities between TCs and GA, but also significant divergences, particularly in practice.
Practical implications
This paper provides theoretical basis for TC practice, and highlights the need for greater theorising of TC practice.
Social implications
This paper highlights the importance of group-based treatment approaches in mental health.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to review the relevant literature and compare theory and practice in TCs and GA, highlighting their common roots in the Northfields Experiments in the Second World War.
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Computer‐based fax‐on‐demand systems will answer the phone and guide a caller through voice menu selections. The caller identifies the information desired by pressing the numbers…
Abstract
Computer‐based fax‐on‐demand systems will answer the phone and guide a caller through voice menu selections. The caller identifies the information desired by pressing the numbers on the touchtone keypad of the phone. The fax‐on‐demand system then delivers the information to the caller through either a one‐call or two‐call/call‐back method. Fax‐on‐demand is often confused with two other forms of fax messaging—fax broadcasting and fax mail. Fax broadcasting is the sending of one document to many locations; fax mail is similar to voice mail except fax messages instead of voice messages are delivered to one or more specified mail boxes. In contrast, fax‐on‐demand can better be characterized as a response application that allows individual callers to use touchtone telephones to access a database and other information, which can then be delivered to the caller's fax machine.
The economic depression of the mid‐1970s gave reasons to question many presuppositions taken almost for granted earlier. This was the case with the welfare state too, which was…
Abstract
The economic depression of the mid‐1970s gave reasons to question many presuppositions taken almost for granted earlier. This was the case with the welfare state too, which was seen to be in crisis. This study focuses on one particular aspect of the welfare state, namely, its acceptability or legitimacy among the citizens of Finland.
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