Canadian consumer acceptance of gene-edited versus genetically modified potatoes: A choice experiment approach

In 2016, second-generation genetically modified (GM) potatoes were approved for production and sale in Canada. In this study, we analyze how consumer acceptance of GM potatoes may be affected by various factors, including the trait introduced (i.e., the product benefits), the type of breeding technology used, and the developer of the potato using any technology. We conduct an online survey and use a stated choice experiment to collect data on consumer acceptance of GM and other potatoes in Canada. Random utility models are used to analyze the economic value consumers place on the various attributes of the potatoes. Our results show that consumers are willing to pay more for a health attribute (reduced acrylamide produced when potatoes are fried) and an environmental attribute. Respondents in general need to face discounted prices to buy potatoes created by either gene editing or GM (either transgenic or cisgenic/intragenic) technologies. However, consumers are in general more accepting of the gene editing technology than the GM technologies. Our results also show that government is the most preferred developer of the potatoes, regardless of technology. Results from this study can help guide public and private management of the introduction of new foods when the products are developed with unpopular technologies.     

Don't call us,we'll call you: Considering cognitive and physical effort in designing effective response systems to manage extended in-process wait

People must often wait for days or weeks to receive test results, price quotes, products, etc. Service providers may manage user experience during such in-process waits using notification systems that inform users when a response is available or inquiry systems that require users to inquire about response availability, thereby imposing prospective memory requirements on users. Based on the prospective memory and wait time literature, we make predictions regarding how response system (notification vs. inquiry) moderates the effects of waits that are shorter or longer than the provider promised on user evaluation of the wait. We find that users of a notification system evaluate a wait more positively and are less sensitive to deviations of actual from promised wait time than are users of an inquiry system. This advantage was more pronounced for a wait that was longer (vs. shorter) than promised. These effects of system and expectation on evaluation were fully mediated by their impact on the cognitive and physical effort of navigating the system. Finally, a week after having experienced a wait, users of an inquiry system who had waited longer (vs. shorter) than promised cooperated less on a follow-up task, highlighting another downside of using an inquiry system.     

The performance of performance appraisal systems: understanding the linkage between appraisal structure and appraisal discrimination complaints

Abstract

Employee perceptions of the fairness of performance evaluations are critical to the success of any appraisal system. Research on performance management includes extensive studies on how bias emerges in the appraisal process. Despite this, there is no empirical evidence linking formal discrimination complaint filings – a key measure of bias - and performance appraisals. To close this gap, we conduct an empirical analysis using information on appraisal systems and discrimination complaints from the US federal government. Our findings suggest that agencies with better-designed appraisal systems will experience higher appraisal-related discrimination complaints, contrary to expectations. In particular, an expansion of training and voice opportunities are associated with an increase in appraisal discrimination complaints, while increased differentiation between performers is not consistently associated with complaints. For managers struggling with performance management, it may be better to spend time on improving performance-focused interpersonal communication rather than redesigning appraisal systems.     

Professional Ethics in a Virtual World: The Impact of the Internet on Traditional Notions of Professionalism

Numerous articles in the popular press together with an examination of websites associated with the medical, legal, engineering, financial, and other professions leave no doubt that the role of professions has been impacted by the Internet. While offering the promise of the democratization of expertise – expertise made available to the public at convenient times and locations and at an affordable cost – the Internet is also driving a reexamination of the concept of professional identity and related claims of expertise and standards of integrity.This paper begins with a presentation of case studies illustrating the ease by which impostors infiltrate the ranks of professionals. Reports of individuals masquerading as professionals via the Internet often reveal that these imposters cause harm to the unwary victims who rely on assertions of professional expertise. Such reports motivated the authors to examine the origins and evolution of the traditional roles of professions and professionals in today’s society, as well as question how, or whether, the standards for professional practice have been adapted to the challenges posed by technology, i.e., do statements of professional ethics provide a ‘guiding light’ for practitioners and their clients in the cyber age? The authors challenge the professions to consider the notion that technology forces a confrontation between the guild-like aspects of a profession that have served, on the one hand, to protect a profession from encroachment and, on the other hand, have purportedly protected the public.The authors conclude by presenting an examination of websites that show recognition of the challenges that the Internet poses to professionalism, as we have known it. Detailed discussion of the websites of two professions illustrates different approaches to responding to these challenges.     

The Experience of Selling Experiences

In the experience economy, working conditions — that is, the experience of work — directly affect both job quality and the quality of the experience produced. We propose an alternative definition of job quality and apply this concept to a qualitative study of casino employees. Pay and benefits are crucial elements of sustainable livelihoods. But building a life also requires time away from the job, good health, and supportive institutions, including employers who treat their workers as human beings with complex lives. A good job reinforces, rather than undermines, a positive sense of identity.     

Suspicion and Perceptions of Price Fairness in Times of Crisis

Times of crisis bring about increased demands on businesses as shortages, or unexpected but significant, business costs are encountered. Passing on such costs to consumers is a challenge. When faced with a retail price increase, consumers may rely on cues as to the motive behind the increase. Such cues can raise suspicion of alternative motive (e.g., taking advantage of the consumer) affecting consumers’ judgments of price fairness. This research investigates two triggers of suspicion: salience of alternative motives, and behavior judged to be out-of-character for the business. Results of the two studies within crisis contexts indicate that suspicion is created when alternative motives are salient and when a retailer acts out-of-character. Multiple group analyses revealed that suspicion induced negative affect and subsequent perceptions of price fairness. When suspicion was present, more negative feelings toward the retailer and judgments of price unfairness resulted.     

Adoption of Online Grocery Shopping: Personal or Household Characteristics?

This article analyzes how sociodemographic characteristics impact the adoption of online grocery shopping, and relies on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to explore what these sociodemographics actually capture and how they are linked with consumer motivations. The researchers exploit a survey among 468 customers of Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt. Their logistic regression shows that while variables at the personal level do affect adoption of the online channel, consumers’ motivations to adopt in fact lie on the household level. In particular, the effect of age disappears or becomes less strong when it is combined with household characteristics. An examination of respondents’ self-reported motivations confirms that age does not only capture a person’s ability to use the technology but also its usefulness for that person’s household, in that age is correlated with the presence of young children and the working situation in the household.     

International patent analysis as a tool for corporate technology analysis and planning

New, techniques of international patent anabsis are illustrated and resultsfrom preliminary validity tests of these techniques are presented. Indicators of technological activity, technological significance and commercial potential are constructed, and used to analyze fiber-based opto-electronic couplers and monoclonal-antibody-based diagnostic kits at the levels o f the technology, nation and firm. The international patent indicators are found to be closely correlated with R&D expenditures, scientific publications and new product introductions. They also relate to these indicators in ways that moke sense as specified in simple regression models of the innovation process. Comparisons of patent analysis results with expert opinion (for two process technologies) reveal that technology–level analyzes conform quite well with expert opinion, but national – and firm–level analyes vary from a low to a modest correlation with expert opinion. The authors conclude that the techniques can provide important information for corporate technology management, but that studies of additional technologies and further validity tests are needed.     

Ford Motor Company's Global Electrification Strategy

Ford Motor Company has developed global platforms for its vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles and forthcoming battery-electric and plug-in hybrids. Providing electrification technologies is a key element of Ford's broader strategy of producing vehicles that have improved fuel economy and reduced greenhouse emissions. The breadth of this effort—across a range of vehicle types—is unique in the automotive industry. Of particular importance is using the same vehicle platforms for electrified vehicles as for conventionally fueled vehicles in Ford's global strategy. Infrastructure development is a key element in the success of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. To this end, Ford is developing home-charging systems and communication networks that will enable drivers to find recharging stations.