The moderate voice of John Sherman and the Republican agenda 1855-1898

Republican John Sherman, United States Congressman, Senator, Treasury Secretary, and Secretary of State had a political career of major importance from 1855 to 1898, yet there have been only casual references by historians and only two biographies of him, with the most recent published in 1902. From a strong Whig Party background, he was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1854; switching to the Republicans that same year. Then elevated to the Senate in 1861, he served in that body throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction when he was the most important voice of party unity and moderation. In 1877, the new President Rutherford Hayes appointed Sherman Secretary of the Treasury. He returned to the Senate after the Hayes administration where he sat for the following 15 years. In this particularly notable period, he not only led the upper house, but he engineered more bills in Congress which bore his name than any other member of either house. These included the critically important Sherman Silver Purchase Act, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Sherman Inter-State Commerce Act. In 1897 he left the Senate finally when William McKinley appointed him Secretary of State. ^ Through this long, distinguished career, Sherman was involved in all the important legislation that brought the country through the Civil War and Reconstruction and into the post-war world of the Gilded Age of rapid industrialization, and urban growth, Politically, he never strayed far from the nationalistic and economic principles of the Whig Party, and brought both these values to bear in the Republican Party that dominated American political life from 1860 to 1900. Similarly, party loyalty and loyalty to the President always characterized his service. He was indeed, an exemplar of political and statesmanship. ^ While research for this dissertation included review of both journal and monographic literature, its basis lies more critically in primary research in unpublished archival material in repositories from Maine to Ohio, in particular the Library of Congress. ^

A Comparative Study of Customer Perceptions Regarding Green Restaurant Practices: Fast Food vs. Upscale Casual

The current exploratory study was designed to determine the impact that green restaurant practices may have on intention to visit a restaurant and willingness to pay more because of those green practices. The study analyzed a convenience sample of 260 surveys from customers in fast food restaurants and 501 surveys from customers in upscale casual restaurants in the Midwestern United States (U.S.) in order to determine if there were differences in the perception of guests regarding these types of restaurants and their green practices. The findings showed that upscale casual restaurant customers believed they are knowledgeable at a higher level than the fast food restaurant customers about green restaurant practices, have a higher mean rating on the importance of environmental record and recycling in restaurants, and believed that restaurants should use local products when they can. In both groups of customers, there was a positive relationship between green practices utilized at home and customers’ willingness to pay more for green restaurant practices as well as their intention to visit the restaurant using green practices. Management implications are discussed.

Representation and participation in child care proceedings: what about the voice of the parents?

In Ireland, the Constitution guarantees very strong rights to parents and the family, and there has been a long and unfortunate history of failures to adequately protect children at risk. As a result, there has been much discussion in recent years about the need to improve legal mechanisms designed to protect the rights of children. By comparison, little attention has been given to establishing whether the theoretically strong rights of parents translate into strongly protected rights in practice. This paper presents new empirical evidence on the manner in which child care proceedings in Ireland balance the rights and interests of children and parents, including the rates at which orders are granted, the frequency of and conditions in which legal representation is provided, and the extent to which parents are able to actively participate in proceedings. A number of systemic issues are identified that restrict the capacity of the system to emphasise parental rights and hear the voice of parents to the extent that would be expected when looking at the legal provisions in isolation.

The Voice of History and the Message of the National Curriculum: Recontextualising History to a Pedagogic Discourse for Upper Secondary VET

In the reform by the liberal-conservative government of Swedish upper secondary education in 2011, history was recognized as an important part of citizenship education and was introduced into the curriculum for vocational education and training (VET) tracks. Through the concepts of classification and framing, this article explores the process of constructing the history syllabus for VET. The data consist of archived material from the working group responsible for the history curriculum under the Swedish National Agency for Education. The analysis shows that there are competing discourses concerning the relative emphasis on competencies and skills and concerning the emphasis on contemporary and modern history. Although historians, history teachers and other agents are invited to respond to the content of the curriculum, the respondents have no influence on the knowledge structure of the curriculum, which is controlled by agents of the dominant educational ideology. From a critical perspective, this article suggests that the curriculum reflects the instrumental and neoconservative message of the reform through strong classification and framing and through the emphasis on general abilities and a contemporary history that has a more direct explanatory value to contemporary society.

Management of Customer Co-development in Business-to-Business Markets

Management of customer co-development means involving customers in the development of new products and services, and coordinating the process. In business-tobusiness markets, customer co-development enables the development of innovations that better match customer needs and strengthens customer relationships. However, close collaboration with customers can hamper the innovativeness of new products and lead to overly customized solutions. Therefore, the management of co-development is crucial to its success. Yet the existing research on management of co-development has mainly focused on selecting the right collaboration partners, and the field lacks understanding on how to manage the tensions inherent in customer co-development. The purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding on the management of the codevelopment. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first comprises the literature review and conclusions for the whole study, and the second presents four publications. From the methodological perspective, the research papers follow exploratory qualitative research design. The empirical data comprise interviews with 60 persons, representing 25 different organizations, and a group of 11 end users. The study conceptualizes management of customer co-development in three dimensions 1) relational co-development processes, 2) co-development challenges and paradoxes, and 3) internal customer involvement processes. The findings contribute to the customersupplier relationship, innovation, and marketing management literatures by providing a framework on supplier-customer co-development, addressing co-development paradoxes and their management processes, and suggesting practices for customer involvement. For practitioners, the findings provide tools to manage the challenges related to codevelopment with customers.

The +Contigo Project in the Voice of Eight-Grade Students

The +Contigo Project is a longitudinal research project based on a multilevel network intervention aimed at promoting mental health and well-being and preventing suicidal behaviors. Students participate in social skills training sessions on the stigma of mental disorders, adolescence, self-esteem, problem-solving skills, and wellbeing. Problem statement: To identify the qualitative impact of the +Contigo Project. Objectives: To identify the importance of the project for students, the problem situations which it helped to solve, and its impact on an individual level. Research methods: Content analysis (Bardin, 2009) with a posteriori categorical identification. Semi-structured interview guide with 5 questions. A convenience sample of 16 students, from three schools of one school cluster in the Center Region of Portugal, was used. The ethical aspects of parental consent, voluntary participation and data confidentiality were addressed. Findings: Fourteen categories emerged from the data analysis. The answers to Question 4 'How was this project important to you?' were particularly relevant. Students mentioned that it improved their self-esteem by increasing self-confidence and interpersonal skills, and that it increased their reflection and awareness on problems with which they learned how to cope during the sessions. Conclusions: All interviewees considered that the +Contigo project helped them to solve problems, improve their interpersonal skills and cope with the adolescence period. Students improved their self-esteem and self-knowledge, and were able to apply what they had learned in the sessions in their daily lives. We concluded that the project had a positive impact on the students' mental health.

A VOICE OF THEIR OWN: MUSIC AND SOCIAL COHESION IN TURKISH ALEVI LIFE

This dissertation examines the role that music has played in the expression of identity and revitalization of culture of the Alevis in Turkey, since the start of their sociocultural revival movement in the late 1980s. Music is central to Alevi claims of ethnic and religious difference—singing and playing the bağlama (Turkish folk lute) constitutes an expressive practice in worship and everyday life. Based on research conducted from 2012 to 2014, I investigate and present Alevi music through the lens of discourses on the construction of identity as a social and musical process. Alevi musicians perform a revived repertoire of the ritual music and folk songs of Anatolian bards and dervish-lodge poets that developed over several centuries. Contemporary media and performance contexts have blurred former distinctions between sacred and secular, yet have provided new avenues to build community in an urban setting. I compare music performances in the worship services of urban and small-town areas, and other community events such as devotional meetings, concerts, clubs, and broadcast and social media to illustrate the ways that participation—both performing and listening—reinforces identity and solidarity. I also examine the influence of these different contexts on performers’ musical choices, and the power of music to evoke a range of responses and emotional feelings in the participants. Through my investigation I argue that the Alevi music repertoire is not only a cultural practice but also a symbol of power and collective action in their struggle for human rights and self-determination. As Alevis have faced a redefined Turkish nationalism that incorporates Sunni Muslim piety, this music has gained even greater potency in their resistance to misrecognition as a folkloric, rather than a living, tradition.

Using text-mining-assisted analysis to examine the applicability of unstructured data in the context of customer complaint management

Double Degree

Quality Function Deployment asiakaslähtöisen tuotekehityksen menetelmänä

Quality Function Deployment eli QFD on menetelmä, jonka avulla asiakkaiden tarpeet huomioidaan systemaattisesti koko tuotekehitysprosessissa. Tuotekehitys on yleensä se osa yrityksen toimintaa, missä asiakaslähtöisyys voidaan parhaiten ottaa huomioon. Työn tarkoituksena on kuvata lukijalle Quality Function Deployment tuotekehitysmenetelmän eri vaiheita ja esitellä mahdollisimman selkeästi menetelmän periaatteet. Menetelmän neljästä vaiheesta paneudutaan etenkin ensimmäiseen eli laadun taloon. Myös menetelmän kolme seuraavaa vaihetta esitellään. Menetelmän toteutus aloitetaan asiakastarpeiden kartoittamisella. Asiakastarpeet ovat menetelmän perusta. Matriisitekniikalla asiakastarpeet muunnetaan tuoteominaisuuksiksi. Matriisia analysoimalla saadaan ne tuoteominaisuudet, joita aletaan mahdollisesti kehittää. Menetelmästä voidaan käyttää vain laadun taloa tai jatkaa seuraaviin vaiheisiin, missä kolmen muun matriisin avulla iskostetaan asiakastarpeet koko organisaatioon, tuotekehitykseen konseptin luomisesta aina valmistukseen asti. Menetelmää voidaan käyttää monella eri toimialalla. valmistukseen asti. Menetelmää voidaan käyttää monella eri toimialalla.

Evaluation of the Importance of Attributes in Customer Satisfaction with Supermarkets in the Mid-Valley Region of the Itajai - SC

In a dynamic atmosphere of competitiveness, customer satisfaction is a key factor in the long term success of a business relationship. From this perspective, the objective of the article was to evaluate the importance of attributes and customer satisfaction with Supermarkets in the Mid-Valley region of the ltajai/SC. Research methodology is characterized as descriptive, of the survey type, with a quantitative, cross section approach. The research instrument used was a questionnaire structured with open and closed questions, according to Lickert`s scale. By means of this, the degree of importance of supermarket attributes and the level of customer satisfaction with them were verified. In regard to the importance of the attributes, cleaning, parking, safety and variety of products are the most important, while the attributes Of purchase through the internet and taste samples are the least significant ones. The results of satisfaction point to the fact that the Supermarkets Big and Angeloni presented a greater degree of satisfaction in relation to the general average in practically all of the attributes, while Bistek presented the smallest degree of satisfaction, only surpassing the average in regard to the attribute of store lighting.

Justice strategy options for increased customer satisfaction in a services recovery setting

This study investigates the influence of justice (procedural, interactional and distributive) on measures of customer satisfaction within a hotel setting. Specifically, the study investigates the levels of satisfaction associated with various combinations of procedural, interactional, and distributive justice related service recovery strategies. Using especially designed video vignettes of a hotel service breakdown, respondents rated their levels of satisfaction for the video vignettes that depicted varying levels of. (a) level of concern shown by the service provider, (b) whether policy was adhered to, (c) degree of 'voice' given to the customer, and (d) type of compensation. Between subject MANOVA analyses revealed a number of main effects and interactions. Results clearly show that satisfaction varied significantly depending on the various combinations of recovery measures. In particular, a two-way interaction between adherence to policy and type of compensation was found. Furthermore, it was found that respondents expressed higher satisfaction with the service when a 50% refund was given, and the provider was seen to be adhering to policy, rather than doing a special favor for the customer. In contrast, when a token measure of compensation is given (i.e. giving away a couple of drink vouchers), respondents expressed higher levels of satisfaction if the service provider was doing a special favor rather than merely adhering to company policy. Implications for managers and scholars are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

The role of gender in reactions to service failure and recovery

Male and female consumers place different emphasis on elements of the service recovery process. Perceptions were influenced by gender of the service provider and by a match of customer and service provider gender. The study, an experimental design with 712 respondents, found that when service providers, irrespective of gender, display concern and give customers voice and a sizable compensation, both men and women reported more positive attitudes compared with when this was not so. Combinations of high voice with high outcome and high voice with high concern were especially important in positively influencing perceptions of effort, regardless of gender. However, the authors also found that there were significant differences between male and female respondents regarding their perceptions of how service recovery should be handled. Women want their views heard during service recovery attempts and to be allowed to provide input. Men, in contrast, do not view voice as important.

The differential effects of switching costs and attractiveness of alternatives on customer loyalty

Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Estatística e Gestão de Informação.

The impact of online promotional efforts on customer acquisitiom and retention at continente.pt

Continente Online (COL) is the market leader of online grocery retailing in Portugal. Aiming at sustaining this position, it has been focusing its promotional efforts in acquiring and retaining customers. This report intakes an extensive study on the impact of COL’s exclusive promotional efforts (free delivery offers and ten percent discounts on loyalty card) on customer acquisition and retention, as well as, a cost analysis on these offers. Two econometric models were developed and the results were interesting. It was concluded that free delivery offers have a significant impact both in terms of customer acquisition and retention, having also a lower cost in comparison with ten percent on loyalty card discounts.