Search results

Explores judicial attitudes in professional negligence cases affecting liability for property investment advice. Focuses on the standard of work required to discharge the legal duty of care and on apparent contradictions in approach by the courts. Reviews a series of cases which are taken to exhibit traditional attitudes to professional liability and studies modern cases which are irreconcilable with those attitudes. Includes liability to third party mortgagors and to third party mortgagees in an analysis of the duty of care, and considers the implications of the perceived expansion of the advisor′s professional duties, which include potential conflicts of interest and the dichotomy between the standards current among professionally qualified and unqualified practitioners. Suggests that judicial attitudes are influential in shaping the practice of property investment advice, but that this intervention is fraught with difficulties as it creates uncertainty among professional advisors about the nature of the tasks undertaken.

This paper examines the effect which the rent assessment process has on the level of rents and rental values in the commercial property market in England and Wales, by asking: is there an accepted definition of open market rental value which is consistently adhered to, irrespective of the context in which the rent is assessed? How, in theory, do the procedures by which an assessment of open market rental value is arrived at differ as between a new letting, a lease renewal, and a rent review? Is there any evidence to suggest that any theoretical differences in the operation of the various rent assessment procedures are borne out in practice? In particular, is there any evidence that in new lettings and lease renewals lease terms are changed after the rent has been finalised? Is there any evidence to demonstrate that there are different levels of rent which are sufficiently consistent to be referable to the context in which the rent was assessed? If so, does this produce difficulties in the valuation process which may not be presently fully appreciated? In addition to a review of the relevant literature, the primary research undertaken for the study was a survey of surveyors and solicitors involved in commercial lettings and rent reviews and the compilation of a database of rental valuations and transactions.

The treatment of rent‐free periods and other inducements is currently an area of debate within the valuation profession. It has been argued that in determining the real rental value from a headline rent, the valuer must devalue the impact of the inducement. While recognizing the problem, there appears to be little agreement within the profession on either the appropriate methodology or the time period for this calculation. A further problem has arisen due to the near impossibility of divorcing over‐rented property valuations from the determination of real rental values. However, the current debate has centred on rental implications and has not attempted to quantify the effect which the capital valuation has on the letting market, even though it is the effect on the freehold capital valuation which may drive the deal on letting incentives to a far greater extent than any trade off of present rental holiday against higher rent in the future. Addresses the capital valuation question after a review of the basis of the valuation and the present state of the debate on rental issues.

One of the features of the UK letting market has been the practice of giving new tenants a rent‐free period at the commencement of a lease. Such rent‐free periods seem to fall into one of two types. First, it appears that, even in a very buoyant market, most tenants are able to negotiate a modest rent‐free period for fitting out or, where the lease is a head lease, for arranging sublettings. These rent‐free periods (even where they are a slice of a longer rent‐free period) can be seen to have their own characteristics. They can be viewed as a one‐off concession at the commencement of the lease. Second, in a poor market rent‐free periods are used as incentives, in the sense that they are a direct alternative to an explicit reduction in the passing rent, and often form part of a wider package of inducements. These have an obvious and direct bearing on true rental value. Critically examines the various devices which have been used by those drafting rent review clauses to deal with rent‐free periods at review and comments on how these have been treated by the courts.

Traces the development of the principles of professional negligence especially in the 1980′s and to reappraise them in the 1990s. Illustrates with cases designed to show perceived trends and which are deemed significant to practitioners. Concludes by observing an uncomfortable hardening of the courts′ attitude towards professional negligence.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the perceptions and experiences of healthcare managers working within a community and ambulatory health service who manage poorly performing staff and, to identify the supports, and gaps in supports, that are available to these managers.

Data were collected via two focus groups using a semi-structured schedule. The data were transcribed, themed and conclusions summarised.

On analysis of the discussion of the line managers’ experiences and perceptions of competence, six themes were identified, five themes common to both groups. When discussing the availability and gaps in supports available when managing poor performance, managers were aware of the majority of the supports available to them in the workplace but there was a disconnect between managers and the HR department.

Though the results of this study are not generalisable, as the participants came from programs within a single hospital, they may be transferrable to other healthcare environments. Future research should attempt to replicate these findings using other research techniques.

The findings in this paper indicate that methods should be identified to build better relationships between managers and HR departments, develop clear management learning pathways, and to support managers to manage their emotional responses. These strategies will support organisations to achieve improved outcomes from the performance management processes.

This study contributes to the current literature by identifying key themes that may have an impact on the outcome of performance management processes. These themes would benefit from further exploration.

Rankings of the world's cities by a liveability factor have become increasingly significant in the media, among governments and city councils in the promotion of cities, as well as academics interested in understanding the impact of quantifying liveability on urban planning and the relationship of liveability indices and tourism. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

While examining characteristics of liveable cities according to some of the widely reported liveability indices, such as those produced by Mercer, Monocle magazine and the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), the authors provide a snapshot of Perth as a liveable city and consider liveability in relation to urban tourism, sustainability and environment. Perth's liveability ranking is discussed in terms of environmental sustainability, noting that for Perth to retain its position as one of the world's most liveable cities, consideration must be given to sustainable planning and environmental practices at policy, organisational and individual levels, placing the long-term liveability of the environment and Perth's flora and fauna at the forefront of urban, and tourism, planning.

The accessibility of nature in Perth and its surrounds, its outdoor recreational opportunities and warm climate are factors that make it unique. Developing and promoting nature-based tourism would further enhance the accessibility of nature for visitors and residents. While Perth's EIU top ten ranking is justified, its major attributes remain unrecognised by the widely used EIU liveable city assessment framework.

Moreover, the notion of a liveable city is open to contention due to the subjective nature of various assessment criteria. Liveability indices should include quantifiable environmental factors such as green space, remnant vegetation, biodiversity, air quality and unpolluted water.

This paper thus contributes to the discourse on what constitutes a liveable city, the authors emphasise that liveability is significantly related to the presence of green space and natural areas as well as the opportunity to see and interact with wildlife. Perth has such opportunities for it residents and visitors but as yet the aforementioned natural characteristics are not implicit in international measures of liveability.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the state-of-the art in a systematic way, identifying the main research groups and their related topics. The types of studies found are fundamental for understanding the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in cemented soils and the potential for using the technique, as well as the feasibility of extrapolation to new geotechnical or civil and environmental engineering segments.

This work is characterized as being bibliometric and systematic research of an exploratory perspective of state-of-the-art. It also persuades the qualitative and quantitative data analysis of cemented soil improvement, biocemented or microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) soil improvement by prediction/modeling by ANN. This study sought to compile and study the state of the art of the topic which possibilities to have a critical view about the theme. To do so, two main databases were analyzed: Scopus and Web of Science. Systematic review techniques, as well as bibliometric indicators, were implemented.

This paper connected the network between the achievements of the researches and illustrated the main application of ANNs in soil improvement prediction, specifically on cemented-based soils and biocemented soils (e.g. MICP technique). Also, as a bibliometric and systematic review, this work could achieve the key points in the absence of researches involving soil-ANN, and it provided the understanding of the lack of exploratory studies to be approached in the near future.

Because of the research topic the article suggested other applications of ANNs in geotechnical engineering, such as other tests not related to geomechanical resistance such as unconfined compression test test and triaxial test.

This article systematically and critically presents some interesting points in the direction of future research, such as the non-approach to the use of ANNs in biocementation processes, such as MICP.

Regarding the social environment, the paper brings approaches on methods that somehow mitigate the computational use, or elements necessary for geotechnical improvement of the soil, thereby optimizing the same consequently.

Neural networks have been studied for a long time in engineering, but the current computational power has increased the implementation for several engineering applications. Besides that, soil cementation is a widespread technique and its prediction modes often require high computational strength, such parameters can be mitigated with the use of ANNs, because artificial intelligence seeks learning from the implementation of the data set, reducing computational cost and increasing accuracy.

Employing the Star Wars brand as a case study, this paper seeks to critically discuss the importance of comparative mythology for inter-generational branding and consumption practices within arts related markets.

Secondary data have been gathered focusing on the analysis of material in the form of books, academic journals, films, videos, television programs, websites and media reports related to the interface between comparative mythology, the Star Wars brand.

First, this paper indicates how the long-standing success of the Star Wars brand mirrors and reflects the power of monomythic storytelling in creating a platform for arts and place building branding associations and extensions for numerous products and services. Second, this study shows and highlights the potential of monomythic structures/storytelling and comparative mythology in acting an underlying cultural platform whereupon several arts brand associations, narratives, extensions and overall strategies can emerge. Finally, this project suggests how arts marketing scholars could further explore the infusion of mythological narratives within branding practices in the areas of performing/visual arts, museums, entertainment and arts related tourism campaigns.

Focusing on the most successful film franchise of all times, this study argues that comparative mythology constitutes an endless source for common templates of artistic, cross-cultural and inter-generational marketing practices focusing on universal moral codes and archetypes.