Retailers' press release activity: market signals for stakeholder engagement?

PURPOSE – To increase understanding of the role, content and effectiveness of press releases. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – Qualitative and quantitative analyses of UK supermarkets' press releases in 2001/2002, a medium previously little researched in marketing, are undertaken. FINDINGS – Supermarkets seek stakeholder engagement on diverse issues with different mixes of groups. Treating releases as market signals demonstrates the important role of the press as filters and interpreters. Intended messages frequently fail to reach target audiences, and when they do can be significantly reinterpreted, so that positive claims are reported critically and negatively. Larger chains apparently produce more releases and gain more newspaper coverage, but generally volume of releases does not improve likelihood of press coverage. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS – The nature of qualitative data, the limited time frame, and possible omissions from source archives. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS – As level of coverage varied independently of turnover, higher release activity of larger chains was questioned. Seeking differentiation through press releases becomes problematic with the press as filters. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – This paper increases knowledge of press releases as market communications, and contributes to the literature of market signalling, notably emphasising the press as important signal intermediaries

Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland: Interim Report

The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement of 1998 provides for the possibility of future referendums on the question of whether Northern Ireland should remain in the United Kingdom or become part of a united Ireland. It sets out some of the principles that such votes would need to follow, but it leaves many aspects of the process unclear or unspecified. How would the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland decide whether to call a referendum? Would a vote also be needed in the Republic of Ireland? Would referendums north and south need to be simultaneous? Would they best take place before or after detailed proposals for the form of a united Ireland had been worked out? Who should be able to vote? What should the question on the ballot paper be? How would the referendum campaigns be conducted? This interim report explores possible answers to these and other questions, and sets out the provisional conclusions of the Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland. The Working Group has no collective view on whether such referendums should take place or what the outcome should be if a vote is called. The Group does not see referendums on this subject as imminent. But they could happen in the future. And thinking through in advance what that would involve is vitally important

Drivers and technology-related obstacles in moving to multichannel retailing

Today, multichannel retailing is a key strategic issue for most retailers. Yet, while there are many drivers associated with retailers going multichannel so too are there technology-related obstacles, however, few prior empirical studies explore these themes. In light of this, by using a multi-case approach to understand the key drivers and technology-related obstacles associated with retailers moving to multichannel retailing our study makes two key contributions. First, we extend prior theory by providing novel empirical insights into the main drivers underpinning retailers using a multichannel strategy. We find that meeting customer needs and increasing sales were the primary drivers behind retailers using the strategy, although there is diversity in the way retailers respond to these motives. Second, we provide empirical support for a proposed theoretical framework which summarises the key technology-related obstacles retailers encounter when going multichannel, by stage of implementation. The framework reveals that retailers face technology-related obstacles when implementing a multichannel strategy due to the need to switch/acquire resources and achieve channel integration. Furthermore, the framework highlights that these resource and channel integration issues are often interrelated with each other and with other staff engagement and cultural issues, vary by retailer and stage of implementation, and pose greater obstacles to retailers using new and multiple channels than the extant literature suggests

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Managing decline in inner city retail centres: From case study to conceptualization

This article focuses around a study of declining shopping provision in Hyson Green, a deprived area of inner Nottingham, since 1973. It starts by reviewing issues surrounding inner city retail decline that prompt policy concerns, including aspects of health and diet, local economy, environmental impacts, urban structure and social considerations. Hyson Green has undergone major upheavals since the 1960s including construction and subsequent demolition of extensive local authority housing, the development of a superstore, and construction of a tram route. Mainstream retail outlets declined from 138 in 1977 to just 48 units. However, recent policies enabling conversions to community and residential uses have stemmed the growth of vacant units, particularly at the extremities. Berry's conceptualization of commercial blight, derived in Chicago in the 1960s, provides a framework for understanding policies addressing shopping decline both in the case study and potentially more generally in similar areas of shopping contraction.inner city, Nottingham, regeneration, retail blight, retail decline