The process of conflict in buyer‐seller relationships at domestic and international levels: A comparative analysis

Despite the fact that conflict is an essential behavioural dimension underlying the buyer‐seller relationship, no empirical work has as yet been conducted on the comparison of conflictual processes between different types of marketing channels. This paper attempts to compare exporter‐importer and exporter‐domestic customer business partnerships, regarding the dimension of conflict throughout its various stages of growth and development. The study was carried out on a sample of 53 indigenous Greek manufacturing firms. Contrary to prior expectations, it was found that the exporter‐importer (E‐I) kind of relationship was not characterized by higher levels of conflictual processes than those in the domestic type of business association. Surprisingly, the study results also showed that in a substantial number of conflict areas, the domestic relationship category was governed by significantly higher levels of conflictual processes compared with those in the E‐I kind of business partnership. The managerial implications of the research findings are discussed and avenues for future research directions are outlined.     

The rise in student loan defaults

We examine the rise in student loan defaults in the Great Recession by linking administrative student loan data at the individual borrower level to student loan borrowers’ individual tax records. A Blinder-Oaxaca style decomposition shows that shifts in the composition of student loan borrowers and the massive collapse in home prices during the Great Recession can each account for approximately 30% of the rise in student loan defaults. Falling home prices affect student loan defaults by impairing individuals’ labor earnings, especially for low income jobs. By contrast, when comparing the default sensitivities of homeowners and renters, we find no evidence that falling home prices affect student loan defaults through a home equity-based liquidity channel. The Income Based Repayment (IBR) program introduced by the federal government in the wake of the Great Recession reduced both student loan defaults and their sensitivity to home price fluctuations, thus providing student loan borrowers with valuable insurance against negative shocks.     

Endogenous managerial incentive contracts in a differentiated duopoly,with and without commitment

In a differentiated Cournot duopoly, we examine the contracts that firms' owners use to compensate their managers and the resulting output levels, profits and social welfare. If products are either sufficiently differentiated or sufficiently close substitutes, owners use Relative Performance contracts. For intermediate levels of product substitutability, they use Market Share contracts. When owners do not commit over the types of contracts, each type is an owner's best response to his rival's choice. Product substitutability has differential effects on output levels and profits, depending on the configuration of contracts in the industry. Finally, managerial incentive contracts are welfare enhancing if they increase consumers' surplus. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Greening” the marketing mix: do firms do it and does it pay off?

Growing concern about the sustainability of the natural environment is rapidly transforming the competitive landscape and forcing companies to explore the costs and benefits of “greening” their marketing mix. We develop and test a theoretical model that predicts (1) the role of green marketing programs in influencing firm performance, (2) the impact of slack resources and top management risk aversion on the deployment of such programs, and (3) the conditioning effects that underpin these relationships. Our analyses show that green marketing programs are being implemented by firms, and we find evidence of significant performance payoffs. Specifically the results indicate that green product and distribution programs positively affect firms’ product-market performance, while green pricing and promotion practices are directly positively related to firms’ return on assets. In addition, industry-level environmental reputation moderates the links between green marketing program components and firms’ product-market and financial performance. Finally, we find that slack resources and top management risk aversion are independently conducive to the adoption of green marketing programs—but operate as substitutes for each other.     

Does it really hurt? Making sense of varieties of anger

While research has shown that consumer anger causes a range of negative consequences, the conceptualization and measurement of this emotion remain inconsistent. Some studies link anger to consumer revenge motivated by a desire to hurt the company, while others associate anger with a desire to cooperate with the company. This inconsistency is caused by the fact that anger is a broad label used to refer to almost any brand failure. We argue that, rather than considering anger as a single construct, scholars should distinguish between a supportive facet of anger, which comprises feelings of annoyance, frustration and other mild negative feelings, and a vindictive facet of anger, which comprises feelings of intense anger, rage, and outrage. These two facets of anger reconcile divergent arguments presented in past research. Research benefits from moving beyond the generic label of anger to consider supportive and vindictive facets of anger that influence consumers' reactions under different circumstances. Only vindictive anger prompts consumers to take revenge and punish the company for unfair treatment. Supportive anger triggers instead a desire to solve the problem by cooperating with the company. This study presents important managerial implications for assessing and managing feelings of anger following brand failures.     

In re Lehman Brothers International (Europe): Positivism or the Rigour of Pedantry?

This paper examines the decisions of the Companies Court and Court of Appeal in the case of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (in administration). It shows how the judges' undue focus on the literal meaning of the language used in Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 had unfortunate consequences on the process of restructuring the company and contradicted the intention of the legislature. It therefore proposes that it may sometimes be important to revert to the erstwhile golden rule whereby judges may depart from the ‘plain meaning’ of the words used in a statute to avoid an absurd or unfair result. This may have prevented the judges from observing that a scheme under Part 26 can vary or extinguish a creditor's rights qua creditor, but cannot vary or extinguish property rights; although debt is a form of property. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.