A two-generation new product model by considering forward-looking customers: Dynamic pricing and advertising optimization

Nowadays, one of the challenges of the firm managing multi-generation products is the forward-looking behavior of customers. Anticipating the introduction of a newer generation affects the demand and sales volume of the current generation and next generation. In this research, we investigated how to efficiently structure the pricing and advertising strategies of a firm that launches a two-generation new product to a market populated by forward-looking customers. Two thresholds were determined on the advertising expenditure of Generations 1 and 2. Our analysis proposed that the optimal pricing path of Generation 1 was monotonically decreasing or increasing and, then, decreasing. The optimal pricing of Generation 2 followed a concave curve. A heuristic solution method was proposed to solve the numerical examples. Findings revealed that, with increasing the customers' forward-looking behavior, the firm's profit would decrease. In the presence of forward-looking customers, it is beneficial for the firm to reduce the price of Generation 1 and allocate more budget to advertise Generation 2. Among other results, the advertising expenditure was shown to be positively affected by the number of potential customers and advertising effectiveness. Also, the length of the planning horizon had a negative effect on the advertising expenditure. A higher discount rate could lead to lower price, while higher advertising effectiveness and length of the planning horizon would result in higher price. Further, the results showed that, with increasing the word-of-mouth advertising effectiveness, the firm should increase the advertising expenditure and decrease the price firstly and, afterwards, decrease the advertising effort and increase the price.     

山东省与江苏省对外直接投资差异及影响因素研究

山东、江苏作为中国的经济大省,其对外直接投资已成为推动经济发展的重要因素。基于2008—2017年山东省17地市、江苏省13地市对外直接投资面板数据,利用泰尔指数对两省对外直接投资存在的总体区域间差异进行衡量,并针对对外直接投资差异的相关影响因素进行实证分析。研究结果表明:工业发展水平、人力资源成本、研发水平和金融发展规模对山东省对外直接投资影响显著,经济发展水平、出口贸易和外商直接投资对山东省对外直接投资影响不显著;人力资源成本、出口贸易对江苏省对外直接投资影响显著,研发水平、工业发展水平、经济发展水平、外商直接投资以及金融发展规模影响不显著,分析后提出相关建议。     

Safety risk and international investment decisions

We identify and demonstrate the merit of a novel institutional factor, safety risk, which likely affects multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) international investment decisions. Safety risk refers to the extent to which security and physical well-being are endangered due to normalized aggression and criminality in society. Despite concerns from executives and policymakers, safety risk has attracted little research attention. We validate a safety risk measure and evaluate the construct’s effect on MNCs’ investments. The findings indicate that countries’ safety risk deters MNCs from investing. Further, in post hoc analyses, firms’ prior experiences with safety risk and countries’ private security investments moderated this relationship.     

Survival of full versus partial acquisitions: The moderating role of firm’s internationalization experience,cultural distance,and host country context characteristics

The high divestment rates of acquired foreign units indicate challenges connected to planning and management of foreign acquisitions. In this paper we analyze the moderating effect of internal and external variables on the relationship between acquirers’ ownership strategy and survival of acquired foreign units. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 1275 acquisitions conducted by Finnish firms in various countries during the period 1980–2005. The results indicate that the probability of survival does not differ significantly between full and partial acquisitions. We further find that the likelihood of survival in full, relative to partial acquisitions, is positively associated with the acquisition-specific experience, but inversely related to general international and target country experience. The results also reveal that the positive impact of full acquisitions is stronger if the acquisitions are made in culturally similar countries, in less developed economies, and in markets where the country risk has increased after entry.     

The micro-foundations of strategic ambidexterity: Chinese cross-border M&As,Mid-View thinking and integration management

Chinese cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) display several unique properties in relation to the ways in which their international business operations are organised and managed. Their seemingly puzzling ‘light-touch’ integration approach can be significantly understood from a strategic ambidexterity perspective: on the one hand, the ‘light-touch’ enables the exploitation of the targets’ existing knowledge bases; on the other hand, elements of the ‘light-touch’ facilitate the exploration of the new knowledge arising from the collaboration between targets and acquirers. However, an important theoretical gap remains: why do Chinese companies deploy such a strategic ambidexterity approach in their post-acquisition integrations? This paper aims to fill this gap by proposing Mid-View thinking as a micro-foundation of strategic ambidexterity in integration management from a cultural and philosophical perspective. To illuminate our conceptualization and argument, we conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with CEOs/high-level managers of acquired German companies. Communication approach and organizational control—as two critical aspects in integration management—reveal how Mid-View thinking can serve as a micro-foundation of strategic ambidexterity. We conclude this paper by presenting its theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and future research directions.     

京津冀城市群能源代谢时空特征及优化调控研究

随着中国经济的快速发展,能源消费也快速增长。随着节能减排的压力越来越大,能源的代谢需要根据需求进行更替。论文就京津冀城市群能源代谢时空特征分析并对能量代谢进行优化和调控提出建议。     

混凝土箱梁质量通病治理和施工质量控制策略

所谓混凝土箱梁质量通病的治理,简单来讲就是工程在施工期间会普遍存在并且反复出现一些施工问题,所以需要采取相关措施解决其中存在的质量通病和具体问题,并且对箱梁进行施工质量控制。为此,论文从多个角度分析了混凝土箱梁的质量通病,提出相应的施工质量控制策略,希望为相关从业者提供参考性的建议。     

财务公司的风险管理与内部控制

财务公司是一类特殊的金融机构,既有风险内生性特点,也易受外部风险传导。在风险管理与内部控制上,要坚持业务发展与内部控制相平衡的原则,一方面要遵循普适性、规律性的银行业规则(巴塞尔协议),另一方面也要充分考虑所属集团的具体实际情况,服务于集团和财务公司战略目标的实现。     

控制技术在钢管自动化生产中的应用

钢管自动化控制系统在钢管生产中的有效应用极大地提升了钢管的生产效率和生产质量,减少了人力资源的投入,降低了钢管的生产成本,对于钢铁行业的发展具有至关重要的作用。论文主要针对控制技术在钢管自动化生产中的实际应用进行探究,指出控制技术在钢管自动化生产中应用的效果和作用,希望为钢铁行业的运行提供一定的参考。     

浅谈泵送产品的公告试验检测

论文针对泵送产品公告试验检测的现状,详述了公告试验检测方案中的关键控制点,并就目前检测过程中存在的问题提出了建议。