E-commerce as a stockpiling technology: Implications for consumer savings

Shopping on the Internet spares customers the discomfort of carrying around heavy and bulky baskets of goods, since the service usually includes home delivery. This makes e-commerce a technology well suited to helping consumers to buy in bulk or to stockpile items on discount. I use grocery scanner data provided by a supermarket chain selling both online and through traditional stores to show that the introduction of e-commerce leads to an increase in bulk purchase and stockpiling behavior by customers. Since bulk and discounted items are sold at a lower price per unit, my findings highlight a new dimension in which online shopping can be beneficial to consumers. According to my calculations, the reduction in the cost of stockpiling triggered by the introduction of electronic commerce generates significant savings.     

Wi-Fi as a Commercial Service: New Technology and Policy Implications

While Wi-Fi has enjoyed explosive growth and deployment for use in residential homes, the rollout of commercial Wi-Fi service has been more limited. Part of the holdback on large-scale commercial deployment has been the strategic concern that the commons model to spectrum management lacks the incentives for service providers to invest due to the limited ability to manage interference in the unlicensed band. Today, however, this situation appears to have changed. To explain the new confidence by service providers in commercial Wi-Fi, the activities of the Wi-Fi Alliance and IEEE 802.11 standards body are analyzed to show how these groups essentially replicate many, but not all, of the functions traditionally employed by an effective band manager that is optimizing efficiency on a licensed spectrum block more typically associated with the deployment of commercial services. Consequently, with the Wi-Fi ecosystem functioning as an effective spectrum manager, it is concluded that the service provider investment in Public Wi-Fi networks is rational and the risk posed by saturation or overuse has been reduced to an acceptable level. The strategic implications of this finding on the Wi-Fi platform are the examined. How the requirements from service providers are already significantly influencing the evolution of the Wi-Fi standard is discussed, and an attempt is made to address the risks and liabilities associated with the unlicensed spectrum management model. Thus, service providers increasingly need functionality in Wi-Fi technology to manage interference, and monitor and improve network performance. The current ideas under discussion are elaborated for the next version of Wi-Fi to support both commercial Wi-Fi requirements, which address the interference concerns, but only up to a point, as the unlicensed model intrinsically leaves some risk to participants of spectrum saturation through overuse.     

Cross-functional integration as a knowledge transformation mechanism: Implications for new product development

The importance of cross-functional integration (CFI) teams involving workers with multiple forms of functional expertise to work on new product development cannot be overemphasized. CFI is an organic structure and it allows the team members' tacit knowledge embedded in individuals to be realized in the new product development team's collective knowledge - a holistic appreciation and understanding about how to achieve new product development goals. Specifically, despite the pivotal role of CFI and knowledge appreciation in new product development teams, scholars appear to have overlooked the integration of individual level factors, team level factors, individual tacit knowledge, and group collective knowledge within the context of achieving the new product development objectives. Adopting knowledge, CFI, and socialization theories, we propose a conceptual framework that stipulates that the factors at the team level (goal congruence, task cohesion, interpersonal cohesion, and transformational leadership) and the qualification of team members (common knowledge, functional expertise, and their positions in the network) influence the effectiveness of tacit-to-collective knowledge transformation.     

Pensions as Psychological Contracts: Implications for Work Outcomes

Drawing on psychological contract theory, we develop predictions regarding the moderating influence of the meaning employees assign to their marginal quit costs, as well as on the role of stayer perceptions and saver effects, on various work outcomes under a defined-benefit pension. Results show pension incentives can have favorable or unfavorable effects depending on whether employees perceive them as supportive relational contracts or as low-trust transactional contracts. Implications for research and policy are discussed.     

综合管理体系认证是提升品牌价值的重要策略

一体化综合管理体系是体系认证的发展趋势，不但能减少重复劳动、降低资源消耗，还能提高企业综合管理水平。对提升企业品牌价值，扩大市场份额，提高顾客满意度具有显著效果。     

Assessing the Belt and Road Initiative as a narrative: Implications for institutional change and international firm strategy

This article explores the role of narratives as drivers that guide the institutional change associated with globalization and deglobalization. For China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to succeed as a driver of institutional change in favor of globalization, it must pass the narrative “virality” test and successfully contend with competing narratives. Rival narratives will be launched by firms and organizations worldwide that expect to win or lose from deglobalization or from new forms of globalization. This study develops a useful framework for establishing the extent to which China’s BRI is a genuine narrative or just a story. In this regard, four testable propositions are put forth to ascertain whether the BRI is values-based, extends an invitation to participate, is open-ended, and is associated with economic performance for both Chinese and non-Chinese participants. The analysis of the BRI-related institutional change that leads to globalization applies a theoretical lens centered on the narrative economics perspective and on the institution-based view and political economy perspective. Implications for BRI stakeholders, international business practitioners, and international business scholarship are outlined.

     

Correction to: Assessing the belt and road initiative as a narrative: Implications for institutional change and international firm strategy

Asia Pacific Journal of Management - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-021-09766-w     

砌体房屋构造柱和圈梁的合理性设置

构造柱的设置个数尽量按抗震设防烈度多在平面的“点”上考虑。加强构造柱与圈梁、墙体、预制构件和现浇构件的连接。     

Identifying buying influences for a professional service: Implications for marketing efforts

This study analyzes the structure of a buying center for a professional service—CPA services. The results suggest CPA buying centers are similar in size and in the number of levels of corporate hierachy and functional areas involved to buying centers for other industrial services. Various buying firm characteristics (size, amount of audit fee, presence of an audit committee) were associated with differences in CPA buying center structure. The relationship of the results to prior industrial marketing research and their implications for marketing CPA services are discussed.     

Project Balances as Division Coefficients and Implications for Rate of Return Analysis

Project balances are shown to be the coefficients resulting from division of the future worth polynomial by a simple monomial and are used in representations of the future worth polynomial and its derivative. Those representations are used to provide elementary proofs for some rate of return analysis results making use of our project balance framework. We develop a convenient method to determine the existence of a root of multiplicity from the derivative of the future worth polynomial using project balances. This article incorporates a useful, unified collection of results that previously have been dispersed throughout the literature that should be of interest to technical economic analysts.     

Resources as dual sources of advantage: Implications for valuing entrepreneurial‐firm patents

Why and how do resources provide sources of competitive advantage? This study sheds new light on this central question of resource‐based theory by allowing a single resource—entrepreneurial‐firm patents—to play distinctive roles in different competitive arenas. As rights to exclude others, patents serve a well‐known role as legal safeguards in product markets. As quality signals, patents also could improve access and the terms of trade in factor input markets. Based on the financing activities of 370 venture‐backed semiconductor start‐ups, we provide new evidence that patents confer dual advantages in strategic factor markets, improved access and terms of trade, above and beyond their added product‐market protection. The study has important implications for empirical tests of resource‐based theory and the measurement of resource value. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Toward a Geocentric Theory of Multinational Evolution: The Implications from the Asian MNEs as Latecomers

Despite their growing proliferation and importance, the multinational enterprises (MNEs) from the developing countries have not received adequate attention. Further, there is a growing concern with the validity of the extant MNE theories in the context of globalization and network. This paper seeks to address two questions: (1) how much can we apply the extant MNE theories (which are built on the evidence from the developed countries) to the MNEs from the developing countries as latecomers; and (2) how much can the evidence of the MNEs from the developing countries as latecomers offer to modify and enhance the extant MNE theories. The evidence of one longitudinal embedded case study shows that the extant MNE theories need modifications (so as to apply to the MNEs from the developing countries as latecomers) and enhancements (so as to better explain all MNEs). Also discussed are the significant implications for further theory building with regard to MNEs in the context of globalization and network.     

Diversification strategy and internationalization: Implications for mne performance

This study examines potential explanations for performance differences among multinational enterprises (MNEs). The research variables, diversification strategy and degree of internationalization, involve basic elements of firms' strategy: range and relatedness of products, and relative emphasis on foreign versus domestic operations. The sample included the 100 largest MNEs from the U.S. and Europe. Diversification strategy was significantly related to MNE performance, extending Rumelt's seminal research to international business. Degree of internationalization was also significantly related to MNE performance.     

When the purchasing agent is a committee: Implications for industrial marketing

This article describes a research project that investigated the relationship between the purchasing decision process occurring within a firm and intrinsic factors relating to the product. The study determined the effects of product complexity on the procurement process and identified those dimensions of complexity to which participating departments are sensitive. The results of the study provide information of great value to the theoretical development of buying centers as well as to those involved in targeting industrial marketing efforts.     

Reinventing a business model in industrial networks: Implications for customers' brand perceptions

Although researchers recognize the need for established market-centered business models that address and satisfy consumer's needs, little research has been done on the link between a customer's perception and a business model innovation (BMI). We addressed this research opportunity by conducting a case study encompassing 394 respondents to explore how a BMI affects customers' brand perceptions, distinguishing between their brand trust, brand loyalty, and brand equity. We conceptualize a BMI from an industrial network perspective and decompose the effect of different BMI dimensions: value offering innovation (VOI), value architecture innovation (VAI), and revenue model innovation (RMI). Our results show that a VOI has a positive impact on brand equity and a negative impact on brand loyalty. Further, a VAI has an inverted u-shaped relationship with brand trust, whereas an RMI has a positive impact on brand trust. In turn, brand trust fully mediates the relationships between an RMI and brand loyalty and an RMI and brand equity. Our insights contribute to BMI research from a customer-centric perspective. In particular, we extend our knowledge of BMIs by offering a more granular understanding of how different BMI dimensions affect a customer's brand perceptions. We contribute to industrial networks literature by offering rich and novel insights to purposefully manage an industrial network's BMI.     

Unbundling and infrastructure competition for broadband adoption: Implications for NGA regulation

The common idea of open access policy is that it refers to the sharing of particular elements, such as wholesale access networks, backhaul, under-sea cable and internet exchange points in fixed and mobile networks. In broadband networks, the use of open access policy usually refers to the infrastructure parts, which are considered a bottleneck. Many regulators have generally focused open access policy on fixed broadband networks, especially digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, in the last decade. Local loop unbundling (LLU) regulation is one of the main strategies for the regulator to open access to an incumbent’s bottleneck network in order to soften its monopoly power and encourage competition in the DSL broadband market. The OECD countries have different strategies regarding unbundling local loop and infrastructure competition, as the characteristics and infrastructure networks of countries vary. There are currently more choices of next generation network (NGN) technologies to develop. While local loop unbundling may not be applied fully to NGN development (the cost is not sunk, more technologies are available to implement, incentive of investment by operator), it can indicate benefits and drawbacks of open access policy in the past decade that can be adapted to NGN.The empirical results of this study show that during 2002–2008, LLU regulation was one of the strategies used to increase broadband adoption in countries that had difficulty encouraging infrastructure competition. Unbundling regulation can therefore be implemented carefully and differently in each country that has inefficiency that is harmful to consumers in its market from a monopoly incumbent. Infrastructure competition, on the other hand, is introduced as another strategy to increase broadband adoption. The empirical results of this study indicate that infrastructure competition can be used as a strategy when there are already enough infrastructures in the area or country. These results support the idea of using open access and infrastructure competition policy depending on the existing competition of broadband infrastructure in each country.     

Human Capital Theory: Implications for HR Managers

This paper reviews some of the contributions of and challenges to human capital theory. It focuses on the alleged link between earings and education and experience and on competing explanations for observed earning differentis by race and by gender. The review concludes that while human capital theory provides some central insights about the supply side of the labor market, the challenges to this theory suggest that the demand side od the market, i.e., the actions of human resource managers, also play a key role in detemining earnings and employment. Moreover, these challenges suggest that government policies can be instrmental in effecting a more efficient and equitable use of human resources.