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Increasing competitive pressure in all business sectors (e.g. private, public SME) is reflected in the continuing quest for business improvement philosophies and methodologies to address this challenge. Recent developments have included increased organisational and academic interest in the six sigma approach to business improvement. There are many organisational examples (mainly USA and UK based) of large scale improvements in defect and process measures attributed to this approach. However, there is a paucity of critical studies on six sigma beyond that of \"how to\" and that of descriptive accounts, with a focus on measures and results rather than employee involvement and motivation. The aim of this paper is to explore the development of six sigma in a multilevel case analysis, from both a process perspective and a people perspective. The findings show that the case organisation had to widen its conception and application of six sigma to include people and organisational criteria to enable the approach to become embedded in the organisation.

High-resolution Chirp sub-bottom profiler and side-scan sonar data record the final phases of ice margin activity in the Lower Lough Erne basin at the end of the last cycle of Quaternary glaciations in Ireland. Relative to the terrestrial glacial landforms the features in the Lough are smaller in scale and are considered to represent local ice mass dynamics that followed regional-scale events. Four phases are identified. (1) After the last ice sheet-wide readvance associated with the Killard Point Stadial (between 15.0 and 14.1 14C ka bp), stagnation zone retreat resulted in isolation of a residual ice block in the Lower Lough Erne basin. (2) Proglacial waters developed coeval with retreat of the western margin of the ice block. Drawdown induced localized surging and the generation of push features and lineations. (3) Squeeze-up features, reflecting a heavily crevassed ice margin, mark the quiescent phase of the local surge cycle. (4) Iceberg grounding pits and keel marks record calving and rapid disintegration of the Lough Erne ice margin. The well-preserved glacigenic features observed in the lake basin suggest formation by a succession of mechanisms that were too short lived to obliterate the underlying evidence of ice margin dynamics.

The purpose of the present study was to test four hypotheses regarding the effects of viewing Web sites on Internet advertising. We surveyed a convenience sample of 329 undergraduate students, asking them to recall brand names seen on the Internet, to describe perceived advantages and disadvantages of online advertising, and to recall ads encountered in all media and whether they liked these or not. Visiting Web sites appeared to increase aided recall of brands seen on the Internet and to improve consumers' views of the brand. Consumers who felt that Web sites improved their perceptions of brands saw more advantages in Web advertising, but they perceived more disadvantages as well. Finally, the consumers appeared to like TV and magazine ads more than the ads they recalled seeing on the Internet. The findings present a complex picture of Internet advertising that should be useful to online advertisers.

Corporate credibility forms part of the overall reputation of a company. It describes how consumers evaluate the company's honesty and expertise. Along with endorser credibility, it is another type of source credibility that can influence consumer reactions to a company's advertisements and shape their brand attitudes. In this paper, we examine these two sources of credibility and assess their relative impact on three sets of consumer perceptions -- their 'attitude-toward-the-ad,' 'attitude-toward-the-brand,' and 'purchase intentions.' The results of two experimental studies indicate that both corporate credibility and endorser credibility had significant impacts on attitude-toward-the-ad, attitude-toward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. However, while corporate credibility had a greater effect on attitude-toward-the-brand, endorser credibility seemed to have a stronger influence on attitude-toward-the-ad. Overall, the findings confirm that corporate credibility plays a key role in influencing consumer reactions to advertisements and brands.

Partnering charitable causes with brands has become a common practice for many marketing programs; it is referred to strategically as cause‐related marketing. Although there is the perception that both partners benefit from the alliance, research has focused primarily on the benefits to the brand. Using Attitude Accessibility, Congruity, and Information Integration Theories, this study empirically tests a model to evaluate the impact of cause–brand alliances on subsequent attitudes toward both partners. The results of the study (n = 463) support the assumption that attitudes toward both the cause and the brand can be enhanced as a consequence of an alliance if perceptions of the alliance are favorable. Furthermore, the cause appears to benefit from the alliance to a greater extent than the brand. The study supports the notions that the fit between partners plays a pivotal role in consumer acceptance of the alliance as plausible and that familiarity with the cause moderates the effectiveness of the alliance. These results represent a necessary step in developing a theoretical model to explain the effects of a cause–brand alliance on both partners. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Advertisers frequently use endorsers or spokespersons as credible sources to influence consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions. Corporate credibility-the reputation of a company for honesty and expertise-is another type of source credibility that can influence consumer reactions to ads and shape brand attitudes. The present study assessed the impact of endorser and corporate credibility on attitude-toward-the-ad, attitudetoward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. We surveyed 152 adult consumers who viewed a fictitious ad for Mobil Oil company. They rated the credibility of the ad's endorser, the credibility of the company, and attitude-toward-the-ad, attitude-toward-the-brand, and purchase intentions. Path analysis confirmed that endorser credibility had its strongest impact on Aad while corporate credibility had its strongest impact on AB. The findings suggest that corporate credibility plays an important role in consumers' reactions to advertisements and brands, independent of the equally important role of endorser credibility.

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's long and deep immersion in Ohio education policy, particularly in the charter-school realm, includes a half decade of direct experience as \"authorizer\" of several charters. Initially, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) was chief authorizer of charter schools in the Buckeye State. After the state auditor released a scathing review of ODE's handling of its role, the legislature \"fired\" the agency and in early 2003 invited a host of other entities to undertake the challenges of school sponsorship. Along with state universities, and district and county school systems, the list of potential authorizers included nonprofit organizations that met certain criteria. If too few new authorizers were willing to step up to the plate, however, the legislature's move would orphan more than 100 extant charter schools, forcing them to close. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation had long been active on the Ohio charter scene as critic, policy analyst, facilitator of new schools, and source of assistance (both financial and technical) to promising charter operators. After fruitlessly seeking new sponsors to take on the potential \"orphans\"--eligible organizations feared the political, financial, and legal-liability risks--and after much internal soul-searching and debate, Fordham decided in 2004 to apply to become a school authorizer and by June 2005 was occupying that hot seat. In this article, the authors recount and draw lessons from that experience. (Contains 1 figure.)

If health care reform is implemented in states and nationally, the safety of this process needs to be examined for persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Reform should assure ongoing prevention and transmission control of HIV and continuous coverage of medical costs for persons ill with HIV or AIDS. These persons currently benefit from various state and federal categoric programs designed to assure access to preventive and personal care services. Washington State has passed health care reform legislation that envisions integrating these programs to provide a system of population-based and personal health care. This legislation was analyzed using existing epidemiologic and entitlement information about persons with HIV infection or AIDS in the state to assess its effect. The relationship between public health and personal care services will be a central concern for those with HIV infection or AIDS, and complete coverage of this group may be achieved relatively late in the process of implementing health care reform. Health personnel planning under health care reform will affect the delivery of HIV- and AIDS-related services. Including treatment of AIDS in the basic benefit package merits particular attention. These issues parallel those being faced by the nation as a whole as it seeks to ensure epidemic disease control and compassionate care for long-term disabling illness if health care reform is implemented. Images

[...]60 percent of Ohio's charter schools were rated in Academic Emergency, 11 percent in Academic Watch, 18 percent in Continuous Improvement, and just 11 percent Effective or Excellent.) Troubled Schools The Moraine Community School had struggled since opening in 2002, but surely it was worth trying to rehabilitate. According to our contract, the school would show * adequate academic gains from autumn 2005 to spring 2006, as measured on a national norm-referenced test * market demand by enrolling at least 225 students by April 2006 * compliance with all special-education requirements by October 2005 * implementation of a viable curriculum by February 2006.