It is often said that European companies must stop trying to compete on price and concentrate more on developing products and services that offer customers and users a high level of added value. Design is an indispensable tool for such development and innovation, and this is why the findings of this …

Students' educational careers in Higher Education: a search into key factors regarding study outcome One of the political goals of the EU is to develop 'the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010'. The Dutch knowledge economy faces an increased demand for highly-educated inhabitants, …

Background: Cardiovascular risk factors are associated with physical fitness and, to a lesser extent, physical activity. Lifestyle interventions directed at enhancing physical fitness in order to decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases should be extended. To enable the development of effective lifestyle …

This paper discusses and illustrates the ‘knowledge turn’ in urban policy across Europe. We identify four manifestations of it: 1) widespread efforts to lure knowledge workers; 2) a growing involvement of knowledge institutes in urban development and planning processes, 3) an explicit ‘knowledge based’ …

In this chapter, we explore a case inwhich a problembased learning (PBL) course at Maastricht University is responsively evaluated. Within responsive evaluation, the value of an educational practice or educational regime is dependent on the multiple, sometimes conflicting, perspectives of stakeholders …

Prospective adoptive parents who take part in a Dutch adoption assessment procedure are asked to write down their life stories. In this article we examine how information from the life stories is deleted, selected and transformed into a topic to talk about in an assessment interview and/or to write about …

The central focus of this article is on the moral dilemmas that social servants face when applying the law. These moral dilemmas result from the professional’s discretionary space. Exploratory qualitative research shows that, in order to solve these dilemmas, professionals in some public organisations …

Parallel trade is 'the legal importation of genuine goods into a country by intermediaries other than authorised distributors' (Albaum, Duerr, Strandskov, 2005, p. 313). It has been concluded that parallel import is a result of price differences across European countries, which in turn, is the result …

I am glad to share the major findings of my bachelor thesis with you. Let me first give you an insight in the current situation within IBM and the Madrid International Services Centre.The global economy is suffering from a crisis hitting several big corporate players. Nevertheless,IBM and the Centre …

This paper focuses on the concept climate refugees in the 21st Century and mainly concerns environmentally displaced persons from developing countries. It seeks to answer the following question: 'Should the concept of climate refugees best be approached from a juridical or an environmental point of view?' …