Critical Incidents in Internal Relationships

Critical incidents have had an important role in service quality and service management research. The focus of critical-incident studies has gradually shifted from separate acts and episodes towards relationships, and even switching from one relationship to another. The Critical Incident Technique has mainly been used when studying the service sector, concentrating on the customer's perception of critical incidents. Although some studies have considered the perceptions of employees important, critical incidents have not been considered a tool for studying internal relationships to any larger extent. This paper takes a process approach and shifts the focus from an external to an internal setting. It puts forward a new technique for analysing internal relationships from a critical-incident perspective. The technique captures the dynamism in relationships through considering internal critical incidents as micro-processes affecting not only internal but also external relationships.

Optimal incentive timing strategies for product marketing on social networks

We consider the problem of devising incentive strategies for viral marketing of a product. In particular, we assume that the seller can influence penetration of the product by offering two incentive programs: a) direct incentives to potential buyers (influence) and b) referral rewards for customers who influence potential buyers to make the purchase (exploit connections). The problem is to determine the optimal timing of these programs over a finite time horizon. In contrast to algorithmic perspective popular in the literature, we take a mean-field approach and formulate the problem as a continuous-time deterministic optimal control problem. We show that the optimal strategy for the seller has a simple structure and can take both forms, namely, influence-and-exploit and exploit-and-influence. We also show that in some cases it may optimal for the seller to deploy incentive programs mostly for low degree nodes. We support our theoretical results through numerical studies and provide practical insights by analyzing various scenarios.

Caso práctico: La Planificación Estratégica del Museo Guggenheim Bilbao desde una perspectiva de Marketing

[ES] La dimensión del mercado turístico y dentro de éste el mercado turístico cultural no deja de crecer y desarrollarse. En algunas regiones su importancia ha sido vital al servir como motor al propio desarrollo económico de la zona. Éste ha sido el caso del fenómeno conocido como Museo Guggenheim que ha contribuido de una forma clara e importante al desarrollo económico de la zona del Gran Bilbao y ha servido de ejemplo para intentar el mismo modelo con mayor o menor éxito en diferentes zonas de España.

Aktuelle Aspekte und Besonderheiten der deutschen Flunderfischerei in der Ostsee im Jahr 2002

Although the fishery on flounder in the German fishery zone in 2002 was characterised by good catch possibilities, a dramatic decrease of landings was observed because of marketing problems and low prices. Due to increasing international fishery pressure on flounder a quota system should be established in the future. The German flounder landings could be increased by a better marketing strategy to meet the optimal requirements for a reliable German quota. For 2003 the stock condition is expected to be good which could ensure a successful flounder fishery. It is necessary to stabilize the present technical measures for a better selection of the codend in the medium term.

Comparison of marketing policies applied by the same company in different countries and analysis of the reasons for the differences

The focus of this project is going to be, as the title indicates, on the comparison of marketing policies applied by the same company in different countries and analysis of the reasons for the differences. In order to do that, I have selected the company Nestlé to analyze the marketing decisions it makes across national boundaries to market the brand of Kit Kat and keep it as a leader snack worldwide. After having analyzed the brand in all continents, I can say the execution of the strategy used by Nestlé with Kit Kat really matches the planning of the strategy which is to think globally and act locally. Nestlé uses global brand identity but, from the internal point of view, it uses local ingredients and gives autonomy to its local branches based in different countries to make pricing and distributions decisions and therefore satisfy different consumers’ needs and preferences in local environments where changes happen very rapidly. The “glocal” approach to marketing is an effective way for Nestlé Kit Kat to stay focused on the consumer in worldwide markets.

A behavior model for blood donors and marketing strategies to retain and attract them

Objective: analyze and propose a theoretical model that describes blood donor decisions to help staff working in blood banks (nurses and others) in their efforts to capture and retain donors. Methods: analysis of several studies on the motivations to give blood in Spain over the last six years, as well as past literature on the topic, the authors' experiences in the last 25 years in over 15 Non Governmental Organizations with different levels of responsibilities, their experiences as blood donors and the informal interviews developed during those 25 years. Results: a model is proposed with different internal and external factors that influence blood donation, as well as the different stages of the decision-making process. Conclusion: the knowledge of the donation process permits the development of marketing strategies that help to increase donors and donations.

A Marketing Plan for the Exeter City Supporters' Trust

[EN] This project is a marketing plan for the Exeter City Supporters' Trust. It has operated for several years without an adequate marketing strategy and this has lead to poor communication and distribution strategies being followed, which have hindered its progress. The following marketing plan analyses the external and internal factors which affect the Trust. It also proposes objectives, strategies and action plans to address the aforementioned deficiencies, building upon the entity's strengths and the opportunities in the environment.

Approaches to national fish breeding programs: pointers from a tilapia pilot study

Details are given of a framework for developing breeding programmes using experience from the Genetic Improvement of Farmed Tilapias project which focussed on Nile tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus ). The following aspects are outlined: Analysis of targeted production and marketing systems; Breeding goals; Systematic documentation and evaluation of available genetic resources and choice and genetic base; Number of strains; Breeding strategy; Selection criteria and evaluation; Production and dissemination of improved strains; and, social, economic and environmental impacts.

Design e Marketing: uma relação de sinergia para a Sustentabilidade

Esta dissertação aborda os princípios do Design, os fundamentos do Marketing e as condições que ambas as atividades podem, em parceria, gerar ambientes criativos para a Sustentabilidade. Acredita-se que tanto Design quanto Marketing são campos de saber parceiros, complementares e transversais, tendo deste modo um natural potencial de sinergia para a construção de projetos consistentes e duráveis. A insistência nesta ideia se deve, em parte, à vivência profissional nesses setores de gestão de projeto, e também ao desenvolvimento de exames, através da pesquisa bibliográfica, sobre os sentidos de termos, conceitos e objetivos para a organização de dados, a análise e alinhamento conceitual e a verificação de tangências entre esses campos. Este trabalho objetiva contribuir para a interação e a integração de saberes, em cursos de nível superior, também com a sugestão de ferramenta criativo-analítica e criativo-gerativa para o desenvolvimento de soluções mais sustentáveis. A crescente necessidade de atuações adequadas e eficazes dos campos estudados nos setores produtivos, a necessidade de profissionais capazes de se adequarem estas demandas, e a oferta deficitária de pesquisas com esta abordagem reforçam a crença na utilidade desta investigação. Os saberes em foco têm em comum relações multidisciplinares, sistêmicas e interdependentes.

Mixing and internal dynamics of droplets impacting and coalescing on a solid surface.

The coalescence and mixing of a sessile and an impacting liquid droplet on a solid surface are studied experimentally and numerically in terms of lateral separation and droplet speed. Two droplet generators are used to produce differently colored droplets. Two high-speed imaging systems are used to investigate the impact and coalescence of the droplets in color from a side view with a simultaneous gray-scale view from below. Millimeter-sized droplets were used with dynamical conditions, based on the Reynolds and Weber numbers, relevant to microfluidics and commercial inkjet printing. Experimental measurements of advancing and receding static contact angles are used to calibrate a contact angle hysteresis model within a lattice Boltzmann framework, which is shown to capture the observed dynamics qualitatively and the final droplet configuration quantitatively. Our results show that no detectable mixing occurs during impact and coalescence of similar-sized droplets, but when the sessile droplet is sufficiently larger than the impacting droplet vortex ring generation can be observed. Finally we show how a gradient of wettability on the substrate can potentially enhance mixing.

Peak identification for PCDD/Fs in environmental samples at different temperature programs

A method has been developed for peak recognition of 136 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) at different temperature programs. Their retention behaviours are predicted on the basis of an identification database of retention values (A, B) of gas chromatography. By the retention times of C-13 labelled 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/F internal standards, the retentions of all PCDDs and PCDFs can be calculated. After comparison with the retentions of practical environmental samples, the predicted values have been proved to be very accurate. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hadron physics programs at HIRFL-CSRm: Plan and status

An internal target experiment at HIRFL-CSRm is planned for hadron physics, which focuses on hadron spectroscopy, polarized strangeness production and medium effect. A conceptual design of Hadron Physics Lanzhou Spectrometer (HPLUS) is discussed. Related computing framework involves event generation, simulation, reconstruction and final analysis. The R&D works on internal target facilities and sub-detectors are presented briefly.

Peak identification for PCDD/Fs in environmental samples at different temperature programs

A method has been developed for peak recognition of 136 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) at different temperature programs. Their retention behaviours are predicted on the basis of an identification database of retention values (A, B) of gas chromatography. By the retention times of C-13 labelled 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/F internal standards, the retentions of all PCDDs and PCDFs can be calculated. After comparison with the retentions of practical environmental samples, the predicted values have been proved to be very accurate. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Information Security as Exemplified by Clandestine Collaboration and Influence Exerted by the Polish Internal Security Agency Officers on Journalists - De Lege Lata and De Lege Ferenda Regulations

The text addresses the issue of information security as exemplified by clandestine collaboration and the influence exerted by the Internal Security Agency officers upon journalists. The texts analyzes the de lege lata regulations as well as the de lege ferenda ones. As for the former, the penal provisions of the Act, that is Articles 153b–153d (Chapter 10a) are applicable, whereas as for the latter, the applicable regulations are the 2013 Bill Articles numbered 197-199 (Chapter 10). In both the 2002 Act on the Internal Security Agency and Foreign Intelligence Agency as well as in the 2013 draft Bill of the Internal Security Agency, the legislator penalizes the employment by the officers of the information acquired while fulfilling or in connection with official duties for the purpose of affecting the operation of public authority bodies, entrepreneurs or broadcasters, editors-in-chief, journalists and persons conducting publishing activity. Also, the text analyzes regulations concerned with the penalization of clandestine collaboration engaged in by ABW officers with a broadcaster, editor-in-chief, a journalist and a person conducting publishing activity.