Brand equity and purchase intention in fashion industry:a cross-cultural study in Asia and Europe

This research is the leading brand for purchase of assets, and analyzing the factors based on brand asset components and the relationship between the brand and brand assets assets impact factors and purchase intent on uncovering the relationship between components and trademarks centered on South Korea and the United Kingdom, by comparing the asset management plan would generate. The study, information navigation product knowledge affects of constant (+), brand attitudes and knowledge of the brand loyalty and brand value to the constant trademark (+). Brand value and brand loyalty and purchase intent-(+) in the United Kingdom, on the other hand, of the impact that do not affect that.

Cross-sectional studies in prescribing research

A cross-sectional study aims to describe the overall picture of a phenomenon, a situational problem, an attitude or an issue, by asking a cross-section of a given population at one specified moment in time. This paper describes the key features of the cross-sectional survey method. It begins by highlighting the main principles of the method, then discusses stages in the research process, drawing on two surveys of primary care pharmacists to illustrate some salient points about planning, sampling frames, definition and conceptual issues, research instrument design and response rates. Four constraints in prescribing studies were noted. First the newness of the subject meant a low basis of existing knowledge to design a questionnaire. Second, there was no public existing database for the sampling frame, so a pragmatic sampling exercise was used. Third, the definition of a Primary Care Pharmacist (PCP) [in full] and respondents recognition of that name and identification with the new role limited the response. Fourth, a growing problem for all surveys, but particularly with pharmacists and general practitioners (GP) [in full] is the growing danger of survey fatigue, which has a negative impact on response levels.

Anger rumination and self-reported aggression amongst British and Hong Kong Chinese athletes: a cross cultural comparison

Previous work has determined relationships between provocation, anger rumination, and aggression in British athletes (Maxwell, 2004); however, the reliability of these findings and their generality across diverse cultures has not been examined. Therefore, a comparison of British and Hong Kong (HK) Chinese athletes’ propensity for rumination and aggression was undertaken. Provocation and thoughts of revenge were significantly associated with the self-reported aggression of both British and HK Chinese athletes. Frequency of aggression was similar across cultures except for a tendency for British male contact sport athletes to report greater frequency of aggressive behaviour. HK Chinese athletes tended to report higher frequencies of thoughts relating to understanding the causes of anger and higher incidence of perceived provocation. It was concluded that the pattern of aggressive behaviour was similar across the two cultures when opportunities for aggression are infrequent, but that HK Chinese athletes may inhibit aggressive responding even when opportunities are frequent.

Determinants of sales performance in insurance industry:a cross-cultural comparison between the UK and Malaysia

This thesis is concerned with an empirical investigation of the factors that predict a successful salesperson, using a cross-cultural comparison of two countries: the UK and Malaysia. Besides collecting quantitative data, qualitative data on organisational, environmental and cultural factors were also collected through interviews, personal and case observations. The quantitative data consist of sixteen independent factors and three dependent factors. The independent variables include self-efficacy, self-esteem, locus of control, self-monitoring, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, experience, training perception, role ambiguity, role conflict, role inaccuracy, gender, age, education, race and religion. The dependent variables are performance target achieved, performance earnings and performance ratings. Questionnaires were distributed to about 500 salespersons in each country, from three insurance companies in the UK and two insurance companies in Malaysia. Response rates were 75 and 50 percent from the UK and Malaysia respectively. The survey results indicated that a salesperson's performance in the UK is predicted by self-efficacy, internal locus of control, self-esteem, extrinsic motivation, experience, training perceptions, role conflict and gender. In Malaysia, a salesperson's performance is predicted by self-efficacy, self-monitoring, experience, role conflict, role ambiguity, education, gender, race and religion. Self-efficacy, experience, role conflict and gender are common predictors of salespersons' performance in both cultures. The likely explanation for these results is culture differences, i.e. UK has a homogeneous culture, while Malaysia has a heterogeneous one. Results from the case observations, such as organisational and environmental factors, give supporting evidence in explaining the empirical results. Implications from the findings are discussed from two aspects: (1) theoretical implications for divergence/convergence theory, Hofstede's model, Churchill's model, and (2) managerial implications for selection, training, motivation and appraisal.

Computer-assisted production scheduling, planning and control in foundries

The present study describes a pragmatic approach to the implementation of production planning and scheduling techniques in foundries of all types and looks at the use of `state-of-the-art' management control and information systems. Following a review of systems for the classification of manufacturing companies, a definitive statement is made which highlights the important differences between foundries (i.e. `component makers') and other manufacturing companies (i.e. `component buyers'). An investigation of the manual procedures which are used to plan and control the manufacture of components reveals the inherent problems facing foundry production management staff, which suggests the unsuitability of many manufacturing techniques which have been applied to general engineering companies. From the literature it was discovered that computer-assisted systems are required which are primarily `information-based' rather than `decision based', whilst the availability of low-cost computers and `packaged-software' has enabled foundries to `get their feet wet' without the financial penalties which characterized many of the early attempts at computer-assistance (i.e. pre-1980). Moreover, no evidence of a single methodology for foundry scheduling emerged from the review. A philosophy for the development of a CAPM system is presented, which details the essential information requirements and puts forward proposals for the subsequent interactions between types of information and the sub-system of CAPM which they support. The work developed was oriented specifically at the functions of production planning and scheduling and introduces the concept of `manual interaction' for effective scheduling. The techniques developed were designed to use the information which is readily available in foundries and were found to be practically successful following the implementation of the techniques into a wide variety of foundries. The limitations of the techniques developed are subsequently discussed within the wider issues which form a CAPM system, prior to a presentation of the conclusions which can be drawn from the study.

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.

The foundations of knowledge:a cross-cultural perspective

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The factors affecting attitudes toward HSDPA service and intention to use:a cross-cultural comparison between Asia and Europe

HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) is a 3.5-generation asynchronous mobile communications service based on the third generation of W-CDMA. In Korea, it is mainly provided in through videophone service. Because of the diffusion of more powerful and diversified services, along with steep advances in mobile communications technology, consumers demand a wide range of choices. However, because of the variety of technologies, which tend to overflow the market regardless of consumer preferences, consumers feel increasingly confused. Therefore, we should not adopt strategies that focus only on developing new technology on the assumption that new technologies are next-generation projects. Instead, we should understand the process by which consumers accept new forms of technology and devise schemes to lower market entry barriers through strategies that enable developers to understand and provide what consumers really want.

Organisational cultures and management styles in four African countries:a cross-cultural study

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When East meets West:employee motivation in cross-cultural comparison

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Students' perceptions of computer assisted learning:an empirical study

Research indicates that although students are the ultimate 'beneficiaries of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based' higher education learning their voices have been neglected in its development. This paper attempts to redress this imbalance by illuminating students' perceptions of the use of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) in an undergraduate accounting module. The findings suggest that students are in favour of using EQL in a supportive role only. Interviewees rejected the idea of replacing human tutors with machine tutors and they believed that most of their learning occurs in tutorials and ranked these as the most important component of the module.

Team-based working and employee well being:a cross-cultural comparison of United Kingdom and Hong Kong health services

This study examined the impact of team-based working, team structure, and job design on employee well-being (in term of job satisfaction and work stress) in staff working in healthcare organizations in Hong Kong. Cross-cultural differences in the impact of job design, team structure, and employee well-being outcomes between United Kingdom and Hong Kong were also investigated. A group of 197 staff from two Hong Kong hospitals were compared to a sample of 270 UK staff working in National Health Service organizations in the UK. Results showed that team structure and job design were significantly associated with greater employee satisfaction and lower stress for Hong Kong healthcare staff. Culture was also found to moderate the impact of team structure and job design on employee well-being. The findings suggest that although team structure and job design contribute to employee well-being, they have differential impacts across cultures. This provides insights to policy planning on building team-based organizations in the healthcare sector involving multinational collaboration.