SMEs in Focus : Exploring the experience of micro, small and medium enterprise owners in Malta

Report commissioned by the Ministry for Fair Competition, Small Business and Consumers in 2011. In-depth qualitative interviews were carried out on a purposive sample of business owners (n=31) to explore the relational dynamics at the root of doing business. Analysis focuses on two key intersections across macro/micro dimensions: the interface between the State and the Individual; and also that between the Market and the Individual enterprise. Key themes: Entrepreneurial motivation; Process of Process of ‘Rationalisation’ and ‘Regulation’; Enterprise owners’ perceived burdens/assets; Influence of family and gender; Collaboration and CompetitionMinistry for Fair Competition, Small Business and Consumerspeer-reviewe

Community building and virtual teamwork in an online learning environment

In the world of OTIS, an online Internet School for occupational therapists, students from four European countries were encouraged to work collaboratively through problem based learning by interacting with each other in a virtual semi-immersive environment. This paper aims to explore the issues that there was little interaction between students from different tutorial groups and virtual teamwork developed in each of the cross cultural tutorial groups. Synchronous data from European students was captured during tutorial sessions and peer booked meetings and evidence suggests that communities of interest were established. It is possible to conclude that collaborative systems can be designed, which encourage students to build trust and teamwork in a cross cultural online learning environment. </p

The Importance Of Marketing Segmentation

The rationale behind marketing segmentation is to allow businesses to focus on their consumers’ behaviors and purchasing patterns.  If done effectively, marketing segmentation allows an organization to achieve its highest return on investment (ROI) in turn for its marketing and sales expenses.  If an organization markets its products or services to a consumer or business, it should focus on the various types of segmentation.  Kotler (2010) describes segmentation as the classification of consumers within a market that share related needs and establish related purchasing behavioral habits

Exploring help seeking behaviour in health : are gender binaries useful?

While positivistic research uses male/female, sex or gender as the independent variable to highlight its associations with health experience, qualitative research shows that binary notions of male/ female sex and gender are sometimes insufficient markers of lived reality. This article aims to highlight gendered aspects of the consultative relations that have been shown to have an impact on subsequent medical care provision. It outlines the dynamics within consumer/medical professional relations that are impacted by gender stereotype associations using cardiac symptoms as an example, and then goes on to problematize the binary concept of gender and its impact on health care provision.peer-reviewe

Shooting society : documenting contemporary life in Malta

Gillian M. Martin reviews "Shooting society: documenting contemporary life in Malta", edited by Carmel Borg and Raphael Vella, whose publication sets out to ‘document contemporary life in Malta’ by offering a photographic and textual compendium of contributions from a selection of 80 authors and photographers currently active in Maltese academia, journalism and literature. The short texts range from the purely academic to the overtly creative and each one is anchored onto a visual image - a ‘moment’ in the colourful kaleidoscope of social life in contemporary Malta.peer-reviewe

The Effects Of Cultural Diversity In The Workplace

Cultural diversity in the workplace has grown as a trend over the passage of time with the increase of globalization in the world. One positive effect is that employees belonging to different cultures usually have different ways of thinking and can thus analyze a matter at hand from a variety of perspectives. This is hard to achieve when employees belonging to the same culture are asked to analyze the same matter

The Interrelationships Of Innovation, Change, Originality, And Creativity

People often assume that innovation is synonymous with originality. However, a study reveals a difference between innovation and creativity in relation to how a person uses originality to create change. Creative people think of new phenomena; innovative people create new things. In today’s world, innovation is the focal point of every organization. In order to be successful in innovation, companies must constantly ask questions to capture the consumer’s point of view

The Importance Of Customer Equity And Branding: A Research Note

Customer equity is based on the assumption that a customer is a financial asset that needs proper management. The drivers of customer equity are relationship equity, value equity, and brand equity, which focus on the link between the customer and the firm, customer’s objective evaluation of the serviceableness of a brand, and a customer’s opinion about a brand, respectively. Customer equity mainly acts as a marketing system for organizations and companies. Customer equity allows calculation of a customer’s asset value, which helps companies make sound investment decisions and adjustments in marketing investment levels, among other benefits. Branding, on the other hand, focuses on the image of a business. The process of branding comprises market analysis, brand architecture, a big idea, marketing communications, employee involvement, and measurement. Through branding, companies are able to survive and remain competitive in dynamic markets and build a professional image. Strong branding also equalizes the value between small and big firms in the eyes of a customer, builds confidence in business owners and customers, and promotes consistency in business

Trivalent scandium, yttrium and lanthanide complexes with thia-oxa and selena-oxa macrocycles and crown ether coordination

Complexes of the oxa-thia macrocycles [18]aneO4S2, [15]aneO3S2 and the oxa-selena macrocycle [18]aneO4Se2 (L) of types [MCl2(L)]FeCl4 (M = Sc or Y) were prepared from [ScCl3(thf)3] or [YCl2(THF)5][YCl4(THF)2] and the ligand in anhydrous MeCN, using FeCl3 as a chloride abstractor. The [MI2(L)]I, [LaI3(L)] and [LuI2(L)]I have been prepared from the ligands and the appropriate anhydrous metal triiodide in MeCN. Complexes of type [LaI3(crown)] and [LuI2(crown)]I (crown = 18-crown-6, 15-crown-5) were made for comparison. Use of the metal iodide results in complexes with high solubility compared to the corresponding chlorides, although also with increased sensitivity to moisture. All complexes were characterised by microanalysis, IR, (1)H, (45)Sc and (77)Se NMR spectroscopy as appropriate. X-ray crystal structures are reported for [ScCl2([18]aneO4S2)][FeCl4], [ScI2([18]aneO4S2)]I, [YCl2(18-crown-6)]3[Y2Cl9], [YCl2([18]aneO4S2)][FeCl4], [LaI3(15-crown-5)], [LaI2(18-crown-6)(MeCN)]I, [LuI(18-crown-6)(MeCN)2]I2, [Lu(15-crown-5)(MeCN)2(OH2)]I3, [LaI3([18]aneO4S2)], [LaI([18]aneO4S2)(OH2)]I2, [LaI3([18]aneO4Se2)] and [LuI2([18]aneO4Se2)]I. In each complex all the neutral donor atoms of the macrocycles are coordinated to the metal centre, showing very rare examples of these oxophilic metal centres coordinated to thioether groups, and the first examples of coordinated selenoether donors. In some cases MeCN or adventitious water displaces halide ligands, but not the S/Se donors from La or Lu complexes. A complex of the oxa-tellura macrocycle [18]aneO4Te2, [ScCl2([18]aneO4Te2)][FeCl4] was isolated, but is unstable in MeCN solution, depositing elemental Te. YCl3 and 18-crown-6 produced [YCl2(18-crown-6)]3[Y2Cl9], the asymmetric unit of which contains two cations with a trans-YCl2 arrangement and a third with a cis-YCl2 group

Dwarna : a blockchain solution for dynamic consent in biobanking

Dynamic consent aims to empower research partners and facilitate active participation in the research process. Used within the context of biobanking, it gives individuals access to information and control to determine how and where their biospecimens and data should be used. We present Dwarna—a web portal for ‘dynamic consent’ that acts as a hub connecting the different stakeholders of the Malta Biobank: biobank managers, researchers, research partners, and the general public. The portal stores research partners’ consent in a blockchain to create an immutable audit trail of research partners’ consent changes. Dwarna’s structure also presents a solution to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation’s right to erasure—a right that is seemingly incompatible with the blockchain model. Dwarna’s transparent structure increases trustworthiness in the biobanking process by giving research partners more control over which research studies they participate in, by facilitating the withdrawal of consent and by making it possible to request that the biospecimen and associated data are destroyed.peer-reviewe