Reducing uninformed responses: The effects of product‐class familiarity and measuring brand knowledge on surveys

Consumers often give answers to survey questions about which they are uninformed. Although research has documented this phenomenon and examined the conditions under which it occurs, the current research project is the first to examine how survey researchers might reduce uninformed response bias through the use of additional questions added to surveys that measure knowledge of brands for which consumers might be uninformed. In the current study, adding brand knowledge questions pertaining to an unknown (fictitious) brand reduced the likelihood of respondents providing uninformed responses when later asked to evaluate that brand. However, the effects of asking for brand familiarity on uninformed response rates differed by consumers' level of product‐class familiarity and the relative placement of the brand knowledge and brand attitude questions on the survey. Brand knowledge questions can suggest the existence of brands, placing them within a knowledge schema, thus leading to more uninformed responses from consumers low in product‐class familiarity. These results, coupled with recent other research findings suggest that researchers must consider the effects of related knowledge on what have been previously considered completely uninformed responses. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A systems approach to integrate manpower planning and operation

Manpower planning frequently involves aggregated planning. This paper addresses the importance of linking manpower planning with operational process. We developed a systems approach to integrate the gross level of manpower planning and the detailed level of policy execution. This integrated system could improve the effectiveness of policy making.     

Cross-subsidization and cost misallocation by regulated monopolists

While cross-subsidization is understood theoretically as involving the sustainability of a cost allocation scheme, it is invoked in regulatory policy contexts, such as the divestiture of AT&T, where costs of serving unregulated markets may be borne by ratepayers of regulated monopolies. We analyze two cross-subsidization tactics—cost misallocation and distorted technological choice — under a spectrum of regulatory cost allocation policies. These tactics lead to higher prices in regulated markets and inefficient production in unregulated markets. Welfare effects are discussed; we conclude with observations on strategic behavior and regulatory policy.     

Lost in translation: exploring the link between HRM and performance in healthcare

Using data collected in 2004 from 132 Victorian (Australia) public healthcare providers, comprising metropolitan and regional hospital networks, rural hospitals and community health centres, we investigated the perceptions of HRM from the experiences of chief executive officers, HR directors and other senior managers. We found some evidence that managers in healthcare organisations reported different perceptions of strategic HRM and a limited focus on collection and linking of HR performance data with organisational performance management processes. Using multiple moderator regression and multivariate analysis of variance, significant differences were found in perceptions of strategic HRM and HR priorities between chief executive officers, HR directors and other senior managers in the large organisations. This suggested that the strategic human management paradigm is ‘lost in translation’, particularly in large organisations, and consequently opportunities to understand and develop the link between people management practices and improved organisational outcomes may be missed. There is some support for the relationship between strategic HRM and improved organisational outcomes. Implications of these findings are drawn for managerial practice.     

Credible collusion in multimarket oligopoly

This article refines an established explanation of how multimarket contact facilitates collusion when firms enjoy reciprocal advantages across markets: When there are reciprocal asymmetries between firms, multimarket contact allows them not only to develop spheres of influence, but also to implement attractively simple strategies that are subgame perfect and weakly renegotiation proof. Hence, collusive equilibria are supported by fully credible punishments. A significant implication is, multimarket contact involving reciprocal differences between firms may be more facilitating to their cooperative efforts than multimarket contact based on other factors. The article discusses existing empirical work as it relates to this implication. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

提高客户满意度是否会增加企业盈利

大多数研究者和企业管理人员都认为客户满意度和企业期望的经营结果成正相关。研究发现,客户满意对购买意愿具有可测量的影响,而且对于客户保持和企业的经营业绩也有同样的影响。同时,有关研究也认为,客户满意度与花费份额(SOW)、公司的营业收入也有正相关的关系。在一些不同行     

Social Issues and Media Sensationalism: The Effectiveness of Teaching Methods to Affect their Perceived Importance

This study assessed the perceived importance of various social issues and the effect that teaching methods have on business students' perceptions of those issues. Subjects in the test group were shown an educational video that explained how some social issues are reported inaccurately with extensive coverage, or sensationalized in the media, resulting in a moral panic. Other issues are not covered as extensively, but may have a more significant impact on business, society and the subject. The importance of five social issues was rated by students who had completed a course that covered business ethics and social responsibility content and those who had not taken the course yet.Results indicated that business ethics and social responsibility course content had no effect on perceived importance of social issues, but that viewing the video did. Subjects who viewed the educational video on social issues in the news media rated those issues receiving extensive coverage as lower in importance than those subjects who did not view the video. Also, subjects who viewed the educational video rated those issues not receiving extensive coverage as higher in importance than those subjects who did not view the video. Implications for business ethics and social responsibility educators are discussed.