Visualizing financial success: planning is key

Recent economic troubles in the US and abroad highlight the importance of family financial capability, including an understanding of financial markets. Financial capability is the foundation for desired financial behaviours, such as saving, budgeting, using credit wisely and planning. Study participants, a subsample of respondents to a Turkish university financial literacy survey (n = 374), who reported uninterrupted income for a 3‐year period were grouped as ‘planners’ and ‘non‐planners’. These groupings allowed examination of the relationships between planning, financial management decisions, and differential outcomes in daily household financial well‐being. The practice of preferred financial management behaviours was predictive of debt. This research makes a unique contribution to the literature, demonstrating the importance of uninterrupted income over income amount in support of the planning process. Findings of this study have implications for professionals in the family and consumer sciences field and other practitioners assisting consumers with improving financial management outcomes.     

A framework for organizational success

The contention of this paper is that the marketing concept is but one aspect of a philosophy of business referred to by the authors as the framework for organizational success. This framework maintains that the marketing concept must work together with good management approaches and with ethical business practices in order to satisfy the needs and wants of the various publics of the organization — customers, employees, suppliers, society — and, in the long run, ensure the satisfaction of the needs of the organization itself. The authors propose that focusing on one concept, and ignoring the other two aspects, is not likely to promote organizational success. Hershey H. Friedman is Professor of Marketing at Brooklyn College. He has published in the Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Applied Psychology, Akron Business and Economic Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Simulation, Journal of the Market Research Society, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, and the Journal of Business Ethics. Linda Weiser Friedman is Associate Professor of Statistics and Computer Information Systems at Baruch College. She has published in Computers and Operations Research, Behavioral Science, Omega, Simulation, Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation, Journal of Advertising Research, Interface, and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Sciences.     

LTE SON下的一种基站自规划机制

为适应LTE SON减少人工参与、降低运营成本（OPEX）的要求，针对网络不能动态调 整参数、自主规划基站位置的情况，设计出了一种LTE下根据业务量的变化动态调整eNB参数 的自规划流程，并最终计算出新建eNB的位置坐标。通过仿真对其进行了衡量和分析， 结果表明在该坐标新建一个eNB不仅能够使业务量溢出的eNB得到极大的缓解，还能使新建eN B附近的小区负载达到更加均衡的状态。     

Entrepreneurs' perceived chances for success

Entrepreneurs involved in planning or starting firms must engage in a continuing process of appraising prospects for success. These assessments presumably bear upon the preparations they make, as well as, at some later point, whether they decide to make major changes or even to discontinue the business. In this study, data from 2994 entrepreneurs who had recently become business owners were analyzed to determine their perceived changes of success.Although previous evidence on business survival led to the hypothesis that the entrepreneurs would only be cautiously optimistic, this was not the case. They perceived their prospects as very favorable, with 81% seeing odds of 7 out of 10 or better and a remarkable 33% seeing odds of success of 10 out of 10. In considering the prospects for other businesses like their own, they perceived odds which were significantly lower, but still moderately favorable.Based upon previous research on factors associated with new business success, it was hypothesized that those who were “more likely to succeed” (based upon their personal backgrounds and the nature of their new firms) would be more optimistic. However, this was not the case. Those who were poorly prepared were just as optimistic as those who were well prepared.At this point, shortly after having become business owners, the assessment by entrepreneurs of their own likelihood of success was dramatically detached from past macro statistics, from perceived prospects for peer businesses, and from characteristics typically associated with higher performing new firms.The psychological literature on “post-decisional bolstering” suggests that decision makers, in many settings, tend to bolster or exaggerate the attractiveness of an option after it has been chosen. This, coupled with the tendency of entrepreneurs to believe that they can control their own destinies, implies that the extreme optimism observed here is probably a typical occurrence.For entrepreneurs the findings suggest that it is probably natural to experience feelings of entrepreneurial euphoria when first becoming a business owner. With the available evidence, it is difficult to judge whether this leads to inadequate preparations or an inability to diagnose problems and make adjustments after the business is started. This extreme optimism probably does contribute to the heavy personal commitments observed here, in which the median entrepreneur devoted more than 60 hours per week to the business. The entrepreneur would seem well advised to form relationships with outsiders, such as board members and professional advisors, who can be objective and detached in diagnosing problems and assessing objectively the prospects for the business in its current form.     

Pioneering strategies for entrepreneurial success

Entrepreneurs are, by definition, pioneers in that they innovate new products/services, create new processes, open new markets, or organize new industries. Dramatic changes in the global environment suggest that successful entrepreneurs must master three key strategies: (1) develop a clear vision; (2) manage cash creatively, or learn to “bootstrap”; and (3) be able to persuade others to commit to the venture using social skills. This article discusses pioneering strategies and offers guidance on how to implement these.     

A quality function deployment framework for service strategy planning

This research introduces a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) decision framework for orchestrating and aligning quality management and services marketing efforts for effective service strategy planning. Specifically, a 3-phased QFD framework is presented, emphasizing the implications of the “Voice of the Customer” in defining service quality and delivering customer value, while interpreting it into a set of prioritized strategies to guide service design activities. Method wise, an extended methodological approach is employed, the QFD-LP-GW-Fuzzy AHP (Linear Programming method to Generate Weights in the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process), to capture and rank more accurately uncertain and subjective judgments. The application of the proposed framework is discussed within the financial sector. Essentially, this study contributes to the literature by streamlining and simplifying marketing strategy planning decisions with a novel QFD factual approach that aligns customer requirements with service organizations’ market positioning and tactics.     

Acquisitions of divested business units: A typology and strategies for success

Acquisitions are notoriously difficult to execute successfully. Poor implementation of the postacquisition integration process is a major source of acquisition value destruction. To find new solutions for this vexing problem, we leverage the emerging, triadic view of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, which emphasizes the interconnectedness between sellers, acquirers, and the units that are transferred between them. We apply the triadic lens to acquisitions of divested business units, and we find that a unit’s experiences with its seller before and during divestiture can profoundly shape the unit’s needs and expectations, which, in turn, must be addressed by the acquirer in the integration process. We identify four key mechanisms—status, resource accessibility, trust, and self-sufficiency—that underpin the seller’s impact on the divested unit, and we develop a typology—comprising favored, neglected, shocked, and independent units—that animates the ramifications of the seller’s actions. Then, for each type, we discern strategies for its postacquisition integration execution that are tailored to its distinctive needs, which originate from its experiences with the seller. To make these insights practical and readily implementable, we provide a diagnostic checklist for identifying the four types of divested units and offer an action plan of type-specific strategies for successfully managing them in the postacquisition integration process.     

Sales management succession in the Australian context

In this article are reported the results of a cross-sectional survey of 84 organisational sales management succession decision makers. A focussed model of sales management succession decision making is developed and empirical evidence concerning its elements is presented. Significant relationships are discussed and directions for future research provided.     

A multiobjective financial planning model for electric utility rate regulation

The interests of the three parties to the regulatory process—investors in an electric utility, consumers, and regulators—are often in conflict. Investors are concerned with shareholder wealth maximization, while consumers desire dependable service at low rates. If the desired end product of regulation is to establish rates that balance the interests of consumers and investors, then a financial planning model is needed that accurately reflects the multi-objective nature of the regulatory decision process. This article develops such a multi-objective programming model for examining the efficient trade-offs available to utility regulators in setting rates of return.     

从香港旅游业的成功策划看文化创意产业的特点

香港旅游发展局精心策划主题"魅力香港,万象之都"全新的推广计划,通过融入文化创意的特色,采用新奇刺激的动画手法,将香港的万千姿彩如万花筒般同时呈现,让世界各地的旅客都可以透过亮丽缤纷的影象,体会香港"亚洲国际大都会"的过人魅力。旅游业成为香港经济新的     

Key success factors for strategy implementation in Latin America

Increasing competition among Latin American firms fosters more proactive processes aimed at reviewing business strategy. The research objective is to measure the impact of key variables on successful implementation of business strategy. Relying on the knowledge and experience of Latin American entrepreneurs and managers, the questions addressed include: How important is the role of the CEO and management actors? Do firms prioritize actions prior to implementing strategy? Are control and follow-up tools valued? How is a successful strategy implementation ensured? Research findings are expected to provide useful knowledge for management decision processes relating to successful implementation of business strategy.     

大爱运筹未来——灾难无情金桥有爱

当风雪阻断归路，我们相拥取暖；当主权面对挑战，我们亮出利剑；当圣火遭到屈辱，我们同心协力；当病毒吞噬生命，我们互助挽救；当列车冲出轨道，我们竭尽全力；每一次在经历苦难与磨砺过后，亿万中国人民汇聚成的爱心变得愈加具有份量。这一次，当汶川震天动地，巨大的灾难瞬间吞噬掉上万同胞的生命，我们咬紧牙关，拭去泪水。