Destination Brand Performance Measurement Over Time

With increasing investments being made in brand development by destination marketing organisations (DMO) since the 1990s, including rebranding and repositioning, more research is necessary to enhance understanding of how to effectively monitor destination brand performance over time. This chapter summarises key findings from a study of brand performance of a competitive set of destinations, in their most important market, between 2003 and 2012. Brand performance was measured from the perspective of consumer perceptions, based on the concept of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). The results indicated almost no change in perceptions of the five destinations over the 10-year period. Due to the commonality of challenges faced by DMOs worldwide, it is suggested the CBBE hierarchy provides destination marketers with a practical tool for evaluating brand performance over time; in terms of measures of effectiveness of past marketing communications, as well as indicators of future performance.

Reinforcing guardianship regimes through assisted decision-making : a Scottish perspective

Guardianship laws which provide legal mechanisms for decision-making on behalf of adults with limited or impaired capacity to make decisions have become a feature of most Western jurisdictions. In the UK, the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and the English and Welsh Mental Capacity Act 2005 have established a comprehensive framework for authorising medical, financial and welfare decisions to be taken on behalf of adults who are unable to take any or all such decisions themselves. One feature of guardianship regimes has been their tendency to evolve over time. Legal reforms have been instigated by the changes in philosophical views about how society should engage with adults with a decision-making impairment and also modern views about the role human rights play in guardianships regimes. The latest ideas in guardianship regimes around the Western world centre on the possibility of legal recognition of the concept of assisted decision-making...

Advertising : an integrated marketing communication perspective

This text provide the ideal student-centered introduction to the fast-changing field of integrated marketing communications. Technologies such as the convergence of the internet, mobile devices, and traditional channels are changing the way companies use marketing tools to communicate with their customers. The third edition of this market-leading text has been extensively revised to examine how cutting-edge developments are impacting the IMC program of marketers. All vignettes, cases and boxes showcasing specific examples of how companies and their communications agencies are using integrated marketing communications are new or updated. They provide engaging insights into the most current and popular campaigns being used by marketers and the key current trends and developments taking place in the advertising world.

Sustainability Non-Price Incentives and Rewards: A Collaborative Procurement Perspective

Construction scholars suggest that procurement processes can be used as mechanisms to change construction industry practices. This paper discusses industry changes as a response to the calls for integration of sustainability ideals into construction practices. Because major infrastructure construction has been identified as a key producer of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), this study explores collaborative procurement models that have been used to facilitate mitigation of GHGE. The study focuses on the application of non-price incentives and rewards that work together as a binary mechanism. Data were collected using mixed-methods: government document content analysis was complemented with data collected through focus groups and individual interviews with both clients and contractors. This report includes examples of greening procurement agendas for three Australian road authorities relating to collaborative procurement project delivery models. Three collaborative procurement models, Alliance Consortium, Early Contractor Involvement and Public Private Partnerships provide evidence of construction projects that were completed early. It can also be argued that both clients and contractors are rewarded through collaborative project delivery. The incentive of early completion is rewarded with reduction of GHGE. This positive environmental outcome, based on a dual benefit and non-price sustainability criteria, suggests a step towards changed industry practices though the use of green procurement models.

Enhancing Raman signal sufficiently for practical sensing applications

Techniques are presented for enhancing weak Raman scattering signals for rapid yet accurate substance detection. Novel surfaces that allow signal enhancement quantification are described as are eye-safe methodologies that maximize the stand-off Raman detection range.

Practical analysis of big acoustic sensor data for environmental monitoring

Monitoring the environment with acoustic sensors is an effective method for understanding changes in ecosystems. Through extensive monitoring, large-scale, ecologically relevant, datasets can be produced that can inform environmental policy. The collection of acoustic sensor data is a solved problem; the current challenge is the management and analysis of raw audio data to produce useful datasets for ecologists. This paper presents the applied research we use to analyze big acoustic datasets. Its core contribution is the presentation of practical large-scale acoustic data analysis methodologies. We describe details of the data workflows we use to provide both citizen scientists and researchers practical access to large volumes of ecoacoustic data. Finally, we propose a work in progress large-scale architecture for analysis driven by a hybrid cloud-and-local production-grade website.

An Australian perspective on the ALI-III global principles for cooperation in International insolvency cases

In 2012, Professor Ian Fletcher (United Kingdom) and Professor Bob Wessels (The Netherlands) presented a Report to the American Law Institute and the International Insolvency Institute entitled Transnational Insolvency: Global Principles for Cooperation in International Insolvency Cases (“Global Principles”). This followed their appointment as Joint Reporters to investigate whether the essential provisions of the American Law Institute Principles of Cooperation among the North American Free Trade Agreement Countries with their annexed Guidelines Applicable to Court-to-Court Communication in Cross-border Cases may, with certain necessary modifications, be acceptable for use by jurisdictions across the world. This article comments on the Global Principles from the perspective of a jurisdiction which has adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-border Insolvency (“Model Law”). In 2008, Australia enacted a standalone statute, the Cross-border Insolvency Act 2008 (Cth) to which is annexed the Model Law. In that process, it made minimal changes to the Model Law text. Against the background of the 2008 Act, related procedural laws as well as Australia’s general insolvency statutes and recent cross-border insolvency jurisprudence, this article comments on the potential relevance of the Transnational Insolvency Report as a point of reference for Australian courts and insolvency administrators when addressing international insolvency cases. By comparing the Global Principles with the Model Law as closely adopted in Australia, this analysis is a resource for other Model Law jurisdictions when considering the potential relevance of the Global Principles for their own international insolvency practice.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire – forging a career in a temporary workplace : a new perspective for HR?

Recent literature acknowledges the need for new career development models to support the way that careers evolve in the 21st century workplace (Bloch 2005). This is particularly so within temporary organisation forms, and for those pursuing a career in project management (Hölzle 2010). Our research, explores how project managers working on projects and within temporary organisation forms and those working on project-linked contracts access the development opportunities they require to remain employable in an era of project-by-project employment. Set in Australia where a project-based economy (Crawford, French and Lloyd-Walker 2013) and contract work have led to casualisation of the workforce (Connell & Burgess, 2006; McKeown & Hanley (2009) the results suggest new approaches to career development may be required.

Impact of gender-focused human resource management on performance : the mediating effects of gender diversity

Gender-focused human resource policies and practices signal an organization’s perspective on gender diversity. The signal produces perceptions that the organization values gender diversity leading to a gender-diverse workforce. In turn, a gender-diverse workforce provides a firm with a competitive advantage which should result in higher performance. This paper tests the mediating effects of gender diversity (at non-management and management levels) in the relationship between gender-focused policies and practices and performance. The findings indicate that non-management gender diversity partially mediates the relationship between gender-focused policies and practices and productivity, and management gender diversity partially mediates the relationship between gender-focused policies and practices and perceived market performance. The results have several theoretical, research and practical implications.

Standardising and assessing digital images for use in clinical trials : a practical, reproducible method that blinds the assessor to treatment allocation

With the increasing availability of high quality digital cameras that are easily operated by the non-professional photographer, the utility of using digital images to assess endpoints in clinical research of skin lesions has growing acceptance. However, rigorous protocols and description of experiences for digital image collection and assessment are not readily available, particularly for research conducted in remote settings. We describe the development and evaluation of a protocol for digital image collection by the non-professional photographer in a remote setting research trial, together with a novel methodology for assessment of clinical outcomes by an expert panel blinded to treatment allocation.

Investigative trends in understanding penalty-kick performance in association football: An ecological dynamics perspective

There have been different approaches to studying penalty-kick performance in association football. In this paper, the authors synthesize key findings within an ecological dynamics theoretical framework. According to this theoretical perspective, information is the cornerstone for understanding the dynamics of action regulation in penalty-kick performance. Research suggests that investigators need to identify the information sources that are most relevant to penalty-kick performance. An important task is to understand how constraints can channel (i.e. change, emphasize or mask) information sources used to regulate upcoming actions and how the influence of these constraints is expressed in players' behavioural dynamics. Due to the broad range of constraints influencing penalty-kick performance, it is recommended that future research adopts an interdisciplinary focus on performance assessment to overcome the current lack of representativeness in penalty-kick experimental designs. Such an approach would serve to capture the information-based control of action of both players as components of this dyadic system in competitive sport.

Recording primate vocalizations

Ornithologists have been exploring the possibilities and the methodology of recording and archiving animal sounds for many decades. Primatologists, however, have only relatively recently become aware that recordings of primate sound may be just as valuable as traditional scientific specimens such as skins or skeletons, and should be preserved for posterity (Fig. 16.1). Audio recordings should be fully documented, archived and curated to ensure proper care and accessibility. As natural populations disappear, sound archives will become increasingly important (Bradbury et al., 1999). Studying animal vocal communication is also relevant from the perspective of behavioural ecology. Vocal communication plays a central role in animal societies. Calls are believed to provide various types and amounts of information. These may include, among other things: (1) information about the sender's identity (e.g. species, sex, age class, group membership or individual identity); (2) information about the sender's status andmood (e.g. dominance, fear or aggressive motivation, fitness); and (3) information about relevant events or discoveries in the sender's environment (e.g. predators, food location). When studying acoustic communication, sound recordings are usually required to analyse the spectral and temporal structure of vocalizations or to perform playback experiments (Chapter 11)...