The seven papers use data from particular industries to examine the nature and causes of recent changes in earnings equality in the United States. They provide perspectives from banking, telecommunications, semiconductors, steel, grocery, truck driving, apparel, and imaging industries on recent debates regarding the influence that technological…

Describes a study where 66 subjects were asked to perform some predefined book purchasing task in a series of Web sites with varying interface quality. A strong relationship between interface quality and trust was found and some components of user interface quality were more important than others. Discusses implications for Web site design.…

Changes such as the development of large international retail chains, retail concentration, locational changes, technological innovation, new labor practices, and the increasing scale of individual stores, have revolutionized the retail sector. This broad restructuring will have profound impacts in rural America because employment in retail is a…

Two experiments examine the effect of multiple synthetic voices in an e-commerce context. In Study 1, participants (N=40) heard five positive reviews about a book from five different synthetic voices or from a single synthetic voice. Consistent with the multiple source effect, results showed that participants hearing multiple synthetic voices…

The Blank Check Order System was developed to cut paperwork and in-store processing costs for special order books. The customer pays in advance and the bookstore sends a blank check order to the publisher. The process and its advantages are described in detail including evaluation by publishers and college store managers. (JT)

The article summarizes the findings from the September 1973 Bureau of Labor Statistics' first occupational wage survey of department stores in over 20 years, covering full-and part-time nonsupervisory workers in 17 occupations. Occupational wage levels varied widely with top pay levels reported in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. (MW)

A pilot study examined how newspaper advertising sales managers in five southwestern states spend their time during a typical work day. Of the 360 questionnaires mailed, 176 responses were received. The largest number of responses (93) came from retail sales managers of newspapers in markets with less than 50,000 population. The questionnaire…

Hispanic Americans owned nearly 250,000 U.S. businesses in 1982. This is only one-fourth of the number which would be expected given their proportion of the population. Most Hispanic businesses were small service or retail establishments with no paid employees. This report provides an analysis of survey data which were collected by the Bureau of…

A study examined the characteristics and attributes needed by individuals for career success in entry-level management positions in the retailing industry. Included among the specific objectives of the study were the following: identification of the educational level and retailing experience needed by successful entry-level retail managers,…

THE PURPOSE OF THIS SELF-STUDY PROGRAM IS TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF TOTAL RETAIL FOOD STORE OPERATIONS AND TO BROADEN THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THOSE IN OR STUDENTS AND OTHERS PREPARING TO ENTER THE FOOD INDUSTRY. IT WAS DEVELOPED BY THE QUAKER OATS COMPANY FOR ITS SALESMEN BUT WAS EXPANDED FOR USE OUTSIDE THE COMPANY. THE…

The study assembled up-to-date facts by questionnaire about major types of tasks actually performed by merchandising employees working in department, variety, and general merchandise stores in King and Pierce Counties, Washington. This population closely matched the national percentages, and responses of 609 employees provided data for the study.…

The manual is a 12-hour program for adults who are working or preparing to work as retail salespeople. It can also be used as a summarization manual for high school students. The manual consists of five sessions which take the individual from the human aspect of sales to the related sales technique. The sessions are entitled: employee and customer…

The training course is designed to develop the awareness needed in accepting checks, as well as what to do in a situation where the person is purposely passing fraudulent checks. The format of the document is a two-column arrangement with an outline of the material to be taught juxtaposed next to suggestions for teaching the material. Four…

Presented is "The Cornell Campus Store Pre-Planning Manual for Inventory Procedures" that is used to prepare staff members for taking a complete and accurate inventory. The guidelines include information on merchandise cut-offs, paperwork, housekeeping, and physical inventory count procedures and instructions. (JMD)

To attract suburban, nonstudent customers, the Yale Cooperative Corporation held a Heirloom Discovery Day. Co-op books and materials were sold to customers who came with antique items to be appraised. Donations from the profits were made to the New Haven Symphony and the University Collection of Musical Instruments. (JMD)