Trust is the new black

Trust is at the heart of ongoing relationships amongst people, but also with brands and companies. It has become a hot topic (Connelly, 2017, Huffington, 2015), particularly given the increasing media coverage of breakdowns in customer trust in well-known companies such as VW, Tesco, BP and Google. But away from these headlines is a stronger, more underlying trend. A move from transactions to longer term customer relationships. The risk of undermining that relationship through not being transparent, not being fair, not having reliable products and services is exacerbated as our world becomes increasingly technology focused. Relationships with suppliers we don’t know are built through trusted on-line third parties. Information about products and services we are unfamiliar with is increasingly sought from others, on-line, and subsequent feedback on customer experiences shared quickly and widely. Where companies are not transparent, the exponential growth in speed and breadth of news spreading makes them vulnerable. It is impossible to hide. However, to assess our own approach to corporate and brand trust, it helps to go back to the key academic theories to discover the concepts that underpin our understanding of trust, the factors that build trust and the outputs that emerge. In addition, we need to understand our performance on trust in the light of data from an industry and global context but also to support the business case for ensuring it remains a business priority. Examining a few of the high-profile failures in trust also helps us identify the range of areas where trust can be undermined. They provide pieces of a jigsaw that, when seen together, help us understand a broader picture of trust to inform our approach with our businesses and our customers now and in the future

Circular 45

This circular provides guidance on fertilizing native hay meadows of bluejoint reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis) on the lower Kenai Peninsula. It is based on a num ber o f experim ental trials conducted by the authors on Kachemak silt loam soil at various sites near Homer

Quarry fines minimisation : can we really have 10mm aggregate with no fines?

In 2005, 216 million tonnes of saleable aggregate was produced in the UK; a corresponding 55 million tonnes of quarry fines and 24 million tonnes of quarry waste were also produced. The need to minimise fines production is driven by the Aggregates Levy (which has priced quarry fines out of the market in favour of recycled aggregate) and the Landfill Tax (which has made it expensive to dispose of fines). Attempts to reduce fines production often start with a process optimisation audit; the case study presented illustrates how fines production can be reduced, in this instance by up to 30%. Application of good practice in the crushing plant also helps to reduce fines production, including: reducing the crushing ratio to 6:1 or lower; maintaining uniform feed distribution; choke feeding (for compression crushers); reducing the speed of impact crushers; and reducing the degree of recirculation by increased screening efficiency. Future developments are likely to be driven by the need to respond to climate change. New crusher designs will be more automated, offer improved energy efficiency, have a greater production capacity and improved reliability

An Off-lattice Model for Br Electrodeposition on Au(100): from DFT to Experiment

Since Br adsorption on Au(100) displays an incommensurate ordered phase, a lattice-gas treatment of the adlayer configurations is not reliable. We therefore use density functional theory slab calculations to determine the parameters necessary for the construction of an off-lattice model. We compute and analyze the total energy and electron density as the lateral Br position and coverage are varied. This allows the calculation of the corrugation potential, the short-range lateral interactions, the dipole moment (long-range interactions), and the residence charge. From these parameters, we construct an off-lattice model with no freely adjustable parameters. The simulation results compare remarkably well with experimental results.Comment: 42 pages, 15 embedded figures, submitted to Surface Scienc

Computational modeling of microstructure

Many materials such as martensitic or ferromagnetic crystals are observed to be in metastable states exhibiting a fine-scale, structured spatial oscillation called microstructure; and hysteresis is observed as the temperature, boundary forces, or external magnetic field changes. We have developed a numerical analysis of microstructure and used this theory to construct numerical methods that have been used to compute approximations to the deformation of crystals with microstructure

Collaborative relationships in practice: Possibilities and challenges

The following three papers examine what collaboration is happening in New Zealand’s early childhood education services currently, and provide exemplars of collaboration in three key areas: with parents and whänau; with Mäori, iwi and marae; and with local Pacific and other ethnic communities. We emphasise some differences in needs and priorities for different service types, and challenges for each. Finally, we discuss the extent to which government and umbrella group systems and policies support early childhood education services to create collaborative relationships. These papers draw from the findings of four recent research projects: An Evaluation of the Initial Uses and Impact of Equity Funding; Quality in Parent/Whänau-led Services; phase 1 of a Locality-based Evaluation of Pathways to the Future – Ngä Huarahi Arataki; and NZCER’s national survey of early childhood education services carried out in late 2003 and early 2004

“Failure is Not Acceptable”: The Recollections of a Canadian in French Foreign Legion

I remember the day very well, a cold Tuesday in January 1989, and Pearson International Airport was bustling with travellers. I was amongst them, an inconspicuous 18-year-old middle-class Canadian boarding the plane as if it was a frequent occurrence. A seven-day vacation in France, that was the plan. I often wonder if I had known then what I do now—would I have boarded that plane? The trip lasted five years and it was no vacation, for within 24 hours of boarding the plane, I had become a member of the infamous French Foreign Legion. Life would never be the same again

Mutual Funds of Irwin Consulting Planning in Singapore and Tokyo, Japan

Mutual funds are common investments because they provide a cost-effective and effective means to vary your investments (or possess an assortment of securities -- stocks, bonds, etc.) without having to make a huge starting investment