A Systematic Study of Change Management During CMMI Implementation: A Modified Activity Theory Perspective

This study proposed a modified activity theory framework, complemented by a dynamic time axis, to analyze each organizational change stage of a two‐phase capability maturity model integration (CMMI) maturity level adoption case. The study revealed the following results: At the planning stage, the involvement of senior executives determined the positive attitude toward change. At the getting started stage, employees' clear recognition of change objectives determined the change effectiveness. At the letting go stage, department heads got involved, understood, and provided both support and mediating activities to achieve the actual benefits. At the completion stage, performance was used as a measurement tool to help internalize the change into new capabilities.     

Major weapons procurement: An efficiency-based approach for the selection of fighter jets

This study applies the epsilon-based measure method in data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate processes in procuring fighter jets (FJs), which are indicative of the technology and capability of major weapons. Moreover, multidimensional scaling analysis and sensitivity analysis were included to assess the selection of FJs. The DEA analysis indicates that the overall efficiency of the sample of 26 FJs was 0.824 on average. Besides, procurers rely on price and capability to decide which FJ models to purchase. Overall, the evaluation results can be provided to procurement decision makers even in selecting other types of major weapon in a cost-effective manner.     

A ‘Knowledge Trading Game’ for collaborative design learning in an architectural design studio

Knowledge-sharing and resource exchange are the key to the success of collaborative design learning. In an architectural design studio, design knowledge entails learning efforts that need to accumulate and recombine dispersed and complementary pieces of knowledge. In this research, firstly, ‘Knowledge Trading Game’ is proposed to be a way for promoting students’ design knowledge exchange, dissemination and refinement. Twelve students are randomly chosen as experimental participants. And secondly, ‘virtual value’ is used for students to trade their design knowledge. In this game, students buy others’ design knowledge to extend their design problem space; students decrease their design solution space through their sold design knowledge. Finally, ‘protocol analysis’ is adapted as the research methodology to examine the results of implementation. A positive outcome is identified that Knowledge Trading Game encourages collaborative design learning.     

Imported inputs and privatization in downstream mixed oligopoly with foreign ownership

This paper examines welfare implications of privatization in a mixed oligopoly with vertically related markets, where an upstream foreign monopolist sells an essential input to public and private firms located downstream in the domestic country. The impact on domestic welfare of privatizing the downstream public firm is shown to contain three effects. The first is an output distortion effect, which negatively affects welfare since privatization decreases the production of final good for consumption. The second is an input price lowering effect resulting from a decrease in derived demand for the input. When the level of privatization increases, a decrease in final good production lowers input demand, causing input price to decline and domestic welfare to increase. The third is a rent‐leaking effect associated with foreign ownership in the downstream private firm. The rival domestic firm strategically increases its final good production, causing profits accrued to foreign investors to increase and domestic welfare to decline. Without foreign ownership in the downstream private firm, the optimal policy toward the public firm is complete privatization as the output distortion effect is dominated by the input price lowering effect. With foreign ownership, however, complete privatization can never be socially optimal due to the additional negative impact on domestic welfare of the rent‐leaking effect. We further discuss implications for domestic welfare under different privatization schemes (e.g., selling the privatization shares to the upstream foreign monopolist or to the rival domestic firm).     

Divergent and convergent logic of firms: Barriers and enablers for development and commercialization of innovations

This paper describes and discusses similarities and differences in the priorities, interests, and interactional goals of companies involved in the development and commercialization of innovation. We refer to such priorities, interests, and interactional goals as the logic of firms, and point to how differences among companies in these regards may enable or inhibit the development and commercialization of innovation. A case study in drug development, from a Taiwanese biopharmaceutical, illustrates two types of innovations: generic and novel drug development. Findings suggest how logic places focus on how certain actors may be more motivated toward innovation, but also on how the logic portrayed by actors can promote certain types of innovations (in this case generic ones), while inhibiting others (novel innovations). The paper concludes that companies need to have convergent logic (i.e. have the same priorities and similar or complementary interests and interaction goals) if an innovation process is to be successful. The focus on priorities, interests, and interactional goals of companies in innovation processes complements previous research that has primarily focused on the actual interaction, not what motivates it. The construct of shared logic nets as a means of analyzing convergent logic and gaps between different types of logic help to understand enablers and barriers to innovation.     

Static hedging and pricing American options

This paper utilizes the static hedge portfolio (SHP) approach of Derman et al. [Derman, E., Ergener, D., Kani, I., 1995. Static options replication. Journal of Derivatives 2, 78–95] and Carr et al. [Carr, P., Ellis, K., Gupta, V., 1998. Static hedging of exotic options. Journal of Finance 53, 1165–1190] to price and hedge American options under the Black-Scholes (1973) model and the constant elasticity of variance (CEV) model of Cox [Cox, J., 1975. Notes on option pricing I: Constant elasticity of variance diffusion. Working Paper, Stanford University]. The static hedge portfolio of an American option is formulated by applying the value-matching and smooth-pasting conditions on the early exercise boundary. The results indicate that the numerical efficiency of our static hedge portfolio approach is comparable to some recent advanced numerical methods such as Broadie and Detemple [Broadie, M., Detemple, J., 1996. American option valuation: New bounds, approximations, and a comparison of existing methods. Review of Financial Studies 9, 1211–1250] binomial Black-Scholes method with Richardson extrapolation (BBSR). The accuracy of the SHP method for the calculation of deltas and gammas is especially notable. Moreover, when the stock price changes, the recalculation of the prices and hedge ratios of the American options under the SHP method is quick because there is no need to solve the static hedge portfolio again. Finally, our static hedging approach also provides an intuitive derivation of the early exercise boundary near expiration.     

Integrative effects of firms' price and endorsement strategies on consumers' loyalty intention

This research examines the effects of price and brand endorsement that are adopted by firms from a consumer-based viewpoint, and provides practical brand management discussions as a reference for both manufacturer brands and retail store brands. According to the findings, manufacturer brands support high prices and boost those vivid impressions which are helpful in engendering consumer loyalty intention. Without a careful evaluation process, a brand-endorsing strategy may prove detrimental to the manufacturer. Retail store brands follow distinct pricing policies and carry out brand-endorsed strategies. Price/endorsement stimuli influence consumer brand loyalty through the partial mediating effect of brand impression. Manufacturers and retailers could define appropriate price premiums on products with a potential for a manufacturer–retailer brand co-branding as identified by market research, thus increasing the sales of both.     

Co-production and customer loyalty in financial services

Recent developments in marketing thought and practice highlight the opportunities that co-production of services provide for creating customer value. The authors propose a model of co-production with which they investigate the links between co-production and customer loyalty and the factors likely to increase the level of co-production in a financial services context, with support from an investigation in the medical services context. Further, the authors consider the relationships of customer expertise, customer–advisor communication, customer affective commitment, and interactional justice with the level of co-production. On the basis of testing with a sample of 1,197 customers of a large multinational financial services organization and 100 patients of medical services, the model is partially supported. Therefore, the authors suggest that co-production may have an important role as a basis for competition in the financial services industry.     

The Effects of Audience Knowledge on Message Processing of Editorial Content

Marketing communications practitioners of modern enterprises recognize that creating mediated messages to audiences is a strategic communication to be leveraged, not simply managed. This study investigates how audiences' knowledge structures affect their message processing of editorial content. A set of laboratory experiments finds support for the proposed hypotheses in the domain of subjective and objective knowledge and message processing of editorial content. While audiences' objective knowledge determines how much elaboration they actually are able to perform, their subjective knowledge facilitates general thoughts. Audiences' knowledge structures direct how they process received messages while objective knowledge rather than subjective knowledge predicts audiences' conation; high levels of objective knowledge have a detrimental impact on audiences' purchase intents.     

The Effectiveness of Capital Regulation on Bank Behavior in China

This paper examines the impact that ownership and governance structures have on how Chinese banks react to regulatory pressure. We find that the current regulatory regime induces banks to increase their capital, but its effectiveness in doing so varies based on whether the bank is listed or not, and also who is the majority shareholder. We also find that the degree of central government ownership and the political ties the chief executive officer of the bank has play an important role in the risk‐taking behavior of banks. Overall, our results have a number of policy implications supporting the need to further reduce state ownership of banks in China to mitigate the prevailing moral hazard and dual‐agency problems that arise from the government being both the regulator and the majority shareholder.