Search Results

Property /casualty brokers currently face a growing competition from direct sales. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to describe the current state and the orientations of the brokerage network by presenting the results of a comprehensive survey that reached 75% of all the brokerage firms in Québec. Interpretation of results allow us, among other things, to verify that service is a main concern for brokers, which confirms the theoretical hypothesis that superior service should compensate higher expense ratios for the brokerage system.

Dans un contexte où le consommateur est inondé de choix, les entreprises doivent se démarquer de la compétition. Ainsi, le marketing expérientiel est de plus en plus utilisé en entreprise pour sa capacité à susciter la réceptivité et l'implication des consommateurs. Cependant, très peu d'échelles de mesure sont mises à la disposition des gestionnaires lorsqu'il s'agit d'évaluer leur offre expérientielle, spécialement dans des champs d'études moins hédoniques de la consommation. L'objectif de ce mémoire consiste à élaborer la première échelle multidimensionnelle du marketing expérientiel utilisable dans deux canaux et appliquée au contexte des institutions financières. À la suite d'une revue de littérature et de quatre entrevues qualitatives qui ont permis de générer des items pertinents, le chercheur a suivi la méthodologie de Churchill (1979). Ainsi, …

The Supreme Court of Canada has recently rendered judgment in what has come to be known as the Omelet Case. The Court was called upon to rule on the constitutionality of several provisions in federal and Ontario law, the purpose of which was to set up a plan for the marketing of eggs in Canada. The plan provided for a levy on producers and had as its objectives the attribution to each province of a share of the national market for eggs, and the setting of production quotas within each province as regards its part of the market. Such quotas were to be set in an identical manner for all producers, whether they be engaged in intraprovincial, inter provincial, or export trade. The province of Ontario also provided for the imposition of quotas as to the means of production, particularly as to the number of domestic hens a producer could possess. This paper shows how the distribution of legislative powers in respect of taxation and commerce is affected by the Supreme Court's decision. It is suggested that the Court has completely abandoned the doctrine of the Crystal Dairy case, in which the Privy Council had ruled that the levying of fees on producers was a matter of taxation. The paper also outlines the consequences of certain remarks by Chief Justice Laskin on the spending power of Parliament. The paper then discusses the reticence of certain members of the Court to approve the measures adopted by Ontario concerning the control of means of production. Such reticence illustrates the difficulties faced by the Court when trying to define or identify which measures can be adopted by the provinces, within the framework of agricultural marketing plans, without encroaching upon federal jurisdiction over interprovincial trade under subs. 91(2) of the BNA Act. Finally, the paper attempts to show how the scope of s. 121 of the BNA Act is limited by the ruling that it cannot hamper federal regulation of interprovincial trade under subs. 91(2). This latest decision confirms the broadening of the scope of subs. 91(2), already apparent in the Caloil case and the Manitoba Egg reference. The strenghtening of subs. 91(2) may imply that s. 121 will be applied differently, according to whether federal or provincial legislation is involved.

Innovation is a network activity where different actors collaborate. An ethnographic survey of the French commercial architecture industry highlights the ambivalence of this co-production process. The results identify the sources of co-creation and co-destruction related both to the motivations of the actors and their interactions and examines their consequences. Retailers are encouraged to reposition themselves as project leaders, responsible for both assigning roles and mediating between the creative and technical functions. The development of new communication platforms to overcome interpretive biases between the diverse set of actors is also recommended.

Keywords: commerce de détail, design de l'expérience en magasin, réseau de valeur, coproduction, co-création/co-destruction de valeur, théorie des conventions, économie des grandeurs, enquête ethnographique, retail industry, store design, value network, coproduction, value co-creation, value co-destruction, convention theory, economies of worth, ethnographic survey, comercio detallista, diseño de la experiencia de compra en el establecimiento, red de valor, coproducción, co-creación/co-destrucción de valor, teoría de las convenciones, economía de la grandeza, estudio etnográfico

In contrast with traditional academic disciplines, online educators do not have a generally accepted list of scholarly journals, which is in part a result of the multidisciplinary nature of the field, the relative infancy of online learning, and the view of online pedagogy as an instructional modality rather than a discrete academic discipline. The purpose of this study is to determine a comprehensive listing and relative value ranking of scholarly journals whose content informs online educators and motivates scholarship. After defining the scope of investigation to target peer-reviewed, scholarly journals with an explicit focus on computer-mediated learning (e.g., virtual, electronic, distance, distributive, mobile, and blended learning), 46 scholarly journals were identified as advancing the knowledge base in computer-mediated learning. Popularity, importance, prestige, and overall rankings for each journal are presented. The results inform online educators about the range of scholarly journals available and provide insight into the relative value of journals devoted to computer-mediated learning.

Keywords: Journal Ranking, computer-mediated learning, online educators, e-learning, distance learning, virtual learning, mobile learning, open learning, blended learning

An unobtrusive study of interlibrary loan in Canada's 38 largest public libraries documented what happened when 130 participants asked for a book that the library did not own. The usual indicators of quality used in libraries showed a fill rate of 52% and a turnaround time of 38 days; poor results by any standard. Customer measures of quality, based on a comparison of expectations and perceptions, showed that most participants were disappointed with the service that they received. Library management must improve service in ways that will also improve customer satisfaction.