Translation strategies and cross-cultural contraints : a case study of the translation of advertising texts

Since the transfer of a message between two cultures very frequently takes place through the medium of a written text qua communicative event, it would seem useful to attempt to ascertain whether there is any kind of pattern in the use of strategies for the effective interlingual transfer of this message. Awareness of potentially successful strategies, within the constraints of context, text type, intended TL function and TL reader profile will enhance quality and cost-effectiveness (time, effort, financial costs) in the production of the target text. Through contrastive analysis of pairs of advertising texts, SL and TL, French and English, this study will attempt to identify the nature of some recurring choices made by different translators in the attempt to recreate ST information in the TL in such a manner as to reproduce as closely as possible the informative, persuasive and affective functions of the text as advertising material. Whilst recurrence may be seen to be significant in terms of illustrating tendencies with regard to the solution of problems of translation, this would not necessarily be taken as confirmation of the existence of pre-determined or prescriptive rules. These tendencies could, however, be taken as a guide to potential solutions to certain kinds of context-bound and text-type specific problem. Analysis of translated text-pairs taken from the field of advertising should produce examples of constraints posed by the need to select the content, tone and form of the Target Text, in order to ensure maximum efficacy of persuasive effect and to ensure the desired outcome, as determined by the Source Text function. When evaluating the success of a translated advertising text, constraints could be defined in terms of the culture-specific references or assumptions on which a Source Text may build in order to achieve its intended communicative function within the target community.

Professions, class and society:solicitors in 19th century Birmingham

The thesis provides an analysis of an occupation in the process of making itself a profession. The solicitors' profession in Birmingham underwent a great many changes during the 19th century against a background of industrialisation and urbanisation. The solicitors' conception of their status and role, in the face of these challenges, had implications for successful strategies of professionalisation. The increased prestige and power of the profession, and especially its elite, are examined in their social context rather than in terms of a technical process, or educational and organisational change. The thesis argues that -the profession's social relationships and broad concerns were significant in establishing solicitors as "professional men". In particular these are related to the profession's efforts to gain control of markets for legal services and increase social status. In the course of achieving these aims a concept of profession and a self-image were articulated by solicitors in order to persuade society and the state of the legitimacy of their claims. The concept of the gentlemanly professional was of critical importance in this instance. The successful creation of a provincial professional "community" by the end of the 19th century rested principally on a social and moral conception of professionalism rather than one which stressed specialised training and knowledge, professional organisations and credentials.

Handbook of research on strategic performance management and measurement using data envelopment analysis

Organizations can use the valuable tool of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to make informed decisions on developing successful strategies, setting specific goals, and identifying underperforming activities to improve the output or outcome of performance measurement. The Handbook of Research on Strategic Performance Management and Measurement Using Data Envelopment Analysis highlights the advantages of using DEA as a tool to improve business performance and identify sources of inefficiency in public and private organizations. These recently developed theories and applications of DEA will be useful for policymakers, managers, and practitioners in the areas of sustainable development of our society including environment, agriculture, finance, and higher education sectors. All rights reserved.

Novel formulation strategies for the fabrication of lyophilised orally disintegrating tablets

Orally disintegrating Tablets (ODTs), also known as fast-disintegrating, fast-melt or fast-dissolving tablets, are a relatively novel dosage technology that involves the rapid disintegration or dissolution of the dosage form into a solution or suspension in the mouth without the need for water. The solution containing the active ingredients is swallowed, and the active ingredients are then absorbed through the gastrointestinal epithelium to reach the target and produce the desired effect. Formulation of ODTs was originally developed to address swallowing difficulties of conventional solid oral dosage forms (tablets and capsules) experienced by wide range of patient population, especially children and elderly. The current work investigates the formulation and development of ODTs prepared by freeze drying. Initial studies focused on formulation parameters that influence the manufacturing process and performance of lyophilised tablets based on excipients used in commercial products (gelatin and saccharides). The second phase of the work was followed up by comprehensive studies to address the essential need to create saccharide free ODTs using naturally accruing amino acids individually or in combinations. Furthermore, a factorial design study was carried out to investigate the feasibility of delivering multiparticulate systems of challenging drugs using a novel formulation that exploited the electrostatic associative interaction between gelatin and carrageenan. Finally, studies aimed to replace gelatin with ethically and morally accepted components to the end users were performed and the selected binder was used in factorial design studies to investigate and optimise ODT formulations that incorporated drugs with varies physicochemical properties. Our results show that formulation of elegant lyophilised ODTs with instant disintegration and adequate mechanical strength requires carful optimisation of gelatin concentration and bloom strength in addition to saccharide type and concentration. Successful formulation of saccharides free lyophilised ODTs requires amino acids that crystallise in the frozen state or display relatively high Tg', interact and integrate completely with the binder and, also, display short wetting time with the disintegrating medium. The use of an optimised mixture of gelatin, carrageenan and alanine was able to create viscous solutions to suspend multiparticulate systems and at the same time provide tablets with short disintegration times and adequate mechanical properties. On the other hand, gum arabic showed an outstanding potential for use as a binder in the formulation of lyophilised ODTs. Compared to gelatin formulations, the use of gum arabic simplified the formulation stages, shortened the freeze drying cycles and produced tablets with superior performance in terms of the disintegration time and mechanical strength. Furthermore, formulation of lyophilised ODTs based on gum arabic showed capability to deliver diverse range of drugs with advantages over commercial products.

"High commitment" strategies:it ain't what you do; it's the way that you do it

Purpose: This paper sets out to contribute to the advancement of knowledge, particularly with regard to the processes of implementation and the role of managers engaged in such high commitment strategies and work practices. Design/methodology/approach: This study is part of a research project investigating the extent to which employee involvement predicts job performance (as well as job satisfaction, wellbeing and organisational commitment) in the NHS, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The main focus of this paper is to present evidence from four of the 20 case studies to show the barriers to implementing employee involvement as well as highlighting the techniques and practices that have proven to be most successful. Findings: Employee involvement is used successfully by management and has enabled frontline staff to contribute their knowledge to their work. Research limitations/implications: The ethical issues of confidentiality and anonymity permeated the research process throughout. Practical implications: The link between "high commitment" strategies and organisational performance is of great interest to academics and practitioners alike. One of these "high commitment" strategies, namely employee involvement, has been an important HR strategy for the NHS in the UK. Originality/value: Other organisations can learn from the findings by implementing the successful parts. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Maintenance strategies affecting equipment performance

Proper maintenance of plant items is crucial for the safe and profitable operation of process plants, The relevant maintenance policies fall into the following four categories: (i) preventivejopportunistic/breakdown replacement policies, (ii) inspection/inspection-repair-replacernent policies, (iii) restorative maintenance policies, and (iv) condition based maintenance policies, For correlating failure times of component equipnent and complete systems, the Weibull failure distribution has been used, A new powerful method, SEQLIM, has been proposed for the estimation of the Weibull parameters; particularly, when maintenance records contain very few failures and many successful operation times. When a system consists of a number of replaceable, ageing components, an opporturistic replacernent policy has been found to be cost-effective, A simple opportunistic rrodel has been developed. Inspection models with various objective functions have been investigated, It was found that, on the assumption of a negative exponential failure distribution, all models converge to the same optimal inspection interval; provided the safety components are very reliable and the demand rate is low, When deterioration becomes a contributory factor to same failures, periodic inspections, calculated from above models, are too frequent, A case of safety trip systems has been studied, A highly effective restorative maintenance policy can be developed if the performance of the equipment under this category can be related to some predictive modelling. A novel fouling model has been proposed to determine cleaning strategies of condensers, Condition-based maintenance policies have been investigated. A simple gauge has been designed for condition monitoring of relief valve springs. A typical case of an exothermic inert gas generation plant has been studied, to demonstrate how various policies can be applied to devise overall maintenance actions.

Cognitive structures, strategies and instruction

This thesis is organised into three parts. In Part 1 relevant literature is reviewed and three critical components in the development of a cognitive approach to instruction are identified. These three components are considered to be the structure of the subject-matter, the learner's cognitive structures, and the learner's cognitive strategies which act as control and transfer devices between the instructional materials and the learner's cognitive structures. Six experiments are described in Part 2 which is divided into two methodologically distinct units. The three experiments of Unit 1 examined how learning from materials constructed from concept name by concept attribute matrices is influenced by learner or experimenter controlled sequence and organisation. The results suggested that the relationships between input organisation, output organisation and recall are complex and highlighted the importance of investigating organisational strategies at both acquisition and recall. The role of subjects previously acquired knowledge and skills in relation to the instructional material was considered to be an important factor. The three experiments of Unit 2 utilised a "diagramming relationships methodology" which was devised as one means of investigating the processes by which new information is assimilated into an individual's cognitive structure. The methodology was found to be useful in identifying cognitive strategies related to successful task performance. The results suggested that errors could be minimised and comprehension improved on the diagramming relationships task by instructing subjects in ways which induced successful processing operations. Part 3 of this thesis highlights salient issues raised by the experimental work within the framework outlined in Part 1 and discusses potential implications for future theoretical developments and research.

Oral delivery strategies for the controlled release of cimetidine

It is advantageous to develop controlled release dosage forms utilising site-specific delivery or gastric retention for those drugs with frequent or high dosing regimes. Cimetidine is a potent and selective H2 -reception antagonist used in the treatment of various gastrointestinal disorders and localisation in the upper gastrointestinal tract could significantly improve the drug absorption. Three strategies were undertaken to prepare controlled release systems for the delivery of cimetidine to the GI tract. Firstly, increasing the contact time of the dosage form with the mucus layer which coats the gastrointestinal tract, may lead to increased gastric residence times. Mucoadhesive microspheres, by forming a gel-like structure in contact with the mucus, should prolong the contact between the delivery system and the mucus layer, and should have the potential for releasing the drug in sustained and controlled manner. Gelatin microspheres were prepared, optimised and characterised for their physicochemical properties. Crosslinking concentration, particle size and cimetidine loading influenced drug release profiles. Particle size was influenced by surfactant concentration and stirring speed. Mucoadheisve polymers such as alginates, chitosans, carbopols and polycarbophil were incorporated into the microspheres using different strategies. The mucoadhesion of the microspheres was determined using in vitro surface adsorption and ex vivo rat intestine models. The surface-modification strategy resulted in highest levels of microsphere adhesion, with chitosan, carbopols and polycarbophil as the most successful candidates for improvement of adhesion, with over 70% of the microspheres retained ex vivo. Specific targeting agent UEA I lectin was conjugated to the surface of gelatin microspheres, which enhanced the adhesion of the microspheres. Alginate raft systems containing antacids have been used extensively in the treatment of gastro-oesophageal disease and protection of the oesophageal mucosa from acid reflux by forming a viscous raft layer on the surface of the stomach content, and could be an effective delivery system for controlled release of cimetidine.

The evaluation of marketing strategies for the sale of sports goods in Europe

The objectives of this thesis are to examine and evaluate the process of marketing as practiced by an established and successful company in the sports trade, Dunlop Sports Company Ltd. (D.S.C.). In particular the field of strategy formulation for exporting is considered in an operational context, and compared with existing literature and theory on the subject. Market intelligence has been gathered by visiting European territories and pursuing available sources in the United Kingdom. The data now available is intended to act as a base for developing a more effective market research function within D.S.C. At various stages reports have been submitted on specific topics to the Company and this thesis represents the culmination of these reports and an outline for future policies which are open to D.S.C. The thesis chooses certain aspects of marketing and examines the way in which the marketing strategy of the Company appears to act upon these. In particular the topics of Pricing, Distribution and Market Research are considered. Initially a series of alternative market postures are postulated and assessed within the European strategy of D.S.C. Where no explicit strategy is available an implied strategy is identified and evaluated. In chapters on Pricing and Distribution some of the problems being encountered are given detailed consideration and preferred policies arc suggested. In the final chapter the major strengths and weaknesses of of the Company are brought together and the various recommendations summarised in the context of a marketing strategy which would meet some o:f the current difficulties. The emphasis tliroughout is on the effect of strategy formulation, whether or not this appears adequate, and how each of the various operational elements of the marketing mix depend upon this.

Market-driven strategies and the design of flexible production systems: evidence from the electronics industry

Links the concept of market-driven business strategies with the design of production systems. It draws upon the case of a firm which, during the last decade, changed its strategy from being “technology led” to “market driven”. The research, based on interdisciplinary fieldwork involving long-term participant observation, investigated the factors which contribute to the successful design and implementation of flexible production systems in electronics assembly. These investigations were conducted in collaboration with a major computer manufacturer, with other electronics firms being studied for comparison. The research identified a number of strategies and actions seen as crucial to the development of efficient flexible production systems, namely: effective integration of subsystems, development of appropriate controls and performance measures, compatibility between production system design and organization structure, and the development of a climate conducive to organizational change. Overall, the analysis suggests that in the electronics industry there exists an extremely high degree of environmental complexity and turbulence. This serves to shape the strategic, technical and social structures that are developed to match this complexity, examples of which are niche marketing, flexible manufacturing and employee harmonization.

Do managerial strategies influence service behaviours? Insights from a qualitative study

Based on a review of the extant literature, a conceptual framework for analyzing the associations between managerial strategies (internal communications, empowerment, supportive leadership and professional development), employee job attitudes (organizational commitment and job satisfaction) and prosocial service behaviours (PSBs) is developed. The authors explore the relevance of the proposed conceptual model and testable propositions regarding the associations between managerial strategies, employee attitudes and PSBs by conducting in-depth interviews of FLEs in a travel service organization. Based on the findings of the in-depth interviews, the relationships between managerial strategies, job attitudes and PSBs in the conceptual framework are largely supported.