New goods,old records and second‐hand suits: charity shopping in South‐West England

Charity shops are now a familiar feature of high streets and shopping precincts throughout the UK. As the sector has grown charities have taken an increasingly commercial approach to selling; many charities have introduced new goods in their shops. It is suspected that these changes have significantly broadened their customer base. As yet, however, little research has beendoneoncharityshopcustomers. This paper is based on a survey of 592 customers in 25 charity shops in the Bristol area. It explores who is using the shops, the types of goods they are purchasing and the amounts they are spending. Findings include a number of revealing differences between the purchasing habits of men and women, some of which appear to be peculiar to the charity shops sector. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications     

Mentoring and organisational learning in research and development

This paper presents and discusses the contribution of 'mentoring' relationships to organisational learning and knowledge creation in the early stages of research and development (R&D) projects. Our study considers the characteristics of a scientific leader, the nature of the context he creates, and how dialogue contributes to scientific breakthrough. Our study is unusual in as much as research on knowledge creation has developed separately, yet in parallel, with that of mentoring. It is rare to combine these disciplines and yet our research shows there is much to learn from examining the two as a process.
We conducted our research at TECHNO, a high-tech-based European company producing advanced equipment dedicated to particles acceleration. Interviews were carried out in 2002–2003 with the founder of the company, the head of the R&D and engineering department, and team members involved in the low energy cyclotron project.
Our exploratory research enabled us to identify differences in actors' perceptions about the nature and characteristics of these relationships. Our study also suggests that not all sets of relationships can tolerate the degree of intensity provided by the 'mentor'. TECHNO has other 'mentors' who do not manage to generate the same creative context. Complementary mentoring styles based on premises and process reflection allow to support and enhance 'upper levels' learning by junior team members. We examine the nature of the leaders as mentors and catalysts within the learning process and briefly discuss implications for setting up and maintaining learning teams.     

HR practices in US and Australian family wineries: cultural contrasts and performance impact

Research on human resource practices within family businesses is limited, particularly in the wine industry. In this comparative study, 57 US and 37 Australian small and mid-sized family wineries responded to a comprehensive survey of their human resource systems. In addition to contrasting HR practices between family wineries in different countries, this study analyzed the impact of these activities on company sales and profitability. Results were consistent with the hypotheses: US firms were more likely to formalize HR practices than their Australian counterparts, Australian wineries emphasize worker training whereas US wineries focus on hiring qualified employees and both groups connected formalized HR practices to effectiveness and profitability. Finally, the US wineries reported higher profitability than Australian wineries. Implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.     

E‐relationship development strategy for the nonprofit fundraising professional

The potential for technology to enhance the capability of nonprofit organisations is one of today's hot topics both for nonprofit organisations and their potential service providers. Organisations are still in the initial stages of determining the most effective strategies for cultivating and managing online donor relationships and accepting online donations. This paper provides an online donor relationship methodology that will help nonprofits harness the power of e‐mail and the Internet to cultivate and manage donor relationships. Also included is the summary of a study that shows how 14 well‐known US nonprofits collect donations online. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications     

Country of Origin Association in Retail and Wholesale Branding

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to consider country of origin in terms of its association with brand heritage and its implications in fashion branding, thus providing a new perspective within the context of retail and wholesale brands. This qualitative study demonstrates how country of origin is widely used as a communicative tool by retail and wholesale brands, associated with brand heritage. However, the way country of origin is manifested and/or associated (e.g., brand name, color, etc.) varies depending on a brand's history, positioning, brand value, and the type of market sector that the retail and wholesale brands are targeting.     

Integrating online communities within business-to-business marketing communications: an exploratory study

The article provides a conceptual contribution by developing a framework for business-to-business (B2B) marketers seeking to implement online communities (OLCs). Furthermore, the conceptual contribution is augmented by a small-scale exploratory study comprising in-depth interviews with B2B chief marketing officers (CMOs). The findings challenge existing thinking that B2B marketers can follow generic marketing communication frameworks. This is due to the differences in B2B OLCs in terms of multiple stakeholders and two-way information flows and differences in buyer behaviour. For researchers, the contribution is an embryonic model that will facilitate future conceptual development as well as empirical testing through a series of research propositions. A sequential decision-making framework, which identifies key implementation challenges, is provided for B2B managers.     

Enacting the internet and social media on the public sector's frontline

Recognising their growing role in public services, this article draws on the notion of ‘enactment’ to argue that the internet and social media (I&SM) need to be understood in particular institutional, organisational and social contexts. Focusing on street‐level bureaucrats who deliver frontline services, we explore efforts to integrate I&SM into youth work with clients who are thought to be ‘digitally savvy’ but also in need of protection from the ‘online world’. As clients can be vulnerable and trust is a key relational component, organisation–practitioner–client boundaries are complex and under continuous renegotiation. However, the layering of new virtual channels of interaction adds extra complexity. This change necessitates the development of innovative routines, practices and protocols, but these are being developed in a wider social context where the norms of using social media have not caught up with practice and the use of these tools is still often surrounded by moral panic.     

The Impact of Peer,Politician, and Celebrity Endorsements on Volunteering: A Field Experiment with English Students

Endorsement is used by charitable organizations to stimulate public support, including monetary donations. This article reports a field experiment that examined the effect of leader and peer endorsement on student volunteering. The experiment was conducted with over 100,000 students from five UK universities and compared the effect on volunteering rates of email endorsements by politicians, celebrities, and peers, to a control group that received an email but no endorsement. We examined outcomes seven weeks after the original e-mails, including click-throughs to volunteering unit websites, attendance at volunteering training, registration with volunteering units, and actual volunteering. Peer endorsements reduced click-throughs to volunteering unit websites. There were positive treatment effects for endorsement by politicians on subsequent training but no significant effects of any of the endorsements on our other outcome measures. Overall, we found little support for the provision of leader and celebrity endorsement, and confirm negative effects for peer endorsement.     

Economics at the FCC 2020–21: Closing the Connectivity Gap,COVID-19 and Telehealth,Spectrum Auctions,Communications Marketplace Report,and Economic Research

Review of Industrial Organization - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is responsible for regulation in the communications marketplace and for management of the nation’s non-federal...