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Offers a positive example of how small firms can benefit from low cost qualitative market research techniques to determine achievable advantageous marketing strategies. The issue of identifying “customer perceived value” was chosen as the prime focus. The experimental Pilot Programme featured a series of depth interviews and a focus group session. The research benefited from the inclusion of some classical creative problem‐solving techniques. Preliminary concerns that the research would breach the boundaries of academic rigour and that the depth interview interviewee samples would be too small for any significant findings to emerge proved unfounded. The success of the experiment (judged by the small businesses, in terms of its relevance in enabling them both to draft action marketing plans and to manage customer value) has prompted the local support agencies to provide a low cost qualitative market research service using similar qualitative research techniques as the experimental programme.

Routine outcome monitoring (ROM) is currently seen as a key driver for service improvement at individual, team and service level. The purpose this paper is to explore the relationships between a patient (parent) reported outcome measure (PROM), a practitioner reported outcome measure, and a patient (parent) reported experience measure (PREM).

A cohort of 302 primary school-age children was recruited and followed for one year from consecutively accepted referrals to three teams within two English Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (a PROM) and practitioners completed the Clinician Global Assessment Scale at baseline, six and 12 months; parents completed the Experience of Services Questionnaire (a PREM) at six and 12 months.

PROM and practitioner reported outcome measure data suggested poor clinical outcome in terms of symptoms, impact and levels of functioning but were accompanied by PREM evidence of high levels of satisfaction. There was an unexpectedly low correlation ( < 0.2) between both measures of outcome and satisfaction.

This paper fulfils a need to explore the relationships between different outcome measures to contribute to the understanding of ROM its validity.

The article reports results from an evaluation of Springboard, a family support programme introduced in Ireland during 1998. The evaluation is based on a non‐experimental design involving a pre‐post comparison of 319 children and 191 parents who participated in the programme. The two main outcomes reported here are children's psychological well‐being (measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ‐ SDQ), and the parent‐child relationship (measured by the Parent‐Child Relationship Inventory ‐ PCRI). Results showed improvements in SDQ and PCRI scores, equivalent to an effect size in the range 0.2 to 0.3, which is similar to the effect sizes produced by other family support programmes. At the end of the intervention, there was still a substantial amount of unmet need among children. The evaluation has two limitations: first, the use of a non‐experimental method means that we cannot be certain that all of the improved outcomes can be attributed to Springboard; second, the diverse interventions which constitute Springboard, and family support programmes generally, means that it is impossible to separate effective from ineffective interventions within the programme.

Municipal financial decisions involve the interaction of political actors (including voters, elected officials, and bureaucrats) pursuing their own interests. Although voters should determine public choices through elected officials, bureaucrats have the incentives and may have the monopoly power to dominate the process. This study investigates the relationships among municipal spending, fiscal manipulation, and financial monitoring. Fiscal illusion (as measured by revenue complexity) is employed as an empirical surrogate for bureaucratic manipulation and it is hypothesized that financial audits are an effective monitoring technique for moderating possible bureaucratic manipulation. The results of the study suggest that expenditure levels are related to political power and that fiscal illusion is significant for explaining expenditure levels, especially for cities having qualified opinions. Weak support is provided for the hypothesis that the financial audit is a monitoring technique that may constrain bureaucratic overspending. These findings have important implications for both public administration and governmental accounting and suggest the need for further research on monitorig effectiveness.

Throughout the United States, an increasing number of states have turned to legalizing gambling and constructing casinos as a source of economic development. In 2004, casino gambling was legalized in Pennsylvania. The state plans to open 14 slot machine casinos, and 2 of them would be located in the city of Philadelphia. Much debate occurred regarding the location of these casinos in Philadelphia; currently one casino is open and construction has yet to begin on the other. However, casinos have been proven to cause many potential problems for the area where they are located, such as pollution, crime, and traffic. Because of these problems, it is believed that casinos are often located in neighborhoods dominated by people who traditionally lack political power. This project seeks to analyze the public policy actions that have resulted in the two current casino locations in Philadelphia, and examine the socioeconomic characteristics of the areas surrounding the casinos using environmental justice GIS methods.

This paper aims to base the exploration of entrepreneurship on the study of the creation of new technological ventures in the emerging fields of bio and nanotechnologies.

Drawing on the study of various databases and media archives, internet searches, business cases and in‐depth interviews, the study examines how regulation, institutional funding and R&D orientations constitute key components of the success of new technological ventures involving bio‐and nanotechnologies applications. It then studies what impact the actions of non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) can have on these components, and therefore, what influence they can have on entrepreneurship.

Finds that by introducing shifts in the environment leading to new technological ventures, NGOs influence entrepreneurship.

This new approach of entrepreneurship will begin to fill an existing gap in the literature concerning the study of the interface between NGOs and business. The model which is proposed will hopefully lead to further theorization concerning the relations between institutional change and entrepreneurship.

The rapid expansion of the Canadian gambling industry since 1969 has generated substantial profits for provincial governments and industry operators. As gambling expands its reach and regulatory structures evolve, a growing body of researchers is starting to scrutinize the industry and its socio‐economic impacts on Canadians. This article provides background information on Canada's gambling industry and presents an overview of essential information resources.