Preliminary job descriptions for the domestic & personal service industry.

"Published by the Minnesota State Department of Education and the Division of Standards and Research of the United States Employment Service as a report on official projects 5196 ... 5201, [4155 and 4184] conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration."

Report of budget director analysing personal service recommendations for 1940-42 in comparison with 1938-40 to the General Assembly of Virginia.

Mode of access: Internet.

Civil service plan for the County of Milwaukee : including classification and standardization of personal service, civil service rules and regulations and constructive recommendations for positive employment administration.

Mode of access: Internet.

Determining consumer satisfaction and commitment through self-service technology and personal service usage

This paper expands research into self-service technology in the service encounter. Self-service technology is where customers deliver service themselves using some form of a technological interface. There is still a great deal unknown about self-service technology, in particular its impact on consumer satisfaction and consumer commitment. With that in mind, this empirical study explores the relative impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction and on a multidimensional measure of consumer commitment containing affective commitment, temporal commitment and instrumental commitment. The results reveal that in a hotel context personal service still remains very important for assessments of satisfaction, and affective and temporal commitment. What is particularly interesting is that self-service technology, while impacting these constructs, also impacts instrumental commitment. This suggests that positive evaluations of self-service technology may tie consumers into relationships with hotels. A discussion and implications for managers are provided on these and other results, and the paper is concluded with further potential research.

The use of technology-based self-service on assessments of consumer satisfaction and consumer commitment

Technology-based self-service (TBSS) enables consumers to complete services themselves using a technological interface. As evaluations of consumer satisfaction and commitment have typically focused on interpersonal interactions, the effect of TBSS on these is under researched . This paper explores the impact of TBSS on consumer satisfaction and on a multidimensional measure of consumer commitment.Data are collected from 241 hotel guests. The results suggest personal-service is more important for satisfaction and commitment. This has implications for marketing as the benefits of adopting TBSS are not clear. Multi-dimensional commitment provides some interesting findings and suggests the need for further research into TBSS and commitment.

Attributes of service delivery modes and their impact on consumer satisfaction

Consumersatisfaction is fundamental to organisational success. It is well recognised that personal service is important in achieving consumer satisfaction. However, the application of self-service technology (SST) is widcning and is attennuating traditional exchanges between consumers and service employees. The effect of this reduction of personal service on consumer satisfaction judgements is not well understood. This study addresses this gap by investigating the relative effects of SST and personal service attributes on overall consumer satisfaction. Thc study highlights important service attributes applicable to SST and personal service. The conceptual framework is tested using data collected from 241 leisure and business travellers drawn from premium hotels in a regional area. Structural equation modelling techniques support the conceptual framework. As expected, the attributes of personal service and SST contribute to consumer satisfaction. However, thc impact of personal service attributes 011 consumer satisfaction is much stronger than the effects of SST attributes. Though SST is an important determinant of consumer satisfaction, interactions with staff are critical. These results have applications for the theory and practice of services marketing, and high light avenues for further investigation.

Self-service technology and the moderating effects of consumer characteristics

The incidence of self-service technology, where the consumer delivers the service themselves using technology, is increasing in the service encounter. One area that is under-explored is the potential impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction and affective commitment. Accordingly, this paper presents an empirical study that investigates the relative impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction (both overall and transaction-specific) and affective commitment, accounting for the moderating effects of consumer characteristics. The results highlight the importance of personal service for evaluations of satisfaction and commitment, and the importance of social competency as a moderator in this relationship. An understanding of these consumer perceptions will allow organisations to develop strategies to deliver the services expected by their consumers, improving consumer satisfaction and commitment.

Catch me if you can : the effective service of bankruptcy documents in a changing world

This article discusses some recent judicial decisions to assist legal practitioners to overcome some of the problems encountered when serving Bankruptcy Notices and Creditor’s Petitions. Some of the issues covered in the discussion are: What the valid last-known address of the debtor can be, whether a Bankruptcy Notice can be validly served by email on a debtor who is located outside Australia, whether service of a Bankruptcy Notice is valid when the debtor is outside Australia when service on the debtor occurs in Australia, whether the creditor’s failure to obtain leave for service of a Bankruptcy Notice can be excused, what can be done regarding personal service of a Creditor’s Petition when a debtor is outside Australia and whether the Court can set aside a sequestration order. The article goes on to place the issues in the context of broader bankruptcy policies noting that effective service of bankruptcy documents is challenging in a world where mobility of debtors is global and new modes of communication ever changing.

A Customer's Expectation and Perception of Hotel Service Quality in Cyprus

In recent years, hotels in Cyprus have encountered difficult economic times due to increasing customer demands and strong internal industry development competition. The hospitality industry’s main concern globally is to serve its customer S needs and desires, most of which are addressed through personal services. Hence, the hotel businesses that are able to provide quality services to its ever-demanding customers in a warm and efficient manner are those businesses which will be more likely to obtain a long term competitive advantage over their rivals. Ironically, the quality of services frequently cannot fully appreciated until something goes wrong, and then, the poor quality of services can have long lasting lingering effects on the customer base and, hence, often is translated into a loss of business. Nevertheless, since the issue of delivery of hospitality services always involves people, this issue must center around the management of the human resource factor, and in particular, on the way which interacts with itself and with guests, as service encounters. In the eyes of guests, hospitality businesses will be viewed successful or failure, depending on [he cumulative impact of the service encounters they have experienced on a personal level. Finally, since hotels are offering intangible and perishable personal service encounters, managing these services must be a paramount concern of any hotel business. As a preliminary exercise, visualize when you have last visited a hotel, or a restaurant, and then, ask yourself these questions: What did you feel about the quality of the experience? Was it a memorable one, which you would recommend it to others, or there were certain things, which could have made the difference? Thus, the way personalized services are provided can make the deference in attracting arid retaining long-term customers

Valoración del costo de los recursos propios de las empresas. caso particular: empresas de servicios a la persona en Francia

El WACC o Coste Medio Ponderado de Capital es la tasa a la que se deben descontar los flujos para evaluar un proyecto o empresa. Para calcular esta tasa es necesario determinar el costo de la deuda y el costo de los recursos propios de la compañía; el costo de la deuda es la tasa actual del mercado que la empresa está pagando por su deuda, sin embargo el costo de los recursos propios podría ser difícil y más complejo de estimar ya que no existe un costo explícito. En este trabajo se presenta un panorama de las teorías propuestas a lo largo de la historia para calcular el costo de los recursos propios. Como caso particular, se estimará el costo de los recursos propios sin apalancamiento financiero de seis empresas francesas que no cotizan en bolsa y pertenecientes al sector de Servicios a la Persona (SAP). Para lograr lo anterior, se utilizará el Proceso de Análisis Jerárquico (AHP) y el Modelo de Valoración del Precio de los Activos Financieros (CAPM) con base en lo presentado por Martha Pachón (2013) en “Modelo alternativo para calcular el costo de los recursos propios”.

El legado de Cádiz: ciudadanía y cultura política en la Gobernación de Cuenca, 1812-1814 (Estudios)

Este trabajo analiza el legado de las Cortes de Cádiz y de la Constitución de 1812 en Cuenca entre 1812 y 1814. Estudia los principales cambios políticos relacionados con los derechos de diversos actores sociales, así como el rompimiento de antiguas formas de relación social. Los cambios políticos se relacionaron con la introducción de nuevos conceptos y prácticas como ciudadanía, soberanía, elección y representación, tanto en el mundo criollomestizo como en el indígena (población cañari) de la provincia. Se analiza la abolición del tributo indígena, el servicio personal y la mita, además se estudian algunos cambios administrativopolíticos como la creación de los ayuntamientos constitucionales, las diputaciones provinciales y nacionales.

Responsible entrepreneurship in developing countries : understanding the realities and complexities

Developing countries have recently experienced a burgeoning of small-scale individual entrepreneurs (SIEs) – who range from petty traders to personal service workers like small street vendors, barbers and owners of small shops – as a result of market-based reforms, rapid urbanisation, unemployment, landlessness and poverty. While SIEs form a major part of the informal workforce in developing countries and contribute significantly to economic growth, their potential is being undermined when they engage in irresponsible and deceptive business practices such as overpricing, sale of underweight or substandard products, or attempts to hoard goods, to name a few. Despite the growing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of small businesses in developing countries, the SIEs have received almost no attention. To address this void in the literature, we explore the reasons for the less than optimal level of social responsibility demonstrated by some SIEs in developing countries. We do so by drawing upon the existing literature to develop a comprehensive framework of social responsibility of SIEs highlighting their unique characteristics and the different contextual factors that they encounter in developing countries. Based on this framework, we then present a set of propositions specifying the influence of these contextual factors such as business environment, cultural traditions, socio-economic conditions, and both international and domestic pressures on the business practices of SIEs. The framework offers an explanation for the lack of responsible entrepreneurship of SIEs and has important implications for promoting sustainable business practices in developing countries where businesses are striving hard to survive and compete.

Personal epistemology in pre-service teachers : belief changes throughout a teacher education course

Classrooms of the 21st century are complex systems. They support diverse learners from varied contexts and function in a “messy” bricolage of policy contexts. This complexity is also evident in the nature of teaching and learning deployed in these classrooms. There is also, in current contexts, a general expectation that teachers will support students to construct, rather than simply receive knowledge. This process of constructing knowledge requires a focus on critical thinking in complex social and real world contexts (see also Elen & Clarebout, 2001; Yang, Chang & Hsu 2008). Critical thinking, which involves the identification and evaluation of multiple perspectives when making decisions, is a process of knowing – a tool of wisdom (Kuhn & Udell, 2001). Schommer-Aikens, Bird and Bakken (2010) refer to classrooms that encourage critical thinking as “epistemologically based” in which “the teacher encourages his/her students to look for connections among concepts within the text, with their prior knowledge, and with concepts found in the world beyond themselves” (p. 48).

Changing personal epistemologies in early childhood pre-service teachers using an integrated teaching program

This study investigated changes in pre-service teachers’ personal epistemologies as they engaged in an integrated teaching program. Personal epistemology refers to individual beliefs about the nature of knowing and knowledge and has been shown to influence teaching practice. An integrated approach to teaching, based on both an implicit and explicit focus on personal epistemology, was developed by an academic team within a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood). The teaching program integrated content across four units of study, modelling personal epistemologies implicitly through collaborative reflexive practice. The students were also required to engage in explicit reflections on their personal epistemologies. Quantitative measures of personal epistemology were collected at the beginning and end of the semester using the Epistemological Beliefs Survey (EBS) to assess changes across the teaching period. Results indicated that pre-service teachers’ epistemological beliefs about the integration of knowledge became more sophisticated over the course of the teaching period. Qualitative data included pre-service teachers’ responses to open ended questions and field experience journal reflections about their perceptions of the teaching program and were collected at the end of the semester. These data showed that pre-service teachers held different conceptions about learning as integration, which provided a more nuanced understanding of the EBS data. Understanding pre-service teachers’ epistemological beliefs provides promising directions for teacher preparation and professional enrichment.