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This paper aims to examine the impact of an open loyalty programme (anyone can join) versus a selective programme (requirements must be met) to show what types of loyalty programmes are most effective. In-group identification, gratitude, stage of relationship and visibility are additionally examined.

Two studies use experimental methodology to initially test the relationships. A third study uses survey and panel data.

Open programmes lead to more in-group identification, while selective programmes lead to higher levels of gratitude, especially in mature stages. Visible programmes lead to more in-group identification. Industry differences are presented.

The first two studies use a student sample (although Study 3 uses penal data). The research is limited to the variables examined. The findings add to theory by showing differences between open and selective loyalty programmes.

The findings show how different retailer offerings change the value and experience to the customer leading to loyalty intentions. Loyalty programme designers can tailor their programme structure to fit their customers and overall strategy. The findings also shed light on the strategic importance of tiered loyalty programmes.

The examination of how a customer enters a loyalty programme is not in current literature. The research shows how loyalty intentions are impacted by design of the programme, including how a customer signs up for a programme. The mechanisms through which the relationship works increase the understanding of loyalty programme effectiveness.

From a series of more than 70 depth interviews with constituencies inside and outside the specialty advertising industry, a profile of perceptions concerning the industry has emerged. Specialty distributors, suppliers, and users as well as media representatives, ad agency personnel, and advertising educators contributed valuable insights into specialty advertising's strengths and weaknesses. This article summarizes the prevailing perceptions concerning the industry and discusses ways in which businesses that use specialty advertising could sort through these perceptions and make effective use of this business‐to‐business form of promotion.

The Italian system of education is characterised by weak school autonomy, strong teacher autonomy, and lack of collegial cultures. From the point of the cohesion/regulation matrix, the Italian case is rather of an individualist type with some fatalist notes, given a widespread culture of pedagogical egalitarianism and the existence of formal collegial bodies. There are many barriers to the introduction of evidence-based practice in Italian teaching. At the same time, some major enablers at the school level are as a self-evaluation school rapport and a school improvement plan. At the school system level, the Institute for school evaluation is as a key player contributing to the advancement of a culture of EIP. We argue that an enduring centralization model with weak coordination mechanisms at the school level is not suitable to mobilize academic research knowledge across the Italian system. A new governance mechanism based on widely disseminated policies would be of critical importance in the Italian case, in order to improve the use of EIP in schools and to enhance the skills of teachers and school leaders through professional development.

Examines the effects of hospital restructuring and downsizing on components of psychological burnout experienced by a predominantly female sample of hospital‐based nursing staff. Collects data from 1,362 staff nurses using anonymous questionnaires Considers three components of psychological burn‐out: emotional exhaustion, cynicism and prfessional efficacy. Includes three blocks of predictors: personal demographics, work situation characteristics, and three different measures of demands resulting from a restructuring experience. Concludes the experience of hospital restructuring and downsizing was consistently related to a high level of emotional exhaustion and cynicism, controlling for personal demographic and work situation characteristics.

This book is the result of a selection of papers presented in the seminar held in Beijing in 2012. It is the third in chronological order of a seminar series on the comparative analysis of rural development in China, Brazil, and the EU. In previous seminars (2010 in Rome, 2011 in Porto Alegre) the focus was, first, on the nature and dynamics of rural development processes and, second, on the performance of rural development policies. In the third seminar (held in Beijing in November 2012), the focus was on actors and practices. What motivates the actors who are actively involved in rural development? And how do they structure their new practices? In this chapter, different stories on rural development practices between China, Brazil, and the EU are illustrated, highlighting the differences and also commonalities and similarities. In this story, the figure of the peasant appears crucial and in different dimensions: from the manager of natural resources who takes the greatest care of their condition in order to achieve the largest profits; to the innovator who builds on age old methods to find novel solutions with the available conditions, resources, and technologies, and who creates the right synergies for harmonious and positive impact solutions; to the rural villager who does with what he/she has and knows, but who at the same time is curious about innovations; to the father who is aware that he is responsible for building a future for his children. Peasant agriculture seems to go beyond its own limits through a transition process that has led to a paradigm shift moving away from the modernization and creating new opportunities and alternatives in terms of practices, products, and markets. These alternatives are now representing the base for a new autonomy and competitiveness of rural areas in an increasingly globalized world.

E-court systems automate court processes and provide better case administration with more effective and efficient justice delivery. This paper aims to present the e-court system in the Sulaimaniyah Appellate Court in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as a case study. It identifies significant improvements after adopting the system.

This study used a qualitative approach with an exploratory case study design. Data collected from a triangulation of three sources through structured expert interviews with 30 stakeholders, personal observations by two of the authors, supported by analyzing current relevant literature. R package for Qualitative Data Analysis was the analysis tool.

Findings showed 10 improvements that enhanced court efficiency and effectiveness concerning better case administration, a more transparent process and increased court case security.

This research is limited to improvements after adopting an e-court system.

This research provides a foundation for practitioners who are on the way to implement the e-court system and serves the decision-makers in the Kurdistan Regional Government to plan future expansion in the region.

This research focuses on the e-court system in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is implemented as a first e-service to be a pilot for a broader plan to integrate all appellate courts in other cities in the Kurdistan of Iraq, hence, stepping toward the implementation of e-government.

Current research topics in relation to health information searching focus on challenges faced by health consumers and domains used to perform the health search. Health consumers may not be capable of successfully searching for a health task due to limited medical knowledge. As such search assisting features provided on health domains are important in assisting health consumers during a search session. The purpose of this paper is to perform a preliminary exploratory research study to understand if search assisting features are visible to searchers and the usage of search assisting features when searching on a personal health task.

A convenience sampling method in a university setting and an observational type study was used. MedlinePlus is used as the search domain for this research study. While participants of this research study were first time users of MedlinePlus, they were not first time medical searchers.

Results of this research study indicate health consumers do not utilize search assisting features when searching for a personal health task. This is because health consumers are comfortable with their search skills. In other cases health consumers found the search assisting features irrelevant or had no confidence in the search assisting features presented. Key contributions of this research study indicate health consumers do not utilize search assisting features when searching for a personal health task. This is because health consumers are comfortable with their search skills. In other cases health consumers found the search assisting features irrelevant or had no confidence in the search assisting features presented.

Results of this research study has implications for health domain and human computer designers in relation to the development of specialized search assisting features and the placement of these features. Theoretical contributions indicate health searchers use search assisting features minimally when searching on a personal health task.

Results of this research study indicate health consumers do not utilize search assisting features when searching for a personal health task. This is because health consumers are comfortable with their search skills. In other cases health consumers found the search assisting features irrelevant or had no confidence in the search assisting features presented.