Internet service provision and content services: paid peering and competition between internet providers

We consider the relationship of Internet service providers (ISP) and content service providers (CP) in the Internet ecosystem. Currently, the position of ISPs is challenged by the emergence of powerful content service providers, especially with the spreading of bandwidth-demanding video services. The further investment in the network capacity may be hindered by prevailing business models that largely exclude the ISPs from sharing in the major cash flows resulting from content provision. We develop modeling tools for evaluation of business models of ISPs and present results of an analysis of two models with the potential for the generation of additional cash flows for ISP: paid content peering and service differentiation. Firstly, we show that under certain conditions on the cost structure and the level of demand elasticity and uncertainty, it can be profitable for a powerful content provider to resort to paid content peering, thus transferring to the ISP a part of his content provision revenue. The resulting business model may provide substantial benefits to all major participants in this ecosystem: network providers, content and service providers and end users. After this we consider competition in the Internet provision sector and show that - also in this case - the paid content peering can help ISPs to expand the network capacity and at the same time increase profits of content providers. The end users benefit from the lower prices for content services. Finally, we consider the situation when an ISP differentiates the service offer by engaging in content provision, thus entering in direct competition with content providers.     

Solutions for customer complaints about offshoring and outsourcing services

In order to provide the highest quality services at lower costs, global firms have shifted their customer service functions offshore. Despite the apparent advantages of offshoring services, customers tend to object to the practice based on concerns about private/personal information being sent overseas. Additionally, executing service exchanges with overseas providers can be challenging because of perceived communication difficulties and cultural differences. The purpose of this article is to offer managers of firms that offshore services a clearer understanding of consumer concerns and provide guidance for alleviating these concerns. Specifically, suggestions are proffered regarding how to (1) minimize communication and cultural misunderstandings between customers and service providers, (2) assure customers that personal/private information is secure, and (3) restructure service activities to alleviate customer dissatisfaction. Unless such customer concerns are successfully identified and addressed, companies may not benefit from pursuing a services offshoring strategy.     

Merger as a Trigger for Cultural Change in the Retail Financial Services Sector

As providers of financial services aim to reduce costs and satisfy increasingly articulate customers, growth through acquisition or merger appears to provide them with the means to achieve these objectives. A significant aspect of merger is the legacy of cultural integration and the literature is replete with examples of mergers where cultural matters have been poorly managed. This paper argues that merging institutions may find that by matching cultural developments to the dynamics of the environment, significant competitive advantage can be gained. Far from creating dysfunctional turbulence, merger activity might instead provide the necessary trigger to stimulate cultural change.Financial service providers and other merging institutions are advised to extend their horizons beyond achieving, smooth integration to instilling a culture more in tune with the dynamics of the marketplace.     

Social media's contribution to customer satisfaction with services

An important recent initiative in the effective transmission of healthcare services is the establishment of the patient-centered medicine (PCM) philosophy as a mechanism for enhancing customer satisfaction. Although the goals of PCM are important, there is less understanding of the means by which service providers can promote this philosophy.

This study examines the relationship between customers’ attitude toward and use of social media, PCM, and their satisfaction with healthcare services. Data were collected from a large, urban-based pediatric office in the northeast. The sample consisted of 234 respondents who were classified as ‘e-Patients’ – that is, they reported having access to the Internet and going online for health information. A three-stage regression analysis, conducted to establish the path coefficients for each stage in the model, shows that customers’ (patients’) attitude toward social media can be an effective method to enhance PCM and, ultimately, satisfaction. The findings contribute to theory in services by exploring the challenges of managing service delivery at the interface between customer satisfaction and the role and usefulness of adopting and effectively using social media.     

Techno-economic modeling of value network configurations for public wireless local area access

The growing amount of mobile data traffic increases the demand for local area network deployments, and therefore is likely to have an effect on the mobile communications ecosystem. Several alternative value network configurations exist giving new business opportunities to different actors, but the attractiveness and success of local area access provisioning remains uncertain. This article analyzes the business of public local area access from the point of view of two potential providers: service application providers, i.e. companies whose core business is to provide information and content services in the Internet, and mobile operators. A quantitative techno-economic model is constructed to quantify the costs and required revenues of operating viable public local area access networks. The results show that the revenue requirements vary between public venue types and value network configurations.     

Book Reviews

As providers oJJitzarzcia1 services ubn to reduce costs ancl .scrtisJ\increasingly articulate customers, growth through acquisition or merger appears to provide them with the means to achieve these objectives. A signrJcant aspect of merger is the legacy of cultural integration and the literature is replete with examples of mergers where cultural matters have been poorly managed. This paper argues that merging institutions tnay find that by matching cultural developments to the dynamics o f the environment, significant competitive advantage can be gained. Far from creating dysfunctional turbulence, merger activity might instead provide the necessary trigger to stimulate cultural change. Financial service providers and other merging institutions are advised to extend their horizotzs beyond aclzieving, smooth integration to instilling (I culture more in tune with the dynamics o f the marketplace.     

多网络共存下基于贝叶斯的垂直切换算法

针对目前的垂直切换技术普遍不能满足多网络下的切换问题,提出了一种改进的基于贝叶斯决策的垂直切换算法。首先根据接入终端网络的信号强度、网络负载、误码率和网络阻塞率以及用户业务对网络的实际需求偏好建立多条件相关的切换概率分布,计算出先验切换概率;然后通过贝叶斯决策算法计算出后验概率来进行判决比较,从而选取最优的接入网络。仿真结果表明,该算法不仅能有效地实现不同接入技术之间的垂直切换,从而减少不必要的切换,提高了切换成功的概率,而且还能在维持各网络平均负载达到30%~40%〖时减轻通信热点的阻塞情况,为用户提供更优的服务质量。     

Strategic and Marketing Implications of Consumer Behaviour in Financial Services

As competitive liberalisation and the application of technology in the creation and distribution of financial services have increased consumer choice in the UK personal financial service industry, so consumer choice in the UK personal financial services industry, so consumer behaviour has assumed a greater role in determining the strategic environment in which financial service providers operate. This paper explores the reltionship between consumer behaviour and the strategic choices facing financial consumer behaviour and the strategic choices facing financial service firms by developing a framework of consumer behaviour and linking the forms of behaviour and type of financial service instrument that determines the strategic environment within which financial service providers operate. Based on that interaction the paper develops a contingency view of financial services strategy and argues that to be successful, financial service providers will need to move away from broad service provision and adopt more focused strategies that reflect far more closely the strategic environment in which they operate.     

Competition in the LM market

This paper considers the competition in the LM (land-to-mobile) market mainly by focusing on how access charges are determined in a competitive environment. Contrary to the widely held belief, the main beneficiary to introducing competition into the LM market (except consumers) is the mobile network operator if LM services are homogeneous. This is due to its ability to charge differentiated access fees to each of the LM service providers thereby inducing them to compete for LM retail prices. Also, competition in the LM market raises social welfare by eliminating double marginalization. Thus, the regulation imposing uniform access charges is socially undesirable in the sense that it hinders LM service providers from effectively competing for retail prices.     

基于第四方物流的物流园区互联互通问题研究——双边市场视角

基于4PL的现代物流园区是典型的双边市场经营平台,为解决物流园区间物流服务供给与需求的外部不均衡性,利用双边市场结构模型分析物流服务水平不对称的两个物流园区双边市场经营平台的互联互通,并研究物流服务水平较低的物流园区的物流服务创新、物流园区双边市场交叉网络外部性对互联互通的综合影响。求解发现低物流服务水平的物流园区进行物流服务创新,在交叉网络外部性的综合作用下,会对两个物流园区双边市场经营平台互联互通后的利润、交易费、市场份额产生复杂的交叉影响。     

Service Firms Heterogeneity,International Collaborations and Export Participation

The paper investigates the relationship between service firms’ international collaboration strategies and export decision. It proposes an extension of the recent class of models of firm heterogeneity, intermediation and international trade according to which service firms can engage in a collaboration agreement with a foreign partner in order to favour their market access and distribution activities overseas. The paper analyses the empirical relevance of this model by means of a new survey dataset providing information on the internationalization activities of 814 Norwegian firms in the service sectors for the period 2004–2006. The econometric results point out that international collaboration, both on existing and on innovative services, is indeed an important factor to foster service firms’ decision to enter the export market.     

中国执行DS413案专家组裁决的法律思考

DS413案(中美电子支付服务限制措施争端案)专家组裁决中国银联所从事的转接清算服务属于GATS项下中国《服务贸易承诺表》开放的金融服务领域。由于专家组裁决认定转接清算服务属于金融领域的银行业服务,中国在执行DS413案过程中,可根据GATS对外资进入该领域设置审慎性的市场准入措施,比如可将东道国与母国双重许可、母国有效监管、监管机构之间信息交流等作为外资银行卡组织的市场准入条件。这些条件给VISA等银行卡组织进入中国带来一定难度,可能诱发美国依据DSU21.5条提起执行审查之诉,但客观上也会对中国银联提供一定的保护。     

Extending the international new venture phenomenon to digital platform providers: A longitudinal case study

People increasingly interact with services enabled by digital platforms. This has been a consequence of the digitalization of artifacts, which has transmuted traditional businesses into digital forms. With the increasing digitalization and modularization of services, digital platforms have given many digital service providers possibilities to scale globally, and to rapidly transcend national borders by serving multi-sided markets. However, we still know very little about how digital platform providers actually internationalize their services, or how they make their platforms available for global markets. In this paper, we contribute to the increasing literature on digital-based INVs, examining how firms of this type internationalize their services, and more specifically, how recent technological developments have shaped the firms’ internationalization processes. Drawing on concepts from the network approach to internationalization, resource dependency theory, and INV theory, we extend the scope of INV theory via a model that encompasses the internationalization process of digital platform providers. We report on a longitudinal case study of a digital platform provider (covering the period 2000–2017), which allowed us to gain in-depth insight into the INV phenomenon.     

Process management practices: organizational (dis-)similarities

Organizational processes have been manifested as resources which are difficult to imitate. Not least because goods and services are offered worldwide on comparable levels, processes are nowadays sources of competitive advantage. Manufacturers recognized process management's benefits early on. Meanwhile service providers adopt related practices with slight adaptations as well and even potentials for small and flexible firms have been revealed. From a present-day perspective, the question arises whether manufacturers and large firms are still more process oriented than their entrepreneurial counterparts. The results of a survey-based comparison show that this situation continues to hold with fewer differences between manufacturers and service providers. However, it became clear that the process culture – one of six investigated factors – is independent from a firm's industry affiliation and size. The evidence demonstrates that service providers progress on their journey to process management, which is taking an increasingly decisive role in the management of service operations.     

Foreign environments: The internationalisation of environmental producer services

The ‘greening’ of manufacturing firms has created new markets for environmental producer services. Environmental service providers from industrialised countries are more and more forced to internationalise, often due to the international activities of their client firms or to an insufficient offer of such services in the host countries. While knowledge-intensive services in general face problems entering foreign markets, environmental producer services are particularly confronted with specific non-tariff barriers. The latter are not only related to regulatory frameworks, accreditation problems (‘neo-protectionism’) or missing cultural skills, but also to specific aspects such as confidence between service provider and client firm.     

Barbarians at the Gates: State Control of Global Mergers and Acquisitions

Cross‐border mergers and acquisitions are a major and often politicised component of foreign direct investment. Using data on individual transactions between 1970 and 2006, we examine the restrictions countries place on mergers and acquisitions, whether they use these controls to discriminate against foreigners seeking to acquire domestic firms, and what factors may predict the propensity to block foreign entry by this method of direct investment. Drawing partly on the existing literature, we test hypotheses that state intervention can be explained by characteristics of the countries whose firms are targeted by acquirers, including per capita income, democracy, trade exposure, market size, government share of national income and industrial structure. Although democracy, trade exposure and high government expenditure are associated with more stringent merger control laws, none of these attributes cause states to discriminate against cross‐border mergers. Countries with high per capita incomes, large markets and strict merger control laws, do use those regulations to discourage foreign acquirers. A second set of tests, based on observations of individual deals, rather than national aggregates, reveal that governments are particularly averse to foreigners acquiring firms that are bankrupt or in the defence sector. Overall, governments do treat cross‐border mergers and acquisitions differently, and use their merger control laws to discriminate against foreign investors, particularly with respect to certain types of transactions.     

Competing Online: Studying Consumer Choice Drivers for Online Financial Services

ABSTRACT

Given the rapid increase in the consumer use of online services and the increase in competition between firms that compete online, firms are faced with a crucial challenge. Having invested significant resources in transitioning consumers from using offline services to using online services, they now need to understand what drives consumers to choose between competing online services. Our study seeks an exploratory answer to the above challenge. Specifically, we consider, “what role do factors that drive consumers into using online services play in assisting firms better compete in the online space?” This paper explores the above question by quantifying the value that consumers of an online financial service place on having access to in-depth product information, an affordable online service, an easy to use online service, access to offline capabilities, and available marketing promotions. The results reported in this paper are based on a web-based discrete choice experiment in which 2,209 consumers were asked to compare various online financial service offerings, differing from each other in terms of the relative availability of our critical factors. The results demonstrate that consumer preferences (relative utilities) for various factors of an online financial service are different. Our results enable practicing managers to understand the factors that drive consumer choice when faced with competing online services. We believe that these results have both managerial and research implications for design, management and operations strategy formulation for online services.     

Do Small and Medium‐Sized IT Firms Form Service Partnerships with Nonlocal IT Firms? An Assessment of Facilitators

For small and medium‐sized information technology firms (IT SMEs), the service partnerships formed with other IT firms are strategic instruments to overcome their resource constraints, increase efficiency, and offer complementary services to their customers. Although these firms have a tendency to form local partnerships due to ease of trust building, few of them are engaged in nonlocal partnerships. This research aims to explore the facilitators of this divergent firm behavior. The findings suggest that a firm's alliance capabilities and organizational proximities between distant partners can substitute the lack of geographical proximity and enable IT SMEs' engagement in nonlocal service partnerships. More importantly, the type of IT service rendered through the partnership acts as a moderator and determines the extent of the organizational capabilities and proximities.     

Entrepreneurial networks: A Triple Helix approach for brokering human and social capital

Through utilising currently available Internet technologies, academic and governmental organisations can provide seedling companies in their incubators with additional competitive advantage through efficient access to markets, partners, knowledge and services both locally and globally. This paper proposes a Triple Helix approach for brokering social and human capital based on the skills brokerage business model. The skills brokerage business model is primarily suited for individuals and firms operating in localised settings. However, by using information and communication technologies, it is also possible to apply the model internationally for firms that need strategic partnerships in countries or regions other than their own. Coupled with the Triple Helix of university–government–industry interactions, it can propel innovation and the commercialisation of it beyond traditional boundaries of geography, such as the region and nation state. The paper also presents an Internet-based service that could be used to facilitate the brokerage process among the firms and people with relevant expertise and resources, and it discusses the implications this would have for a number of stakeholders, such as entrepreneurs, established businesses, service providers and business support organisations. This is still an emerging area and several themes for future research will be highlighted.     

Key service drivers for high-tech service brand equity: The mediating role of overall service quality and perceived value

Abstract

This study investigates how different aspects of service quality could have effects on overall perception of service quality, perceived value, and service brand equity. Based on a survey of active users of mobile telecommunications services in Taiwan, we obtained the following findings. First, we found that empathy, network quality, reliability, and assurance, but not tangibles and responsiveness, have a significant effect on service quality and value perception. Second, the effect of overall service quality on brand equity is partially mediated by perceived value. Third, overall service quality has differential mediation effects on the relationships between specific service quality dimensions and perceived value. Finally, empathy and network quality have direct effects on brand equity. For managers, our study suggests the importance of identifying key service drivers for building strong service brand for high-tech service firms. The identification of key service drivers could then enable these firms to make strategic decisions on services investments. It also demonstrates the importance of the humanisation of technology for services firms. This study is original in that it explores the path from specific services qualities to service brand equity.