Personal Apology Research Articles

Relationship quality matters: How restaurant businesses can optimize complaint management

This research investigates the effectiveness of complaint management according to company–client relationship quality (RQ). Interactional recovery efforts are critical for efficient complaint management in the hospitality management (restaurant) context; this study addresses the potential compensatory interaction effects of interactional recovery efforts (personal apology vs. impersonal apology via email) and two types of compensatory recovery efforts (voucher vs. refund), as well as their intensity (full vs. partial). A robust cut-off effect emerges, such that a minimum level of interactional effort influences the effectiveness of compensation efforts. Furthermore, RQ influences complaint management effectiveness: For loyal, high-RQ customers, interactional recovery effort (personal apologies) is more important, regardless of compensation intensity (full vs. partial) or type (voucher vs. refund). High- (low) RQ customers are more (less) likely to accept vouchers than refunds; vouchers symbolize their willingness to continue relationships. Thus, interactional effort allows firms to decrease the intensity of customer compensation required.

Does Perpetrator Occupation Affect Classification of Sexual Assault?

Classification of sexual assault varies based on the characteristics of the victim, perpetrator, and event. However, most studies focus on the individual characteristics of participants asked to classify the assault, the victims' characteristics, or the event; few have examined variations in the perpetrator. Therefore, this study examined whether the occupation of the perpetrator affected the classification of the event as sexual assault. Participants included a primarily White female sample of undergraduate students (n = 401) at a south-Atlantic university. They completed a paper-and-pencil survey containing an ambiguous sexual assault encounter where the occupation of the perpetrator (athlete, reporter, college student, or politician) was randomly varied. Participants were asked to classify whether the encounter was sexual assault and what an appropriate punishment might be. Additional measures included the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA) and questions about personal experience with sexual assault. Overall, most participants labeled the encounter as sexual assault, indicating that college students are aware of the legal parameters for providing consent. However, this classification occurred differentially based on the occupation of the perpetrator. Participants were most likely to label the athlete as committing sexual assault, followed by the college student, politician, and reporter, respectively. Females and those who reject rape myths were more likely to label the scenario as sexual assault. A "personal apology" and a "sexual rehabilitation program" were the most common punishments selected for the perpetrator. These findings highlight potential concerns and the need for additional training when college students adjudicate sexual assault reports and determine appropriate consequences.

An Empirical Test of Image Restoration Theory and Best Practice Suggestions Within the Context of Social Mediated Crisis Communication

Crises are inevitable for any company, and the fate of a company’s image rests in how well they are responded to. Few studies have experimentally tested the impact that common types of company responses can have on consumers’ perceptions when a negative complaint has been made online. This research sought to expand the strategies put forth for crisis management by image restoration theory (IRT) using best practice research within the context of social mediated crisis communication. An online experiment examined the effect of a company’s response to an online complaint (i.e., professional apology, personal apology, deleting the comment, ignoring the comment, control group) on participants’ perceptions of the company (i.e., perceptions of company caring, attitude). The potential for perceptions of company caring to mediate the relationship between these expanded strategies and IRT’s ultimate aim of attitude change was also tested. An apology, whether professional or personal, improved participants’ perceptions compared to deleting or ignoring the complaint. Caring significantly mediated the relationship between response strategy and participant attitude. Compared to a control group, which had no transgression, ignoring or deleting the complaint led to negative attitudes about the company, while responding to the complaint with a personal or professional apology led to positive attitudes about the company via perceptions of company caring. Results indicate that online complaints could also be seen as opportunities to improve a company’s image, as attitudes toward the company were highest when a transgression occurred and was responded to positively, compared to not having the transgression take place at all (i.e., control condition). Potential extensions to current image repair strategies in the social media environment are discussed.

Romans 7 and Christian Identity: A Study of the 'I' in Its Literary Context by Will N. Timmins

Reviewed by: Romans 7 and Christian Identity: A Study of the 'I' in Its Literary Context by Will N. Timmins Christian A. Eberhart will n. timmins, Romans 7 and Christian Identity: A Study of the 'I' in Its Literary Context (SNTSMS 170; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). Pp. xiv + 238. $99.99. This monograph is a revised version of the Ph.D. thesis of Will N. Timmins, submitted to the University of Cambridge in 2014, supervised by Peter Head. Exploring the "I" in Romans 7—and thus literally only one letter (at least in the English alphabet)—the volume could be considered as having too narrow a focus. But that is not the case. Timmins rightly demonstrates that chap. 7, specifically 7:7-25, is a key to the entirety of the theological concept presented in Romans. Likewise, a correct understanding of Paul's "I" passage unlocks the meaning of this particular chapter. Thus, by extension, a study of the riddle of the "I" (ἐγώ in Greek) is important for understanding the heart of Paul's theology in its mature stages. The book is organized in seven chapters. After an introduction (chap. 1) featuring a concise summary of recent research on the topic, T. dedicates chap. 2 to a discussion of the hypothesis of Stanley K. Stowers (referencing various publications by Stowers, among them: "Romans 7.7–25 as a Speech-in-Character [Προσωποποιία]," in Paul in His Hellenistic Context, ed. Troels Engberg-Pedersen [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994] 180–202; A Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews, and Gentiles [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994] 264–84) that Romans 7 is an example of the classical rhetorical device of prosopopoeia (speech-in-character). Deeming this argument unconvincing, T. proceeds in chap. 3 with an exploration of the context of the "I" in Romans. He investigates the singularity and solidarity of ambiguous first-person singular speech in Rom 3:7, suggesting that Paul takes on the persona of an exclusive individual boasting self-assurance so as to provide his audience in Rome with a negative model. Thus "the 'I' of 3:7 subtly prepares for the Adamic, confessing 'I' of Rom 7" (p. 201). Romans 6:12-19 also belongs to the context of the "I" in Romans 7; in chap. 4, therefore, T. scrutinizes Paul's argument about the believer's predicament between life in the mortal body and a new existence through participation in the life and resurrection of Christ. The fact that the new life of the believer does not translate into an intrinsic anthropological reality is also the subject of the central question of this book in its main section, which discusses the "I" and Adamic solidarity (Rom 7:7-13) and the "I" and the Christian existence (7:14–25). So in chap. 5, T. suggests that Paul employs a paradigmatic "I" to present his personal apology regarding the law, ultimately aiming at drawing the audience "into a recognition of their own Adamic solidarity" (p. 136). This means that, according to T., Paul does not assign the "I" to an imaginary interlocutor with whom he enters into dialogue for argumentative purposes, as argued by many scholars, but presents his own voice. In that case, the paragraph in 7:7-13 would feature no fictive use of the "I" and no diatribal exchange. Paul's next paragraph (7:14-25), discussed in chap. 6, goes on to describe the inner conflict of the "I," who remains under the power of sin as an anthropological condition despite having experienced salvation in Christ. Humans need the newness of the Spirit for fruitful service of God, but even the Spirit cannot change the fact that human bodies are weak and oriented toward death. Chapter 7 contains a summary of T.'s argument and shows how it corroborates Paul's vision of the Christian life. It covers the areas of life of faith, life of hope, and life of love. The book also features an appendix [End Page 559] illustrating the occurrences of first-person singular pronouns in Romans, an index of ancient sources, and an index of subjects and authors. Romans 7 and Christian Identity is to be commended for tackling the...

Patients' complaints regarding healthcare encounters and communication.

AimTo explore patient‐reported complaints regarding communication and healthcare encounters and how these were responded to by healthcare professionals.DesignA retrospective and descriptive design was used in a County Council in northern part of Sweden. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used.MethodsThe content of 587 patient‐reported complaints was included in the study. Descriptive statistical analysis and a deductive content analysis were used to investigate the content in the patient‐reported complaints.ResultsThe results show that patients’ dissatisfaction with encounters and communication concerned all departments in the healthcare organization. Patients were most dissatisfied when they were not met in a professional manner. There were differences between genders, where women reported more complaints regarding their dissatisfaction with encounters and communication compared with men. Many of the answers on the patient‐reported complaints lack a personal apology and some of the patients failed to receive an answer to their complaints.

Reining in the Commercialized Foreign Clinical Trial

In 2010, American President Barack Obama issued a personal apology to the people of Guatemala for a clinical trial that occurred over 60 years ago.11 Jake Tapper, President Obama Apologizes to Guat...

The professional duty of candour: implications for nursing.

to admit to making a mistake will be viewed as a weakness rather than an opportunity to make amends and learn to prevent future incidents. The new duty could prove a catalyst for cultural change and empower individuals to do the right thing. The second part of the guidance refers to organisational responsibilities: ‘Healthcare professionals must also be open and honest with their colleagues, employers and relevant organisations… must also be open and honest with their regulators, raising concerns where appropriate. They must support and encourage each other to be open and honest and not stop someone from raising concerns’ (GMC and NMC, 2014: ii) A learning culture within organisations is characterised by seeking out problems and acknowledging errors to make things better (Senge, 2006). Things go wrong owing to system problems or human error. Robust systems need to be in place to minimise the chance of error, as well as support education and training for staff when errors happen. The need for guidance indicates that this culture may not be the norm within health care. Practitioners may avoid saying sorry, fearing loss of patients’ confidence, but patients are human too and know that people make mistakes. It is how we deal with mistakes that matters. A personal apology is far more likely to prove satisfactory than a corporate letter saying the same thing. Clearly, nurse leaders as role models would be highly influential in changing the professional culture. The new duty does raise legal and ethical concerns. Heap (2014) writes that new contractual requirements relating to Duty of Candour have been introduced for NHS Trusts. This demands that death, serious/moderate harm related to an incident (but not the usual course of illness) must be reported. Low-harm incidents and near misses need not be reported externally but the GMC and NMC (2014) guidance states that such incidents should be part of an organisation’s internal reporting structures so that learning may occur. The

Accounting as Personal Apology

ABSTRACT What is the role of accounting? Typically, accounting is viewed as a technology to inform business decisions, such as allocation of economic resources within the marketplace. In contrast, public interest scholars emphasize the social role of accounting. For example, accounting mediates relationships among various parties, impacts social outcomes, and justifies the distribution of economic rewards. This paper contributes to the public interest perspective by exploring the origin of double-entry accounting (DEA) as a form of personal apologia. To develop the thesis that DEA originated as a form of personal apology, this paper draws from modern and medieval scholars. During the medieval period, profit seeking and markets were deeply suspect and, thus, medieval merchants occupied a precarious social and moral position. The Catholic Church was active in determining the “just price” for goods. Personal morality and just, balanced relationships were primary factors in the development of DEA. Confession and penance, sacraments of the Catholic Church, may have provided the model. The thesis that DEA originated as a form of personal apology is plausible. The contemporary, widespread use personal carbon-offset accounting (PCOA) illustrates that accounting retains the power to help construct the moral self and to mediate the individual's status within the community.

Complaints with encounters in healthcare - men’s experiences

Good encounters within healthcare are important for the manner in which ill people facilitate their health and their perception of quality of care. Research about quality of care are important, but point out that dissatisfaction with healthcare may in the future be even more common regarding the demands for a more effective healthcare. The aim of this study was therefore to describe experiences of dissatisfaction with encounters in healthcare among men who personally filed a complaint to the Patients' Advisory Committee in the county council. Qualitative data were collected in semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of nine men who have filed a complaint to the Patients' Advisory Committee. The analysis resulted in two categories: being met with a disrespectful manner and not receiving a personal apology. The results in the first category describe that the men were treated with disrespect and suspicions by healthcare professionals. This was related to lack of communication which made the men sensitive to negative attitudes on the part of professionals. The results in the second category show that the men expected amends to be made in form of a personal apology about the dissatisfaction. The men were given no opportunities to influence the encounters and the professionals were unconscious of their behaviour in form of bad treatment. In conclusion, the results indicate the importance of meeting patients and their relatives with respect and dignity, listening to their experiences and proceeding with the treatment without insulting anyone as a person.

Ladies on the Loose: Contemporary Female Travel as a "Promiscuous" Excursion

This paper maps gendered trouble spots in contemporary works of female travel. Since travel itself is a metaphor for the slippage or displacement of cultural knowledge, there is need for closer and more complex readings of the female practice. This paper locates the contemporary female traveller on ground and on page, and flags some of the cultural myths and misconceptions that affect how she moves through the world. When women travel, they inscribe themselves across landscapes that have been previously overlooked, openly discarded and largely unexamined. In doing so, they travel intricate courses due to historical connections between wandering and promiscuity and continuing confusions between issues of mobility and morality in the modern world. Taking gender then as its interpretative parameter, this paper explores the troublesome nature of women’s travel, citing various texts as examples.

Social Justice from the Confessional?

Social Justice from the Confessional?

Satisfying Patients Goes Deeper than Shortening Waits

Patients in emergency departments at three suburban Michigan hospitals — Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn, Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, and Oakwood Heritage Hospital in Taylor — received a promise from hospital officials recently. They would be seen by a physician and have their treatment begun within 30 minutes or they would receive a personal apology and a pair of movie tickets.

Paying Up: The Price of the Vietnam War

Robert S. McNamara recently raised a stir about America's involvement in the Vietnam War.In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, his personal apology for his role as Secretary of Defense (1961–68) during the first phase of the war, shot to the top of the best-seller lists. But the author was surely more interested in uncovering some forgiveness, some sympathy for his plight, than he was in royalties. If so, he certainly must be disappointed. What McNamara uncovered beneath the surface of current events were several generations of Americans who still have powerful emotions about the war and still hate the leaders—McNamara included—who guided the nation into that debacle.

The Uses of Neo-Confucianism, Revisited: A Reply to Professor de Bary

Reading Professor Wm. Theodore de Bary's recent response1 to my article in the July 1992 issue of Philosophy East and West, I feel that to a great degree we have talked past one another. Much of his discussion appears to me to have missed the point I sought to make. I now realize why my efforts on several occasions over the last few years have failed to engage him in dialogue about these issues. If my intentions and objections did, in fact, comport with the way he presented them, I would owe Professor de Bary a personal apology. And for any unintended personal offense or any misunderstanding that may have arisen from my inarticulate expression, I do indeed apologize. A more useful reply to his response, however, might be to try once more to clarify what I am proposing, and to explain why Neo-Confucianism as the primary working rubric among most scholars in the West appears to me to be problematic. Professor de Bary has generously taken time to respond to me and to expound on his approach and usage of terms; in turn, I should not withhold my thoughts on why, in some important cases, I do not follow his lead. It is because I appreciate his contributions to our understanding of that I have sought to have this dialogue. I am suggesting that we need to pay much closer attention to historical contexts in the evolution of Confucian thought and to do this in a way that takes into account the interaction of ideas with social, political, and cultural factors. The world of thought needs to be contextualized in both its synchronic and diachronic dimensions. I also urge that we take greater care with the terms that we use, for the use of certain terms has conventionally tended to privilege or validate certain thinkers and developments at the expense of others. I do not fear that being more rigorous with our terms would, as Professor de Bary suggests, foreclose the fuller exploration of Confucian thought in both its inner depths and larger historical significance (p. 541). One of the fundamental places where Professor de Bary and I have failed to communicate is to be found in the term Confucianism itself.

The Occasion of "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy"

DR. JOHNSON introduced the invidious distinction between the general and the occasional in Dryden's criticism, declaring in the Lives that his occasional positions are sometimes interested, negligent, or capricious-inconstant to his general precepts. In a less pejorative sense An essay of dramatic poesy illustrates the occasional as well as the general, but it is unique in Dryden's criticism because it was published without any visible means of support, not as a pendant to another work. Some writers, mistaking the personal apology in the Defence of an Essay-which, as a matter of fact, is incident only to the argument about rhyme-have overplayed the occasional bias of the Essay with respect to Sir Robert Howard. But one provocation to the Essay, to which an unidentified allusion directs us, has been unaccountably neglected. This motivation helps to explain the Essay, and even its concern with dramatic principles, without challenging its conformity to its own laws. When Dryden wrote the Essay, the French and English had already clashed in a notable exchange of opinion. The occasion actually led to diplomatic action and the banishment of the offender. The occasion especially concerned the Royal Society1 and so provided another reason why Dryden might not be insensitive to the controversy. It is hardly necessary to remark that complimentary allusions to science are a conspicuous feature of the Essay, which was probably written before he was dropped by the Society.2 But it does seem necessary to remark that dramatic poetry had been an issue in this clash. The famous exchange, in which the Royal Soci ty was directly involved, had for its principals Samuel Sorbibre and Thomas Sprat, and produced works which long kept a certain notoriety in England. It is, therefor , all the more strange that they have never entered the discussion of circumstances incident to the Essay of dramatic poesy. In the same year that Dryden published The rival ladies, with its prefatory defense of rhyme in serious plays, Samuel Sorbibre pu lished his Voyage to England3 and raised a storm of indignation, which was embarrassing to the Royal Society because he had been admitted a member. Thomas Sprat, the official spokesman for he Society, laid down his History