Search results

Discusses pricing decision making, one of the oldest marketing topics, including several pricing methods. Presents a strategic pricing framework, developed from pricing literature. Presents rules for evaluating strategic pricing alternatives. Offers a model for marketers to explain and improve pricing decision‐making.

Automotive subcontractor Ketlon turned to robot automation of machine tools to beat labour shortages and hold down costs. Project engineer John Russell talked to Jack Hollingum.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

THE high standards of examination and qualifications for membership set by the Institute of Incorporated Work Study Technologists can be seen in the new Prospectus just issued by the Institute.

The study investigated the relationship of career instrumental and expressive intra‐organizational network resources with extrinsic and intrinsic career success and with the Big‐Five of personality in a sample of 264 white‐collar workers. Total network resources were associated with extrinsic and intrinsic career success above the contribution of human capital, demographics and mentoring received. And instrumental network resources contributed more strongly than expressive network resources to extrinsic career success. Furthermore, instrumental network resources emerged as important for intrinsic evaluations of hierarchical and interpersonal career success while expressive network resources emerged as important for intrinsic evaluations of job and interpersonal career success. There was limited support for the influence of personality on the accumulation of network resources. As hypothesized, conscientiousness was negatively associated with instrumental network resources; however, extra‐version, openness and agreeableness failed to make significant contributions to network resources over and above the contribution of human capital and demographics. The implications of the findings for individual career tactics and for organizational practices are discussed and the limitations of the study are considered along with directions for future research.

Examines the extent to which a variety of widely utilized consumer behavior concepts are systematically related. States that within marketing, consumer behaviour research appears to lack structure and direction.Attempts to determine the nature of the interrelationships which exist between different widely examined classical consumer concepts and provides some discussion regarding the findings including areas for further comparison.

The selection criteria for contractor pre‐qualification are characterized by the co‐existence of both quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative data is non‐linear, uncertain and imprecise. An ideal decision support system for contractor pre‐qualification should have the ability of handling both quantitative and qualitative data, and of mapping the complicated non‐linear relationship of the selection criteria, such that rational and consistent decisions can be made. In this research paper, an artificial neural network model was developed to assist public clients identifying suitable contractors for tendering. The pre‐qualification criteria (variables) were identified for the model. One hundred and twelve real pre‐qualification cases were collected from civil engineering projects in Hong Kong, and 88 hypothetical pre‐qualification cases were also generated according to the ‘If‐then’ rules used by professionals in the pre‐qualification process. The results of the analysis totally comply with current practice (public developers in Hong Kong). Each pre‐qualification case consisted of input ratings for candidate contractors' attributes and their corresponding pre‐qualification decisions. The training of the neural network model was accomplished by using the developed program, in which a conjugate gradient descent algorithm was incorporated for improving the learning performance of the network. Cross‐validation was applied to estimate the generalization errors based on the ‘re‐sampling’ of training pairs. The case studies show that the artificial neural network model is suitable for mapping the complicated non‐linear relationship between contractors' attributes and their corresponding pre‐qualification (disqualification) decisions. The artificial neural network model can be concluded as an ideal alternative for performing the contractor pre‐qualification task.

“Communism has never concealed the fact that it rejects all absolute concepts of morality. It scoffs at any consideration of “good” and “evil” as indisputable categories. Communism considers morality to be relative, to be a class matter… It has infected the whole world with the belief in the relativity of good and evil.” Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, Warning to the West, 1975.

This study reflects an examination of four teachers and their approaches to teaching the Holocaust and comparative genocide. The purpose was to address four succinct research questions that followed a conceptual framework which emerged around these teachers’ rationale, methodology, preparation, and characteristics. Analysis of the results allowed for the emergence of six themes: (a) citizenship, (b) curriculum and design, (c) teaching pedagogy, (d) influence of modeling, (e) neoteny, and (f) life-altering experiences.