Assessing the usefulness of store card data in direct sales of financial services

The UK financial services market has expanded in recent years through the addition of several non-traditional players. We evaluate the extent to which this increased supply of services is best channelled through existing retail locations or whether products are better promoted and managed via direct marketing methods. Using a UK grocer/retailer's lifestyle customer database for an urban store and an out-of-centre location, we analyse a regional sample of customers who have received financial services mail-shots. The use of GIS and logistic regression enables the determination of the extent to which mail respondents have distinctive characteristics in terms of wealth, financial service ownership and proximity to store. Finally, we discuss the implications of our empirical study for in-store financial services support and draw some general conclusions based on our assessment of the usefulness of lifestyles data in such applications.     

The best companies are generous companies

Corporate generosity is a critical input to business success. Effective generosity is a strategic business decision: it is purposeful, channeled, integrated, and results-oriented. In effectively generous firms, the relationship between social and financial performance is mutually reinforcing, creating a “virtuous circle” that benefits not only the firm but also employees, customers, and the community. Five guidelines will help managers establish and execute effective corporate generosity.     

Impact of quality-led design on real estate value: a spatiotemporal analysis of city centre apartments

This paper estimates the impact of quality design attributes on real estate value through empirical investigation of the owner-occupied multifamily residential sector. The methodological design is based on spatiotemporal modelling using a unique data-set of 424 Belfast City Centre apartments sold during the period 2000–2008. The key findings indicate that urban scale aspects of quality such as connectivity and vitality associated with building density add to real estate value. At the building level, quality features highly valued by home buyers are namely appropriateness of material quality, fenestration and massing to the surroundings. These key criteria are considered to have a significant visual perception compared to more complex concepts such as identity, material choice and overall condition. The contribution to knowledge involves extending the hedonic model to incorporate a wider selection of design quality variables; and improving estimation through the use of spatiotemporal modelling.     

Preservation of Open Space and the Concept of Value*

Abstract . This paper identifies and classifies six major kinds of values which people ascribe to areas of open space (utility, functional, contemplative, aesthetic, recreational, and ecological values), whether the open space is public or private, urban or rural, or large or small. These values are predominantly culturally-shaped attitudes. They are not mutually exclusive but nonetheless cannot be subsumed under just one notion of value such as trade-offs and, consequently, models for evaluating open space based on the familiar utility function are inadequate representations of human reasoning. Public policy concerned with preserving open space must incorporate a multidimensional set of noncommensurate values and one paradigm for doing so is discussed.     

Informed local trading prior to earnings announcements

Do individual investors have better information about local stocks? Our results demonstrate that they do. Large trading imbalances by investors living close to a firm's headquarters predict the stock's earnings announcement return. Stocks with the most net buying by local investors average significantly higher market-adjusted announcement returns than stocks with the most net selling by local investors. This return difference is pronounced for small and medium-sized firms, but absent among large firms, which have significant analyst coverage. Local investors' information advantage comes at the expense of nonlocal traders.     

Using IT approaches to promote public participation in renewable energy planning: Prospects and challenges

In response to recent policy initiatives and UK and European legislation there is increasing focus on alternative methodologies and procedures to encourage public participation in environmental planning. This paper is concerned with outlining those methodologies that involve the use of IT methods in enabling a possible consensus to be reached between participatory groups on decisions that may effect their local environment. Specifically, we focus on integrated approaches that involve the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques in facilitating public participation using the case study of the planning of wind farms. The introduction of renewable energy technologies can be a particularly contentious issue in some areas of the UK and we draw on a review of the use of such software tools in order to highlight their application within a decision support system framework. One area where there has been less input from potentially affected local communities or stakeholders relates to the use of computer-generated visualisations in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. We describe future research challenges facing those charged with encouraging participation in the siting of such facilities before re-iterating the policy relevance of this research given the UK governments’ stated commitment to the incorporation of public input into the decision-making process.     

The old pillars of new retailing

Despite the harsh realities of retailing, the illusion persists that magical tools can help companies overcome the problems of fickle consumers, price-slashing competitors, and mood swings in the economy. Such wishful thinking holds that retailers will thrive if only they communicate better with customers through e-mail, employ hidden cameras to learn how customers make purchase decisions, and analyze scanner data to tailor special offers and manage inventory. But the truth is, there are no quick fixes. In the course of his extensive research on dozens of retailers, Leonard Berry found that the best companies create value for their customers in five interlocking ways. Whether you're running a physical store, a catalog business, an e-commerce site, or a combination of the three, you have to offer your customers superior solutions to their needs, treat them with respect, and connect with them on an emotional level. You also have to set prices fairly and make it easy for people to find what they need, pay for it quickly, and then move on. None of these pillars is new, and each sounds exceedingly simple, but don't be fooled--implementing these axioms in the real world is surprisingly difficult. The author illustrates how some retailers have built successful operations by attending to these commonsense ways of dealing with their customers and how others have failed to do so.