NPD Planning Activities and Innovation Performance: The Mediating Role of Process Management and the Moderating Effect of Product Innovativeness

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of planning and control on the performance of new product development (NPD) projects. It is hypothesized that (1) thorough business planning at the beginning of a project creates a basis for proficient project and risk planning; (2) the proficiency of project planning, risk planning, and process management activities each improves innovation performance directly; (3) the relationship of planning and success is mediated by process management; and (4) the strength of these relationships is moderated by uncertainty, as determined by the degree of innovativeness. To test the hypotheses, data from 132 NPD projects were collected and analyzed. A measurement model was used to establish valid and reliable constructs, a path model to test the main effects, and a multiple-moderated regression analysis for the moderator hypotheses. The results suggest that the proficiency of project planning and process management is important predictors of NPD performance. Specifically, project risk planning and goal stability throughout the development process are found to enhance performance significantly. Business planning proves to be an important antecedent of the more development-related planning activities such as project planning and risk planning. Additionally, the results lend support to the hypotheses regarding the mediating role of process management in the planning–performance relationship. Project planning and risk planning support the quality of process management and thus impact NPD performance indirectly. Only to a limited extent are the strengths of these relationships moderated by the degree of innovativeness of the NPD project.     

Ten years andean pact: A reexamination

On May 26 the heads of state of five Andean countries—Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela¹—celebrated in Cartagena (Colombia) the tenth anniversary of the so-called Cartagena Agreement which forms the legal base of economic integration within this Latin American subregion. Has the Andean approach to integration proved to be feasible in the first decade of its application? What have been the main achievements and failures, and what are the future perspectives of cooperation within the subregion?     

10 Years of natural gas sector regulation in Germany — With special focus on self regulation through association agreements („Verbändevereinbarungen“)

This paper gives a survey of natural gas sector regulation in Germany over the past decade. We trace the origins of the debate at the time of the Germany Energy Law of 1998, up to January 2009 when incentive regulation will begin. The focus of the paper is a strategic analysis of the Association Agreements (“Verbändevereinbarungen”), a peculiar German Sonderweg of corporate self-regulation, leading to welfare losses. We argue that self-regulation was the wrong way to approach sectoral reform, and that (incentive) regulation is the adequate framework for natural gas transmission.     

Determinanten der Strom-und Gaspreisentwicklung in Deutschland — Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme für die Jahre 1998 bis 2007

The price worthy supply of energy is an indispensable requirement for growth and employment in highly industrialized countries as Germany. For energy intensive production processes — with limited opportunities to accomplish efficiency gains or substitute fuel — energy prices and costs are important determinants for competitiveness. But the other manufacturing sectors and households too, are affected by these high energy costs respectively expenditures, which result in real production losses or correspondingly in cutting back expenditures for non-energetic consumer goods. In view of the strongly increased level of energy prices — the price for crude oil hit the historic peak of $121 per barrel in May 2008 — especially grid bound energy sources as electricity and gas are in focus of the public. A recent study of the EEFA research institute illustrates the determinants of the development of electricity and gas prices in Germany from 1998 to 2007.     

Bauteilbezogene Kostenanalysen für Preisverhandlungen in der Automobilindustrie

Automobilhersteller fordern für Preisverhandlungen von Zulieferern die Vorlage von Kostenanalysen für deren Teileumf?nge. Die Kostenanalyse ist eine Aufschlüsselung des Teilepreises in Kostenarten nach vorgegebenem Kalkulationsschema.     

Arithmetic variance swaps

Biases in standard variance swap rates (VSRs) can induce substantial deviations below market rates. Defining realized variance as the sum of squared price (not log-price) changes yields an ‘arithmetic’ variance swap with no such biases. Its fair value has advantages over the standard VSR: no discrete monitoring or jump biases; and the same value applies for any monitoring frequency, even irregular monitoring and to any underlying, including those taking zero or negative values. We derive the fair value for the arithmetic variance swap and compare it with the standard VSR by: analysing errors introduced by interpolation and integration techniques; numerical experiments for approximation accuracy; and using 23 years of FTSE 100 options data to explore the empirical properties of arithmetic variance (and higher moment) swaps. The FTSE 100 variance risk has a strong negative correlation with the implied third moment, which can be captured using a higher moment arithmetic swap.