Employers' policies for third age employment – the case for action and the rational for reaction

This paper reports on findings from a study which explores employers’ perceptions of the careers of those in third age employment and the extent to which these organisations have in place policies and practices to manage older worker careers. Drawing on interviews with UK HR managers and advisory bodies, the study finds that there was an absence of formal policies which addressed the career needs of older works despite employers being aware of the issue associated with an aging workforce. Instead employers responded to career related requests from older workers on an ad hoc basis as they felt that specific policies for this group of people would potentially create legal issues for the organisation. Employers also believed that the aged workforce had little impact on their business and as a result did not engage in collective dialogue with older workers about their requirements and instead made assumptions about their career needs

Arabic social and cultural influences on aberrant consumer behaviour: an exploratory study of Libyan marketers

This paper examines the effect of Arabic social and cultural factors on adopting aberrant consumer behaviour (ACB) in Libya. The data was collected by conducting personal interviews with 26 marketers in Libya. The findings indicate that the Arabic social and cultural environment enforces some limitations on ACB control and prevention practices. These limitations have provided an opportunity for some Libyan consumers to engage in ACB. However, this paper goes on to explore some unique alternative ACB controlling and preventative practices used by Libyan marketers which are considered socially acceptable

An exploratory investigation of aberrant consumer behaviour in Libya: a sociocultural approach

Studies concerning aberrant consumer behaviour (ACB) are dominated by research conducted in the West. By examining the impact social and cultural factors have on the management and understanding of ACB in Libya, a Muslim country, this paper extends knowledge by exploring this issue in a different setting. Materials were collected by conducting in-depth interviews with 26 sellers in Libya and ACB was explored in three different contexts: grocery stores, computer stores and hotels. The study finds that the sellers use alternative marketplace behaviours to manage ACB to that described in the literature, namely informal, community based approaches which reflect accepted societal and cultural norms. Furthermore, the study finds that not all activities reported to be ACB in the literature are perceived to be misbehaviour by the Libyan sellers

Does software piracy always represent consumer misbehaviour?

This study aims to explore whether or not software piracy is perceived as consumer misbehaviour in Libya. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used; data were collected by interviewing 10 marketers and through a questionnaire surveying 219 Libyan consumers. The study found that almost all of the software in the Libyan market is copied in ways that would be considered illegal in Western societies but the marketers interviewed did not consider this as misbehaviour. Instead, some of them were actively encouraging consumers to adopt this pattern of behaviour. Also, nearly half (49.4%) of the sample had positive attitudes toward software piracy and 43% had an intention to conduct this behaviour. Furthermore, only 34% of consumers thought that software piracy is illegal, despite laws existing that protect intellectual property rights

Closed but provocative questions: curves enclosing unit area

This article describes a task leading to work on curve sketching, simultaneous equations and integration to find the area enclosed between two curves. An initial closed question is used to confront students with a provocative answer, which they then explore in a much more open-ended way

Attitudes towards shoplifting: a preliminary cross-cultural study of consumers

Shoplifting has a substantial impact on retailers, consumers and wider society, yet we know very little about people‟s attitudes towards this behaviour, especially from a non-Western perspective. A better understanding of consumer misbehaviour in Arabic countries would therefore be of particular interest as such societies represent a new market for global retailers. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore the initial results of consumers‟ attitudes towards shoplifting from a cross-cultural perspective. Preliminary analysis of 529 questionnaire responses from UK, US and Libyan consumers finds that attitudes towards shoplifting are broadly similar despite the different cultural and retail contexts. However, on closer inspection these findings suggest interesting disparities between the countries in relation to attitudes towards the consequences of shoplifting, the impact it has on the social networks of the perpetrator and whether the demographics of the shoplifter play a role in the decision to punish the offender

State-variable modelling of CLL resonant converters

The paper presents the derivation and application of state-variable models to high-order topologies of resonant converters. In particular, a 3rd order CLL resonant circuit is considered with bridge rectification and both a capacitive output filter (voltage output), and an LC output filter (current output). The state-variable model accuracy is verified against component-based simulation packages (Spice) and practical measurements, and it is shown that the resulting models facilitate rapid analysis compared to their integration-based counterparts (Spice, Saber), without the loss of accuracy normally associated with fundamental mode approximation (FMA) techniques. Moreover, unlike FMA, the models correctly predict the resonant peaks associated with harmonic excitation of the tank resonance. Subsequently, it is shown that excitation of the resonant tank by odd harmonics of the input voltage can be utilised to provide overcurrent protection in the event of an output short-circuit. Further, through judicious control of operating frequency, it is shown that 'inductive' zero voltage switching (ZVS) can still be obtained, facilitating reductions in gate-drive switching losses, thereby improving efficiency and thermal management of the supply under fault conditions. Although the results are ultimately generic to other converter counterparts, measured results from two prototype 36 V input, 11-14.4V output, 3rd - order CLL converters are included to practically demonstrate the attributes of the proposed analysis and control schemes

Universality of collapsing two-dimensional self-avoiding trails

Results of a numerically exact transfer matrix calculation for the model of Interacting Self-Avoiding Trails are presented. The results lead to the conclusion that, at the collapse transition, Self-Avoiding Trails are in the same universality class as the O(n=0) model of Blote and Nienhuis (or vertex-interacting self-avoiding walk), which has thermal exponent $\nu=12/23$, contrary to previous conjectures.Comment: Final version, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics A; 9 pages; 3 figure

Clonal mixing in the soldier-producing aphid <i>Pemphigus spyrothecae</i> (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Illuminating the genetic relationships within soldier-producing aphid colonies is an essential element of any attempt to explain the evolution of the altruistic soldier caste. Pemphigus spyrothecae is a soldier-producing aphid that induces galls on the leaf petioles of its host (trees of the genus Populus). At least a quarter of the aphids within the clonally produced gall population are morphologically and behaviourally distinct first-instar soldiers that defend the gall population from predation. Using field trapping and microsatellites, we investigated the degree of clonal mixing within natural gall populations. Field trapping in the UK showed that all the migrants of P. spyrothecae and of two other Pemphigus species were wingless first-instar soldiers. The average degree of mixing estimated from trapping P. spyrothecae migrants was 0.68% (range = 0–15%). Microsatellite genotyping of 277 aphids from 13 galls collected in Italy revealed an average mixing level of 10.4% (range = 0–59%). Six galls contained more than one clone (range = 2–5 clones). Non-kin aphids were not restricted to the soldier caste but were evenly distributed across instars. An additional gall, from which 527 occupants were genotyped, contained 12 non-kin aphids distributed among nine clones, showing that clonal diversity can be high even when mixing is very low. These observations suggest that although soldiers migrate regularly and can moult and reproduce within foreign galls, clonal mixing in this species is generally low and is unlikely to provide a barrier to the evolution of investment by the aphid clones in an altruistic soldier caste