The emerging value network in the mobile phone industry: The case of Japan and its implications for the rest of the world

This paper considers how the mobile phone industry is changing from a value chain to a value network using the Japanese market as an example. Value networks involve a larger number of firms, a more complex set of relationships between them, and agreements on a greater number of interface standards than do value chains. Building from this concept of a value network, the paper shows how: (1) agreements on many of these interface standards are enabling connections to be made between the mobile phone and other industries; (2) the resulting products and services often reflect the technological capability of phones and the existing products and services in these “other” industries; (3) each new interface standard requires a new critical mass of users; and (4) a critical mass of users for a new interface standard partly builds from previously created critical masses of users. On a practical level, this paper's analysis adds to a growing list of evidence that the growth in Western mobile Internet markets is nowhere near its potential and that the change from a value chain to a value network requires a different form of standard setting, policy making, and management than are currently used in the mobile phone industry.     

Innovation contests: attracting new solvers and new high-quality solutions

This study extends research on online innovation contests by focusing on the process of an innovation contest. The authors propose that the decision of a solver to join a contest and the likelihood that a solver will submit a high-quality solution are functions of the current number of solvers in a contest and of the current number of high-quality solutions. The hypotheses are tested in an empirical analysis using a unique data set of 1351 online innovation contests for graphic design projects. The study finds that solvers joining a contest and solvers submitting high-quality solutions are two dynamic and interacting processes that impact the outcomes of an innovation contest. More specifically, the results reveal that (1) a solver is less likely to join a contest that already has many solvers, and many high-quality solutions; (2) a solver is more likely to submit a high-quality solution in a contest if the contest has already many solvers or the focal solver has already submitted one or more high-quality solutions; (3) a solver is less likely to submit a high-quality solution if the contest already has many high-quality solutions developed by others. Organizers of online innovation contests need to understand these complex relationships when they manage contests and aim to improve contest performance. This article details the implications of these findings for the theory and practice of innovation contests.     

煤炭企业物资采购预付款风险管理与控制

结合当前形势对煤炭企业物资采购预付款风险进行分析,从精细化管理角度出发提出了建立预付款首接风险责任制、供应商管理机制、全程跟踪机制、预警机制、预付款指标奖惩制度和后续管理6个管理机制,以此形成完善的风险防范运行机制,强化风险管理,降低预付款采购风险。     

Short product life cycles: implications for the marketing activities of small high-technology companies*

ABSTRACT Many high-technology products are characterized by a “short” product life cycle (PLC)—a short life on the market, a steep decline stage and the lack of a maturity stage. The paper discusses the implications for marketing activities of this pattern in the case of small high-technology companies. It is shown that the marketing of a short PLC product requires a high level of marketing, managerial ability and sophistication as well as an investment of a large amount of resources. It is pointed out that small high-technology firms are faced with a particularly difficult situation in this case because they lack appropriate resources and marketing sophistication. An understanding of the short PLC problem will help the small companies to conduct a more realistic assessment of the magnitude of the marketing task they face in order to adequately prepare themselves or avoid a commitment to projects which are beyond their abilities.     

Optimal inventory and pricing policies for remanufacturable leased products

In this paper we consider a company which leases new products and also sells remanufactured versions of the new product that become available at the end of their lease periods. When the amount of end-of-lease items in stock is not sufficient to meet the demand for remanufactured products, the firm may purchase additional cores from a third-party supplier. We develop a dynamic programming formulation for determining the optimal price of remanufactured products, and optimal payment structure for the leased products. Our objective is to maximize the discounted system-wide profit over a finite horizon. The profit function consists of revenues that are obtained from remanufactured product sales and leasing, remanufacturing and manufacturing costs, inventory holding and shortage costs. We consider a consumer choice based demand model for mapping a potential customer into one of the product segments (a remanufactured product customer or a customer for a leased product with a particular lease period) for a given price/lease payment vector. We explore several properties of the discounted profit function and provide insight on the behavior of pricing and inventory policies. We also investigate the effect of key product characteristics such as deterioration in age, cost of shortage in remanufacturable product inventory, and key market characteristics such as relative willingness-to-pay for buying a remanufactured product and relative willingness-to-pay for leasing a new product on optimal pricing policies through a computational study.     

采用市场倒逼机制促进煤炭生产革命

从"动力源""持续性"和"有效性"3个方面着眼,介绍了煤炭生产和消费者间的关系和煤炭消费需求的新变化,分析了煤炭供应者实施煤炭生产革命的方略,提出引发和推动煤炭生产革命的最根本动力是市场客户需求,只有采用市场客户需求倒逼机制才能有效地促进煤炭生产革命。     

Financing a central research laboratory: A tool of R & D subsidy policy

Abstract . In this paper we discuss two major issues of financing a central research laboratory.
First, the decision faced by the firm or the division whether to invest in its own laboratory or to rent compatible central laboratory services. The second issue is the price that a central laboratory should charge for renting out its facilities.
Under the assumptions that a laboratory can serve a large number of users over a long period of time and thus diversify the risk of liquidation better than a single firm or division, we show that, under uncertainty, the rent for the central laboratory assets is less than the price that a firm is willing to pay for its usage. This surplus has interesting policy implications for the diversified firm that operates a central R & D laboratory for the use of its divisions and may wish to establish a transfer price system. Moreover, if the government finances a central laboratory to service industrial firms and it follows a policy of subsidizing industrial R & D, the surplus may be given to the user of the laboratory as a direct subsidy.     

List pricing and discounting in a Bertrand–Edgeworth duopoly

List, or retail, pricing is a widely used trading institution where firms announce a price that may be discounted at a later stage. Competition authorities view list pricing and discounting as a procompetitive practice. We modify the standard Bertrand–Edgeworth duopoly model to include list pricing and a subsequent discounting stage. Both firms first simultaneously choose a maximum list price and then decide whether to discount, or not, in a subsequent stage. We show that list pricing works as a credible commitment device that induces a pure strategy outcome. This is true for a general class of rationing rules. Further unlike the dominant firm interpretation of a price leader, the low capacity firm may have incentives to commit to a low price and in this sense assume the role of a leader.     

Technology analysis and R&D management

Technology analysis is a new field of knowledge aimed at creating a fuller understanding of the technological setting within which business operates. It provides a macro-discipline and is specifically aimed at improving the effectiveness of management of technology. As such it is of direct relevance to R&D management.
The essential tools of technology analysis constitute a set of analytical frameworks covering aspects such as: (i) a common approach to describing individual technological artefacts, (ii) a taxonomy of technologies, (iii) a classification of technological trends, (iv) a chart of technological limits, and (v) a socio-technical preference profile.
These frameworks help the R&D manager to dissect and debate typical R&D management problems such as: (i) selecting R&D projects, (ii) setting broad R&D objectives in the case of a given project and (iii) setting specific R&D goals to meet the said objectives. The frameworks also help the R&D manager to portray and present research achievements within a simple and intuitively appealing framework.     

苯酚的国内外生产现状及市场前景

目前，全球苯酚的总生产能力约为9260kt／a，2004年总消费量约为7745kt／a。预计到2009年总生产能力将达到11350kt／a，总消费量将达到9452kt／a。2005年我国苯酚的总生产能力约为580kt／a，2004年产量为410kt／a，消费量约为689．6kt／a，产不足需，每年都得大量进口。预计到2010年我国苯酚的总生产能力将达到约1000kt／a，消费量将达到约855kt／a。针对目前我国苯酚生产存在的问题，提出了今后的发展建议。     

Using performance-based warranties to influence consumer purchase decisions

Abstract

Traditional warranty analysis focuses on the reliability of a product and offers warranty designs that compensate a consumer if the item fails. We introduce the concept of a performance-based warranty (PBW) that guarantees that a product will operate at or above some baseline level of performance, such as a minimum energy efficiency for an appliance. We illustrate how consumer behavior can change in the presence of a PBW and define the parameters for which a manufacturer may increase revenue. Finally, we present an algorithm to solve for the optimal PBW design given a consumer’s belief about the expected performance of the product.     

Bilateral Bargaining with Externalities

This paper provides an analysis of a non‐cooperative pairwise bargaining game between agents in a network. We establish that there exists an equilibrium that generates a coalitional bargaining division of the reduced surplus that arises as a result of externalities between agents. That is, we provide a non‐cooperative justification for a cooperative division of a non‐cooperative surplus. The resulting division is related to the Myerson‐Shapley value with properties that are particularly useful and tractable in applications. We demonstrate this by examining buyer‐seller networks and vertical foreclosure.     

Pricing with Endogenous Direct Advertising in a Monopoly

This paper develops a model of informative advertising in which a firm builds a database using its historical sales records in order to directly target ads on those consumers who have a high probability of purchasing its products. We show that the firm can use this type of direct advertising as a screening mechanism to identify high demand consumers. As a result, direct advertising can work essentially as a device to increase a firm's monopoly power. From a social point of view, this implies that the transition from traditional mass-advertising to direct advertising can generate a trade-off between higher advertising efficiency and greater monopoly power. We compute the model to shed light on the relative strength of these two forces, and find that while direct advertising might have a substantial negative impact on consumers, this advertising technology can only occasionally reduce welfare.     

煤炭市场供需波动与价格风险管理

大秦线的春季检修是历年上半年北方下水煤供应波动的主要因素,通过分析发现大秦线检修带来的供给波动在历年的夏季价格大跌中发挥了关键性作用。除了大秦线检修之外,需求的波动、运输计划的调整等都会带来市场的波动。在供大于求的市场环境下,价格易跌难涨,波动对于短期价格变化有重大影响。价格的下行实际上是在各种供需波动作用下,少涨多跌的动态调整过程。因此,在当前的煤炭经营管理中,应强化波动管理,最大限度地避免供需波动、平滑煤炭供应、稳定市场价格。     

Twists and turns of triadic business relationship recovery

This study focuses on triadic business relationship recovery processes through a single case study. We address the question of what kind of process takes place when a business relationship on the verge of ending is recovered and what roles a third actor can play in the process. As a result, we model a process through which a triadic business relationship is recovered and attraction, trust, and commitment are restored.     

Rationalizability and efficiency in an asymmetric Cournot oligopoly

This paper studies rationalizability in a linear asymmetric Cournot oligopoly with a unique Nash equilibrium. It shows that mergers favor uniqueness of the rationalizable outcome. When one requires uniqueness of the rationalizable outcome maximization of consumers' surplus may involve a symmetric oligopoly with few firms. We interpret uniqueness of the rationalizable outcome as favoring a dampening of strategic ‘coordination’ uncertainty. An illustration to the merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest shows that a reallocation of 1% of market share from a small carrier to a larger one has implied a lower production volatility over time, yielding a 1.5% decrease in the coefficient of variation of number of passengers.     

进口轧机自制安全销的剪切实验研究

采用与进口轧机安全销同样结构的试件并模拟其工作载荷 ,测试 42 Cr Mo材料的剪切性能 ,自行研制了一种进口轧机安全销     

供应中断下双源采购的供应链契约设计

考虑由一个制造商和两个供应商构成的两级供应链契约设计问题,将可靠性服从随机分布的供应商作为主供应商,将完全中断供应商作为次供应商,建立以利润最大化为目标的签约和执行两阶段博弈的动态规划模型,得到制造商的最优契约设计。制造商根据产品零售价格的变化灵活做出只与一个供应商签约、与两个供应商同时签约或都不签约的决定,供应商根据契约设计内容决定自己的最优生产规模。研究表明：供应商最优生产规模与产品的单位生产成本呈负相关,与单位变动支付和单位惩罚成本呈正相关;次供应商的订货量与其本身的可靠性呈正相关,与主供应商的可靠性呈负相关;供应商的固定支付与其相应的可靠性呈负相关。     

Auctions for Split-Award Contracts

The buyer of a homogeneous input divides his input requirements into two contracts that are awarded to different suppliers. He uses a sequential second-price auction to award a primary and a secondary contract. With a fixed number of suppliers the buyer pays a higher expected price than with a sole-source auction. The premium paid to the winner of the secondary contract must also be paid to the winner of the primary contract as an opportunity cost. When entry is endogenous, we identify the conditions under which a secondary contract can increase the number of suppliers and lower the expected price.     

丁苯橡胶的国内外供需现状及发展前景

2005年全球丁苯橡胶的总生产能力为4737kt／a，总消费量为4011kt／a。预计到2010年总消费量将达到4823kt／a。目前，我国丁苯橡胶的总生产能力为597kt／a，2005年产量为514．2kt／a，消费量为653．2kt／a，产不足需，每年都需大量进口。预计2007年我国丁苯橡胶消费量将达到720kt，2010年消费量将达到850kt。针对目前我国丁苯橡胶生产状况及存在的问题，提出了今后的发展建议。