Seventeen go to post at 2.40 tomorrow for the Hennessy Gold Cup. Paul Nicholls' Big Buck's is pretty short in the market given that no five year old has previously won the race. Two horses perceived to be 'well in' are at opposite ends of the handicap; Island Flyer scrapes in with ten stones but is due a hike in the weights while last week's Betfair Chase winner Snoopy Loopy carries top weight here but will be further penalised in the future. This may come a little too quick for Snoopy Loopy and the stable's other entry, Always Waining, makes more appeal as a potential each-way wager. Albertas Run beat Air Force One convincingly in last season's Sun Alliance Chase but that fact isn't reflected in the betting for tomorrow's event, mainly because Air Force One ran a very good trial for this at Ascot four weeks ago while Albertas Run was rather disappointing on heavy ground at Carlisle; further rain wouldn't suit either runner. I'm drawn to those at the bottom of the handicap and in a competitive event I'm going to side with Character Building who was third in this last year; he has been off the track after sustaining an injury but appears to have come back in fine form winning a hurdle race at Towcester. The each-way off-the-wall longshot is Always Waining who won a listed chase at Market Rasen with something in hand two months ago and was eighth in this last year. Going through his form he appeared mightily inconsistent throughout last season but if he's on song he could go well and in any case shouldn't be 40/1.
The best race on the card is the Long Distance Hurdle at 2.05. World Hurdle winner Inglis Drever makes his seasonal reappearance, as does Blazing Bailey. Both these are some way ahead of their rivals on ratings but I really like the unbeaten Pettifour, who won at Wetherby a month ago and may have a fitness advantage over the front two; I'm going to take a chance on him at this highest level. Strictly on the book Mobaasher should have the beating of Pettifour but last time he was worried out of it on the run-in by the selection; I'm left with the suspicion that Mobaasher may be something of a bridle horse. In a fascinating race Labelthou couldn't be totally dismissed if returning to form while I'll watch Hills Of Aran to see if he handles the step-up in class. This horse runs well for McCoy; had he been in the plate, I would have considered an each-way dabble.
The portents point to Punjabi in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, where the favourite has won eight of the last ten runnings. Barry Geraghty passed over a hatful of fancied rides at Newbury to take this one; in addition connections have targetted this race as the first leg of a possible treble that will land them £1 million. The Irish send over a strong challenge with Harchibald, Sublimity and Harper Valley while Blue Bajan will be worth monitoring for future reference but, given the above, I can't oppose the favourite in this.
Two selections for the Hennessy and they're both declared lame on the morning of the big race! An incident packed renewal on testing ground saw several of the fancied runners fall by the wayside up the long home straight. Coming to the last it looked between Madison Du Berlais, Air Force One and Big Buck's; the last-named was clumsy at it and unseated jockey Sam Thomas. Shades of last week at Haydock.. Thomas could easily be exonerated of any blame a week ago but here, on balance, you would have expected the jock to have kept the partnership intact. He'll be disappointed as his riding has come under close scrutiny during the week; the horse looked booked for third. On the run to the line 25/1 shot Madison Du Berlais easily kept the fancied Air Force One (5/1) at bay, with Snoopy Loopy (12/1) doing well under his welter burden to stay on for third.
Drama in the Long Distance Hurdle as favourite Inglis Drever was pulled up just before the cross flight; he may well have run his last race which is a shame as he has been a great champion. In a muddling race it's difficult to know what to make of Duc De Regniere's five length win from Mobaasher (9/1) and Pettifour (4/1). They went no pace up front which suited McCoy's mount who showed a decent turn of foot between the last two flights. Although this was Pettifour's first defeat, it wasn't a bad effort at this higher level and I'd imagine connections won't be too disheartened. Perhaps I was a liitle harsh calling Mobaasher a 'bridle horse'; he ran all the way to the line to beat the selection one and a quarter lengths, as he was entitled to do on the book.
The temperature reached minus nine at Newcastle overnight, so it was hardly a surprise to see the meeting abandoned. Spare a thought for Barry Geraghty who elected to go there to ride Punjabi and missed four Henderson winners at Newbury, Tony McCoy being the beneficiary. That's racing, as they say!


text:
+84 904 895 228 sales@greencanaltravel.com
Your Tours Style
13/11/2019thinhldBlog
Angkor Wat & the temples of Angkor
Visit the Golden Triangle, Thailand
Known to locals as Sop Ruak, the Golden Triangle is the English-language nickname for the hilly, forested area in the north of Thailand, where it meets Laos and Burma. Despite the region's fraught history, today it's a serene landscape where you can explore coffee plantations, traditional villages and slow, winding rivers, as well as one...
Visit Khao Lak, Thailand
Khao Lak itself is a petite coastal village on Thailand's east coast, but the name tends to encircle the surrounding jungle and a long stretch of blond sand that runs alongside the Andaman Sea. An hour and a half by car from Phuket International Airport, Khao Lak gives you a more tranquil alternative to Phuket or Krabi, with...
Visit Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
As the morning mist settles around the jungle-topped karsts of Khao Sok National Park, it's mistakable for Vietnam's Halong Bay, Borneo's Sarawak or Guilin in China. Millions of years ago, they were all connected, as part of a continent-straddling coral reef. Plates then collided, creating the Himalaya, which crumpled, folded and separated the landscape around...
Visit Ayutthaya, Thailand
At the height of the Siam Kingdom in the 17th century, Ayutthaya was the largest city in the world. The capital of Siam for just over four centuries, the city strategically stood at the confluence of three rivers, laid out in a systematic grid of roads, moats and canals. Ransacked by the Burmese in 1767,...
Visit Chiang Mai, Thailand
Thailand's second largest city, Chiang Mai is a clean-aired, carefree contrast to Bangkok. Locked between the country's northern hills, the city is surrounded by jungle on all sides. Visitors to Chiang Mai tend to linger here, learning about the region's aromatic food, relaxing in the laid-back hotels and walking through temple ruins. Once the capital...
Visit Phuket, Thailand
Sitting on the marine-trade route between India and China, Phuket is a medley of the Chinese, Malaysian, Indian and Thai cultures that have left their mark on the island. Tin mines and rubber trees once brought inhabitants their fortune. Thanks to the pull of its congenially laid-back beaches and clear waters, it's still the richest...
Visit Krabi, Thailand
That quintessential Thai image of a brightly painted longtail boat moored in turquoise water? It's likely to have been taken from one of Krabi's trademark karst islands. The province stretches along Thailand's southeast coast, graduating from a thick jungle interior to blonde beaches that taper gently into bathwater-warm water. More than 150 limestone islands disperse...
Visit Bangkok, Thailand
Opposed to the bright lights, fast pace and noise of some Asian megacities, Bangkok's more relaxed tone, easily navigable public transport and keen-to-please residents make a gentler introduction into Southeast Asian life. Originally marking the map as a key trading post of the 15th-century Ayutthaya Kingdom, Bangkok is still very much a commercial hub. You...
Visit Ha Giang, Vietnam
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
require "change_petition"

class SignaturesController < ApplicationController

  def create
    if save_signature
      respond_with_success
    else
      respond_with_failure
    end
  end

  def count
    render json: { count: ChangePetition.signature_count }
  end

  private

  def signature
    @signature ||= Signature.find_or_initialize_by(email: signature_email)
  end

  def signature_params
    params.require(:signature).permit(:firstname, :lastname, :email, :city, :zipcode)
  end

  def signature_email
    signature_params.fetch(:email)
  end

  def save_signature
    signature.update_attributes signature_params
  end

  def respond_with_success
    render json: signature
  end

  def respond_with_failure
    render json: signature.errors
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
We will consider any dispute about a bet, game or any other gambling transaction. We examine whether the transaction has been handled correctly in accordance with the relevant rules or terms, whether those rules are fair and whether a customer is entitled to receive any payment in addition to what may have already been offered.
However, IBAS does not currently consider:
Any disputes relating to the standard of customer service provided, including anything relating to premises or facilities used where gambling takes place, including websites
Allegations of fixing, cheating or games operated in an unfair manner (these should be referred to appropriate regulator in the country where the business is licensed, e.g. the Gambling Commission in the UK)
Safer gambling standards maintained by gambling businesses. In other words, we do not consider claims by consumers that they have been allowed to gamble excessively/irresponsibly, unless there is a contractual element to the dispute (e.g. that the company breached an agreement between you and the company). We do not consider complaints that a company has allowed an individual to gamble after they had requested to be excluded from the website or premises, unless there is evidence that the way that the company has handled the situation is a breach of their contractual terms and/or there is evidence that the company's actions in the treatment of this situation relied on unfair contract terms.
Complaints that persons under the age of 18 have been allowed to gamble. Again, these are standards that are policed by regulators, e.g. the Gambling Commission in the UK
Complaints about bets that were never processed/refused or accounts that are restricted or closed thereby denying the customer the opportunity to place a bet. Our understanding is that bookmakers are not acting outside of their betting licence conditions in refusing to accept bets and so IBAS will not adjudicate to reinstate a bet that was never struck and where the customer bore no potential risk had their selection been unsuccessful. However, where a customer is complaining that their account has been closed and bets or transactions that have previously been accepted have later been cancelled unfairly, that would fall within the IBAS remit
More information about submitting a regulatory complaint (e.g. on a question of cheating, or a matter relating to social responsibility) can be obtained here. See the sections headed 'Complain about a gambling business' and 'Reporting the way a gambling business is being run'. You can email the Gambling Commission using this email address. When contacting the Gambling Commission to report concerns about the way a business is being run please be clear that you are making a regulatory complaint rather than lodging a dispute, otherwise you may be referred back to IBAS.
PLEASE NOTE: The Gambling Commission does not conduct an investigation in the same way as IBAS (i.e. with a published final decision) nor does it ever make financial awards to customers. However, on some occasions the outcome of a regulatory investigation may either persuade an operator to make a payment to the complainant or provide grounds for the complainant to take the matter to court.
If you do have a complaint about being allowed to gamble more than you can afford to lose, please do think about taking anonymous, professional and practical advice from one of the organisations designed to help people struggling to control the amount of money or time they spend gambling. Many people who come to IBAS once about these kinds of issues believing it to be a 'one off' will end up coming back to us again. Contact details for some of these organisations can be found via our Related Links section.


text:
Cophixalus balbus is a species of frogs in the family Microhylidae. Molecular data suggest that it might belong to the genus Oreophryne. It is known from the vicinity of its type locality in Yapen island, Papua Province, Indonesia, as well as from the Hunstein Mountains (East Sepik Province) and Bewani and Torricelli Mountains (West Sepik Province) in Papua New Guinea.

Etymology
The specific name balbus is Latin for "stuttering". This refers to its advertisement call: the first part of the call consists of single notes at relative longer intervals, followed by the second part where intervals are shorter and notes come in groups—this gives an impression of stuttering.

Description
Cophixalus balbus are small frogs, though relatively large among Cophixalus: adult males measure  in snout–vent length. Head is large and as wide as long. Ground colour is yellowish-brownish, with dorsal surfaces covered with small warts. There is a conspicuous, dark grey W-shaped mark in the scapular region.

Habitat and conservation
Its natural habitat are patches of primary and secondary rainforest. The Yapen island records are from elevations of  above sea level, with uncertain records from lower elevations. All specimens were found perched on fern fronds or on shrubs up to 3 m above the ground. The New Guinean records are from  a.s.l.

There are no known threats to this species.

References

balbus
Amphibians of Papua New Guinea
Amphibians of Western New Guinea
Frogs of Asia
Amphibians described in 2003
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.sample.provider"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" android:targetSdkVersion="19" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CHANGE_WIFI_STATE" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GET_TASKS"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="com.samsung.wmanager.ENABLE_NOTIFICATION"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="com.samsung.android.providers.context.permission.WRITE_USE_APP_FEATURE_SURVEY"/>

    <application android:label="@string/app_name">
        <activity
            android:name="com.example.sample.provider.SampleProvider"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>


text:
import os, sys, subprocess

output = None
output_type = 'executable'

args = sys.argv[1:]
while args:
    arg = args.pop(0)
    if arg == '-shared':
        output_type = 'shared'
    elif arg == '-dynamiclib':
        output_type = 'dylib'
    elif arg == '-c':
        output_type = 'object'
    elif arg == '-S':
        output_type = 'assembly'
    elif arg == '-o':
        output = args.pop(0)

if output == None:
    print "No output file name!"
    sys.exit(1)

ret = subprocess.call(sys.argv[1:])
if ret != 0:
    sys.exit(ret)

# If we produce a dylib, ad-hoc sign it.
if output_type in ['shared', 'dylib']:
    ret = subprocess.call(["codesign", "-s", "-", output])


text:
Facsimile limited editions
Facsimile on Parchment
Beatus of El Burgo de Osma. 11TH CENTURY
Commentary on the Apocalypse of Beatus of Liébana. El Burgo de Osma, Soria (Spain).
The Crusader Bible. 13TH CENTURY
Pierpont Morgan Library in New York (Ms M.638). French National Library (Ms Nouv. Acq. Lat. 2294). J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu (Ms Ludwig 16; 83 M.A.55).
The Book of Games of Chess, Dice and Tables. 18TH CENTURY
Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial Library, Madrid. (Ms T.I.6).
Liber Genealogiae Regum Hispaniae. 15TH CENTURY
Book of the Genealogy of the Kings of Spain. Spanish National Library. (Ms Vit. 19-2).
The Life of Christ. 12TH CENTURY
Manuscript M. 44. Ms. Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.
EDITION SOLD OUT
Facsimile on paper
Edition on Natural Parchment
Single and exclusive edition of 390 copies, numbered and certified by a notary, with it also being certified by a notary that only natural parchment was used in the preparation process.
Burgo de Osma. Spain.
FIRST HISPANIC ROMANESQUE BEATUS AND MASTERPIECE OF ROMANESQUE ART.
The codex of the Apocalypse of Beatus of Liébana, now kept in the Historical Diocesan Archive of El Burgo de Osma Cathedral, considered to be one of the most important Beati currently known for several reasons; this is the first known Hispanic Romanesque Beatus, today a masterpiece of international Romanesque art. As one of the most creative in respect of the traditional iconography; the Beatus of El Burgo de Osma is one of the best preserved of the first two original editions of the Beatus.
www.beatodeosma.es


Driven by Passion---Fueled by Fun - Welcome to the High Banks of Monadnock Speedway". On June 4th Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, NH was the scene for the Senior Tour Auto Racers. This would be the first of two visits for the STAR Tour for the 2016 season at Monadnock Speedway. It was hot and it was steaming but these racers did not care! One by one Star rolled into the pit area of Monadnock Speedway with cars from all over New England. Star started their day with warm ups, and the evening would bring the tour 2 heats and 2 features.
First to hit the asphalt for their heat race was the Sportsmen division. It was Skip Stearns who dominated the field and took down the heat win and the first checkered for the tour for the evening. The Modifieds were lined up and ready to hit the asphalt next. The pack ran tight lap after lap until hometown boy Bob Donahue made his move to take over the lead and the second checkered flag for the tour for the evening.
At feature time it was the Sportsmen to hit the track first for their feature race. Bob Harless from NY piloting his #8 yellow sedan to the finish line to take down the third checked for the tour. Rick MacDowell from Ma in his #76 Camero captured second with Alan Zelma from Me in his #43 coupe to round out the pack with a third. Sedan, Camero, and Coupe would take the victories that evening. All three were brought track side for an out of car interview and awarded with trophies.
The Modifieds were lined up and ready to do some good old fashion racing! The pack ran tight with only inches away from each other. When the last flag was waved it was on Danny Ferland from NH in his #194 Pinto to take the last flag for the evening. Gregg Massini from Ma in his #19 Vega took a very close second and to round out the pack with a third was James Allen from Ma in his #44 Mustang. Pinto, Vega and Mustang would take the victories that evening. All three were brought track side for an out of car interview and awarded with trophies.
What a weekend! Senior Tour would like to thank Monadnock Speedway and their entire staff for all their hospitality and a great night of racing!


text:
Education, HR & Training
Tecom inks deal to boost opportunities for innovators
Tecom Group, a member of Dubai Holding and founder of start-up-enabling platform in5, said it has signed a MoU with Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) and Dubai Development Authority (DDA) to help increase the opportunities available to innovators locally and internationally.
This partnership will aid collaborations between the UAE government entities and start-ups from around the world to develop and implement futuristic solutions to current challenges.
As per the deal, DFF will introduce start-up members to the in5 platform, where they will be provided with a simplified business set-up, access to creative co-working spaces and specialised state-of-the-art facilities, said a statement from Tecom.
They will also have access to mentorship, learning opportunities, and a network of investors and strategic partners, it added.
The agreement was signed by Abdulla Belhoul, the chief commercial officer of Tecom Group, with Khalfan Belhoul, the chief executive of DFF and Jamal Alsharif, the chief officer of business affairs at DDA.
Stating that they were honoured to partner with DFF in implementing the shared vision of building a prosperous future, Belhoul said: "By bringing the brightest minds and the most promising start-ups from around the world to Dubai and facilitating their synergies with local government entities, we seek to fast-track the development of the innovation ecosystem and enhance the emirate's position as a global hub for smart government models and future businesses."
Belhoul said in line with the Foundation's efforts to position Dubai as a hub for innovation and an ideal destination for start-ups and talents, this partnership is a step closer towards realising the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to highlight Dubai as a global incubator for developing advanced solutions, and a platform for partnerships."
"A key element of such partnerships is providing support to young eager innovators, as they remain our most viable option to accelerate further economic growth in our country," he added.
Al Sharif pointed out that the partnership has aligned with the authority's strong legacy of promoting Dubai's growth, backed by a robust regulatory framework.
"The MoU will help cement the emirate's position as one of the world's leading business hubs and advance its economic diversification strategy by enhancing the ease of doing business," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
More Education, HR & Training Stories
Online job vacancies grow 13pc in Saudi Arabia
German group Fraunhofer to set up research unit in Sharjah
ICA backs UAE cabinet move to let expats bring in families
Bahrain Airport Services in key nationalisation drive
UAE real estate sector jobs rate up 4.4pc in Q1
Limak Inşaat Kuwait shines in Women Empowerment Principles
Alstom hosts training session for Ajman students
Emirates College of Technology moves to new campus
Two Indian startups win office space in Dubai
GFB signs co-operation deal with RIT Dubai
Dubai tops Arab world in future-readiness: report
American University in Dubai appoints new president
Abu Dhabi fund backs biological research in Russia
Abu Dhabi launches nine new initiatives for private sector
Abu Dhabi Digital Authority launches new AI initiative with IBM
Zain Bahrain launches 'Women in Tech' internship


I have gained over 6 to 7 kgs in a year largely because I took a lot of desi clarified butter during breakfast my waist size has risen by 5 to 6 inches may you kindly suggest me how I can reduce weight and fat? Thank you.
Fat reduction in certain areas is difficult. Improper food habits, in conjunction with lack of activity increases the risk of weight gain. This in turn results in other complications, such as cardiac problems, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and obesity and so on. Desi clarified butter or clarified butter is an excellent source of saturated fat and calories.
Other sources of saturated fat are butter, margarine, lard and so on. Increase in body weight is also associated with increase in calorie intake. Count your calories as it helps. Choice of right kind of foods aids in weight loss. Opt for low cal foods as those are great for weight loss.
Beverages that are commercially available contribute to a lot of calories, in addition to the sugar added in addition. Check out low cal beverages, such as fresh fruit juices, devoid of sugar, skimmed milk coffee and so on. Avoid alcoholic and carbonated beverages, as they contribute to a lot of calories, without additional nutrients. They are also unhealthy, as they result in a number of complications. Low calorie diets prove beneficial with regular workout. Increase the number of meals and reduce the quantity consumption per meal.
Exercise helps in increasing the muscle mass, thereby contributing to weight loss. This is due to the increased requirement of energy by the muscles. This is easy by cardiovascular training. Aerobics, jogging, walking and swimming are some of the simple exercises that are necessary for a healthy body. Try working out for thirty to forty five minutes. Do this for at least five times a week. Certain animal products that are low in calories are low fat cheese, lean ham, egg white, ground turkey, low fat hot dogs and so on. Avoid processed meat, such as hamburgers, as they have marbled fat in between the layers.
Opt for negative calorie foods. They are foods that require more amounts of calories for breakdown. They are wonder foods that burn or expend more calories, during the process of digestion. Some of the negative calorie foods that prove beneficial are green beans, broccoli, carrot, asparagus, cucumber, turnip, strawberries, grape fruit, orange, onion, spinach, cauliflower, garlic, dandelion, papaya, tangerine, cranberries, apples and so on. Avoid junk food-fizzy drink combination. They increase the calories and fat intake by double the requirement of the meal. Whole grains, vegetables, fruits, cereals and pulses increase the satiety of a meal, thereby proving effective in shedding the extra pounds.


text:
Q: Исчезают классы, добавленные через jQuery после перехода на другую страницу в меню навигации Есть кнопка "Версия для слабовидящих", при нажатии на которую к параграфам, инпутам и т.п. добавляются классы, которые увеличивают их размер. Реализовано это через обработчик щелчка на jQuery.
Проблема в том, что когда при ВКЛЮЧЕННОМ режиме для слабовидящих нажимаешь на другую страницу навигации, она подгружается без режима для слабовидящих, то есть подгружается изначальная стандартная разметка без доп. классов.
Отсюда вопрос: Как изменить это поведение, чтобы режим для слабовидящих не исчезал ровно до того момента, как повторно не нажмешь кнопку для слабовидящих, а переход по страницам не менял это поведение?

A: HTML

        <button class="normal">Нормальная версия сайта</button>
        <button class="notseen">Для слабовидящих</button>

Lorem Inspum Dollar

JQuery
jQuery(function ($) {

    // Функция позваляет получать значения куки
    function getCookie(name) {
        let matches = document.cookie.match(new RegExp(
            "(?:^|; )" + name.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g, '\\$1') + "=([^;]*)"
        ));
        return matches ? decodeURIComponent(matches[1]) : undefined;
    }

    // Переключатели версий сайта
    $('.switcher_section button').on('click', function (e) {
        e.preventDefault();

        if($(this).hasClass('normal')){
            document.cookie = "what_version=normal";
            $('body').removeClass('site-version-notseen');
        } else {
            document.cookie = "what_version=notseen";
            $('body').removeClass('site-version-normal');
        }

        $('body').addClass('site-version-' + getCookie('what_version'));

    })

    // Это запускается после перезагрузки страницы
    var what_version = getCookie('what_version');
    if(typeof what_version != 'undefined'){
        $('body').addClass('site-version-' + what_version);
    }

});

Css
.site-version-notseen p{
    font-size: 26px;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Glamorous Life and Gory Death of the Father of Sin City Bugsy Siegel, the M1 Carbine, and Murder Inc.
I Was rewatching The Thin Red Line again, Strange looking M-1 Garand in the Film!
1903 Rock Island Question, worth sporterized?
Possible 86,000 Garands to CMP!!!
Anyone shot steel through M1 Carbine?
Which italian M1 Garand receiver would be more desirable?
Widener's has en blocs in stock.


BioScience Laboratories can help you formulate how best to achieve your results based on our expertise and quantitative analysis decision-making, considering cost benefit and probability of success. Contact us today to see how we can help you design a study that best fits your needs!
CONNECT WITH OUR EXPERTS HERE!


text:
Guidance and Summaries for America Bus Drivers, School Bus Rules And Regulations In USA, School Bus Safety, School Bus Transportation, SchoolBus Safety
Illegal Passing of School Buses – The Problem
The big yellow school bus approaches the intersection of First and Main. Seven or eight elementary school students are waiting near the curb. First the yellow lights come on. Then the school bus comes to a halt. The red lights start to flash. The stop-arm goes out. The school bus driver looks at the traffic behind her and in front of her and thinks, "Will anyone try to pass?"
School buses and motorists. Both have been part of the morning and afternoon landscape for five generations of school children. Although yellow wasn't adopted as the school bus color until 1939, school buses have been around since 1915, about as long as the automobile.
In all that time there has been an uneasy coexistence between school buses and motorists. School buses make frequent stops to load and unload students. It is the nature of their business. By law, when a school bus stops to drop off or pick up students, motorists must stop too. But motorists often don't want to stop. Motorists want to get where they are going, with little interruption and as quickly as they can.
The act of illegally passing a stopped school bus with red lights flashing is commonly known as a "stop-arm violation." This refers to the stop-sign shaped "arm" that extends from the left side of the bus when the red lights are activated.
Yet, in a 1997 survey on speeding and other unsafe driving behaviors, 99 percent of the drivers interviewed felt that the most dangerous unsafe driving behavior was passing a school bus with its lights flashing and stop arm extended. Passing a stopped school bus was considered to be more dangerous than any other unsafe driving behavior, more dangerous even than racing another driver, driving through a stop sign or red light, crossing railroad tracks with red lights blinking, passing in a no-passing zone, and speeding.
The National Survey of Speeding and Other Unsafe Driving Actions was commissioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Three thousand drivers, ages 16 to over 65, completed the unsafe driving survey. To get a copy of the three-volume report (DOT HS 808 749) describing the methodology, the findings, and suggested countermeasures, contact the National Technical Information Service at www.ntis.gov or call 703-605-6000.
Tags: SchoolBusSafety
Getting to School Safely
Poll: 1 in 3 Parents Concerned About Children Getting to School Safely


Beagle's XCOM 2 preview - a series of so far three videos from one of the most dedicated, not to mention skilled, XCOM players around. So if you're going to watch a couple of videos I'd suggest you go with this series.
Eurogamer's interview/developer commentary - this video is a bit of a long one but it does cower base building to a much greater extent than any other. That and the developer interview does give a few more tidbits of information if that's something you're looking for.
Rockpapershotgun's written overview - if you're someone who prefers the written word then RPS has a rather lengthy article on their experiencs with XCOM 2, its a good read.
There are a bunch more but after watching most of them I feel these above are the best representations of what the game is like and cower most of the stuff you might be interested in. But if you require even more XCOM 2 in your bloodstream you can head over to youtube and check out the rest of the videos.
XCOM 2 is coming to us relatively soon, on February 5th, so there's yet another good game to look forward to early next year.


We present a list of sixteen documentaries you cannot miss at the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival 2017 that will take place from October 6th – 10th in Taipei, Taiwan.
Note: Films ordered by Screening Time.
Gonya: The Shaman's Day Out by Choi Haklak – South Korea | 2017 – 26 min.
This film depicts the Gonya festival among the Tamang ethnic group in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. The celebration for Gonya revolves around the performance of the bonbo, an equivalent for the more universal term "shaman" in Tamang culture. The film consists of three parts: The first part shows how the Gonya is incorporated within the overarching tradition of Janai Purnima, a Hindu religious festival, and the way it is celebrated locally in a unique collaboration involving shamans. The second part shows how shamanistic beliefs are experienced and maintained communally by focusing on a young shaman and his family holding a small ritual in a village during the Gonya. The third part follows a group of shamans led by one master shaman on the Gonya day, and demonstrates how they create a "collective effervescence" in this religious festival.
Drokpa: Nomads of Tibet by Su Yan Chun – China | 2016 – 79 min.
Dialogue among Tribes by Pan Zhi-Wei – Taiwan | 2017 – 61 min.
My father, Du-Ya, left the Amis tribe and went to Taipei City as a construction worker when he was an adolescent. He later returned to his hometown after he got married, and adopted fishing as his career in Shih-Ti Habor, Hualien. Fishing was his way of making a living. However, he still needed to leave home occasionally to seek labor jobs in the city to support the family financially.
Abandoned Land by Gilles Laurent – Belgium | 2016 – 73 min.
In the evacuated zone around the nuclear plant of Fukushima, five years after the "catastrophe," a few rare individuals still live on this land burning with radiation. The seemingly irrational yet peaceful existence of these diehards reminds us that, as a last resort, a patch of land is our strongest bond to the world.
Punishment Island by Laura Cini – Italy | 2017 – 56 min.
Kalay Ngasan: Our Home by Huang Hao-chieh – Taiwan | 2016 – 48 min.
Born in 1981, a Nanao Atayal from Yilan, Wu Ta Elementary School teacher Wilang hunted with elders in the mountains and learned rattan weaving techniques since he was a boy. He has an old soul that is passionate about Atayal culture. In 2014, Wilang embarked on the "Finding our Roots Project" at Wu Ta Elementary School. He took school children to the old Wu Ta Village, trying to find the place where their ancestors used to live. However, the houses in the old village had been reduced to fragments of slate. Wilang's search for the original design of Atayal houses launched his quest to reimagine Atayal houses.
The Hospice Care by Guo Dongliang – China | 2016 – 40 min.
The first documentary about hospice care in China. Hospice care is usually called palliative care because of cultural taboos in China. In the hospice care center of Lukang, Hangzhou, there are more than 60 patients, but over 20 patients will be gone in a year's time. Most of them cannot be cured. Their family members sent them here to ease their pains and let them go with comfort and dignity.
After Life by Nick Mayow and Prisca Bouchet – New Zealand | 2016 – 15 min.
An enthralling look inside the hidden world of a New Zealand funeral home, After Life explores a unique, enigmatic institution, following the men and women who work with the dead and the delicate ritual of the body's preparation for its final journey. A compelling glimpse into a rarely seen world, After Life reveals a place rich in meaning and humanity – a place where the daily work deals with our deepest fear.
Leviathan by Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor – France | 2012 – 87 min.
Coal India by Ajay Koli, Felix Roben – Germany | 2015 – 44 min.
Coal India is a cinematic essay on physical labour and its cyclical movements. It portrays people who work under pre-industrial conditions in the coalfields near Dhanbad, India. The film shows heavy physical labour that is increasingly invisible in our technologized 21st century.
Nobody Dies Here by Simon Panay – France | 2016 – 23 min.
Miracle by Lu Rou-shiuan – Taiwan | 2016 – 23 min.
In the day he is a delivery driver for a factory, but on dates that ends with 3, 6, or 9, he exchanges his dirty work clothes for a mottled apron with a delicate yellow dragon. The apron is like a mission that carries on the last wishes of his late father. Taking over the mantle of his father, he becomes a psychic. He must encounter all kinds of issues, which include joy, sadness, sickness, and even death. Moreover, he faces the dilemmas and helplessness of other people. We want to know how he can find a way of life for those believers, and how he can strike a balance between being himself and a psychic.
Path of Destiny by Yang Chun-Kai – Taiwan | 207 – 71 min.
Guru, a Hijra Family by Axelle Le Dauphin, Laurie Colson – Belgium | 2016 – 75 min.
We, the hijras, are born neither man nor woman. We are born somewhere in the middle. Our name was mentioned in Sanskrit texts, more than a thousand years ago. It evoked beauty, bravery, and straightforwardness. I try to act as a good guru towards my daughters, I want to teach them how to live properly. It's not enough to only seek happiness, one must learn to be respected.


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Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Brand, Consumers, Design, Internet, Merchandising, Price, Retail, Shopping, Store, Technology, Visual on 15/06/2019| Leave a Comment »
Everything happens faster in the fashion world. Fashion houses and retailers have to deal with an increasingly turbulent market wherein trends and tastes fluctuate all the time and design styles replace each other in ever shorter cycles. This instability means greater uncertainty for firms, which makes it harder for them to plan and operate through the year. Attempting to curb the motion and introduce more stability can be a serious challenge for the fashion designers, marketers and retailers; the stream is strong, and more often it seems that everyone has to continue flowing to the next fashion style. Retailers with physical stores face an additional challenge from strengthening e-commerce — consumers prefer to buy more clothing items online, especially from whatever source and channel they can find them at lower prices.
Castro is a leading fashion house and retailer in Israel with over 130 stores carrying its name (i.e., Castro, Castro Men, and Castro Kids) across the country. The Castro company was established by Aharon Castro in 1950. Its retail start was modest, and the business continued to be primarily a fashion house, designing and making garments (for women only), until the late 1980s. In 1985 the founder opened a flagship store on the modern Dizengof shopping street of Tel-Aviv; that may be considered a first brave move to lift-up the image of the Castro fashion brand and earn it more publicity.
In the early 1990s Aharon Castro passed the realm of the company to his son-in-law Gabriel (Gaby) Rotter, joined later by his daughter Esther (Etty) Rotter, and they have been serving as co-CEOs since then. The second period of Castro is marked by the great expansion of the retail arm of the business. More and more stores were opened in the 1990s and 2000s (Castro also made a venture abroad, mainly in Germany, but it was unsuccessful and largely cut-off). In this period the prevailing brand image of Castro was also invented, which gave it fame and appreciation. The last decade has seen more acquisitions of fashion enterprises (clothing and accessories) made by the company, but these do not carry the Castro name and therefore have less bearing on the Castro brand. In summer 2018 Castro merged with the fashion group Hoodies, and the repercussion of this move is yet to be seen, whether the brands mix or remain separated.
Listed below are selected actions that contributed more significantly to establish the prime attributes associated with Castro, exciting and daring, since the 1990s:
Castro aired a famed TV commercial in 1993 that was daring, playful and igniting the imagination — it is best simply to watch it. Two more facts make this commercial special: (a) It was aired in the beginning of commercial TV in Israel, when the audience was highly curious and interested in advertising in this medium, which helped the commercial to become a "hit"; (b) The song featuring in the commercial was Creep by Radiohead, during the early stage of its musical career, so the commercial gave a unique exposure to Radiohead in Israel. Definitely in those days this Castro commercial was unusual and exciting (until today it is the most loved commercial in the country); it drove great attention and interest in the coats and other clothing products of Castro, and put it on a trail of growth.
In the early 1990s Castro moved into the pivotal shopping centre of Tel-Aviv (Dizengof Centre). Moreover, Castro situated its store near the entrance to the major department store of that time (HaMashbir), a sound call of challenge. A decade later, in 2003, Castro relocated within the shopping centre and opened its flagship store Castro Tel-Aviv, occupying three floors, with an external façade that turns to a strategic corner of streets with high exposure — a strong declaration of their presence. At least for several years it was an important anchor in the shopping centre.
Castro gradually started to enter clothes for men into its stores. Over time the fashion house expanded the scope of its target segments to become a marketer and retailer of clothing for men and women, youth and kids. On the retail side, Castro made two key moves: in 2000 it launched its sub-chain of Castro Men stores, and in 2013 the Castro Kids sub-chain of stores came to life. Perhaps already less exciting to consumers, but they are still daring moves (a demonstration of force).
However, the expansion of Castro's activities, particularly adding stores to its retail chain, seems to have taken a toll from the company. It is hard to put a finger on a single factor as the cause of recent troubles at Castro. It appears, yet, that the toll has hit primarily Castro as a fashion house. From some point in the passing decade, consumers have been losing interest in the garments of Castro. In earlier decades, Castro led by its founder gained a reputation for creativity, for bringing new designs and quality fabrics (important especially in the 1960s and 1970s, credit going also to Aharon's mother Nina). Consumers may have stopped believing that Castro's clothing expresses creativity, novelty and ingenuity. Nonetheless, the needs and tastes of Israeli consumers apparently have changed, and they are looking for something different in fashion and clothing, which also happens to be less original and less expensive clothing.
Firstly, consumers buy more frequently from a variety of online retailers ('e-tailers'), on top of them is Amazon.com, while getting easy access to broad selections of clothing from abroad at affordable prices. Consumers also are willing to pay less for garments, shoes and accessories of lower quality even if they would have to replace them more frequently. They further tend to inspect garments in physical stores and then buy the same or similar items from online stores. Yet another threatening competition to Castro comes from quick-movers, discount retailers like Zara and H&M that produce and sell garments of similar designs as those of known fashion houses (though they may have some original clothes). A more discomforting revelation of recent years is that a low cost retailer (Fox) is gaining in popularity while Castro is sliding down. The stores of Castro see less traffic of visitors (footfall), thus stores are too quiet for extended periods, and the sellers have too much 'free time' to arrange merchandise; a special report on public TV (Kan News, 4 May 2019, Hebrew) indicates that a growing pressure is put on sellers and other staff (e.g., visual merchandisers) to contribute to better results . Could it be that Israeli consumers find the design of stores less attractive; is the visual merchandising in-store less appealing to them; or is it the merchandise itself losing its appeal? We should not overlook the influence of background factors such as changes in the code of dressing (more casual, 'dressing-down', sportive) and economic constraints on consumers' shopping behaviour in clothing and fashion.
In 2018 Castro saw overall a loss of 59 million shekels (~$16m), after a net gain of 48m shekels in 2017 and in 2016, and operating profit on clothing has dropped 66%. Additionally, sales of clothing in same stores of Castro+Hoodies fell 7.7% in 2018, above average rate in this sector (Globes, 5 May 2019, Hebrew — this article follows the report on Kan News).
A few ideas may be learned from the American department store chain Kohl's that is taking dramatic measures in its effort for resurgence, led by CEO Michelle Gass [A]. Some of these measures may be relevant also to Castro, and could suggest directions for the transformation it may also be required of:
Kohl's is reducing the amount of merchandise displayed in its stores, and is also decreasing the selling space of stores. On the other hand, the retailer installed an advanced inventory technology that allows it to track its merchandise on display at any time (by using RFID tags on product items), and follow purchase data (including online) and analyse it. Hence staff at Kohl's can predict what products are in greater demand and what merchandise is in need of replenishing in real time, enabling to display less merchandise with no disadvantage.
Furthermore, Kohl's developed a capability to trace changes in market trends faster and cut the time needed to deliver new designs to stores (i.e., shorter time-to-market).
Kohl's introduces new technologies in its stores to improve the service to shoppers and their in-store experience overall, including handheld checkout devices to cut waiting lines at cashiers, and digital price screens that can be updated with less hassle for staff; in addition, the RFID tags aforementioned enable staff to help customers quickly find products they seek (mirrors with holograms or augmented reality may come later).
Kohl's has taken another intriguing step: orders from Amazon can be returned at desks in a hundred of its stores (out of 1,100+ stores). Critics and skeptics regarded this co-operation akin to "sleeping with the enemy" or "bringing a fox into the henhouse". However, Gass sees in providing this service at Kohl's stores an opportunity whereby Amazon's customers already in a store may choose to buy some products they see around, similar to the case when Kohl's customers who use its "click & collect" scheme at Kohls.com online store later come to pick-up the order at a physical store.
Castro announced recently that it plans to enlarge and redesign some of its stores. Perhaps its management should re-consider enlarging stores. Does Castro really need to have stores as large as those of Zara and H&M (1000sqm+)? This may not be effective in terms of (lower) revenue per squared metre [B]. The stores can also be arranged to be more spacious between display exhibits and hold less merchandise, provided that information technology can be used to monitor it cleverly. Redesigning stores may indeed be welcome — current stores could feel too dark-toned with selective spot lights, which may be perceived more elegant but less convenient. Existing large stores may be reduced somewhat, or perhaps may better allocate space to other purposes like special projects (e.g., gallery of new art designs in fashion), a coffee bar or hosting events that may be more interesting than a space loaded with more products [cf. A]. Greater attention should be drawn to the experience that can be generated for visitors in-store.
Another issue concerns the image and experience delivered by the website and online store of Castro. Is the online store not advanced and rich enough? Will more exclusive online offers make the difference? [cf. B] What kind of experience should the website and online store present to visitors? Entering the e-commerce website overly feels like entering a catalogue. The e-store has some nice features like a model's image changing position when hovering above with the mouse to show the garment from another angle, or being able to see the same garment in different colours. Yet the website appears nothing more than an e-commerce website; it misses something more important — it obscures Castro as a fashion house. The story of Castro and its creations is practically hidden, hard to find. When entering the website, it should communicate the image of the brand Castro — show original designs of the fashion house before start selling. The website should clearly show the "door" to the online store but right next to it should appear the "door" to Castro the fashion house and its story.
Eventually, the garments designed and created by Castro are the main issue to address. This should be an important point of differentiation for Castro from other retailers on which it should make its voice loud and clear. For example, prior to her role as CEO of Kohl's, Gass identified the rise of the trend of activewear (sportive-energy) style in clothing; she gave it more emphasis in stores with the help of national brands like Nike and Adidas. Castro has a category (online) of Activewear. On the one hand, it can make its voice by introducing its own designs in this category. On the other hand, it should not go only after what seems popular at a time but suggest other modes or styles to the market.
Castro seems to lack sub-brands or endorsed brands up front that consumers can easily identify and associate certain styles or attributes with them (e.g., more daring or novel vs. more conservative, more artful vs. more functional). Castro is said to hire top-of-class young designers. Yet it does not elevate anyone as house designers by name, perhaps to encourage more collegiality and teamwork. An alternative approach would be to build a brand around a team of designers (like a "centre of excellence") who share a certain vision and approach in fashion styles. Actually Castro already has three sub-brands: "Red" for casual dressing; "Blue" for more elegant, quasi-formal dressing; and "Black" for jeans wear. Castro can develop and enrich any of these sub-brands; create another brand with a specific style or tone of design as a secondary "specialisation" under any of those above; or build a new brand endorsed directly by the Castro name that will express new forms of art, novelty or elegance, etc. Whatever course taken, the leading idea is to give consumers a 'name & face' they can cling to, to follow how it evolves, and to identify with.
There are multiple avenues for Castro to reinvent and revive its brand and business as a whole. The expansion of its retailing activities may have led to the weakening of its fashion house and dilution of its brand. Some of the enterprises Castro acquired or merged with could hurt the brand to the extent that they are stopping Castro from developing answers in-house to gaps in the market. Therefore, it is perhaps the time now to return to increase the focus on Castro the fashion house as in earlier times, and let the retail arm serve it, not the other way round. Castro should be ready to enter its third period; the challenge will likely be assigned to the new Deputy CEO lately nominated, Ron Rotter (son of Etty and Gaby Rotter and former CFO), to reinvent Castro and put the brand on a new course.
[A] "Michelle Gass Is Cracking the Code at Kohl's", Phil Wahba, Fortune (Europe Edition), December 2018, pp. 104-112.
[B] "Castro Once Was the Most Sexy Brand in Israel, But These Days Are Gone" (origin in Hebrew), TheMarker, 12 April 2019 (MarkerWeek edition), pp. 14-16
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Brick-and-Mortar, Consumers, Design, Digital, Experience, Internet, Merchandising, Mobile, Online, Product, Purchase, Retail, Shopping, Store, Visual on 15/05/2019| 1 Comment »
Online shopping in digital stores and shopping in brick-and-mortar stores offer different forms of experiences. It starts from the environment or setting in which the shopper is situated — being present in a 3D physical retail space or viewing a 2D screen of a computer or mobile device. It is the difference between how much and what specifically a shopper can see and absorb when looking around in a physical store compared with looking at a screen. The difference in setting may have a further impact on behaviour, like how shoppers find products and how they inspect them.
Imagine a shopper, Dan, entering a large fashion store. Dan's head immediately turns around as much as 180 degrees scanning the scene. Just a few steps in front of Dan there is a low desk with shirts, and another desk with sweaters to the left; to the right Dan observes shirts hanging on a rectangle-shaped stand, and he notices how their designs differ from those on the desk; along the walls are more shirts and trousers, etc. Dan decides to approach first the shirts to the left because they have multiple colours, lifting one or two to look more closely at them; later he also turns to the wall to see trousers and tries to match them with shirts. As Dan's shopping trip advances he may enter deeper into the store to check on some accessories or another variety of shirts. Very early in the visit the shopper can figure out what may be found in main sections of the scene. Then starts a sort of discovery tour that may be guided by a master goal but progresses as the shopper identifies relevant and visually attractive items (stimuli). The scene is 'updated' as the shopper goes deeper into the store, or into adjacent halls, and details that were more distant and vague before become sharper and clearer.
A different kind of shopping process usually occurs in online website stores: first of all because much fewer products (stimuli) can be observed in a relatively short glimpse of the screen-scene. The way merchandise in the online store is located and explored is much more gradual. An online store actually encourages a more goal-driven search process (e.g., choosing names of categories from a menu, selecting attribute options to narrow down the search to a relevant selection of products). Then starts a back-and-forth process of exploration of different items (e.g., by clicking on item titles or images and entering product pages), and visiting additional major categories of products. However, the experience of search and exploration is so different: whereas in the physical store the shopper can 'wash the eyes' with shapes, designs and colours of products, and follow the eyes through the shopping trip, it is much harder to do so in an online store where one has to go step-by-step or in a piecemeal manner. Nevertheless, online shoppers have more flexibility and a wider span of possibilities for viewing product options simultaneously on the screen of a desktop or laptop computer than on the screen of a smartphone.
Certainly there are more clever and creative e-commerce or store websites that are able to generate an improved experience of exploration and inspection of products. For example, there are online stores that show grids composed of tiles of images representing major categories and sub-categories of products. The images are more lively, and some of them exhibit motion as well. With some images, hovering with a mouse on the product photo (before clicking) changes the angle in which a garment or handbag, for instance, is shown. On product pages, some options may be selected that immediately affect the product image (e.g., colours, dimensions, designs); products may be rotated dynamically or by selecting from a line of static thumbnail images under the main frame.
See examples of store (e-commerce) websites chosen by e-Commerce Platforms: 'Top e-Commerce Websites — Best Designs for 2019' or 'Amazing Online Fashion Stores'.
A large majority of shoppers enquire about products online before visiting a physical store. According to a Google/Ipsos survey ('Omnichannel Holiday Study', Nov. 2017-Jan. 2018), 78% of US holiday shoppers searched products before going into a store; the online search helps shoppers in planning their shopping trip to the store, narrow down the options they should be seeking at the store, but it also 'inspires the purchase' (thinkwithgoogle.com, October 2018). In another research by Publicis ('Shopper First Retailing', 2018), an even higher proportion of shoppers, 87%, report that they begin searches in digital channels (online, mobile), up from 71% in 2017 (RetailDive.com, 15 August 2018). Searching the Internet is regarded as a productive method to look for directions and learning about product options, as preparation for making purchase decisions. Shoppers do not feel obliged also to make the purchase online, even if they browse the e-commerce website of an online-only retailer ('e-tailers') or of a mixed retailer that operates both a website store and physical stores. Consumers like especially to consult reviews of peer users who have already had experience with products they consider.
This learning process seems functional and goal-driven where shoppers need some guidance to put order into their shopping journey. Online sources, including e-commerce websites, seem to provide an efficient solution for this purpose. The process may indeed inspire shoppers with ideas, perhaps to the extent of helping the shopper to focus on viable and worthwhile purchase options and avoid wandering too long clueless in a store. In such a case in particular, visiting the online store of a mixed retailer can prove most useful before arriving to one of its physical store locations — and this makes the website an even more effective tool for the retailer.
However, retailers that operate physical stores would not want shoppers to come too prepared with their minds pre-determined what to buy. While shoppers usually have a general plan of what they are looking for, final purchase decisions are still made mostly in-store. Hence it is so important for physical stores to be designed and arranged in an appealing and stimulating manner — to allow consumers to complete successfully their shopping trip in-store, and furthermore encourage and induce them to purchase a few more 'treasures' they discover in the store.
It may be relevant to consider here two scenarios:
For retailers that operate physical stores in multiple, even numerous locations, there should be a stronger incentive to leave their customers with enough reasons to conclude their shopping in-store rather than on the website store. Thus, the online store has to be visually attractive, user-friendly and informative, but it does not have to be fully equipped with features that convince customers to complete their shopping and purchasing online. The website should not go all the way in effort to draw shoppers from physical stores. Whereas the online store may provide more functional, productive experiences (e.g., efficient, time-saving), the physical store would be more capable in creating pleasant emotional experiences (e.g., excitement, thrill, joy). The positive emotions invoked should not be taken lightly because they drive purchases.
For e-tailers with no physical stores there should be greater need to invest in the quality and feel of experiences they can provide in their e-commerce websites. The introduction of shoppers to the online store should be more delightful as well as informative and user-friendly. Visual elements and interactive features have to be inviting and helpful in guiding the visitor into different sections of the store — on the 'main stage' of the screen estate and not just through the menu and search engine.
The latter applies, nonetheless, also to mixed retailers that have stores in just a few locations (e.g., major cities) and wish to reach much greater numbers of customers that do not have a store near them. It may also be relevant when targeting customer segments who for any reason have little time free to travel to a store, and in regions where shoppers are reluctant to go out during harsh weather conditions (e.g., steaming hot and dusty or freezing cold and snowy). [Note: Location data might be used to channel a reduced or enhanced version of a store website according to whether the user is in vicinity of a physical store by the retailer, a form of 'geo-fencing'].
The brick-and-mortar stores remain very much in demand. According to a Google/Ipsos online survey ('Shopping Tracker', US, April-June 2018), 61% of American shoppers prefer shopping with brands that also have physical stores than ones that are online only. Key benefits suggested for shopping in physical stores are the immediacy in which shoppers are likely to obtain the products they require; getting hands-on — seeing and interacting with products before buying; and being more fun than shopping online (35% feel so) (thinkwithgoogle.com, John McAteer, November 2018). The Publicis study indicates more generally that 46% of shoppers prefer to buy in physical stores (vis-à-vis 35% who prefer shopping using their laptops and 18% on mobile phones) (RetailDive). Apparently, shoppers are not blind to benefits and advantages of shopping in physical stores over online stores, and many are not ready to leave them to fade out.
It is not suggested that online stores necessarily have to be made to appear like physical stores on the screen — mimicking the scene of a brick-and-mortar store may be perceived as just artificial, awkward and inconvenient (though retailers who also have physical locations can integrate actual store images into relevant sections of the online store). On the one hand, the retailer (or e-tailer) should take advantage of the strengths of the digital medium in organising, displaying and tracing information in the online store. On the other hand, online stores may have to breakaway in some degree from rigid structures of tables, lists and matrices. Grids of image tiles make a good start. Yet, more versatile visualisation possibilities have to be considered to provide visitors of store websites (or mobile apps) a more stimulating presentation of the variety of products the store has to offer. The interactive presentation should expose visitors to an array of products available (e.g., by type, use purpose, or brand), and lead their way from there into sub-categories and specific product models or brands.
Virtual Reality (VR) technology may be used to emulate a view of a store in 3D space, but the equipment needed to create a truly compelling experience is not in reach of most consumers, at least not yet. The more crucial question is: why should consumers prefer an imitation or illusion when almost everyone can visit real physical stores and shops. At least one aspect VR is unlikely to provide adequately is the social experience.
Instead of treating online shopping and shopping in physical stores as substitutes competing with each other, the more sensible approach for mixed retailers is to create ways in which they can combine and complement each other. The connection can be a two-way street, especially given that shoppers use mobile devices more frequently during store visits (71% of shoppers according to Publicis study cited by RetailDive). From online to store, for example, a mobile app of the retailer used in-store can help the shopper navigate and find the way to the places of products that he or she detected and learned about in a preliminary search and study online (e.g., Home Depot). From in-store to online, the shopper may use the app of the retailer in-store to find more information about products found in the store by scanning a barcode for the product of interest (e.g., Sephora [cosmetics] allows access to product reviews, order history of the shopper, and more) [examples adopted from McAteer in thinkwithgoogle]. More technologies that help in bridging between the virtual and physical domains of shopping include beacons and augmented reality (AR).
There are other areas not covered above in which online shopping is distinguished from in-store shopping and require more attention, such as customer service, specifically providing advice and assistance to shoppers, and the fulfillment of orders (a 'click-and-collect' programme is another way of linking the physical and online stores).
The physical and digital (virtual) domains have each their strengths in creating different forms of shopping experiences. Physical stores and shops have built-in advantages in evoking emotional experiences while shopping — they are tangible and more direct, can provide good personal care, and may attract and excite shoppers by means of interior design and visual merchandising in their physical spaces. Furthermore, beyond vision, physical stores allow shoppers to enact other senses (e.g., touch, smell) that cannot be experienced in the digital domain. It is unsure how much a store website (or app) can give rise to a similar emotional experience and attachment in shoppers, yet there are aspects that can be borrowed into the digital domain that would make it seem not just functional but also more appealing and immersive. Nonetheless, mixed retailers may have the best opportunity to combine the strengths from the physical and digital domains and link them to produce shopping experiences that are more productive and enjoyable altogether.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Atmosphere, Customers, Design, Experience, Health-Care, Hospital, Information, Interaction, Medical, Patients, Quality, Service, Thoughts and Feelings, Treatment on 26/03/2019| 1 Comment »
When going through a surgery, the surgery itself would almost unquestionably be the major and focal treatment of the patient during hospitalisation. However, there is an envelope of procedures, treatments and other activities that make up the experience of the patient at the hospital. Furthermore, pre-surgery and follow-up procedures can also be accounted for in the whole experience. Patient experience is receiving increasing attention and greater weight in managing healthcare systems in recent years, side by side with the clinical demands of medical care. Although we cannot fully equate the status of 'patient' with 'customer' because of the highly specialised aspects and requirements of the medical domain, there are many activities and moments of interaction in which it is fair and right to view the patient as a customer.
Healthcare services are not immune to the growing power of consumers and their higher expectations, as customers, that have become omnipresent in many fields of services and products. Consumers expect greater awareness of their needs and respecting their rights. Yet there are unique challenges in adopting a 'customer-centric' approach with medical patients because clinical considerations come first in the responsibilities of medical professionals. It is a challenge, for instance, to convince doctors and nurses that improved patient experience is more than 'nice but not necessary' or that this is not 'a luxury given their tight schedules'. Another challenge is balancing between the undoubted authority of medical doctors in their domains of clinical specialisations and the need of patients to be informed, assured and comforted about treatments they should receive. How a clinical treatment is communicated and delivered to a patient can influence considerably his or her experience in a positive way; moreover, there are many less critical procedures and interactions through which doctors, nurses and assisting care providers can further improve the patient experience.
A commonly accepted definition of patient experience developed by the Beryl Institute defines it as "The sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization's culture, that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care". First, having a supporting culture is paramount to the successful assimilation of a patient experience approach. Second, there is a recognition among researchers and experts that patients' experiences should be addressed through their perceptions reflecting what has happened to them (e.g., during clinical procedures, interactions with doctors); measures of satisfaction are inadequate because satisfaction is construed relative to individuals' prior expectations, without informing what might have to be corrected. Third, steps along a whole journey or continuum of medical care of the patient should be accounted for (e.g., from hospital admission to discharge, covering care given within and outside the hospital walls). A customer-centred approach in the context of healthcare is recognised as Patient-Centred Care which focuses on improving patient experiences.
In a special report of the NHS Confederation (UK) on patient experience, the authors note the complexity of improving patient experience on top of striving to provide high-quality clinical care. In addition to the latter, it should be acknowledged that "Experience is also determined by the physical environment the patients are in and how they feel about the care they receive, including the way staff interact with them". The report authors state punctually: "Improving the experience of all patients starts by treating each one of them individually to ensure they receive the right care, at the right time, in the right way for them" (boldface highlight added)[1].
Improvements in patient experience in a hospital ward (e.g., cardiology, orthopaedic) seem to happen in small steps, in small details; the staff may not fully appreciate their value to patients and their family relatives . Better experience may arise from greater awareness of the worries, concerns or inconveniences of patients by doctors, nurses and assisting caregivers. It may be achieved by listening to the patients and being more patient and soft with them. It is not an easy demand: the staff may have two or three dozens of patients to attend to in the ward, and yet the staff has a duty to help and make the hospital stay as easy as possible for each patient. One should not overlook the importance of an emotional touch, feelings shown by and with patients. Keeping a peaceful and calm atmosphere in the hospital ward also contributes to patients' experience and prospects of healing. Doctors in particular can help to improve the patient experience by willing to explain and inform a patient (and family) in plain words and empathy about his or her condition and treatments required, especially upon request (i.e., respecting the right of a patient to be informed). Additionally, doctors should not leave patients out of decisions made about them, where the patient demonstrates interest and capacity in being involved.
Much of the conduct described above can be seen happening more frequently than say five or ten years ago. One may encounter specific members of staff who make an extra effort to help, talk with a patient a little longer, answer questions at the nurse counter or in the patient's room, and they do it kindly and voluntarily. Yet there is also observable variability where some members of staff appear less committed to providing a better treatment to patients with dignity, compassion and respect; patient experience does not seem to concern those staff members. Efforts in hospitals to increase awareness and training of staff about forms of conduct that improve patient experience, and their value to patients, have to address remaining pockets of inconsistency.
We should also look at processes in administering care to patients as they may have further impact on patient experience in addition to the quality and safety of medical care. For example, it is greatly important to pass and share information about patients between nurses and doctors within a shift and between shifts. Understandably, medical staff may not be able to give a full detailed update about every patient in the brief during change of shifts. But even during a shift there may not be enough time to pass information between staff members (e.g., a change in treatment for a particular patient). It is therefore crucial that staff members update patient records in the computer information system regularly and consult the records frequently to make sure information is not lost, forgotten or missed by the next staff member attending to the same patient. It can matter, for instance, when the patient or family inform staff about medication the patient is taking regularly (or should avoid), or regarding any change ordered in medication administered during hospitalisation. More generally, it would help to avoid situations where staff members ask patients or family the same question several times. Failure to record and pass customer information is a problem well-known and documented in customer service, yet in this case shortcomings in passing patient information can have more critical consequences. Therefore, ensuring that information is available to administer the right treatment at the right time would improve the quality and safety of patient care and thereby his or her personal experience.
Improving patient care and experience by physicians relies on better understanding of patients' needs which could be achieved by working on three key priorities: competency, teamwork, and compassion; being successful would help in driving loyalty of patients to physicians (James Merlino, MD, an expert advisor with Press Ganey Associates in an interview with Micah Solomon of Forbes, 11 May 2017). It sounds, nonetheless, that this trio of priorities is fundamental and could contribute in multiple settings to patient care by physicians with the mentioned benefit to individual physicians, their clinics or hospital wards (private or public). [Note: Merlino suggests also incorporating patient segmentation and nurturing caregiver engagement as requisites to improving patient experience.]
A study of patient interviews at Royal Bolton Hospital in the UK, cited by the NHS Confederation report, identified two themes that appear to relate to pivotal concerns of many patients: "no needless pain" and "no feelings of helplessness"; the researchers were able to sort interviews along these two leading themes and later held discussions with hospital staff on the issues raised in the interviews. In another example given, the report refers to relationships built with patients and their families, and among staff and executives: a data-driven methodology, Patient and Family Centred Care, developed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center assesses different care pathways where each care pathway is studied and an ideal patient experience is outlined respectively. A project is developed in collaboration between professional staff and management to carry out these experience-oriented care plans.
As suggested above, a calm and pleasant atmosphere in the hospital ward can have a positive effect on patients' feelings (e.g., soothing, relaxing). Contributors to the desirable atmosphere are the behaviour of medical and assisting (nursing) staff but not least also the design, furnishing and atmospherics of the physical environment in a hospital ward. Colours, windows and the sunlight they allow into rooms, warm materials (e.g., wood) and ergonomics, artwork hung on walls, and even pleasant odour should help in generating an atmosphere conducive to better healing (e.g., stronger improvement in the clinical condition of the patient, shorter hospital stay). In fact, research supports positive effects of the environment and ergonomics on healing of patients but also on staff sentiment and conduct (e.g., by reducing fatigue and stress).
According to a review of literature prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Siemens Healthineers (healthcare division), improved patient experience has been shown to have positive impact on clinical outcomes and care delivery for patients, financial outcomes for hospitals (efficiency, cost reduction), and morale and productivity of staff. The review further supports the importance of improving patient experience throughout the continuum of care: before, during, and after hospital admission; it should also engage patients, staff, system and interfaces inside the hospital and outside (e.g., pre-surgery and follow-up treatments and clinical examinations may be provided by the hospital and complemented in other clinics)[2].
Patients themselves also believe in the positive effect that better experience can have on their healing prospects. A consumer survey (2018) conducted by Beryl Institute found that 69% of consumers believe a good experience contributes to their healing / good health outcomes. It was also learned from consumers that being listened to, communicated to them in a way they can understand, and being treated with dignity and respect are the three most important factors to them influencing their (patient) experience.
Patient experience cannot be separated from the overall programme of care they receive in the hospital; it embodies all that happens to them, the treatments they receive and interactions they have with members of staff, and how they feel about it all. As healthcare professionals increasingly appreciate, it would be wrong to brush away this subjective and emotional viewpoint of patients on their experience in the hospital or see it as inferior to the clinical aspects of medical care. They go hand-in-hand, and as research has shown improved experience of patients is likely to have a positive impact on their clinical condition and healing prospects. A broad perspective on patient experience is nonetheless necessary, encompassing any components of care that are part of hospitalisation or tied to it; involving different types of staff (doctors and nurses, assisting caregivers, and administrative staff as well); and it could take a step forward and consider care given inside the hospital and outside it. Improvements in patient experience can already be discerned in the past decade; yet this is an area of continued work and effort where more can be done to create even better and more consistent patient experiences.
[1] "Feeling Better? Improving Patient Experience in Hospital", The NHS Cofederation, 2010
[2] "Improving Patient Experience", Siements Healthineers Global, 13 June 2018 (Whitepaper)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, CRM, Customers, Data, Digital, ERP, Experience, Internet, Management, Marketing, Mobile, Relationships, Research, Software, Statistics, Surveys, Technology on 23/01/2019| Leave a Comment »
'Experience' has gained a prime status in the past decade — everything seems to revolve around experience in the universe of management, marketing, and even more specifically with respect to relationship marketing. It has become like a sine qua non of operating in this universe. There can be multiple contexts for framing experience — customer experience, brand experience, user (or product) experience, and also employee experience. Nevertheless, these concepts are inter-linked, and customer experience could be the central point-of-reference just because all other forms of experience eventually contribute to the customer's experience. After all, this is the age of experience economy (cf. Pine and Gilmore).
This focus on the role of experience and primarily customer experience (CX) in contemporary marketing surely has not escaped the attention of companies involved with data-based marketing particularly on the service side (e.g., technology, research, consulting). In mid-November 2018 enterprise information technology company SAP announced a stark move of acquiring research technology firm Qualtrics for the sum of $8 billion in cash (deal expected to materialise during the first half of 2019). Qualtrics started in 2002 by specialising in survey technology for conducting consumer and customer surveys online, and has later on broadened the spectrum of its software products and tools to address a range of experience domains, put in a framework entitled Experience Management (XM).
However, less visible to the public, Qualtrics made an acquisition of its own of Temkin Group — an expert company specialising in customer experience research, training and consulting — about two weeks before announcing the SAP-Qualtrics deal. Qualtrics was reportedly engaged at the time of these deals in preparations for its IPO. Adding the knowledge and capabilities of Temkin Group to those of Qualtrics could fairly be viewed as a positive enforcement of the latter prior to its IPO, and eventually the selling of Qualtrics to SAP. Therefore, it would be right to say that Qualrtics + Temkin Group and SAP are effectively joining forces in domain knowledge, research capabilities and data technologies. Yet since the original three entities (i.e., as before November 2018) were so unequal in size and power, it raises some major questions about how their union under the umbrella of SAP will work out.
SAP specialises in enterprise software applications for organisational day-to-day functions across-the-board, and supporting software-related services (SAP was established in 1972, based in Germany). It operates today in 130 countries with 100+ innovation and development centres; its revenue in the 2017 financial year was $23.46 billion. Many of the company's software applications can be deployed on premises, in the cloud, or hybrid (SAP reports 150 million subscribers in the cloud service user base). The two product areas of highest relevance to this story are CRM & Customer Experience solutions and the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions & Digital Core (featuring its flagship platform HANA). The two areas of solutions correspond with each other.
The S4/HANA platform is described as an intelligent ERP software, a real-time solution suite . It enables, for example, delivering personally customised products ordered online (e.g., bicycles). For marketing activities and customer-facing services it should require data from the CRM and CX applications. The ERP platform supports, however, the financial planning and execution of overall activities of a client organisation. The CRM & Customer Experience suite of solutions includes five key components: Customer Data Cloud (enabled actually by Gigya, another acquisition by SAP in 2017); Marketing Cloud; Commerce Cloud; Sales Cloud; and Service Cloud. The suite covers a span of activities and functions: profiling and targeting at segment-level and individual level, applicable, for instance, in campaigns or tracking customer journeys (Marketing); product order and content management (Commerce); comprehensive self-service processes plus field service management and remote service operations by agents (Service). In all these sub-areas we may find potential links to the kinds of data that can be collected and analysed with the tools of Qualtrics while SAP's applications are run on operational data gathered within its system apparatus. The key strengths offered in the Customer Data Cloud are integrating data, securing customer identity and access to digital interfaces across channels and devices, and data privacy protection. SAP highlights that its marketing and customer applications are empowered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to personalise and improve experiences.
At the technical and analytic level, SAP's Digital Platform is in charge of the maintenance of solutions and databases (e.g., ERP HANA) and management of data processes, accompanied by the suite of Business Analytics that includes the Analytics Cloud, Business Analytics, Predictive Analytics and Collaborative Enterprise Planning. Across platforms SAP makes use of intelligent technologies and tools organised in its Leonardo suite.
Qualtrics arrives from quite a different territory, nestled much closer to the field of marketing and customer research as a provider of technologies for data collection through surveys of consumers and customers, and data analytic tools. The company has gained acknowledgement thanks to its survey software for collecting data online whose use has so expanded to make it one of the more popular among businesses for survey research. Qualtrics now focuses on four domains for research: Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Product Experience, and Employee Experience.
The revenue of Qualtrics in 2018 is expected to exceed $400 million (in first half of 2018 revenue grew 42% to $184m); the company forecast that revenue will continue to grow at an annual rate of 40% before counting its benefits from synergies with SAP (CNBC; TechCrunch on 11 November 2018).
Qualtrics organises its research methodologies and tools by context under the four experience domains aforementioned. The flagship survey software, PER, allows for data collection through multiple digital channels (e.g., e-mail, web, mobile app, SMS and more), and is accompanied by a collection of techniques and tools for data analysis and visualisation. The company emphasises that its tools are so designed that use of them does not require one to be a survey expert or a statistician.
Qualtrics provides a range of intelligent assistance and automation capabilities; they can aid, guide and support the work of users according to their level of proficiency. Qualtrics has developed a suite of intelligent tools, named iQ, among them Stats iQ for statistical analysis, Text iQ for text analytics and sentiment scoring, and Predict iQ + Driver iQ for advanced statistical analysis and modelling. Additionally, it offers ExpertReview for helping with questionnaire composition (e.g., by giving AI-expert 'second opinion'). In a marketing context, the company offers techniques for ad testing, brand tracking, pricing research, market segmentation and more. Some of these research methodologies and tools would be of less relevance and interest to SAP unless they can be connected directly to customer experiences that SAP needs to understand and account for through the services it offers.
The methods and tools by Qualtrics are dedicated to bringing the subjective perspective of customers about their experiences. Under the topic of Customer Experience Qualtrics covers customer journey mapping, Net Promoter Score (NPS), voice of the customer, and digital customer experience; user experience is covered in the domain of Product Experience, and various forms of customer-brand interactions are addressed as part of Brand Experience. The interest of SAP especially in Qualtrics, as stated by the firm, is complementing or enhancing its operational data (O-data) with customer-driven experience data (X-data) produced by Qualtrics (no mention is made of Temkin Group). The backing and wide business network of SAP should create new opportunities for Qualtrics to enlarge its customer base, as suggested by SAP. The functional benefits for Qualtrics are less clear; possible gains may be achieved by combining operational metrics in customer analyses as benchmarks or by making comparisons between objective and subjective evaluations of customer experiences, assuming clients will subscribe to some of the services provided by the new parent company SAP.
Temkin Group operated as an independent firm for eight years (2010-2018), headed by Bruce Temkin (with wife Karen), until its acquisition by Qualtrics in late October 2018. It provided consulting, research and training activities on customer experience (at its core was customer experience but it dealt with various dimensions of experience beyond and in relation to customers). A key asset of Temkin Group is its blog / website Experience Matters, a valued resource of knowledge; its content remains largely in place (viewed January 2018), and hopefully will stay on.
Bruce Temkin developed several strategic concepts and constructs of experience. The Temkin Experience Rating metric is based on a three-component construct of experience: Success, Effort and Emotion. The strategic model of experience includes four required competencies: (a) Purposeful Leadership; (b) Compelling Brand Values; (c) Employee Engagement; and (d) Customer Connectedness. He made important statements in emphasising the essence of employee engagement to deliver superior customer experience, and in including Emotion as one of the pillars of customer experience upon which it should be evaluated. The more prominent of the research reports published by Temkin Group were probably the annual series of Temkin Experience Rating reports, covering 20 industries or markets with a selection of companies competing in each.
Yet Temkin apparently has come to a realisation that he should not go it alone any longer. In a post blog on 24 October 2018, entitled "Great News: Temkin Group Joins Forces With Qualtrics", Temkin explained as the motivation to his deal with Qualtrics a recognition he had reached during the last few years: "it's become clear to me that Qualtrics has the strongest momentum in CX and XM". Temkin will be leading the Qualtrics XM Institute, built on the foundations of Temkin CX Institute dedicated to training. The new institute will be sitting on top of Qualtrics XM platform. In his blog announcement Temkin states that the Qualtrics XM Institute will "help shape the future of experience management, establish and publish best practices, drive product innovation, and enable certification and training programs that further build the community of XM professionals" — a concise statement that can be viewed as the charter of the institute Temkin will be in charge of at Qualtrics. Temkin has not taken long to adopt the framework of Experience Management and support it in writing for the blog.
The teams of Temkin and Qualtrics (CEO and co-founder Ryan Smith) may co-operate more closely in developing research plans on experience for clients and initiating research reports similar to the ones Temkin Group produced so far. Bruce Temkin should have easy and immediate access to the full range of tools and technologies of Qualtrics to continue with research projects and improve on them. Qualtrics should have much to benefit from the knowledge and training experience of Temkin in the new XM institute at Qualtrics. It seems easier to foresee beneficial synergies between Temkin Group and Qualtrics than their expected synergies with SAP.
However, there is a great question arising now, how all this vision and plans for Temkin and Qualtrics working together, and particularly their project of Qualtrics XM Institute, will be sustained following the acquisition of Qualtrics by SAP. One cannot overlook the possibility that SAP will develop its own expectations and may require changes to plans only recently made or modifications to Qualtrics CX Platform and XM Solutions so as to satisfy the needs of SAP. According to TechCrunch (11 Nov. 2018) Qualtrics will continue to function as a subsidiary company and will retain its branding and personnel (note: it may be gradually assimilated into SAP while keeping Qualtrics associated names, as seems to be the case of Israel-based Gigya). Much indeed can depend on giving Qualtrics + Temkin Group autonomy to pursue with their specialisations and vision on XM while they share knowledge, data and technologies with SAP.
Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, is looking high in the sky: as quoted in the company's news release from 11 November 2018, he describes bringing together SAP and Qualtrics as "a new paradigm, similar to market-making shifts in personal operating systems, smart devices and social networks". But it is also evident that SAP still sees the move through the prism of technology: "The combination of Qualtrics and SAP reaffirms experience management as the ground-breaking new frontier for the technology industry".
Temkin's viewpoint is much more customer-oriented and marketing-driven vis-à-vis the technology-driven view of McDermott and SAP, which may put them in greater conflict with time about priorities and future direction for XM. Qualtrics headed by Ryan Smith will have to decide how it prefers to balance between the marketing-driven view and technology-driven view on experience. Temkin, for example, has reservations about the orientation of the technology known as Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM), suggesting instead a different focus by naming this field "Customer Insight and Action (AIC) Platforms". In his comments on the acquisition of Qualtrics by SAP (16 November 2018) he explains that organisations "succeed by taking action on insights that come from many sources, combining experience data (X-data) and operational data (O-data)". In his arguments in favour of joining SAP with Qualtrics, Temkin recollects an observation he made in an award-winning report from 2002 while at Forrester Research: he argued then that "widespread disappointing results of CRM were a result of a pure technology-orientation and that companies needed to focus more on developing practices and perspectives that used the technology to better serve customers"; he claims that much has changed in the field since that time. Yet it is hard to be convinced that technology has much less influence now in shaping organisational, managerial and marketing processes, on both service side (e.g., SAP) and client side.
As a note aside, if SAP gets the upper hand in setting the agenda and does not give sufficient autonomy to Qualtrics as suggested earlier, the first sector at risk of having most to lose from this deal would be 'marketing and customer research'.
SAP and Qualtrics are both involved in development and implementation of technology, yet SAP is focused on information technology enabling overall day-to-day operations of an organisation, whereas Qualtrics is focused on technology enabling experience and marketing research. Qualtrics and Temkin Group are both engaged in domains of experience: Qualtrics specialises in the technology that enables the research, while Temkin Group brought strengths in conducting research plus strategic thinking and training (education) on customer experience. In order for their joint forces to succeed they all will have to find ways to bridge gaps between their viewpoints, to 'live and let live', and at the same time complement one another in areas of shared understanding and expertise.
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text:
PSYCHIATRIST (GERMANY)
BORN 15 Feb 1856, Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - DIED 7 Oct 1926, München, Bayern
GRAVE LOCATION Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg: Bergfriedhof, Rohrbacher Strasse (Abteilung V)
Emil Kraepelin was the son of a civil servant. He studied Medicin in Leipzig and Würzburg. In Leipzig Paul Flechsig and Wilhelm Wundt were among his teachers. In 1879 he went to Munich to work with Bernard von Gudden and there he completed his thesis "The Place of Psychology in Psychiatry".
In 1882 he returned to Leipzig and in 1883 he published "Compendium der Psychiatrie" in which he stated that psychiatry was a medical science and research should be conducted in a way similar to the other natural sciences. In 1884 he married Ina Schwabe. They had eight children, but only four of them survived infancy.
In 1886 he became professor of psychiatry at the University of Dorpat (now Tartu). In 1890 he moved on to Heidelberg where he was the head of the Universitäts-Irrenklinik until 1903. In 1903 he travelled to Italy and Asia with his brother Karl and after his return he worked in Munich where he founded the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Psychiatrie in 1917. It is now a part of the Max-Planck-Institut for Pshychiatry in Munich. Kraepelin is often regarded as the founder of modern scientific psychology.
• was teacher to Alzheimer, Alois
• worked for Gudden, Bernard von
The grave of Emil Kraepelin at the Bergfriedhof, Heidelberg.
Picture by Androom (21 Aug 2010)
• Emil Kraepelin – Wikipedia
Published: 29 May 2011 Last update: 26 Oct 2019