SKU performance and distribution: A large-scale analysis of the role of product characteristics with store scanner data

This study investigates the relationship between distribution and market share across various consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories and specific stock keeping units (SKUs). The study identifies product-related characteristics that result in substantive deviations above or below market shares predicted by the distribution – market share relationship. The association of product price, brand (private label [PL] v. national brand [NB]) and pack size with above (or below) expected market share for a given distribution level is analysed. Results indicate larger pack sizes, PL and medium price levels result in market share above what would be predicted by an SKU’s distribution. This presents a source for competitive advantage in markets driven by push–pull dynamics.     

Does the ‘non-traditional expatriate’ exist? A critical exploration of new expatriation categories

Non-Traditional Expatriates (NTEs) are rapidly increasing in the global talent pool, but remains a ‘black-box’ in the Expatriate Management and Global Mobility literatures. This article advances the conceptualisation of NTEs, due to the nascent research field is lacking construct clarity in terms of the meaning of the term as well as an operationalised conceptual framework. Five underlying assumptions in the scarce extant literature are identified and discussed, as a means to responding to the following research questions: (i) how credible is the NTE term as an expatriation typology?; and (ii) how can the conceptual framework of NTEs be operationalised? If these key issues remain unsolved, there is a risk of establishing flawed research design which can negatively affect researchers’ credibility when providing policy advice on global staffing and talent management to international managers and Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). This conceptual article draws upon key social anthropological and sociological theories, and proposes a relational research design for investigating NTEs, as well as propositions for future research.     

Should retailers adjust their micro-marketing strategies to type of outlet? An application to location-based store space allocation in limited and full-service grocery stores

Many retailers today operate strategically different types of sites: ‘limited-service’ stores—that offer all core products/services but only a shallow assortment of non-core services—and ‘full-service’ sites with deep lines of both core and non-core services. An important question for these retailers is whether and how to adopt a micro-marketing strategy in each of these formats. In a micro-marketing strategy, retailers tailor their marketing mix to the characteristics of the local market in which each store outlet operates—a central issue being whether the allocation of store space across product categories should be location-specific. This paper (i) examines the conditions for such micro-marketing to be beneficial, and (ii) in particular—how these benefits depend on store format. It also (iii) indicates how the pattern of space adjustments to local conditions should differ between formats. The propositions are tested in a grocery retail setting, for a retail chain operating limited-service supermarkets and full-service hypermarkets. Our results suggest that micro-marketing is beneficial in both types of format. Yet, the appropriate way of localizing space allocation patterns is format-specific. While supermarkets should primarily adjust the space shares of food (core) categories, hypermarkets should primarily adapt the space shares of non-food (non-core) categories to local market conditions. The outcomes of the study have conceptual as well as managerial relevance and may prove useful for multi-format retailers in a wide range of settings.     

Category management and consumer choice

This paper shows the results of an exploratory analysis of the structure of a complex product category: Wine. In complex categories, a usual strategy of consumers is the partitioning of alternatives into homogeneous subsets and the sequential eliminations of subsets until a product/brand is chosen from among few homogeneous alternatives in the last subset. To identify if there is such a kind of strategy and the product attributes involved is of great interest for the retailer. After a discussion of the different modelling alternatives of the choice process, the authors provide an application of the additive trees (ADDTREE) model to explore the hierarchical structure. The ADDTREE results provide a first overview of the competitive market structure of the wine category: competition becomes more intense as the wine category is partitioned by, first, the type of wine criteria and, second, the designation of origin (DO) criteria.     

非税收入的概念辨析及中美比较的可行性研究

国内为数不多的研究美国非税收入的文献,往往将美国联邦政府使用者收费等同于美国非税收入,并与中国非税收入相比较。针对这种情况,本文通过对美国"非税"相关文献资料的考察,以及对美国联邦政府预算分类和使用者收费内涵的分析研究,得出美国目前的预算分类和财政统计中不存在任何现成的"非税收入"及其近似概念。已有研究中的所谓联邦政府非税收入在财政收入中的占比计算更是将两种完全不同的收入分类相除,这不仅无意义,而且与中国非税收入在财政收入中的占比毫无可比性。本文在将美国联邦政府"非税收入"定义为"美国联邦政府从公众处获得的一切除税收之外的收入"的基础上,计算出联邦政府"非税收入"与"总收入"之比为25%～30%。此外,本文还给出了布鲁金斯税收政策中心的"非税收入"定义及其根据联邦人口普查局政府调查数据计算得出的全美非税收入规模。本文认为,如果要对美国"非税收入"总量进行考察,尤其是要与中国非税收入进行比较,须事先对所研究的"非税收入"内涵进行定义。     

The Impact of Brand Delisting on Store Switching and Brand Switching Intentions

A tool retailers often use to improve their negotiating position with brand manufacturers is to delist - or threaten to delist - the manufacturers’ brand. Because brand manufacturers rely mainly on retailers to sell their products to consumers, a brand delisting will cause a sales loss for the brand manufacturer. Therefore, many brand manufacturers feel enormous pressure to give in and improve buying conditions to favor the retailer. The question thus emerges: Can a brand manufacturer resist a retailer's threat to delist its brand(s)? If a brand delisting severely hurts retail sales, it is easier for a brand manufacturer to resist. The authors study the impact of brand delistings on store switching and brand switching using a controlled online experiment and in-store shopper survey. They develop and test a conceptual model with several antecedents of consumers’ reactions to a brand delisting and conclude that brand equity, market share, and the products’ hedonic level drive store and brand switching.     

Category reviews as market-shaping events

This paper examines a series of category review meeting between manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods and retailers as instances of market-shaping. Our point of departure is that markets are performed and shaped by multiple calculative agencies whose encounters are organized in routine fashion. Our empirical case focuses on the presentations of manufacturers of non-alcoholic beverages to one retailer during the annual cycle of reviews and negotiations that punctuate the implementation of exchange routines between these actors. Each presentation draws on a range of arguments, data, metrics, as well as ways of defining and segmenting the category to propose strategies that either reinforce the status quo or overturn well-established conventions. Category reviews illustrate both the negotiated and distributed character of market practices as well as their paradoxical character, at once dependent on stable institutional arrangements whilst continuously undermining the foundations of that stability.     

双品类存货组合的质押率研究

本文假设静态质押模式下组合质押存货的价格变动相互独立并服从对数正态分布。在此基础上,构建质押率决策模型并对其影响因素进行分析。研究结果表明:存在使银行期望利润最大化的最优质押率;质押率与银行贷款利率呈同向递增趋势,随着贷款周期的增加呈现先增加后减小趋势。     

Forecasting category sales and market share for wireless telephone subscribers: a combined approach

The ability to forecast market share remains a challenge for many managers especially in dynamic markets, such as the telecommunications sector. In order to accommodate the unique dynamic characteristics of the telecommunications market, we use a multi-component model, called MSHARE. Our method involves a two-phase process. The first phase consists of three components: a projection method, a ring down survey methodology and a purchase intentions survey. The predictions from these components are combined to forecast category sales for the wireless subscribers market. In the second phase, market shares for the various brands are generated using the forecast of the number of subscribers that are obtained in Phase 1 and the share predictions from the ring down methodology. The proposed methodology produces the minimum Relative Absolute Error for each market as compared to the forecasts from each individual component in the first phase. The value of the proposed model is illustrated by its application to a real world scenario. The managerial implications of the proposed model are also discussed.     

我国灵活就业的雇佣关系

在我国传统计划经济时期的安置就业退出历史舞台以后,灵活就业逐渐成为我国社会实现充分就业的主要渠道。与此相适应,就是灵活就业也给我们带来了多样化的雇佣关系。本文在两年多的专题调查研究基础上,分析了我国灵活就业劳动雇佣关系的现状特点,对灵活就业群体及其雇主做了分类,对雇佣关系引发的冲突问题作了归纳分析,对不同类型的灵活就业的雇佣关系提出了规范化管理的思路和对策建议。