An approach to the assessment of environmental impact in retail architecture

Architecture has been an essential resouce in retail to keep products in suitable technical conditions, provide confort to costumers during the purchase process, and set up a communication bond across the attraction process moves to trigger the purchase. The addition of more architecture in commercialization of products (stores, supply chains, etc.) has been an inherent fact to historical retail development in intensity and extent. However, a glance of the whole retail system in any city provide the verification of coexistence and development of many architectural typologies used for retailing, formed with dissimilar ammounts of resources (energy, material, information, technology), that entail different environmental impacts.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The Pedagogical Life of Edible Verge Gardens in Sydney: Urban Agriculture for the Urban Food Imaginary.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2018

Lessons for Chinese mega-mall development : a case study of the South China Mall

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-93).China is embracing mega-mall development: Seven out of the ten largest shopping malls in the world will have been located in China by the year 2010. All the completed mega-malls are now suffering from high vacancy rates and therefore experiencing enormous economic losses. To avoid the failure of future mega-mall projects, it is important to establish rigorous guidelines for design, leasing, financing, and management of Chinese mega-malls. However, research in this field has not yet been conducted. This paper will analyze five problematic issues of the South China Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world, and describe a dynamic process involving governments, developers, and banks behind the failure of the Mall. The paper will also provide strategic suggestions on the development and management of the Mall. Given its dimensions and aspirations, the South China Mall is a mirror of contemporary Chinese mega-mall development. It is hoped that lessons from the South China Mall can be applied to other Chinese mega-malls currently experiencing economic stagnancy.by Lu Ai.S.M

Towards an understanding of Amayeza esiXhosa stores (African chemists): how they operate, and the services they offer in the Eastern Cape

In medical anthropology there has been a tendency to dichotomize western biomedical . healtb services, on the one hand, and traditional health care practices on the other. Much attention has been focused on the comparison between these two approaches in the hope that they might be reconciled. The problem with this approach is twofold. In the first place, it has not always acknowledged the local, historic~1, political and economic contexts in which different approaches to health care have evolved and in the second place, health care services which belong to neither the western nor traditional healing spheres and which are driven by commercial interests have been almost completely neglected because they fall outside of the basic dichotomy. Amayeza stores have been a feature of South African towns and cities for many years. They mayor may not be run by Africans, but their clientele is almost exclusively African in this region. They deal in a bewildering variety of products and remedies, from untreated herbal and animal products to pharmaceuticals specially prepared for the African market, to Dutch and Indian Remedies. These stores both reflect transfonnations in indigenous perceptions of health care and, by virtue of the choices they offer, generate change. In this empirical study three stores in the Eastern Cape are selected for detailed study - two in King William's Town, the regional capital, and one in the small town of Peddie. The approach is holistic, emphasizing the social, political and economic context, the business histories and running of each shop, and, in particular, the perceptions and choices of a sample of the customers in each case. The success of the amayeza phenomenon derives from its eclecticism and syncretism. These stores impose neither a western nor a traditional model of health care on their clients, but offer them a range of choices that reflects the complex multicultural history of their own South African society

March 2005

Managing 14 Inland Empire People 18 Executive Time Out ....19 Marketing 21 Sales 22 Negotiation 23 Entrepreneurship 26 Financial Institutions 29 New Business in County of San Bernardino .36 New Business In County of Riverside 37 Business in the Desert 38 Lists: The Top HMOs 17 Corporate Housing 39 Residential Real Estate Brokers 45 The Top PPOs 47 Manager\u27s Bookshelf 40 Real Estate Notes 43 Calendar 44 Restaurant Review 4

AN APPROACH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER BASED BEST PRACTICE DELIVERY MECHANISMS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

Changes in the competitive environment have strongly influenced manufacturing companies to adopt and develop best practice. Best practice is usually imported into companies using the services of consultancy organisations. The use of consultancy services does not guarantee success however, and inadequate results have been obtained by practitioners who have engaged in client-consultant relationships. The inadequacy of these results may be explained by the installation of pre-defined solutions by consultants as opposed to the adaptation and implementation of solutions to meet the specific requirements of practitioners. Tills may in part be explained by a lack of understanding of 'best practice'. Tills work presented in this thesis investigated the feasibility of computer based mechanisms for intervention in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for the delivery of best practice. The research was undertaken using a prototyping approach. Three prototype computer based tools (CBTs) were developed by the author and tested by practitioners. The prototypes were designed based on a set of objectives and a framework of features which was developed. These frameworks were constructed from a synthesis of the research findings which included a study of best practice, the identification of characteristics of types of intervention, the identification of SME characteristics, and inhibitors of change in SMEs. The research has indicated that an approach using computer based tools is appropriate for intervention in SMEs and for adapting best practice to meet specific requirements. A structured project management approach is required with identifiable goals and benefits. An exploratory learning environment should be used to deliver complex best practice concepts and to support the goal oriented approach. Tools and techniques provided by the CBT enable the achievement of methodological tasks and facilitate experimentation and learning. The approach should not prescribe solutions, but should provide information through computer generated analyses to support decision making. The research suggests that the proposed approach may support a workbook based methodology, or may encapsulate a process methodology. The originality of this work is in the provision of a definition of best practice, an explanation of the deficiencies of existing mechanisms for the transfer of best practice to SMEs, and the specification of the features required by a new computer-based approach. Tills provides new knowledge for the field of production and operations management

Consumer perceptions of large retail stores in Japan

This thesis considers consumer perceptions of large stores in Japan. A lack of published English language research concerned with consumer behaviour in Japan was noted, despite strong and growing interest in the Japanese consumer market. Japanese distribution is reviewed as the background to an empirical study of store perceptions in Japan. This review considered Japanese wholesale and retail structures in detail in order to provide information necessary to understand the situation of large retail stores in Japan. The possibility of substantial store 'loyalty' in Japan was considered on the basis of an observed hierarchical structure to store preferences. A review of the literature pertaining to consumer 'loyalty' revealed that genuinely 'loyal' behaviour is likely to be rare. Consumepr reference was considered, and the development of hierarchical preference was identified. - An empirical study was carried out over a one year period in Japan. The study involved a two part survey employing repertory grid interviews and a questionnaire survey. Four regional cities and five consumer types were employed for the survey. This approach proved successful in collecting a large volume of detailed data. The use of repertory grid as a technique for data collection was considered in the light of its use with Japanese consumers in the Japanese language. It was concluded that Japanese consumers have clear and detailed perceptions of the large stores available for their use. Some differences were identified between consumer types and different geographical locations in Japan

Knowledge Capturing in Design Briefing Process for Requirement Elicitation and Validation

Knowledge capturing and reusing are major processes of knowledge management that deal with the elicitation of valuable knowledge via some techniques and methods for use in actual and further studies, projects, services, or products. The construction industry, as well, adopts and uses some of these concepts to improve various construction processes and stages. From pre-design to building delivery knowledge management principles and briefing frameworks have been implemented across project stakeholders: client, design teams, construction teams, consultants, and facility management teams. At pre-design and design stages, understanding the client’s needs and users’ knowledge are crucial for identifying and articulating the expected requirements and objectives. Due to underperforming results and missed goals and objectives, many projects finish with highly dissatisfied clients and loss of contracts for some organizations. Knowledge capturing has beneficial effects via its principles and methods on requirement elicitation and validation at the briefing stage between user, client and designer. This paper presents the importance and usage of knowledge capturing and reusing in briefing process at pre-design and design stages especially the involvement of client and user, and explores the techniques and technologies that are usable in briefing process for requirement elicitation