Purchasing professional services: A transaction cost view of the antecedents and consequences of purchasing formalization

Professional services represent an increasing share of expenditures in contemporary organizations. While these services are often of strategic importance, they are also perceived as being difficult to purchase and use, which creates challenges for the purchasing process. In order to address these challenges, organizations are increasingly engaging in systematic efforts to improve their ability to purchase professional services. These efforts focus on formalizing the purchasing process by introducing policies, guidelines, and other measures for the hiring of service suppliers. Based on a transaction cost economic framework, the current paper investigates the nature, antecedents and consequences of formalization initiatives in the purchasing of professional services. The results from a cross-sectional study of 76 large Swedish organizations show that the formalization of purchasing professional services takes two different forms: the formulation of policies and the establishment of preferred supplier agreements. The former is driven by company size, whereas the latter is driven by the frequency of purchase transactions. Only the establishment of policies, however, is found to be positively related to organizations' perceived ability to purchase professional services.     

The associations of soil fertility and market access with household income: Evidence from rural Uganda

This study attempts to identify the major factors affecting farm and nonfarm income by using panel data of 894 rural households, interviewed in 2003 and 2005 in rural Uganda. We supplement the panel data with household-level soil fertility data and road distance data to the nearest urban center on three road types: tarmac, loose-surface, and dirt roads. The results suggest that soil fertility, measured by the soil organic matter (SOM) content, is positively associated with crop income but not with livestock and nonfarm income. We also find that the total road distance to the nearest urban center and the road quality have strong negative associations with the crop income.     

Relationships in the purchasing of business to business professional services: The role of personal relationships

There has been a shift from transactional to relational exchange and relationship marketing both in the business to business and professional services contexts. This paper seeks to explore the manner in which personal relationships affect the process and outcomes of purchasing of professional business services. Specifically, it focuses on the role of the professional service providers as boundary spanners in the formation of personal relationships. These personal relationships constitute the underlying basis of long-term relationships between the purchasing and provider organizations in such complex service settings. The findings of this study demonstrate that the manner in which the boundary spanners cultivate relationships support the concept of relationship specific tasks. It extends this conception by use of the data to outline the chronological process over time Understanding the roles, function, and ultimately importance, of these relationships facilitates the identification and development of appropriate strategies to manage these relationships.     

Development and implementation of customer solutions: A study of process dynamics and market shaping

A broad, dynamic network perspective on solution processes remains scarce. This article presents the process of developing and implementing customer solutions and its effects on the wider business environment by investigating customers and suppliers in the global mining industry (Australia, Chile, and Sweden), analyzing the deployment of a new customer solution, and assessing the changes to the competitive environment and focal firms' relationships with other customers and suppliers. It shows that the forces that drive customer and supplier interests and motivation to co-develop customer solutions may change over time, thus redefining the aim and scope of solutions and creating failure risks. Customers present problems; suppliers respond, on the basis of not only the feasibility of the customer-specific solution but also of their evaluation of future solutions in a broader market; then suppliers aim to standardize successful solutions across markets. Customers want close supplier relationships and unique solutions but also like standardized and repeatable solutions, so they can share development costs with competitors and expose the supplier to competition to avoid lock-in effects. From a network perspective, a novel solution can have a market-shaping effect and evoke reactions from other actors who want to enhance their market position. However, these changes are not necessarily deliberate, and the dynamics that market introductions of solutions trigger may be difficult to predict.     

Auctions with resale when private values are uncertain: Evidence from the lab and field

Auction theory represents one of the richest areas of research in economics over the past three decades. Yet, whether, and to what extent, the introduction of secondary resale markets influences bidding behavior in sealed-bid first-price auctions remains under researched. This study begins by examining field data from a unique data set that includes nearly 3000 auctions (over 10,000 individual bids) for cutting rights of standing timber in British Columbia from 1996 to 2000. In comparing bidding patterns across agents who are likely to have resale opportunities with those who likely do not, we find evidence that is consistent with theory. Critical evaluation of the reduced-form bidding model, however, reveals that sharp tests of the theoretical predictions are not possible because several other differences may exist across these bidder types. We therefore use a laboratory experiment to examine if the resale opportunity by itself can have the predicted theoretical effect. We find that while it does have the predicted effect, a theoretical model based on risk-averse bidders explains the overall data patterns more accurately than a model based on risk-neutral bidders. Beyond testing theory, the paper highlights the inferential power of combining naturally occurring data with laboratory data.     

An exploratory study of technological knowledge when pupils are designing a programmed technological solution using BBC Micro:bit

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Technology educators often provide activities where pupils design programmed technological solutions (PTS) with various programming...     

积极开拓 精心打造——对石化企业拓展海外市场若干问题的探讨

石化企业拓展海外市场具有重要的现实意义和深远的战略意义。首先，从世界来看，各国石化工业发展迅猛。西方发达国家、中东产油国的大公司、中国周边国家和地区的石化企业都瞄准了中国大陆市场，它们利用技术上的优势，实行国际化经营，向中国大陆市场渗透。随着中国加入世贸组织，这种状况将愈烈，国内市场空间将变得十分拥挤。因此，中国石化企业在大力巩固国内市场的同时，要利用加入世贸组织的契机，进军海外市场，以缓解国内市场面临的巨大压力。其次，从中国发展战略目标来看，到本世纪中叶，中国要步入世界中等发达国家行列，到妥时，从经济总量上讲，中国将步入世界经济强国之列，中国石化企业必须加大改革力度，进一步走出国门，积极参与国际竞争，这是实现中国第三步发展战略目标的重要途径。石化企业如何拓展海外市场，本就创一流流品、定价、选中间商、电子商务、创驰名商标等发表一点粗浅看法。     

The externalisation of R&D activities and the growing market of product development services

Several authors in recent years have discussed the observed trend towards the externalisation of (part of) a firm's R&D activities. As a consequence, several companies have been created that provide innovators with technical and scientific services such as R&D contracts, laboratory testing services, technology consulting, industrial design, engineering.
The paper is based upon an empirical study which consists of (i) an extensive analysis, in which information has been collected (for about two hundred companies) on size, location and type of services offered; (ii) an intensive analysis, in which one case is studied in depth of a company providing product development services. Some conclusions have been drawn regarding the characteristics of the market of product development services and the management and organisation of companies operating in that market.     

Differences in consumer loyalty and willingness to pay for service attributes across digital channels: A study of the Japanese digital content market

In this paper, the impact that the Internet access device has on consumer loyalty behaviors relative to Internet content was explored. To do so, a mixed logit demand function for mobile and PC subscribers to digital content was estimated and consumers’ willingness to pay for attributes related to specific content providers and their levels of service quality were measured. It was found that significant differences in loyalty and willingness to pay for service quality factors existed between mobile and PC Internet content subscribers, suggesting that while content may be developed as device independent, consumers interact differently with similar Internet content accessed through different devices. Specifically, the willingness to pay for more robust and more frequently updated content was on average higher in the mobile segment than in the PC segment. In addition, the overall switching costs consumers attributed to specific content providers via the mobile channel were far higher than through the PC channel. These results suggest that more robust content management systems must be developed to accommodate for such differences in consumer behavior.     

The sufficiency of product and variable costs for production-related decisions when economies of scope are present

This article examines the usefulness of product and variable costs for pricing, product mix, and capacity expansion decisions when economies of scope are present. A numerical example demonstrates that the sufficiency of product and variable costs are diminished when economies of scope are present, even under economic conditions that are the most conducive for product and variable costs to lead to an optimal decision. Further analysis of production-related decisions with hard constraints indicates that the usefulness of variable costing incorporating the effect of a bottleneck activity is also diminished when economies of scope are present. Since economies of scope are one of the primary conditions necessary for firms to produce multiple products in a competitive economy [Panzar, J., Willig, R., 1981. Economies of scope. American Economic Review 71 (2), 268–272], the findings of this article bring into question the sufficiency of product and variable costs for production-related decisions.     

Profitability and market share: A reflection on the functional relationship

The paper analyzes the functional relationship between profitability and market share for type of businesses in the PIMS data base. Although a linear relationship has been imposed in other studies, our result shows that empirically it seems a poor representation of the data. In addition, three observations seem to be most evident. First, small-share businesses were not per se less successful than larger business units. In the service market and the market for raw or semi-finished materials small-share businesses were just as profitable or even more profitable than larger business units. Second, some businesses were ‘stuck in the middle’, which was most evident in the service market but also in the retail and wholesale markets. Third, very large-share businesses were often less profitable. A critical market share was identified as between 65 and 70 percent. Beyond that level the ROI decreased.     

Reconceptualizing the elements of market orientation: A process-based view

Market Orientation (MO) was originally introduced with a reflective second-order scale, but much recent research has conceptualized MO as a formative second-order construct. However, either the reflective or the formative approach to measuring MO may have issues that obscure relationships between both the individual dimensions and their relationships with other variables. Thus, the current research disaggregates the MO construct into three sub-constructs in an effort to explore relationships between the three dimensions of MO and its implementation process within the firm. The proposed Market Intelligence Implementation Process (MIIP) model suggests both a direct path from intelligence generation to responsiveness and an indirect path through a company-wide focus on dissemination. The process model suggests that firms may select two distinctly different paths to responsiveness when applying market intelligence. Explicating this dual process model allows us to understand how firm characteristics impact the process of MO through the individual elements. If the three sub-constructs do not vary in concert with each other, researchers cannot simply conclude that a firm characteristic (i.e., centralization or international experience) positively or negatively impacts MO's relationship to important marketing variables. The results indicate that for centralized and experienced firms, a high level of intelligence dissemination may actually hinder responsiveness. However, in decentralized and inexperienced firms, high levels of dissemination are linked to increased responsiveness. Using conditional process modeling, our study disaggregates the temporally distinct process of MO to reveal internal relationships among its dimensions. The current research also shows that the mediation of intelligence dissemination on the link between intelligence generation and responsiveness depends on the firm's levels of both centralization and international experience.     

2009年中国润滑油市场回顾与2010年展望

2009年,在全球润滑油市场消费量大幅回落的背景下,中国的润滑油需求受惠于国家一系列扩大内需政策的拉动,表观消费量超过600万吨,同比增长6％～8％,成为全球润滑油市场的亮点。国内基础油资源供不应求,进口资源大幅增加,2009年润滑油基础油的进口量达到188万吨,对外依存度超过30％。同时,外资润滑油公司加大在华投资力度,市场份额稳步提高,中国国内市场竞争不断加剧。2010年,中国经济发展继续向好,预计汽车产业等主要用油行业的持续快速增长将带动润滑油消费继续增加;外资公司将加快在中国的布局,加强在中国市场的研发支持力度,进一步提高在中国本土的生产能力,国内润滑油市场的竞争将更加激烈;同时,基础油进口量将仍然维持在历史高位。     

世界石油市场再平衡:中国的机遇和挑战

供需双重因素导致的世界石油市场结构性失衡,是本轮油价大幅回落的深层次原因.除了世界经济增长放缓、石油需求增长乏力外,供应过快增长是导致2014年以来世界石油市场结构性失衡日益严重的主要原因.基于对历次国际油价暴跌的动因以及未来石油市场实现再平衡的途径的分析,判断2016年下半年世界石油市场将逐渐开启再平衡模式,并提出石油行业要做好在低油价或更低油价环境下打持久战的准备."十三五"时期是我国深化石油市场化改革的关键时期.一方面,要抓住资源供应相对宽松的有利时机,拓展获取石油资源的空间,缓解石油供应安全压力;利用外部市场炼油加工收益良好的时机,加快化解我国炼油过剩产能的问题;抓住石油市场再平衡的时间窗口,建立更加完善的现代石油市场体系;同时做强石油贸易,提升对国际石油市场的影响力.另一方面,也要对可能的挑战做好准备,包括:中东地区地缘政治局势动荡加剧,对石油供应安全构成严重威胁;石油上游勘探开发投资大幅减少,从长远看石油供应不足的风险增大;国际石油市场竞争加剧;油价低迷减缓新能源产业发展和清洁能源使用的步伐.     

专业化服务是搞好独立工矿企业后勤服务的有效途径

承担现代"煤都"主要后勤服务业务的神东煤炭公司,成立以来,一直坚持专业化管理、专业化服务,积极为主业减负,为主业连续八年实现煤炭产量"千万吨"跨越、建设成为国内煤炭行业的龙头老大作出了突出贡献。文章认为,专业化管理、专业化服务是神东公司今后进一步提升后勤服务质量、服务品味的必选,也是类似神府东胜这种独立工矿企业搞好后勤部务的有效途径。     

Academic brands and their impact on scientific endeavour: The case of business market research and researchers

This paper examines the significance of the rapid development of so-called “academic brands” in Marketing for the process of academic research and for the work and the careers of researchers: It focuses on the specific case of business market research and researchers. The paper starts by exploring the ideas behind the development of Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) and its impact on the academic community: CCT appears as an emblematic case of branding of an academic community. The paper then discusses the rapid emergence of the Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) as a case of branding which has a direct impact on business market research. The paper then relates the emergence of these two “brands” to developments in business market research and more specifically to the development of IMP as a brand. Finally, the paper draws some conclusions about the role of academic branding and its impact on scientific endeavour with emphasis on the future of business marketing research and researchers.     

Analysis and design of microfinance services: A case of ROSCA

Rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) is a well-known microfinance association widely used in many countries around the world with long histories. By considering extra profits that such a system can provide when compared to banking transactions, we develop optimization problems to achieve an optimal design of a ROSCA. We find that ROSCAs might attract investors when deposit and loan rates from formal banking systems are not favorable. Furthermore, optimal rates and optimal orders to maximize system outputs are reported.     

The sustainable growth model: A tool for evaluating the financial feasibility of market share strategies

Market share objectives constitute a key element of a firm's corporate strategy. Market share strategy decisions—to build, maintain, or harvest share—are generally based on a careful consideration of the long-term and short-term profitability and cash flow implications of such decisions. The product sales growth rate and capacity expansion implications of share building strategies, the sustainability of implied sales growth targets and its consistency with the established financial policies and objectives of the firm are the subject of this report. The sustainable growth model outlined provides a framework for evaluating the financial feasibility of sales growth objectives at the strategic business unit level and the firm level, from the standpoint of expected return on sales, investment requirements per dollar of sales, target capital structure and the dividend policy of the firm.     

2009年世界石油市场回顾与2010年展望

2009年,国际油价呈现宽幅波动上升态势,波动范围为35～80美元/桶,预计年内均价将超过60美元/桶.2009年世界石油市场的主要特点:1)WTI与布伦特原油价格倒挂日渐频繁;2)轻质原油和重质原油价差缩小;3)石油的金融属性更加明显,投机商继续青睐石油期货市场;4)欧佩克减产履约率呈现前高后低走势,剩余产能大幅增加;6)石油库存水平居高不下.2010年,全球经济将出现曲折缓慢的复苏态势,基础仍然十分脆弱;石油供需尚显宽松;全球库存和剩余产能将维持较高水平;金融因素仍将是影响2010年油价走势的突出因素.预计2010年油价上升是主基调,全年均价为70～80美元/桶.鉴于世界经济发展前景的不确定性依然很大,油价在未来一段时间将以区间波动为主.     

Determinants of early movers in cross-border merger and acquisition wave in an emerging market: A study of Indian firms

A series of changes in India’s financial institutional regime led to waves of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals spanning various industries. In this article, we explore firm-level determinants that distinguish between early movers and followers in these waves. We tested our hypotheses using data for the 2001–2011 period. Analysis found support for our hypotheses that prior experience (with alliances), firm size, and international embeddedness of business group influence timing of firms’ cross-border M&A. Findings support the springboarding perspective that emerging market (EM) firms engage in preemptive acquisitions to gain first-mover advantage.