The impact of external forces on cartel network dynamics: Direct research in the diamond industry

This paper describes the impact of external environmental forces on cartel networks. Using a case research approach, this report examines two leading business networks within one industry, over time. The results suggest that (a) bargaining power of intermediaries increases with the advent of new and powerful actors, (b) process activities that cartels previously controlled are being outsourced to new actors sometimes based in developing countries, (c) other actors are acquiring resources once dominated by a cartel, (d) external forces triggered by the illegal diamond trade, such as international regulatory constraints, no longer favour cartels like De Beers, and (e) over time, these and additional environment factors are forcing actors like De Beers who perform rigid process activities to become more flexible. For example, forces are moving cartels which relied previously on hand-picked intermediaries in highly controlled networks to market their products to adopt a flexible market-focused expansion of operations in retail contexts.     

Firms' decisions to innovate and innovation routines

This article investigates the forces that lead some firms to engage in more innovative activities than others using a survey of 360 large Australian firms. Many earlier studies on the determinants of innovation followed the Schumpeterian tradition, and focused on size and market structure as possible causes of innovativeness; however, with the event of new qualitative measures of industry knowledge and managerial styles, these factors have been found to be less important. The results of the present study show that external factors and generic routines common to all industries, such as the extent of learning, knowledge spillovers, appropriability and managerial approach are more important than industry specific forces. Locally-owned companies were also found to be more innovative, other things considered.     

Students' experiences of learning in a third-year management accounting class: Evidence from New Zealand

An extensive body of literature in higher education (for example, Marton and Säljö, 1984; Prosser and Trigwell, 1999) explores learning from the perspectives of students. Säljö (1979) formed the basis of Sharma's (1997) first study exploring accountancy students' conceptions of learning. Using an open-ended questionnaire administered to third-year management accounting students, this paper investigates accountancy students' conceptions of learning, and extends Sharma's (1997) study by examining the relationship between conceptions of and approaches to learning, and more specifically students' contextual experiences of learning in lectures and tutorials. Findings indicate that, while some students seek understanding as an outcome of their learning, the majority perceive learning quantitatively in terms of knowledge acquisition, reproduction and application. A new classification of the locus of responsibility for learning as perceived by students suggests that a more distributed concept of responsibility might result in enhanced learning outcomes.     

Brand and consumer engagement behaviors on Facebook brand pages: Let's have a (positive) conversation

This paper examines consumer-brand engagement on social media, focusing on the dynamic interplay between brands and consumers as well as among consumers themselves. In addition to liking and sharing behaviors, we look at what influences consumers to provide feedback to brands by commenting on brand posts, connect with other consumers by replying to their comments and agree with other consumers by liking their comments and replies. Drawing on a large longitudinal dataset from 2740 Facebook brand pages across 25 industries, a multilevel multivariate autoregressive zero-inflated negative binomial model is used to examine how brand post and response behaviors are related to specific consumer engagement behaviors. Results show that the amount of brand posts indirectly affects consumer comments through increased liking and sharing, but with diminishing returns. Liking is key as it increases positive and attenuates negative feedback, whereas sharing is associated with both positive and negative consumer-brand comments. Posting photos and videos encourages liking, with photos having increasing returns. Videos are the only format with a direct positive influence on consumer-brand comments, though with decreasing effect. Brand replies to consumer comments, even delayed ones, have little effect on negative conversations but prompt replies would be more beneficial as they bolster positive consumer comments. Moreover, our findings provide evidence for both a “positivity spiral” and “negativity spiral”, with the negativity spiral stronger than the positivity one. Taken together, these findings shed light on how marketers can stimulate positive conversations between brands and consumers on social media.     

CHANGES IN CEREAL PRODUCTION AND YIELD VARIABILITY ON FARMS IN SOUTH EAST ENGLAND

Data from 16 wheat growers and 18 barley growers in South East England were investigated for changes in variability of production and yield between the periods 1964-74 and 1975-84. Sixteen per cent of the increase in variability of wheat production was due to changes in yield variances and covariances. The increase in variability of barley production was not statistically significant. Variability of yield increased for both wheat and barley. Wheat yields became more positively correlated between farms, but barley yields did not. The results for wheat were consistent with the hypothesis of an increase in the number of controlled factors in the production process. Particularly important was thought to be the use of fungicides in the control of many cereal diseases. Increased heterogeneity of the barley crop may have contributed to the decline in the number of between-farm correlations for that crop.     

Do established antecedents of purchase decision‐making power apply to contemporary couples?

The research reported here investigated the extent to which hedonic theory explains the nature of the effects of the established antecedents of marital roles (resource theory, sex‐role orientation, least‐interested partner hypothesis, and involvement) on relative influence and strategy usage in purchase decision making for married and nontraditional couples (cohabiting heterosexual, gay, and lesbian couples). The findings reveal that hedonic theory (the effect of partners' [dis]similarity in an antecedent on that antecedent's impact of relational power) explains the majority of cases where the impact of the antecedents on power vary across couple types. In some cases, however, hedonic theory is lacking in its explanatory power, thus indicating that couple types differ other than the extent to which partners are (dis)similar demographically or socioeconomically. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

PLANNING BY COMMONHOLD

So-called 'gated' communities have become common throughout the continents of Asia and America. Such communities are characterised by the ability to provide public goods and perform governance functions, independent of central and local government. It would be surprising if such communities did not develop to a greater extent in Britain, especially as a more complete legal framework now exists for their governance. Examples in Asia and America demonstrate their effectiveness, as do historical examples in the UK, such as the garden city movement. There are outstanding legal and regulatory issues that will need to be addressed as 'gated' communities do develop.