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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which US consumers, known for their \"green\" skepticism, are more (less) likely to respond favorably to a firm's environmental initiative in today's marketplace.Design methodology approach - The research paper investigates whether the general positive impact derived from the implementation of societal initiatives found by other researchers carries over when specific environmental initiatives are put into operation. The authors test hypotheses related to consumer responses to information about a firm's environmental initiative with varied salience of its public- and self-serving motives. Next, they test how consumer responses are affected by the level of perceived sincerity associated with a firm's environmental initiative. The role of brand commitment is also examined across both studies.Findings - The results reveal that consumers use a rather skeptical approach when interpreting a firm's environmental initiative and that these responses vary based on the level of brand commitment, as well as how the initiative is presented to them.Research limitations implications - The generalizability of results is currently limited to a particular brand with strong brand equity, large market share, and highly experiential service (Starbucks).Practical implications - The authors provide insights into what marketers and policy makers should consider in the development of environmental initiatives, in order to increase the likelihood of positive consumer responses.Originality value - The present research contributes to the development (and application) of more accurate models of consumer responses to a firm's environmental initiative.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between sales effectiveness and small firm performance in a time when a proliferation of technological innovations are available for use by salespeople. One such innovation, CRM systems, will be focused on in this study. A multi-item construct of sales effectiveness was linked to three non-financial performance measures. Over sixty sales representatives were surveyed and the regression analysis was used to examine the data. The results suggested that different sales effectiveness variables-resource management, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, general attitude toward technology and comfort level are significantly and positively associated with small firm performance. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

A task specification chart (TSC) that integrates the content facets and the procedural steps of a specified task is suggested as a tool for designing a test and for interpreting its results. An instructional unit for adding and subtracting fractions was used to demonstrate the design and application of the TSC. To evaluate its efficacy, a test based on the TSC was administered to two independent samples. Accounts of the variance of item difficulty indices and errors in students' responses were used as the criteria for this evaluation. The results indicated that a very high percentage of variance in item difficulty indices was accounted for by item characteristics representing different task components. The typology of errors constructed on the basis of the TSC proved to be an efficient tool for identifying erroneous rules of operation underlying students' response patterns on the test.

This study empirically develops and tests the concept of IT-based market-driven strategies. A goal was to gain insights into the role of IT resources in the development of key market capabilities, as well as the linkage between IT-based market capabilities and small-firm performance. Three hundred thirty-eight small business owners or managers were surveyed to obtain data pertaining to characteristics of their respective firm's IT resource platform, IT-based marketing capabilities, and business performance. Hence, a three-phased analytical approach (involving a clustering technique, discriminant analysis, and ANOVA) was utilized to assess: (1) the impact of IT resources and management activities on the perceived level of IT-based market capabilities, and (2) the relationship between the perceived level of IT-based market capabilities and small-firm performance. Overall, an examination of the results provided strong support for the use of IT-based market capabilities by small firms. First, the level of IT resource sophistication was found to be significantly related to the extent of market-capability building. Also, the level of IT resource management activity was found to be significantly related to the perceived strength of IT-based market capabilities. Finally, the perceived strength of IT-based market capabilities was found to be strongly related to small-firm performance.

I MUST agree with David Sutcliffe's letter regarding the siting of the new police station at Bangor.

In order to study the effectiveness of computerized misconception-specific remediation, students were given an adaptive test that diagnosed borrowing error patterns in fraction subtraction. All subjects then randomly received one of three treatments: either of two types of computerized borrowing-specific remediation, or no treatment at all. The two remediation programs were a concept-based dialogue and a practice lesson on a series of borrowing items with knowledge of results, correct answers provided. This study is based on two assertions. First, characteristics of the student must be the starting point for individualizing instruction. Both the diagnosis and the remediation were administered by a computer. It was found that a brief interactive dialogue was capable of increasing the scores of students who were diagnosed as having the misconception. The instruction was not as worthwhile for students whose needs were different. That the computer could recognize the problem area was most significant. Teachers have always been able to group students who need the same sort of help, but the efficiency of turning such tasks over to a computer is a significant improvement. Second, the characteristics of the remediation are also important. Students need some communication concerning the concepts with which they are having trouble. It is not necessary to train them in procedures or to provide extensive drill. Socratic type dialogue leads them to correct their own misconceptions. Practice with correct answers provides in the case of errors does not lead students to discover the correct rule. If sufficient knowledge could be learned about all students and the different concepts could be tutored as necessary, much more successful computer assisted instruction should be possible.

I WAS watching Tonight With Trevor McDonald on Monday, on the quality of food served to the elderly.