A processual analysis of the purchasing and supply organization in transition: the impact of offshoring

Many companies have resorted to offshoring in order to reduce costs and grow their global market presence. Yet it remains unclear what impact the offshoring strategy has on the purchasing and supply organization (PSO) of these companies. In this paper the nature and type of changes offshoring organizations make within the PSO are examined, i.e. how new purchasing and supply management (PSM) structures and practices emerge, are maintained or are discarded as production operations are relocated. The processual perspective is used to analyze empirical data from a rich, in-depth case study within a global engineering company. Results suggest that in line with the law of requisite variety the PSO changes thoroughly when the company relocates its production activities through the captive offshoring mode, but does so in a more disjointed and non-linear manner than the current stage models would suggest. The offshoring process provides momentum for PSO change and influences where and how the change happens. We present five propositions for further research and conclude that offshoring provides managers with opportunities to: (i) change and influence the strategic direction of PSM in their organizations, and (ii) build viable strategies of retaining and managing knowledge and PSM competencies in global operations.     

SERVCON: development and validation of a multidimensional service convenience scale

As customers have demanded greater convenience in service exchanges, researchers have responded by incorporating the convenience construct into their conceptual models and empirical studies, but a comprehensive, formally validated measure of convenience remains lacking. This study conceptualizes service convenience as a second-order, five-dimensional construct that reflects consumers’ perceived time and effort in purchasing or using a service. Service convenience dimensions are salient at different stages of the purchase decision process. Given this conceptualization, the study presents the development and validation of the SERVCON scale, a comprehensive instrument for measuring service convenience. The five dimensions are independent within a nomological network that illustrates distinct antecedent and consequent effects, and the results reinforce the multidimensional representation, offering insight into the distinctive relationships between each service convenience dimension and its antecedents, such as competitive intensity, and consequences, such as repurchase behavior. The findings help researchers and managers understand a fully conceptualized convenience construct and facilitate the measurement of convenience in future empirical studies.     

Passive learning: a critique by example

In models of learning by experimentation that exhibit signal dependence, a benchmark using a passive learner has been proposed. The use of this benchmark is flawed – first, passive learning does not disentangle the effects of knowing that beliefs, as well as other state variables, might change, and we address this issue directly by introducing a naïve learner. Secondly, and more tellingly, passive learning does not do what it is supposed to do, namely help measure the gains from active experimentation; the naïve learner enables us to illustrate this point in the context of a particular example.     

Simulated testing of nonparametric measure changes for hedging European options

We test the accuracy and hedging performance of the deltas given by a range of nonparametric measure changes. The nonparametric models accurately estimate deltas across a number of asset price dynamics. The optimal nonparametric measure change displays superior estimation bias, which depends on how the models capture the stylised features of the dynamics, moneyness, and time-to-expiry. Differences in estimation error appear negligible. The optimal measure change produces superior static hedging outcomes compared to the Black–Scholes model. Differences in dynamic hedging outcomes are negligible.     

Mining Sector Currency Risk Management Strategies: Responses to Foreign Currency Accounting Regulation

This study investigates the impact of Approved Accounting Standard ASRB 1012, Foreign Currency Translation, on the currency risk management strategies of firms in the Australian mining industry. ASRB 1012 increased the responsiveness of most mining companies' reported earnings to exchange rate movements, and it was predicted that firms would alter their capital structures in response to the increased accounting exposure. The results suggest that mining companies decreased their proportionate levels of long-term foreign debt and increased their share capital and/or reserves to mitigate the effects of the standard on their contracts. This information is useful to standard-setters seeking an awareness of the potential micro and macro-economic effects of their pronouncements.     

Marketing strategy and the hunt for era V

ABSTRACT

This paper is a response to a recent special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management in which Shelby Hunt celebrates the achievements of 40 years of marketing strategy. In noting the passing of the ‘old guard’, Hunt calls on a new generation of scholars to meet the challenges confronting marketing and to develop new theories and frameworks to advance Marketing Strategy into Era V. We take for our inspiration Hunt’s own words, specifically his reference to the ‘promising’ and ‘problematic’ that he uses to characterise the current and latent state of marketing strategy. To build our vision and map out our agenda we offer an alternative reading of this discipline through the idea of Marketing Strategy as Discourse (MSAD). Within the paper, we outline the role that discourse can perform as a resource to reconfigure our appreciation of marketing strategy.     

Alcohol Advertising Controls in the 1990s

Public health campaigners have criticized the British system for the regulation of alcohol advertising, which relies on several distinct codes of practice governing different media. This paper looks at the options for change, in the light of the economic, political and technological factors that will influence the development of the UK's alcohol advertising policy in the 1990s. The available evidence on the costs and benefits of alternative policies is reviewed, drawing on the Addiction Research Centre's multi-disciplinary programme of work undertaken at the Universities of Hull and York. While there is some evidence that a ban on alcohol advertising would have a marginal effect on overall consumption, it is argued that legislative intervention is no longer feasible. Technological innovation and global pressures for deregulation have made it difficult for national governments to ban the advertising of any one product. At the same time, however, it is feared that commercial pressures resulting from the introduction of satellite broadcasting and the increased competition for advertising revenues could undermine the existing self-regulatory system and exert a downwards pressure on advertising standards. It is suggested that the way forward lies in developing a strong self-regulatory system throughout Europe.