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Understanding brand age is potentially critical to a brand management program. When a brand begins to be perceived as older, even with the positive attributes aligned with the idea of traditional and established brands, consumers may begin to move away from the brand. This study defines the concepts of both perceived and preferred brand age. We look at how perceived brand age fits in with our current perspective on branding and can enrich our understanding of consumers’ personal preferences. As there is very little published work in the area of brand age three distinct set of studies were conducted in order to fully understand the meaning of brand age, explicate the construct and understand the antecedents and consequences. The first study involved a group of exploratory studies. The purpose of this initial group of conceptual studies was to explore current consumer understanding and interpretation of the concept of perceived brand age. These studies were used to inform and direct our subsequent research. Our second set of studies explicated the brand age concept. In the first project, we used a Likert scale designed to understand what cues consumers use to understand the age of a brand. The second project was a semantic differential research study to examine what specific characteristics are associated with younger brands, older brands or are neutral between the two. We also develop and test a model of consumer choice through the exploration of the relationship between perceived brand age and preferred brand age.

Issued also as thesis, Kiel, 1963. / Offa-Bücher, Bd. 19.

No description available.

Issued also as thesis, Kiel, 1963. / Offa-Bücher, Bd. 19.

Magister Scientiae Dentium - MSc(Dent) / Background: Dental age is an indicator of the physiological maturity of growing children. Different methods for estimating the dental age in comparison to the chronological age were proposed in the literature. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of two methods i.e. the Phillips and Proffit methods in estimating the dental age in a sample of South African children at the Tygerberg dental faculty. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted by randomly selecting 100 panoramic radiographs with known chronological age. The sample contained an equal number of girls and boys (50 in each group) and the chronological age ranged between 6 and 11 years. Dental age for each radiograph was estimated using the Phillips and the Proffit methods respectively. The mean difference between dental and chronological age was calculated. Dental and chronological ages were compared using overall bias and random errors. Results: The results showed that for the girls’ sample, the Phillips method underestimated the age by 4 months which is statistically significant (p-value =0.03). The Proffit method underestimated the age by 2 days which is not statistically significant (p-value =0.97). Both methods however have the same frequency of random errors. For the boys’ sample, Phillips’ method underestimated the age by 6 months which is statistically significant (p-value <0.0001). Proffit’s method underestimated the age by 2 months which is not statistically significant (p-value= 0.15). The Phillips method was shown to have fewer random errors in boys. Discussion: The above mentioned results showed that for dental age estimation for girls, Proffit’s method would be more appropriate. This rationale is explained by the conclusion that it only underestimates the age by 2 days and has the same frequency of random errors as Phillips’ method. However, if one had to choose between the two methods for boys, the situation should be evaluated carefully. For boys, the Phillips method has fewer random errors but a larger overall bias (6 months) whereas Proffit’s method has more random errors but less overall bias (2 months). The choice between the two methods should therefore depend on the purpose of the estimation. If the method is used for estimating the age in a single individual with an unknown chronological age, Phillips’ method would be more preferable. However, if the method is used for age estimation in populations with a known mean chronological age, Proffit is preferred. Conclusion: Proffit’s description for dental development has been shown to be accurate in estimating the DA. It may therefore be considered to be a legitimate DA estimation method and not just a developmental description for the dentition.

No description available.

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Published Article / The important impact of an organisation's cultural orientation is often not fully comprehended by management and staff. Organisational culture as the 'soul' of an organisation forms the basis of all decisions that are taken in organisational context. In the Knowledge Age, where service delivery has become a crucial consideration organisations must be creative in dealing with its internal and external customers. In a competitive international environment organisations may find it difficult to apply the cultural principles that correspond with that of the Knowledge Age. This paper argues that in order for organisations to adapt successfully to the challenges of the Knowledge Age, they need to comprehend the fundamental influence of organisational culture, and how a focus on both internal and external stakeholders, could benefit the organisation. The arguments of this paper are based, in part, on an investigation of the organisational culture of a major private security company in South Africa.

The thesis examines the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age, i.e. the periods from Late Helladic IIIC (LHIIIC) to Protogeometric (PG) ( 1200-900 BC) in two areas of the Greek Mainland, the Argolid and Phokis-East Lokris. The Argolid, and in particular the Argive plain, which included among others the citadel of Mycenae, could be described as the core area of the Mycenaean world par excellence, while Phokis -East Lokris could be conventionally thought to belong to the Mycenaean periphery, since no palatial establishment was ever developed in the area. Through the comparative study of the evidence from the two areas, the different course of their post-palatial development is studied, and the factors that affected this development are carefully examined and discussed. In particular, the thesis investigates whether and how the different Mycenaean past of the two areas, and more specifically the different role of each one of them in the Mycenaean world affected their evolution in the period not only immediately after the palatial collapse but also in the transition to the Early Iron Age. The analysis of all the published evidence from LHIIIC to PG period (settlement remains, burials and cult evidence) offers a detailed view of the occupation of the areas in each phase of the transitional period and helps us gain a general, long-term understanding of settlement patterns, burial customs, cult practices and material culture. The study of continuity and changes in all these aspects also allows us to follow the socio-political evolution. In general, it is shown that the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age was experienced very differently in each of the two areas under examination. The long-term view of the evidence as adopted by the present study, bridges the divide that scholarly literature has created between the two eras, while at the same time places the two areas in the general context of the Aegean. It also takes into account the significant role that external factors such as trade contacts or population movements played in this crucial period. Overall, this study stresses the individuality of each area and of each site of the Greek mainland, and demonstrates the complex historical reality of the transitional period and its many different components. The final aim of the thesis is to enlighten the transformation process that two different areas of the Greek mainland underwent from the post-palatial times until the beginning of the Early Iron Age, a process believed to carry the seeds for the rise of the most typical political formation of ancient Greece, the polis.