The diary of a charity donor: an exploration of research information from the Royal Mail Consumer Panel and Mail Characteristics Survey

This paper looks at direct mail in the United Kingdom across all market sectors and in detail at the charity sector. It uses the research information that Royal Mail has been collecting foroveradecadetoshowthegrowthofthe medium. The diary system used by the Consumer Panel gives an insight into the typical donor and their relationship with charities. This paper looks only at direct mail: ‘personally addressed advertising material that is delivered through the post’. This definition means that leaflets put through the letterbox are excluded. Copyright © 1999 Henry Stewart Publications     

Continuous strategic sourcing

This article is based on a specific situation and competence analysis research project. The objective of the project is to point out possible action areas for improvements and potential competence areas; areas that should be integrated in the company's future strategic work. In the long term, the objective is to develop specific tools that can support a company's decision processes when in and/or outsourcing. The specific tools form the basis for the development of a conceptual framework that may facilitate the work with and the understanding of strategic in and outsourcing.During recent years new theories on SCM, outsourcing, supplier cooperation, etc. have emerged. Each theory has its own specific basis seeking to give solutions to problems concerning how to use and cooperate with suppliers. All theories, however, seek to solve a well-known problem within economic theory. Thus, the issue on division of labour and specialization is well known (Foretag i netwark, Stockholm, Studieforbundet for Naringsliv och Sammhallet, 1982; Joint Venture: theoretische und empirische analyse unter besonderer berücksichtigung der chemischen industrie der schweiz. Verlag Rugger, Germany, 1989). From an economic point of view it is a question of reaching the situation with the lowest production and transaction costs (Handbook of Industrial Organization. Amsterdam, 1989, pp. 135).     

Progress under pressure: The evolution of antitrust policy in Australia

Australia has developed a balanced and comprehensive antitrust policy. But the process of evolution has seen conflict, misunderstanding and error in applying the relevant economic concepts. Whether antitrust legislation is needed, and in what form, is still debated, as are ways of incorporating new approaches in economics. This is a documented account and commentary on the twenty years of evolution, designed especially for non-Australian readers seeking to gain advantage and avoid error by studying the experience of another country.     

The effectiveness of family planning programs in less developed countries: the evidence from survey data

25 countries in the less developed world now have functioning family planning programs designed to promote the practice of birth control. Their effectiveness is difficult to assess. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) studies are one means of program evaluation. A great deal of information is available from these studies. All populations show more awareness, approval, and practice of birth control. The programs have been able to get large numbers of people to use their promoted methods and are reaching large numbers of women in high fertility groups. Surveys indicate that ideas of ideal family size and composition are resistant to change thus making birth control acceptance more difficult to achieve. Methodological weaknesses in KAP studies are lack of information on intensity of motivations and attitudes about birth control, inconsistency in responses, and failure of respondent to understand questions. They are still not a completely reliable measure of the direct effects of family planning programs and tend to exaggerate the program's demographic impact. Survey and evaluation efforts have underplayed the role of abortion. Family planning programs will continue to play an important role in reducing births, but socio-economic factors will have more effect.     

How consumer shopping orientation influences perceived crowding, excitement, and stress at the mall

While a few researchers have started to chip away at the notion that retail density is always negative, extant studies do not empirically address the question of why some shoppers respond negatively to a specific level of density while others respond positively. We examine this issue by drawing upon field theory (Lewin 1939) to shed light on how shoppers vary in terms of deeper motives (McClelland 1953) to seek control or intimacy with others in retail mall settings, and whether these motives influence shopping orientations. Shopping orientation is then hypothesized to affect perceptions of crowding, and, in turn, subsequent affective responses to the mall shopping experience. Moreover, we examine whether individual differences (gender and age) can help retailers segment those with different shopping orientations and the motives that influence these orientations. We found that task and social shopping orientations were influenced by deeper motives for control and intimacy. The causal relationships between shopping motive, shopping orientation, and consumers?? affective responses of stress and excitement were also discovered. Finally, we address theoretical and managerial implications of our results.     

Shredded Reputation: The Cost of Audit Failure

In this article we investigate the impact of the Enron audit failure on auditor reputation. Specifically, we examine Arthur Andersen's clients' stock market impact surrounding various dates on which Andersen's audit procedures and independence were under severe scrutiny. On the three days following Andersen's admission that a significant number of documents had been shredded, we find that Andersen's other clients experienced a statistically negative market reaction, suggesting that investors downgraded the quality of the audits performed by Andersen. We also find that audits performed by Andersen's Houston office suffered a more severe decline in abnormal returns on this date. We are not able to show that Andersen's independence was questioned by the amount of non–audit fees charged to its clients.     

UK social change through a wide-angle lens

This article examines long-term social change in the UK based largely on evidence derived from the Monitor programme's annual surveys. The Monitor has been conducted since 1973 and has proved to be much more than a tool for social research or for long-range planning. It provides an insightful view of the structure and dynamics of British society itself. From a discussion of major social value groups, the article examines the effects of changing values on British institutions, the nature of the transition during social paradigm shift, and briefly assesses the major political parties in this context.     

Coordinated voting in sequential and simultaneous elections: some experimental evidence

This paper studies a situation wherein a set of voters choose between two alternatives in the presence of a payoff externality. Specifically, regardless of her intrinsic preference, a voter’s payoff is maximized should she vote for the alternative that garners a majority of the votes cast. Are votes coordinated on a single alternative? Using laboratory experiments, we examine voting patterns in sequential voting and simultaneous voting elections. Across both election types, we also vary the amount of information that an individual voter has regarding the intrinsic preferences of the other voters. Our main findings are as follows. In the “low” information treatment, sequential voting elections facilitate coordinated voting. However, in the “high” information treatment, voting patterns are not dependent on how the election is structured.