Leveraging sponsorship: The activation ratio

The accelerated growth of sponsorship has brought increased attention and scrutiny to this relatively new area of marketing and communications strategy. In turn, researchers have focused on defining, understanding and measuring the various aspects of sponsorship. However, detailed research related to the ‘how’ of sponsorship implementation remains limited. A key aspect of implementation is known as activation, which refers to the investment by the sponsor above and beyond the fee required to acquire the official rights to that sponsorship. Activation is normally referred to as a ratio of the additional investment to the cost of the rights fees. Previous studies have offered recommended activation ratios ranging from 1:1 to as high as 8:1 in order to fully reap the rewards of sponsorship. This research seeks to enhance our understanding of sponsorship activation via an in-depth case study, a typical method for exploratory research of this nature. Specifically, we ask (i) what drives activation, (ii) what are the best methods of activation, and (iii) how much should be spent on activation? Findings suggest that management decisions regarding activation focus on the custom development of quality strategies versus increasing the activation ratio. Indeed, a formula based on a variety of factors is recommended since activation tactics and their appropriateness to a specific sponsorship are the cornerstones of sponsorship success. Overall, results present a four-step model including activation drivers, strategic considerations, activation spending, and sponsorship outcomes.     

Children''s Beliefs about Listening: Is It Enough to Be Still and Quiet?

This study examined children's conception of listening and their performance as listeners, 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children were interviewed for their conceptions of good listening, their beliefs about appropriate actions for confused listeners to take, their attributions of responsibility for a listener's confusion, their reports of how speakers and listeners feel during communication breakdown, and their ability to detect inconsistencies during a comprehension-monitoring task. Results indicated that older children relied less on behavioral orientation and more on attempts to comprehend and other criteria in their definitions of good listening. Children believed that appropriate listening responses depend on the situation, and there was a developmental increase in asking the speaker a question and listening more carefully. With age, children also tended to report more complex negative emotions for listeners and speakers experiencing a breakdown in understanding. Children recalled incongruent material more than congruent material on the comprehension-monitoring task.     

Training and Abrichtung: Wittgenstein as a tragic philosopher of education

As a landmark philosopher of language and of mind, Ludwig Wittgenstein is also remarkable for having crossed, with apparent ease, the ‘continental divide’ in philosophy. It is consequently not surprising that Wittgenstein’s work, particularly in the Philosophical Investigations, has been taken up by philosophers of education in English. Michael A. Peters, Christopher Winch, Paul Smeyers and Nicholas Burbules, and others have engaged extensively with the implications of the later Wittgenstein’s philosophy for education. One challenge they face is Wittgenstein’s use of the word ‘training.’ It appears throughout his discussions of language learning and in his periodic references to education. This is made all the more problematic by realizing that the German term Wittgenstein uses consistently is Abrichtung, which refers to animal dressage or obedience training, which is currently used in sadomasochistic practice, and which also connotes also the breaking of an animal’s will. I argue that this little-recognized fact has broad significance for many important Wittgenstinian insights into education. I conclude by considering how an unflinching recognition of the implications of Wittgenstein’s word choice might cast him as a pessimistic or tragic philosopher of education and upbringing—following German-language traditions—rather than as thinker more compatible with progressive Anglo-American perspectives.     

Plan Before You Play: An Activity for Teaching The Managerial Process

This article describes a 60‐minute classroom activity using LEGO^® bricks that demonstrates and reinforces the importance of the managerial process. The activity, Plan Before You Play (PBP), is targeted to introductory business classes, and differs from others in that it requires little investment or up‐front planning, is easily scalable, and, with a few minor adjustments, can be altered sufficiently to discourage information drift across multiple class offerings and academic terms. It can also be modified to subject specific discussions. Students can participate in PBP regardless of their level of knowledge or interest in the subject. Participating in PBP provides students with a concrete example of how good communication and a decision framework can result in more efficient use of resources. The activity also encourages creativity and can be used to generate healthy competition between student groups.