Corporate identity: What does it mean for museums?

In the commercial sector it is recognised that corporate identity is highly significant not only in differentiating an organisation, but also for its long-term survival. However, no substantial research has previously been undertaken investigating corporate identity in the nonprofit sector. This paper outlines an investigation into the current practice of corporate identity management in museums. A number of distinct elements are identified, which are not adequately addressed by the commercially orientated corporate identity literature. The implications of these issues are considered, and some suggestions made for future corporate identity management activities in the nonprofit sector.     

Women and agricultural change in Latin America: Some concepts guiding research

We are not yet in a position to draw simple conclusions from the existing research literature in answer to the question of how the lives of rural women are affected by the processes of commercialization and capitalization in agriculture. The most serious problem inhibiting generalization has been the underlying conceptual and political differences among commentators. This article will explore and illuminate these conceptual differences, discuss the basic weaknesses of the ‘impact model’ (of agricultural change on women) most commonly adopted up to now, and indicate directions taken by alternative conceptualizations that stress the interplay of relations of gender with relations of class and ethnicity.     

An unsuitable job for a woman: a ‘native category’ approach to gender,diversity and cross-cultural management

This paper takes an ethnographic study of the recruitment of women at BMW MINI between 2003 and 2006 as the basis to explore the impact of the concepts of ‘native categories’ and ‘recontextualisation’ on diversity management and cross-cultural management. I consider how managers' and workers' subconsciously held cultural categories relating to gender and work affected efforts to increase the number of female line workers in the plant, and how these were further complicated by the recontextualisation of German native categories in a British context. In doing so, this paper will develop a better understanding of the way native categories affect management and international business, provide an addition to the literature on recontextualisation, by introducing the concept of ‘native categories’ to research exploring the effects of recontextualisation on cross-cultural knowledge transfer, international human resource management strategy and marketing, and, finally, develop some understanding of how diversity management initiatives can fail in practice.     

Incorporating satisfaction measures into a restaurant productivity index

The increasing stature of the foodservice industry in the global service economy suggests that productivity analyses—similar to those performed in non-service-based settings—would benefit multi-unit operators by maximizing their desirable operational outcomes while minimizing expenses and other detrimental conditions such as low job satisfaction. This paper suggests that such analyses might be possible through the application of a holistic productivity metric—one that includes traditional operational variables such as revenue, profit, food cost, and labor cost, and previously ignored variables such as guest and employee satisfaction as well as retention equity. Through data gathered from a single chain's 36 corporate-owned, same-brand casual-theme restaurants located in metropolitan centers across the United States, we found that factors leading to maximum outputs such as controllable profit and retention equity include employee satisfaction in addition to expected variables such as cost of goods sold and number of seats. Most notably, employee satisfaction as an input proved to be the most volatile variable in maximizing operational outputs.     

The pot snack market – are today's consumers demanding health as well as convenience?

Identifying the target audience for hot pot snacks and which factors influence their buyer behaviour is vital information for product developers and manufacturers. The reported market research evaluated the effect of changing lifestyles on the growth of the pot snack market and investigated consumer opinion of pot snacks with particular regard to their nutritional status. This information is of particular interest to health professionals involved in improving the nation's health. A consumer questionnaire measured the opinion of pot snacks, frequency of consumption and influences on the growth of the pot snack market. The 150 consumers comprised 86 males and 64 females aged 11–74 years. The data was analysed using chi‐square (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Results indicated that within the pot snack market, there are a variety of reasons determining the demand for pot snacks. The frequency of consumption is influenced by knowledge and opinion about the nutritional content of the pot snack product, suggest‐ing that consumers are now demanding health as well as convenience.     

Stakeholder Theory and Managerial Decision-Making: Constraints and Implications of Balancing Stakeholder Interests

Stakeholder theory is widely recognized as a management theory, yet very little research has considered its implications for individual managerial decision-making. In the two studies reported here, we used stakeholder theory to examine managerial decisions about balancing stakeholder interests. Results of Study 1 suggest that indivisible resources and unequal levels of stakeholder saliency constrain managers’ efforts to balance stakeholder interests. Resource divisibility also influenced whether managers used a within-decision or an across-decision approach to balance stakeholder interests. In Study 2 we examined instrumental and normative implications of these two approaches. We conclude by considering the contributions of this research.     

Salt or Sludge? Exploring Preferences for Potable Water Sources

Decision makers often use information about public preferences to guide public policy. Several disciplines gather information on preferences through surveys by asking respondents to make hypothetical choices over potential policies. However the context of the choice question differs between approaches, with some failing to make the full consequences of the respondent’s choice explicit in the question. In this study we investigate whether question context matters, by exploring whether economic and psychology approaches yield a similar understanding of community preferences towards a large-scale recycled wastewater scheme. We find that stated preferences differ depending on whether the preference question is contextualised using economic incentives. The findings provide insight into the implications of inappropriately contextualised preference questions, methodological considerations in attitude identification and estimation, and the diversity of values and public attitudes towards recycled wastewater.