Do investments in intangible customer assets affect firm value?

This paper develops a simple model of investment by service firms in intangible customer assets, and tests whether the model identifies some critical drivers of firms’ stock returns. Similar to firms with significant research and development (R&D) expenditures, we argue that firms in fast-growing service industries with few tangible assets can increase firm value by investing in customer acquisition and service (A&S) expenditure. Using a unique hand-collected data set, we show that per-customer changes in firms’ revenues, customer acquisition costs, and customer service costs help to explain their abnormal stock returns.     

The impact of supply-side electronic integration on customer service performance

Although information technologies have been expected to directly enhance firm performance in specific value chain activities (e.g., supplier performance or customer service performance), their advanced capabilities offer the promise of organizational integration and spill-over benefits. Enterprise systems provide firms with platforms for electronically integrating their supplier and demand chain activities. Spill-over benefits refer to the impacts that occur when IT investments in one organizational domain benefit performance in a different value chain side of the firm. Supply-side electronic integration (SEI) refers to the use of electronic means to integrate the exchange of information and transactions with suppliers through enterprise systems. In our research, we examine whether SEI generates spill-over effects on customer service performance, over and beyond firms’ direct investments in customer-side digitization. We also examine whether structural attributes of the firm (e.g., vertical integration, diversification, and centralization) moderate the effects of supply-side electronic integration on customer service performance. Our analysis of a secondary dataset of InformationWeek 500 firms shows that SEI helps firms realize cost-savings in their customer service performance, especially if they are less vertically integrated. In addition, SEI investments help diversified and centralized firms achieve cross-selling with their customers. We also find that SEI is more likely to help decentralized and diversified firms achieve customization in their customer service activities. These results suggest that SEI helps firms achieve twin goals in customer service: cost reduction and revenue expansion. Overall, our research reveals how supply-side electronic integration could generate benefits in customer service performance in firms.     

Should Firms Employ Personalized Pricing?

This paper theoretically considers a duopoly model in which all firms do not always employ personalized pricing. Our model incorporates the fact that firms engage in marginal cost‐reducing activities after they decide whether to employ personalized pricing. When the ex ante cost difference between the firms is large, the less‐efficient firm does not employ personalized pricing even when the fixed cost to do so is zero. This is because employing personalized pricing induces the rival firm to engage more in reducing its costs, which is more likely to harm the less‐efficient firm.     

Managerial utility-maximizing operating decisions under compound demand risk

This paper examines the demand and cost conditions under which utility maximizing pricing-risk and advertising-risk relationships are determinate. The structure of the firm's demand uncertainty captures both uncertain customer arrivals and uncertain individual customer demand. In addition to standard demand restrictions and constant marginal cost, determinate results depend upon the degree of managerial risk-aversion, the correlation between individual demand and customer arrival disturbances, the firm's cost fixity, and bounded product differentiation effects of advertising. The symmetry between price-cuts and advertising as demand-increasing costs is extensively examined; firm equilibrium requires that price-cuts not be an inferior input for increasing demand.     

Cost-based decision rules for output,quality, and price

The present paper develops a theoretical model to address the relationship between a firm's pricing policy and its cost of increasing product quality. The model expresses both firm costs and firm revenues as functions of the quantity of a firm's output and overall product quality, where quality is expressed as quantity times quality per unit. The model starts with a generic good that measures output, and models quality as priced quality enhancement for each unit of the generic good. The model leads to decision rules by which the price of quality is a mark-up over the marginal cost of increasing product quality. The relationship between the price of quality and revenues from increasing output is also determined, and is conditioned by the sign and magnitude of the elasticity of demand for quality.     

Southwest airlines: A case study linking employee needs satisfaction and organizational capabilities to competitive advantage

This article analyzes the sources of Southwest Airlines' competitive advantage using an integrative approach, employing economic analysis tools to illustrate the roles of commitment and organizational capabilities in delivering competitive advantage at Southwest. A framework is presented illustrating that much of the value Southwest generates is (1) created through employee needs satisfaction, (2) converted to customer and shareholder value via organizational capabilities, and (3) captured by the firm as a result of its cost advantage and superior service. This three-part framework may be applicable to other labor-dependent service organizations. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

企业物流成本计量模型及其应用研究——基于物流作业流程分析

传统的成本核算方法以产品为导向,不能识别客户间差异,不适用于挖掘客户价值。基于顾客价值的物流成本ABC计量模型以客户为导向,可以准确计量企业客户物流成本,有助于企业更好地进行客户关系管理,抓住最有价值的客户。     

供应链集中度与成本结构

企业的成本结构会影响企业通过经营实现利润的能力。企业进行成本结构决策时需要综合考虑各种经营和环境因素，其中客户和供应商集中度对于企业来说是一个关键的环境因素，但现有文献很少研究供应链集中度和公司成本结构之间的潜在关系。利用2012至2016年中国制造业上市公司的成本数据，发现制造商的客户集中度和其成本弹性之间存在正相关关系，并且随着客户议价能力提升，客户集中度高的公司的成本结构灵活性被削弱；随着供应商的集中，下游制造商的变动成本比上固定成本的比值在下降，成本刚性在加强。随着供应商行业议价能力提升，供应商集中度和下游客户成本刚性结构之间的正面关系被削弱。供应链集中度和议价能力是企业成本结构决策的决定因素。     

房地产企业价值链管理探析

激烈的市场竞争迫使房地产企业越来越注重顾客的需求。以顾客价值最大化为棱心思想的价值链管理为此提供了崭新的视角。本文基于以往研究成果。分析了房地产企业价值链的内涵与运行机制,并提出了价值链管理整合模型。     

Understanding supplier structural embeddedness: A social network perspective

Despite a significant amount of attention, the potential of supplier structural embeddedness (i.e., the value of the structural position in an extended network) to improve the performance of a buying firm remains poorly understood. This study drew on the social network theory to empirically examine a conceptual framework specifying a relationship between the efforts of a buying firm to understand supplier structural configuration and operational and financial performance. This study also examines how the comprehension of structural embeddedness is transformed into performance for a buying firm through relational embeddedness (i.e., the strength of a dyadic relationship). Survey data collected from companies in the U.S. were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicate that the understanding of the structural dimension does help to enhance operational performance of a buying firm, but it does not lead to better financial performance. Empirical evidence shows that a buying firm does improve the quality of a dyadic relationship between the buying firm and a supplier by understanding how the supplier is connected to other firms and what positional values are produced. Further, relational embeddedness is found to mediate the influence of the enhanced understanding of the structural configuration on operational performance.     

顾客参与下的顾客价值:体验经济的观点

要为顾客创造价值,必须正确理解顾客价值。目前对顾客价值的理解并不能解释一些顾客参与现象。我们以体验经济新视角,对顾客参与下的顾客价值进行研究,介绍了顾客参与和体验经济涵义,总结了顾客价值涵义的代表观点。在此基础上,建立了顾客参与下的顾客价值认知模型;并认为,在体验经济的环境下,顾客参与能够提高产品价值和关系价值,并产生体验价值。     

Corporate restructuring and incentive effects of leverage and taxes

Recent empirical studies have indicated that mergers are value enhancing, yet the theoretical aspects of merger gains have not been as well explored. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of mergers. In the model of the firm presented, outstanding risky debt gives rise to agency costs of underinvestment which are offset by the benefit of debt-related tax shields. The trade-off specifies the optimal leverage for a firm. Within this framework, we then consider whether and under what circumstances firm value could be enhanced by a merger. Under a fairly broad set of assumptions it is shown that most firm combinations ‘improve’ investment incentives and increase the value of debt-related tax shields. Mergers between optimally financed firms result in a merged firm that is also optimally financed, but such mergers are not synergistic. Nevertheless, firm value may be increased if mergers are undertaken in tandem with a refinancing program to bring the combined firms from suboptimal to optimal debt levels.     

Firms' Stakeholders and the Costs of Transparency

We develop a model of a firm whose production process requires it to initiate and nurture a relationship with its stakeholders. Because there are spillover benefits of being associated with a "winner," the perceptions of stakeholders and potential stakeholders can affect firm value. Our analysis indicates that while transparency (i.e., generating information about a firm's quality) may improve the allocation of resources, a firm may have a higher ex ante value if information about its quality is not prematurely generated. Transparency costs arise because of asymmetric information regarding the extent to which stakeholders benefit from having a relationship with a high-quality firm. These costs are higher when firms can undertake noncontractible innovative investments that enhance the value of their stakeholder relationships. Stakeholder effects of transparency are especially important for younger firms with less established track records.     

Strategic Invasion in Markets with Switching Costs

We investigate the role of consumer switching costs in a three-stage model in which the entrant and the incumbent firm set prices sequentially and then the consumers decide from which firm to buy. We characterize the unique subgame perfect equilibrium and find that even an entrant with a higher marginal cost may profitably invade part of the market due to the existence of switching costs. Switching costs benefit both firms but harm consumers. This model is used to understand pricing behavior in the US telecommunications industry.     

客户忠诚度对CRM效用最大化影响的研究

本文在分析客户生命周期价值相关研究的基础上,通过引入客户忠诚度、产品效用函数及企业收益函数,建立企业客户关系管理优化模型,从理论上分析了不同客户生命周期阶段客户忠诚度的不同及由此带来的企业收益的变化,在不同客户忠诚度水平下讨论了CRM的效用最大化。企业与客户关系的形成期应该采取客户投入费用最大,达到一定忠诚度水平后,保持高速公路最优投入费用,衰退期则一般实行客户自由衰减策略停止对客户进行投入。     

The service climate‐firm performance chain: The role of customer retention

This study examines the role of customer retention as a mediator in the service climate–firm performance chain. Using a predictive design that involves data collected from 1,500 automotive service stores from 12,518 employees and approximately 30,000 customers, a model linking service climate (a concern for employees and customers), customer satisfaction, customer retention, and firm performance was tested. Notably, the results support the overall model and the hypothesized mediating effect of customer retention regarding the relationship between customer satisfaction and firm performance. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

供应链条件下的顾客链与顾客满意链研究

文章在明晰供应链成员企业所面向的全过程顾客及其组成的基础上,运用供应链及供应链管理理论,架构了顾客链与顾客满意链的结构模型并界定了其概念,进一步明确其与供应链、供应链管理的区别,同时对其形成与运作机制和系统协同效应开展了相关研究,从而为有效实施顾客满意战略和提高供应链整体竞争力提供了一种全新的思路。     

Utilizing e-business technologies in supply chains: The impact of firm characteristics and teams

This paper presents findings from an exploratory study that analyzes the drivers and outcomes of e-business technology use in the supply chain. Using a combination of case studies and survey data from a diverse sample of industries, the research examines how industry context, firm characteristics and firm-level strategic resources, such as purchasing teams, influence the exploitation of e-business technologies and the relationship between e-business technology use and firm performance. Based on a synthesis of related literatures from transaction cost economics and the relational view of the supply chain, a two-dimensional framework for e-business technology is proposed with transactional and relational dimensions. However, empirical analysis indicated that transactional technologies can be further subdivided into two factors: dyadic cooperation and price determination. Significant differences were found between the two dimensions in terms of their overall levels of adoption, with dyadic coordination being the most widely adopted. In addition, the development of strategic resources expanded, in particular internal and customer teams, the use of e-business technologies expanded. Purchasing organizational structure and firm size also were positively related to the adoption of transactional e-business technologies. Finally, of particular importance to practitioners, e-business technologies targeted at reducing dyadic coordination costs lead to improved financial performance.     

基于客户经济价值的PSM模型分析——兼论新产品定价

客户经济价值分析是现代企业价格决策的基础,用价格敏感性来分析客户经济价值可以很好地把握客户的心理尺度,确定客户对相关产品或服务的心理价格承受范围,二维和四维测度方法及模型可以较好地帮助我们解决上述问题。     

基于多层面的企业社会责任行动实施动因的研究

企业是一个多层面系统，不同的因素会对其行为产生不同的影响，认识这些因素对于理解企业行动原因有一定帮助。基于此，文章从宏观环境、企业组织和管理者三个层面上分析了影响企业社会责任行动的因素。认为在这些影响因素共同作用下，企业开展社会责任行动存在不同的动因，并表现出不同的行动类型，这将有助于更好地理解该行动的实际意义。