The effect of competition on product removal

Marketing Letters - The relationship between innovation and competition has been vastly studied over the past fifty years. However, one piece of the puzzle that has not been studied in...     

A taxonomy of information technology-enhanced pricing strategies

As a result of evolving technology, opportunities for innovative pricing strategies continuously emerge. The authors provide an updated taxonomy to show how such emerging strategies relate to recent technological advances. Specifically, they cite increased availability of information, enhanced reach, and expanded interactivity as three technological advancements and identify six pricing strategies enhanced by these factors. They also discuss the role of utility, prospect, range, and signaling theories for emerging pricing strategies, along with several applications and managerial implications.     

The influence of competition on international sourcing strategies in the service sector

Rising importance of service industries and international trade in services led to increased competition in the service sector. The aim of this study is to analyze the international sourcing behavior of service firms as a strategic means to contend with competition. Our theoretical predictions suggest that there is a U-shaped relationship between a service firm’s domestic competitive position and its pursuit of international sourcing: the relationship is first negative and at later stages positive. The international sourcing behavior of domestic competitors and inward investments of foreign rivals are expected to positively affect a service firm’s international sourcing magnitude. A large-scale empirical analysis using a panel of 579 German service firms supports our hypotheses.     

The effect of multi-purpose shopping on pricing and location strategy for grocery stores

Though it is a well-accepted fact that consumers indulge in multi-purpose shopping, most previous models of store choice assume that grocery shopping trips are single-purpose trips. This paper provides the first empirical analysis of multi-purpose shopping using data on actual shopping trips. A latent class factor analytic logit model is proposed, which provides a representation of the market structure of grocery store competition, while integrating; multi-purpose shopping, retail pricing format and location strategy. We conclude that incorporating multi-purpose shopping trips provides a better understanding of the competitive market structure, and discuss the managerial implications for the selection of marketing strategies.     

Global competition and latecomer production strategies: Samsung of Korea in China

This contribution illustrates how latecomer multinational companies (MNCs) have organized international production activities and maintained their competitive advantage under growing global competition. In doing so, an interdisciplinary approach, including an evolutionary theory of MNCs, global strategic management, and organizational and technological learning, is adopted through the case study of Samsung Electronics as a sample latecomer MNC. Samsung reveals that competition in the electronics industry in China is based on the diferential capabilities of players in the market, and their ability to transfer and improve these capabilities faster than competitors. Latecomer MNCs' foreign subsidiaries are under strong pressure to be actively involved in design and product development activities near to production facilities. In order to gain a sustainable competitive advantage, foreign subsidiaries of latecomer MNCs need to rapidly improve their product innovation capability by combining knowledge transferred from the MNC headquarters and global subsidiaries' networks with information about consumer requirements in the foreign location.     

Effects of pricing strategies and product quality on private label and national brand performance

Using product test ratings and panel data from more than 35,000 participating households in Germany, this study addresses the impacts of price, quality, and promotion shares on the market shares of different products, including national brands and private labels, as well as food and non-food products. The results of a path analysis reveal important differences across the four segments, as well as insights regarding the use of everyday low price and high–low retail pricing strategies. The findings also lead to key implications for manufacturers and retailers.     

Learning from housing environments: home economics and home ecology — A Canadian demonstration project

An effective method for providing information to bring about meaningful change and encourage the adoption of innovation is by the use of demonstration projects. This paper examines a specific housing demonstration project based on three design criteria: dynamics, life cycle cost analysis, and nexus. The paper also includes some discussion about housing and society in the future, particularly in terms of environmental stress and social change, and how housing can be responsive to changing human needs.     

数字经济下的转换成本对市场竞争的影响分析

转换成本可以通过市场力量和企业的策略性行为对市场竞争产生重要影响,因此成为竞争执法机构竞争评估的重点考察因素,而当前数字经济具有的网络效应和多归属等特征使得转换成本对市场竞争的影响更加复杂。本文首先从经济学角度剖析转换成本的定义、起源与分类,而后考察转换成本与网络效应和多归属之间的关系,最后研究转换成本对市场竞争的影响、系统论述转换成本在数字经济下可能引起的竞争关注。     

Effectiveness of some simple pricing strategies under varying expectations of competitor behavior

A firm needs to tailor its pricing strategy to the particular competitive setting it faces. We show how a firm can select a pricing strategy that yields higher expected profit than other simple pricing strategies for the competitive conditions encountered. We show that no one strategy yields the highest expected profit for all competitive settings. In particular, we find that a more aggressive pricing strategy is needed for those markets that are either very cooperative or very competitive, while a more cooperative pricing strategy is preferred for markets which have a moderate degree of competition. We also find that a more aggressive pricing strategy is needed as the number of competitors increases. Our results suggest how to choose the pricing strategy that yields the highest expected profit given the likely behavior of a firm's competitors.The authors thank Terry Elrod and Robert Lusch for their comments on earlier versions of this paper.     

The economics of welfare

We need to tone down the emotional content of the discussion of welfare and deal with facts. The author points out that public assistance takes two principal forms: crude and subtle. The former includes aid to the needy; subtle aid is given regardless of need. In the minds of many, crude programs are welfare, but the subtle programs are not. Statistics reveal that of the 14 million who receive direct aid, only 1 percent are unemployed males. Therefore, no significant group can be identified as undeserving. The system, as it now stands, humiliates the recipients, offers inadequate benefits, lacks fairness and uniformity and perpetuates poverty. The author offers six corrective measures that should be taken.     

Customer-centric pricing: The surprising secret for profitability

Companies spend enormous amounts of energy and capital in creating value for customers, but less regard is given to actually capturing the value they have created. Segmentation based on buying behavior uncovers a tremendous differential in willingness to pay for subjective product attributes such as convenience, status, and quality. Purchase decisions are made through an assessment of a myriad of factors balancing perceptions of value components against price in a subtle, complex, and often sub-conscious decision matrix. Customer-centric pricing requires the simultaneous and continuous assessment of product attributes, customer perceptions, and the circumstances of time and place by listening to customers' actions. It is a means of assuring that companies assess the value they create for customers and extract that value from the marketplace.     

Response strategies of local firms to import competition in emerging markets

Using a sample of 3808 firms from 1996 to 2007, the impact of three strategic options that can be implemented by local Asian (i.e., Indian) firms facing increased import competition in their domestic market is analyzed. On average, firms with greater investments in intangible resources and tighter product focus do better, while firms with greater international sales perform poorly compared to their peers. However, in industries characterized by high import competition, firms with international operations and product focus tend to have higher performance, while firms with intangible resources perform poorly.     

The internationalization process: Impact of competition and experience

The process, or evolution, through which multinational firms have reached their present international position is often referred to as “the internationalization process of the firm.” The most widely accepted theory of this phenomenon explains this slow, and sequential process in terms of organizations’ growth and learning. It is every now and then argued that this approach has lost some of its explanatory value. The purpose of this article is to discuss the validity of this model against the backdrop of assumptions in two key dimensions, namely, firms’ experience of international business and the industry's degree of internationalization.     

The effect of product diversification strategies on the relationship between international diversification and firm performance

Previous studies have provided mixed evidence on the interaction effect of product and international diversification on firm performance. This study extends this stream of research by investigating the differential impacts of product diversification strategies on the relationship between international diversification and firm performance. We find that while related product diversification positively influences the performance of multinational firms, unrelated product diversification negatively moderates the international diversification–performance relationship. The evidence is robust for different models of international diversification and firm performance, and holds for firms in both the service and manufacturing industries. Our findings highlight the importance of distinguishing different product diversification strategies, and provide a potential explanation for prior mixed evidence.