Price and quality decisions in a vertically-differentiated supply chain with an “Online-to-Store” channel

Because of the prevalence of “Online-to-Store (OS)” channel, customers can purchase differentiated products online and pick up in-store. We develop a Stackelberg game-theoretic model to study the impact of an OS channel on quality levels, demands, prices, and profits of a manufacturer and a retailer in a supply chain. We assume that the retailer acts as a Stackelberg leader, and the manufacturer acts as a Stackelberg follower. The manufacturer produces and sells two products with vertically-differentiated quality levels to the retailer who in turn sells the products to customers through a Store channel, an Online channel, or an OS channel. The retailer incurs a handing cost if the OS channel is available, and consumers bear a shipping cost and a transaction cost when the products are purchased from the Online and Store channels, respectively. We find that the manufacturer should reduce both products’ quality levels and wholesale prices, whereas the retailer can increase the selling prices for a relatively small shipping cost and a not too small handling cost. When the products are available both online and in-store, however, the quality levels, wholesale prices and selling prices might increase for a small shipping cost and a not too small handling cost. Compared to the case in which both products are available online only with the OS channel, adding the Store channel is always beneficial for both parties. The intuition behind these results hinges on the trade-off between the handling cost and the increased market demand for the retailer. Moreover, the quality levels, the wholesale prices of both products, and the selling price of the low-quality product would decrease, while the selling price of the high-quality product increases for a sufficiently low transaction cost and a not too small shipping cost.     

When less is more? The contingent effect of product supply limitation in the release of new electronic products

In the market of consumer electronics, firms often limit their product supply to create a scarcity effect to entice consumers to buy their product. However, the outcome of such a strategy is not always desirable. In this study, we propose the product configuration level as a contingent variable that works with the supply level to affect the outcome of a supply limitation strategy. With a vignette-based experiment, we find that for a product with a superior configuration, consumers' purchase intention is boosted only if the supply is very limited. For a product with an inferior configuration, however, the supply limitation strategy does not work at any supply level. Therefore, the supply limitation strategy works only for a superior product configuration and at a fine-tuned supply level.     

The Effectiveness of a Buzz Marketing Approach Compared to Traditional Advertising: An Exploration

Marketers are now willing to go anyplace they can find a captive audience to espouse the virtues of their products. The success of the “buzz” marketing approach is linked to the consumer being lured into doing the advertising by spreading the message to others. This study compares students’ responses to a traditional advertising and a buzz approach. Using a factor analysis to identify variables, the results show that subjects perceive a buzz approach to be more influential than a traditional advertising. However, they do not perceive a buzz approach to be authentic. This finding is consistent with practitioners’ argument that, although a buzz approach may be effective in the short-term, once consumers recognize its selling intent, the program may have a “boomerang effect.”     

Using the Pack‐and‐a‐Half Rule to Eliminate Backroom Inventories in Retail Operations

In the retail industry, backroom inventories are typically associated with higher labor costs and greater operational complexity. Thus, retailers look for ways to eliminate backroom inventories. A heuristic used for this purpose is the pack‐and‐a‐half rule which suggests that the shelf space allocated for a product should be at least 50% larger than the case pack quantity in which the product is delivered. Despite its popularity among retailers, the pack‐and‐a‐half rule has been ignored in the academic literature. We introduce the pack‐and‐a‐half rule, assess its impact on a retailer's profits, identify cost, demand, and product characteristics driving this impact, and propose a modification. Based on an analysis of data obtained from a retailer on 1,986 SKUs in 20 categories, we find that the pack‐and‐a‐half rule decreases a retailer's profits, on average, by 10% when applied uniformly across all SKUs. Further, this decrease is significantly affected by product depth, product width, demand elasticity, case pack quantity, and inventory carrying cost. Finally, we develop a set of modifications based on these variables where the pack‐and‐a‐half rule is applied selectively and in a stepwise fashion. These modifications limit the decrease in a retailer's profits to a range between 6% and 7%.     

PRICING DERIVATIVES ON MULTISCALE DIFFUSIONS: AN EIGENFUNCTION EXPANSION APPROACH

Using tools from spectral analysis, singular and regular perturbation theory, we develop a systematic method for analytically computing the approximate price of a large class of derivative‐assets. The payoff of the derivative‐assets may be path‐dependent. In addition, the process underlying the derivatives may exhibit killing (i.e., jump to default) as well as combined local/nonlocal stochastic volatility. The nonlocal component of volatility may be multiscale, in the sense that it may be driven by one fast‐varying and one slow‐varying factor. The flexibility of our modeling framework is contrasted by the simplicity of our method. We reduce the derivative pricing problem to that of solving a single eigenvalue equation. Once the eigenvalue equation is solved, the approximate price of a derivative can be calculated formulaically. To illustrate our method, we calculate the approximate price of three derivative‐assets: a vanilla option on a defaultable stock, a path‐dependent option on a nondefaultable stock, and a bond in a short‐rate model.     

Tax evasion and financial repression

Using a simple overlapping generations framework, calibrated to four Southern European countries, we analyze the relationship between tax evasion, determined endogenously, and financial repression. We show that higher degree of tax evasion within a country, resulting from a higher level of corruption and a lower penalty rate, yields higher degrees of financial repression as a social optimum. However, a higher degree of tax evasion, due to a lower tax rate, reduces the severity of the financial restriction.     

Revisiting the Concept of a Societal Orientation: Conceptualization and Delineation

Marketers have traditionally evaluated products and practices on the basis of whether something could be sold. It is also important to evaluate products and practices from a societal perspective, “Should a product be sold?” The first idea reflects a managerial orientation and what must be done to sell a product; the second idea reflects a societal orientation and the impact of selling a product. In relation to the second idea, the societal marketing concept was introduced in 1972. There has been little advancement in our understanding of a societal orientation since that time. The current study presents a conceptualization of a societal orientation based on a review of literature and qualitative interviews. The construct was conceptualized as “attention to the long-term well-being of individuals and society at large by enhancing positive impacts from and reducing negative effects associated with production and consumption of a product.” Five domains comprising a societal orientation are proposed: physical consequences, psychological well-being, social relationships, economic contribution, and environmental consciousness.     

Models and optimal designs for conjoint choice experiments including a no-choice option

In a classical conjoint choice experiment, respondents choose one profile from each choice set that has to be evaluated. However, in real life, the respondent does not always make a choice: often he/she does not prefer any of the options offered. Therefore, including a no-choice option in a choice set makes a conjoint choice experiment more realistic. In the literature, three different models are used to analyze the results of a conjoint choice experiment with a no-choice option: the no-choice multinomial logit model, the extended no-choice multinomial logit model, and the nested no-choice multinomial logit model. We develop optimal designs for the two most appealing of these models using the D-optimality criterion and the modified Fedorov algorithm and compare these optimal designs with a reference design, which is constructed while ignoring the no-choice option, in terms of estimation and prediction accuracy. We conclude that taking into account the no-choice option when designing a no-choice experiment only has a marginal effect on the estimation and prediction accuracy as long as the model used for estimation matches the data-generating model.     

The CBD, Emerging Power

Central Business District(CBD),a concept that was first proposed by U.S.scholars in the 1920s,reters to a busincss center that functions as a commercial trading,financial information,cultural center,exhibition and office area all rolled jnto one;a place that is the center of business,the driving power of urban economic development and the soul of a city.     

Systematic ESG exposure and stock returns: Evidence from the United States during the 1991–2019 period

Using a sample of US stocks over the period 1991–2019, we test whether stocks with high exposure to a social index exhibit high returns. Using a univariate analysis, our in-sample results show that stocks with high sensitivities to the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index underperform stocks with low sensitivities by an annual risk-adjusted performance of 7.02%. The negative premium is also larger in the post-crisis period of 2007–2019 and is equal to 10.25%. The out-of-sample results offer, however, only weak evidence of such a finding, with a risk-adjusted performance difference of merely −0.84% over the full sample period and no significant differences between the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. In the multivariate regression, we find evidence of a negative relationship between exposure to the social index and stock performance. Moreover, we find that stocks with high exposure to the social index display a low corporate social responsibility score, a high Tobin’s Q, high long-term debt, a large size, high total risk, a high market beta, a high SMB coefficient, a low HML coefficient, and a small MOM coefficient.     

Fertility,intergenerational transfers and economic development

This paper develops a model of endogenous growth where agents are altruistic and value both the utilities of their parent and of their children. Individuals endogenously choose the number of their children, and arbitrate between financing education, leaving them some bequest and offering some gift to their parents. We establish the existence of three types of long run regime. Starting from a low level of human capital, an economy converges towards a stationary state associated with a constant output per worker, a high level of fertility and ascendant transfers. If the initial level of human capital is not too low, another stationary state jointly exists with a lower level of fertility and no transfer. Finally, starting from a high level of human capital, the economy experiences a steady growth of output per worker associated with a low fertility level and descendant transfers. We then assume that an economy is initially in the stationary underdevelopment regime with ascendant transfers, and we study the power of different policies to push the economy toward the growth regime. We successively consider a fertility control policy, an education subsidies policy, and the introduction of a pension system for the elderly.     

新建地方应用型本科院校能力本位教育及实施对策

能力本位教育的实质是一种以胜任职业岗位要求为出发点的教学体系。新建地方应用型本科院校能力本位教育是人才培养的应用性定位、服务地方经济建设使命、"中间阶层"向"中坚阶层"的转变、市场经济以及社会主义的本质要求的需要。新建地方应用型本科院校应从厘清专业核心能力、构建能力本位课程体系、优化实践教学体系、提升校园文化活动等方面实施能力本位教育。     

Putting the learning curve in context

In implementation of change, people learn new ways of doing things, develop new skills, and adopt new organizational routines. This paper applies learning curve theory to implementation by developing a system dynamics model that includes two extensions to classic learning curve theory. First, the model includes a required output level for the individual. Second, the model includes a budget constraint on time that forces a choice between an old and a new way to achieve the output. Doing work the new way builds experience, increasing productivity and thus favoring continued use of the new skill, but model analysis demonstrates that this reinforcing process works to favor the new skill only at relatively high levels of productivity. Otherwise, the same process is a vicious cycle, driving out the new skill. The model exhibits a mode of behavior in which learning begins and then stalls and another mode in which the new skill becomes the preferred one. The paper identifies the tipping point between these two modes and characterizes the transition problem: Learning by doing is a dynamic process, a transition from use of an old way to a new way that requires accumulating experience beyond a threshold.     

Firms’ export decisions—fixed trade costs and the size of the export market

This article presents a model of international trade under monopolistic competition. In the increasing returns sector firms face fixed, in addition to variable, trade costs, and both exporters and non-exporters may coexist. Exporters benefit from access to large foreign markets, thus a small country has a higher share of exporting firms than a large one. In contrast to standard models, the increasing returns sector will be more open in a small country than in a large one, and a small country may be a net exporter of such commodities, despite the disadvantage of a smaller home market.     

The effects of management succession in retail service banking

It is a fundamental tenet of modern management theory and practice that managers matter, and that a management change involving a transfer of authority will improve performance. In fact, there are two other possibilities, the management change may have no or even a negative effect. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a management change (succession) in the retail service branch banking context. The study is based on historical operational data and is longitudinal in nature. Specifically, the inter-relationships between pre-succession performance, predecessor tenure, reason for succession, origin of successor and organisational change were evaluated in 38 branches of a bank during a two-year period. The results indicated a strong association between pre- and post-succession performance, and that pre-succession performance is a predictor of successor origin, as is predecessor tenure which in turn influence post-succession performance.     

The Cultural Paradigm of Virtue

Social and moral issues in business have drawn attention to a gap between theory and practice and fueled the search for a reconciling perspective. Finding and establishing an alternative remains a critical initiative, but a daunting one. In what follows, the assumptions of two prominent contenders are considered before introducing a third in the form of Aristotle’s ancient theory of virtue. Comparative case studies are used to briefly illustrate the practical implications of each paradigm. In the quest for a better sense-making and sense-giving lens, this paper refines and encourages the search by highlighting some of the key features required of a worthy paradigmatic challenge. The author proceeds to identify a particular type of institutional community, and a promising champion, for the practical unification of strategic and normative excellence.     

Employee References: Between the Legal Devil and the Ethical Deep Blue Sea

An employer asked to provide a reference for a former or departing employee is confronted with a number of complex legal and ethical concerns. The issue of references is always controversial, involving a balance of employers' fears of legal liability, interests in providing relevant information to prospective employers, and concerns for fairness to former employees. Recently this topic has been the focus of new attention as the result of a court decision holding a former employer legally liable for wrongs committed by a former employee in a new job. In that case, the former employer had provided a positive reference while neglecting to note certain negative aspects of the former employee'sperformance. This paper addresses legal and ethical aspects of the reference dilemma and incorporates responses of human resource professionals to the question of ethical reference policies and practices.     

赌场豪华竞赛:产业两栖性制造的市场失败

赌场业是一种兼有服务业和金融业双重性质的产业.作为服务业,赌场的豪华程度以及与之相联系的服务产品质量的差异对于赌客是有意义的,在价格一律的条件下激励赌客由低档小赌场向高档大赌场流动.作为金融业,赌博价格是一个投资(赌博)回报率的概念,它无法作为反映赌场豪华程度和服务质量价差的价格杠杆作用.这导致了赌场业的有质差无价差的现象,进而赋予了豪华大赌场较之简陋小赌场的竞争优势,进而导致了在赌场建设上的豪华竞赛以及与此竞赛相联系的资源浪费和市场失败.文章研究和分析了由赌业的两栖性所导致和推动的赌场间豪华竞赛的经济动因和机理,进一步指出澳门赌业的发展,不能自由放任.     

回转器在振荡电路中的应用

本文叙述应用回转器的振荡电路的原理与实践.将运算放大器及其外接元件组成回转器,就能够模拟一只Q值极高的大电感,从而实现超低频振荡.这种等放电感的电感量可达1MH,甚至更高!如果将模拟电感与适当的电容组成并联谐振回路,它的振荡频率很容易低于1Hz.在此回路两端接上正反馈回路,就能维持稳定振荡,而且波形良好.电路输出可以作为标准信号,用来校准医用微分器,作生理电脉冲波形变换的研究.     

Strategic IMC: From abstract concept to marketing management tool

Although integrated marketing communication (IMC) has progressed towards mid-range maturity level, its full-scale adoption has been impeded by a lack of consensus on its defining constructs. The purpose of this study is to move from abstraction to define the construct of strategic integration (SI) and develop this into a management tool, thus making an important contribution to both the theory and practice of IMC. Drawing from both IMC and strategic management literature, the construct of SI is operationalised into a number of key factors and a well-cited management model, Fuchs' ‘integration valuator’ is explored as the starting point of a measurement tool for IMC. To do this, a Delphi study invites the scrutiny of an expert panel of world-leading IMC researchers and practitioners. The panel validated the model construction process, redefined overarching constructs and key factors with a high degree of consensus, supported a process measure, suggested a weighted evaluation measure and recognised the importance of developing such a measure. They delivered clear and consistent imperatives guiding model development. The result is a measure of SI that evaluates organisational proficiency and diagnoses the integration of IMC campaigns. It also advances theory by providing a better understanding of the construct of SI.