A holonic framework to understand and apply information processes in evolutionary economics: survey and proposal

Economists unsatisfied with the basic neoclassical assumptions of rational economic actors and economic evolution towards equilibrium states founded the evolutionary economic approach. Their goal was to provide more realistic assumptions regarding economic agents and their institutional environments. The Modern Synthesis (MS), the current conceptual paradigm for biological evolution, was used as a source of inspiration for conceptual development. Along the biologically inspired line of thought, the Generalized Darwinism (GD) initiative relies on the abstraction of the MS to provide a unifying conceptual framework for evolutionary economics. Despite its merits, GD has been subject to criticism, particularly regarding its level of abstractness and lack of an explicit account of the social and cognitive processes that drive economic evolution. The goal of this article is to introduce and explore an alternative conceptual framework for evolutionary economics: the Holonic Framework (HF). Contrary to GD, the HF is not biologically inspired, but builds upon the body of literature on the value of digital information networks. We discuss the analytical strengths and limitations of the HF relative to GD in light of several aspects pertinent to evolutionary economics (e.g. self-organization, culture, cognition, cooperation). Finally, by referring to an operationalization of the HF using Eurostat data, we show its practical strengths in comparison to GD.     

Developing a framework to improve virtual shopping in digital malls with intelligent self-service systems

Growing movements to urban places, increasing unemployment, decreasing buying power, rising real estate cost and demanding consumers for convenience and price are creating challenges for retailers. This paper reviews a sample list of retail channels, and proposes a systematic framework for conceptualizing the data-driven, and mobile- and cloud-enabled intelligent self-service systems to improve virtual shopping. With adoption of intelligent self-service systems, – more service oriented, more instrumented (from sensors to smart phones for monitoring consumers׳ behaviors), interconnected (patterns of interactions), and intelligent (algorithms help recognize patterns) – retail organizations can provide more cost effective quality retail service experiences to consumers.     

Marketing perspectives on digital business models: A framework and overview of the special issue

Strong digital developments are changing markets, and firms may adopt a digital business model to deal with these developments. This special issue focuses on such digital business models. In this editorial, we discuss the relevance of digital business models, propose a conceptual framework, and discuss how digital business models affect firms, firm performance, and markets. We introduce the papers in this issue and show how they each fit within the conceptual framework. We discuss four important areas for future research.     

Child-brand relations: a conceptual framework

Children present a unique situation for marketers to build child-brand relationships and also represent significant market potential. To obtain a deeper understanding of how children form bonds with brands, the paper develops the Children as Potential Relationship Partner (CPRP) framework and proposes that children's potential to form relationships with a brand depends on their motivation (M), opportunity (O), and ability (A) to do so. This relationship potential is represented by the MOA space, which is the product of the three dimensions. An inventory of propositions is developed to explain how children's motivation, opportunity, and ability determine the formation of child-brand relationships. In addition, the roles of gender and age and the influence of two social environmental factors, parents and peers, are also discussed. The paper concludes by calling more empirical study on child-brand relationships and discussing implications for brand managers and public policy makers.     

Bottom-up framework for cost allocation to services in telecommunication networks

Communications service providers (CSP) supply information, transport and passive infrastructure services that rely on the deployment of multiservice networks. To attain service cost reductions, the planning and design of those networks is essential, so that the total cost of the network ownership (TCO) is minimized. In this paper, we propose a bottom-up calculation framework for the allocation of the TCO cost components (i.e. capital and operational expenditures) to the services supplied by a CSP. For this, the framework is formulated within the context of the network life-cycle. Our method provides the level of abstraction required for the calculation of the three basic service cost contributors, namely, direct, shared and common costs. Moreover, it outlines the role of network planning in the design of an efficient network infrastucture, and in the calculation of the TCO. Based on this, we show how the stand alone, fully allocated and long-run incremental costs of a service can be calculated. Besides the determination of service cost drivers, the framework is useful to evaluate the cost-efficiency of competing technologies. To illustrate this, we study the allocation of the infrastructure costs for a CSP offering transport services with an optical network. By designing the infrastructure with fixed-grid and flex-grid technologies, it is shown that in both cases the main service cost driver is determined by the transponders installed. The results show that fixed-grid fits well for the provisioning of high speed constant bit-rate transport services, whereas flex-grid is a good candidate for transport services with bursty traffic patterns.     

Quality signaling through ex-ante voluntary information disclosure in entrepreneurial networks: evidence from franchising

This paper examines antecedents of ex-ante voluntary information disclosures for standardized contracts in entrepreneurial networks. Entrepreneurs (e.g., franchisors) may make such disclosures to prospective business partners in order to signal profitability of partnering, attract financial and managerial resources, and develop their entrepreneurial networks. In practice, only a fraction of franchisors make financial performance representations (FPRs), an ex-ante voluntary information disclosure to prospective franchisees. We address gaps in the signaling, voluntary information disclosure, franchising, entrepreneurship, and small- and medium-enterprise (SME) literatures. We draw on signaling theory to develop a theoretical framework and investigate factors that influence a franchisor’s disclosure decision. We evaluate hypotheses from our theoretical framework through econometric analyses of multi-sector panel data for the US franchising industry. We estimate a logit model and use lagged independent variables to address our dichotomous independent variable and potential endogeneity, respectively. Our results support the view that firms signal their quality through FPRs to attract potential business partners and expand their entrepreneurial networks. Beyond the extant literature, we find that rigorous partner qualification is another driver of voluntary information disclosure in franchising. Our findings also provide empirical support for the complementary role played by multiple quality signaling mechanisms used by franchisors and yield public policy implications for franchising.     

A revised framework of global strategy: Extending the coordination-configuration framework

Although there have been significant efforts in conceptualizing global strategies, few frameworks have been developed to measure the relative globalness of firms. Porter proposed a specific framework of coordination and configuration for this purpose. This article proposes a new framework of global strategy by extending Porter's original framework. The conceptual clarification of this article will be useful in understanding different types of firms that are pursuing a global strategy. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Extracting brand information from social networks: Integrating image,text, and social tagging data

Images are an essential feature of many social networking services, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Through brand-related images, consumers communicate about brands with each other and link the brand with rich contextual and consumption experiences. However, previous articles in marketing research have concentrated on deriving brand information from textual user-generated content and have largely not considered brand-related images. The analysis of brand-related images yields at least two challenges. First, the content displayed in images is heterogeneous, and second, images rarely show what users think and feel in or about the situations displayed. To meet these challenges, this article presents a two-step approach that involves collecting, labeling, clustering, aggregating, mapping, and analyzing brand-related user-generated content. The collected data are brand-related images, caption texts, and social tags posted on Instagram. Clustering images labeled via Google Cloud Vision API enabled to identify heterogeneous contents (e.g. products) and contexts (e.g. situations) that consumers create content about. Aggregating and mapping the textual information for the resulting image clusters in the form of associative networks empowers marketers to derive meaningful insights by inferring what consumers think and feel about their brand regarding different contents and contexts.     

Social sources of information in opportunity recognition: Effects of mentors,industry networks,and professional forums

Effects on opportunity recognition of three social sources of opportunity-related information (mentors, informal industry networks, participation in professional forums) were investigated. Results indicated that all three sources had direct, positive effects on opportunity recognition by entrepreneurs. In addition, the effects of two sources (mentors and professional forums) were mediated by schema strength, while effects of the third source (informal industry networks) were mediated by self-efficacy. Results are consistent with theories of opportunity recognition that emphasize the role of information and cognitive processes, and suggest that two social sources of information not systematically investigated in previous research–mentors and participation in professional forums–can assist entrepreneurs in identifying opportunities for new ventures.     

Determinants of intra-firm trade: A search for a theoretical framework

This article establishes a theoretical framework to explain the underlying conditions for intra-firm trade phenomenon. Despite an increasing importance of intra-firm trade as a new mode of international exchange, its nature and implications have not yet been investigated seriously and appropriately. Traditional explanation of international trade offers little help in understanding this new phenomenon of international exchange. Using the transaction cost paradigm and its international application as well as the eclectic model of international production, this study identifies major determinants of the intra-firm trade. Also presented are some testable hypotheses within the theoretical framework thus developed.     

李俊峰：做全球数码的美容师

你的手机是什么颜色？黑色、银灰,还是白色？走在人潮涌动的大街上,或身处亲友聚会的场合中,当人们掏出手机时,那些款式、颜色雷同的手机,是否也曾让你遭遇到＂撞机＂的尴尬？     

Recycling as a marketing problem: A framework for strategy development

This article provides a framework for integrating past recycling research by conceptualizing recycling compliance as a marketing problem. Within a social marketing framework, recycling behavior is considered the product, and the marketing problem is to sell recycling to the consumers or public. Recycling research is then categorized as consumer research (research on characteristics of the recycler), pricing research (research on the costs to the consumer, including implicit or less tangible costs), distribution research (research on modes of participation for the recycler), and promotional research (research on intervention strategies such as raffles and contests, personal selling techniques such as block leader programs, and persuasive communications). Using this framework, we provide an integration of a vast amount of recycling research, and also suggest how this research can be used to design actionable strategies for the development of community recycling programs. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Applications of artificial neural networks in management science: a survey

An increasing number of publications reporting on applications of Artificial Neural Networks demonstrates the growing relevance of modeling techniques summarized under this heading. In Management Science several known problems also have already been solved by using one of these methods.The paper at hand provides a survey of the most recent publications in this field and employs the functional structuring of Management for presentation. In the spirit of a metaanalysis we try to identify regularities with respect to the methods used and the results achieved. Furthermore we formulate areas for future research and give a summarizing evaluation of the state-of-the-art.     

Digital transformation in maritime ports: analysis and a game theoretic framework

Digitalization is pushing the maritime industry beyond its traditional limits and provides many new opportunities to enhance the productivity, efficiency, and sustainability of logistics. The concept of smart ports, for instance, aims to adopt modern information technologies to enable a better planning and management within and between ports. Strong facilitators of the digitalization are investments into technology and cooperations for promoting information sharing and a better coordination and collaboration, often regarded as a stumbling block in highly competitive environments. Besides many new opportunities, important economic issues and problems arise. We provide an overview of the development and state-of-the-art of digital transformation in modern seaports in order to identify current potentials and barriers. Focusing on the crucial and challenging aspects of coordination and collaboration, we present a conceptual game theoretic framework that allows benefits and cost allocations considering inter-, intra-, and meta-organizational perspectives. We further demonstrate how this framework can be used to develop tools and methods for supporting strategic decision making for driving the digital transformation in seaports and addressing new economic issues and problems.     

Conditional market segmentation by neural networks: a Monte-Carlo study

An artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm is proposed that incorporates both market segmentation and discriminant (regression) analysis of the segments. The method simultaneously estimates the models relating consumer characteristics to market segments, i.e., subjects are assigned to (unique) segments so that subjects within a class show similar purchase behavior and share the same characteristics (psychographics/sociodemographics). Parameters of all models are estimated by the backpropagation algorithm. The performance of the ANN methodology is assessed in a Monte-Carlo study. In contrast to the usual stepwise approach adopted in segmentation studies, our study found that simultaneous segmentation and discrimination are preferable for finding an overall optimum in that this way clusters are formed not only to create homogeneous submarkets but also to show a good dicriminatory behavior.     

Towards a conceptual multilayered framework of international entrepreneurship

The starting question before us here is: how should we approach complex international entrepreneurship decisions and problems? This article aims to trace the evolutionary scholarly road that has brought us here and highlight some of the significant signals, road signs, milestones, and barriers along the way. We will pause at each milestone to view the scenery surrounding it and also examine the underlying structures there, especially those that have served as foundations for the evolutionary course that usually starts at a local origin, passing through milestones, for reaching global destinations; as well as examining the nature of the evolution that has brought us to the current state of affairs. In light of multidisciplinary nature of international entrepreneurship (IE), drawing and relying on a few disciplines, there is a need to abstract from some in favor of deeper discussion of others with more prominent impact and presence in IE. We aspire to portray the outline of a multilayered conceptual framework to serve two primary purposes: to suggest a promising path for further theoretical developments and to provide a roadway to allow us to travel through to farther theoretical and operational destinations; and to highlight the articles appearing in this issue. We will view each article as a milestone and examine how the selective features of the article confirm, if not support, the framework enabling us to push forward to see farther horizons. Structurally, this article starts with a brief introduction that travels through three theoretical and foundational stops on the way to develop a broader view of IE at the end. A proposed conceptual framework will project, and enable us to see, that broader view. The latter part of the article travels through the four articles to highlight their theoretical developments and empirical findings that lend support to pertinent aspect of the proposed framework. A brief discussion at the end explore selected implications.     

Consumer decision making within a goal-driven framework

Research and theory in consumer decision making has been dominated by a perspective that assumes that a consumer knows what product category he or she needs. This limited view has resulted in equating consumer decisions with brand choice. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for considering a wider range of consumer decision-making processes by linking them to different goals that consumers might pursue. A hierarchical goal structure consisting of four levels of goals; abstract principles or values, action programs, more concrete product acquisition, and brand acquisition goals, is proposed as the theoretical construct which ties together a wide range of consumer decision making phenomena. An experiment in which consumers think out loud in contemplating two levels of more familiar or unfamiliar goals reveals that their thoughts are constrained by the proposed goal hierarchy. The goals provide a useful framework for understanding decision-making processes involving product level consideration, set generation, and the evaluation of those self-generated sets. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Regulating consumption with bite: Building a contemporary framework for urban dog management

Australian urban animal management legislation prescribes the conditions for owning and living with dogs. UAM follows from the perceived need to provide community members access to public places without dog aggression or other nuisance behaviors. The literature reveals substantial positive aspects related to dog-keeping (e.g., health, happiness, companionship, the pet economy) that are ignored in the traditional approach to urban animal management. Indeed, a paradox exists with the current approach to UAM, as rules that inhibit dogs exercising and socializing likely contribute to dog-problem behaviors. To resolve this paradox, this article proposes an alternative paradigm for the management of dogs. The paradigm suggests initiating social marketing programs to better manage all of the issues involving urban animal management.