Promotional strategies on the World Wide Web

Business managers that use the Internet as a major component of their marketing communications strategy face great challenges. The popularity of the Internet with consumers and businesses drives thousands of firms to promote their products and services using World Wide Web (known hereinafter as the Web) sites. Technology has created a competitive arena that enables exposure to consumers worldwide, who can now easily communicate with each other. This potential for exposure has dramatic implications for any business considering the Internet as a promotional vehicle. The growing popularity of Internet sites, where users may discuss their feelings about companies and products, allows an increased scrutiny of all aspects of business. If companies do not deal effectively with this scrutiny, brand equity is vulnerable to erosion. Therefore, all contingencies inherent in promotional efforts on the Internet must be weighed carefully. Businesses which examine the ramifications of on-line exposure are better able to create and maintain a positive Internet presence which facilitates effective Web site promotion. Planning, implementation and control must be integrated into the on-line marketing communications of businesses, regardless of business size.     

Dialogism in Corporate Social Responsibility Communications: Conceptualising Verbal Interaction Between Organisations and Their Audiences

We conceptualise CSR communication as a process of reciprocal influence between organisations and their audiences. We use an illustrative case study in the form of a conflict between firms and a powerful stakeholder which is played out in a series of 20 press releases over a 2-month period to develop a framework of analysis based on insights from linguistics. It focuses on three aspects of dialogism, namely (i) turn-taking (co-operating in a conversation by responding to the other party), (ii) inter-party moves (the nature and type of interaction characterising a turn, i.e. denial, apology or excuse) and (iii) intertextuality (the intensity and quality of verbal interaction between the parties). We address the question: What is the nature and type of verbal interactions between the parties? First we examine (a) whether the parties verbally interact and then (b) whether the parties listen to each other. We find evidence of dialogism suggesting that CSR communication is an interactive process which has to be understood as a function of the power relations between a firm and a specific stakeholder. Also, we find evidence of intertextuality in press releases by six firms which engage in verbal interaction with the stakeholder. We interpret this as linguistic evidence of isomorphic processes relating to CSR practices resulting from the pressure exerted by a powerful stakeholder. The lack of response by ten firms that fail to issue press releases suggests a strategy of ‘watch-and-wait’ with respect to the outcome of the conflict.     

The Role of Innovation in Farm Economic Sustainability: Generalised Propensity Score Evidence from Irish Dairy Farms

We assess the impact of innovation on Irish dairy farm economic sustainability by focusing on profitability, productivity of land and market orientation. A generalised propensity score method is applied to a representative sample of 342 Irish dairy farms. Our empirical findings reveal that innovation increases economic sustainability, but not in a linear way. More specifically, economic gains depend on the level of innovation. Small efforts to increase innovation can lead to economic gains of over €200 per hectare. The results also reveal that innovative farmers can achieve higher economic gains by further innovation. Overall, our findings support the current focus of the Irish extension system on fostering the uptake of innovative technologies and practices in order to achieve an economically sustainable expansion of the dairy sector.     

Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Firms: Is There an East-West Gap in Germany?

The financing of small and medium-sized firms is important for the catching-up of the East German to the West German economy since reunification. We explore whether it is restricted by unfavorable bank loan terms, using bank-survey data on lending decisions to small and medium-sized firms. A comparison of the terms of lending between the former East German and West German states yields a lending gap given by higher loan prices and collateral requirements in East Germany. This gap can be explained by differences in credit risks and lending strategies of banks.     

Zu früh geboren

Zusammenfassung  Das Heidelberger Konzept der Frühgeborenenversorgung — Frühgeborene haben einen schweren Start ins Leben, meistens überstehen sie die ersten Wochen nur mit Hilfe der High-Tech-Intensivmedizin. Heute ist es m?glich, ab der Vollendung der 23. Schwangerschaftswoche das überleben eines frühgeborenen Kindes zu sichern und es besteht eine reale Chance, gravierende Behinderungen zu vermeiden. Um das zu erreichen, muss sich die Betreuung auch auf das unreife Gehirn des frühgeborenen Kindes ausrichten.