Post‐merger strategy and performance: evidence from the US and European banking industries

The banking industry has one of the most active markets for mergers and acquisitions. However, little is known about the type of operational strategies adopted by banking firms in the years following a deal. For a sample of bidding banks in the USA and Europe, this study compares the design and performance implications of different post‐merger strategies in both geographical regions. Using accounting data, we show that European banks pursue a cost‐cutting strategy by increasing efficiency levels vis‐à‐vis non‐merging banks and by cutting back on both labour costs and lending activities. US banks, on the other hand, raise both interest and non‐interest income in the post‐merger period.     

Industrieversicherung in der Türkei im Vergleich zu Deutschland

In conjunction with the rapidly advancing industrialization of Turkey, the segment of industrial insurance has also steadily gained in importance. People seeking cover for industrial risks situated in Turkey, however, face several rather significant constrictions. Whilst some of those may be circumvented at least partially, the Turkish situation raises the question of the need for legislative reform (possibly inspired by German law) in this area. Such would foster the development of more innovative and adequate insurance products by the Turkish insurance market.     

Europäische Streitbeilegungsmechanismen bei Meinungsverschiedenheiten zwischen nationalen Versicherungsaufsichtsbehörden

In the course of the reconstruction of the European financial supervisory framework all level 3-committees (namely CEIOPS for the insurance sector) were re-established as fully-fledged authorities of the European Union. These authorities are granted authority to take decisions with immediate effect towards national supervisors. The European Financial Supervisory Authorities, however, form but the upper level of the European micro-prudential supervisory system. The day-to-day supervision of the financial markets will remain to be vested in the national supervisory authorities. By retaining a system, in which the financial supervision takes place primarily at the national level, one also remains to be faced with problems, where insurance undertakings or insurance groups act under the jurisdiction of several national supervisors. Disagreements between these supervisors will, thus, remain to be commonplace. In order to dissolve such disputes, the European legislator has provided for a formalised dispute resolution procedure in granting EIOPA a power to settle disagreements.     

Total factor productivity, the east Asian miracle, and the world production frontier

Total Factor Productivity, the East Asian Miracle, and the World Production Frontier. — The post WWII growth of the East Asian Tiger states has stimulated the discussion about its determinants. Young and Krugman hold that high capital accumulation rather than gains in efficiency or technological progress has spurred growth. Nelson and Pack, however, have recently criticized the methods of measuring technological progress. Applying the nonparametric approach to frontier production function determination and the Malmquist index of total factor productivity change, the authors take up this criticism. They calculate productivity indicators for a sample of 18 American, Asian, and European countries. For the Tiger states, their results confirm that capital accumulation was the main source of growth in 1960-1973, whereas they find evidence for an increasing importance of efficiency improvements for the growth in 1973-1990.     

Avoiding Backlash or Proving One’s Manhood? Beliefs About Gender Differences in Negotiation

Group Decision and Negotiation - Gender differences in negotiation are typically explained by processes that concern women (e.g., women anticipate backlash for assertive behavior). Research has...     

The Tourist Bubble and the Europeanisation of Holiday Travel

This account explores certain aspects of the developments in international, interEuropean holiday travel as a part of the phenomena characterised as modernity and Europeanisation. The focus is on the idea of 'travelling parochialism', i.e. whether large proportions of contemporary international holidaymakers and other travellers on their tours within Europe adopt some kind of furtherance of a home-like culture. The main point of departure is the idea of the 'tourist bubble' understood here as a territorial and functional differentiation and as an expectation of holidaymakers going abroad. The concept of 'travel ecumene' is introduced to examine implications for travellers of the development of a western European travel system. Moreover, the study analyses the extent to which the notion of the tourist bubble is still beneficial in comprehending significant aspects of inter-European holiday travel in relation to current discourses of internationalisation, Europeanisation and cosmopolitanism. The paper also discusses advances of cosmopolitan predilections and aspirations and their possible influences on contemporary international European tourism.     

Passengers,consumers, and travellers: The rise of passenger rights in EC transport law and its repercussions for Community consumer law and policy

EC transport law is set to be complemented by a series of Regulations giving rights to passengers for almost every mode of transport. These Regulations not only give transport law a distinct consumer dimension but also add new elements to European private law. This paper attempts to provide a horizontal, or intermodal, survey of these Regulations, adopted and proposed. It is argued that passenger law, although originating separately and remaining a sector distinct from other fields of law, has become part of a wider, three-stranded notion of European consumer policy deserving due attention as the force most dynamically expanding the area of Community law of contracts and of torts. The paper will point to the elements of consumer contract law and the law on travel and tourism related to passenger transport and elaborate on the basics for finding a common notion of the key terms like “passenger” and “damage” for Community law. It concludes with some points for further reflection.

Why do patients select a hospital? A conjoint analysis in two German hospitals

Patients decide on where to consume hospital services in Germany. Thus, the understanding of the exact hospital selection criteria and their weights is important. This research reviews the antecedents of hospital selection utilizing the conjoint methodology with regard to six questions. (1) Which are the relevant choice criteria, and (2) what are their weights? (3) Which criteria receive an increased importance in the absence of experience? (4) Do differences between compulsory and privately insured patients, (5) between hospitals with regard to their size, and (6) between female and male patients exist? The relevance and importance of nine pre-selected criteria are determined through two conjoint analyses. Experience is found to be most important followed by referral by general practitioner, certified quality management system, positive press coverage, recommendation by relatives and acquaintances and distance to the hospital. Reception area design and the personnel's friendliness, the website quality and the published quality report are less relevant. Without experience, reception area design, personnel's friendliness and distance to the hospital receive an increased importance. In addition, for some criteria notable discrepancies between female and male patients and between patients with different insurance policies are found.     

Customer Involvement in Product Development: An Industrial Network Perspective

Purpose: In business markets, working with customers and users has become increasingly important to get knowledge about customer needs and to develop new products. The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to develop a framework for analyzing customer involvement in product development in a business market context, and (2) to apply this framework to a particular company to describe and analyze how it practices customer involvement.

Methodology/approach: The article takes its main theoretical starting point in the industrial network approach, but also uses other literature from the innovation and product development field. The empirical study applies a qualitative case study approach and focuses on one company in the truck business.

Findings: The suggested framework deals with four key aspects of customer involvement: Why, when, how, and who. The observed pattern of the truck manufacturer shows how dealers, hauliers, and truck drivers are all part of the overall understanding of the customer. These actors are involved for different, typically very clear, purposes at different points in time through surveys, product clinics, and field testing. The pattern, referred to as mixed facilitative, is not one of close collaboration with individual customers, but one of broad involvement of several customers through business intelligence and direct involvement.

Research implications: First, the article provides researchers with a framework and method for studying customer involvement in product development. Second, the case study provides an illustrative example of the customer involvement pattern pursued by a leading company in a major industry. This enhances the understanding of the focal phenomenon, leads to managerial implications, and gives ideas for future research.

Practical implications: There are several managerial implications related to the why, when, how, and who questions. For example, it is pointed out that managers should consider involving customers more extensively than what seems to be common today—for example, by using customers as codevelopers, working with them throughout the entire development process (i.e., not only early and late), and including different types of users (with different requirements and wishes).

Originality/value/contribution of the article: The contribution lies in the development of a framework centered on the four key questions of customer involvement in

product development and using this framework for observing a pattern, and finding explanations and relating this pattern to how other firms are doing.