Vertical product differentiation and two-sided markets

We model platform competition in a market where products are characterized by cross network externalities. Consumers differ in their valuation of these externalities. Although the exogenous set-up is entirely symmetric, we show that platform competition induces a vertical differentiation structure that allows for the co-existence of asymmetric platforms in equilibrium. We establish this result in two set-ups: in the first one platforms commit to prices, in the second one they commit to network sizes.     

The relationships among leadership,goal orientation,and service quality in high-contact service industries: An empirical study

High-contact service industries are characterized by close interaction between service employees and customers, and diverse customer needs. Such characteristics pose a great challenge to the delivery of services of superior quality. In this research we conceptually explore and empirically examine several attitudinal and motivational factors of customer-contact employees, and the management style of managers as antecedents to service quality in high-contact service sectors. Based on dyadic data collected from 230 service firms in Hong Kong, we examine the relationships among transformational leadership, transactional leadership, affective organizational commitment, learning goal orientation, performance goal orientation, and service quality. We find that learning goal orientation is more effective than performance goal orientation in fostering service quality in the high-contact service context. We also observe that transformational leadership tends to be more effective than transactional leadership in influencing employee attitude in high-contact service firms. This research pioneers theory-driven examination of service quality in high-contact service firms using data collected from service employees and shop managers for hypothesis testing.     

Environmental Governance of Enterprises and their Economic Upshot through Corporate Reputation and Customer Satisfaction

Drawing on resource‐advantage and signalling theories, we investigate two mechanisms, namely corporate reputation and customer satisfaction, by which the environmental governance of enterprises can benefit their economic performance. Based on secondary data from the 500 largest US enterprises compiled from multiple sources, our findings contribute to the literature by establishing the link between corporate reputation and green reputation. We also establish the economic performance paths of environmental governance via corporate reputation and customer satisfaction. This study expounds on why ‘green’ matters and identifies the performance roles of two corporate strategic resources extractable from the environmental governance of enterprises. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Calibration of implied volatility for the exchange rate for the Chinese Yuan from its derivatives

Revised implied volatility curves and surfaces for the Chinese Yuan (CNY) exchange rate are obtained from market quotations for CNY non-deliverable options by solving an inverse problem of foreign exchange option pricing, which is calculated using a regularization approach in an optimal control framework. To take account of the market expectation for the CNY exchange rate, a stochastic adjusted factor is applied that follows a Vasicek model with parameters fitted from market quotations for CNY non-deliverable forwards. A well-posed numerical scheme is implemented.     

Co-evolution of global sourcing: The need to understand the underlying mechanisms of firm-decisions to offshore

In this introductory paper, we first discuss the emergence of global sourcing of business services and how these have been largely ignored in the IB field. Offshoring of business services has reached substantial proportions. Despite the radical growth, IB research on global sourcing is still in its infancy. Offshoring of business services represents a new type of internationalization. The offshoring of high-value services confronts companies with many of the challenges that are typical of an internationalization process in which well-known models and concepts of internationalization are applicable but also leave important unanswered questions requiring reconsideration and revision of these theoretical positions. Offshoring of business services is fundamentally different from outsourcing offshore of manufacturing activities. Using data from the Offshore Research Network (ORN), we track patterns of the emergence and diffusion of global sourcing of business services. On the basis of these new insights, we make a plea for a more encompassing, co-evolutionary perspective of global sourcing stressing the interactions between managerial intentionality, path-dependent experience and knowledge accumulation, as well as the institutional and selection forces. In particular, we develop a co-evolutionary offshore decision model integrating managerial intentionality, knowledge/experience and institutional and selection forces that explain the heterogeneous outcomes of offshoring. Although emergent outcomes of co-evolutionary dynamics are highly idiosyncratic, we identify in this paper some underlying mechanism that drive specific global sourcing patterns. Finally, we position the papers of this special issue in this co-evolutionary model.     

Processes underlying the development and evolution of salespersonsõ job satisfaction/dissatisfaction: a conceptual framework

A conceptual framework of salesperson satisfaction/dissatisfaction is presented and is used to develop several research propositions. Drawing from organizational behaviour and sales management research, the model incorporates various theories of motivation and emphasizes the role of intervening variables thought to be especially important in the context of sales occupations. Finally, the model draws attention to the dynamic nature of the relationships between salespersons' efforts, performance, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and job satisfaction/dissatisfaction. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Uncertainty in foreign policy making: A Bayesian game analysis of Korea

Bayesian games are used to analyze situations where at least one player is uncertain about the other's preferences. For the past decade or so, the Bayesian models have been rigorously applied to various aspects of international relations involving uncertainty. These models have contributed to our understanding of international relations by uncovering complicated strategic interactions through deductive reasoning and by generating many empirically testable hypotheses. Apart from these efforts for general theory developments, however, scholars rarely applied Bayesian models to analyze real‐world international events, although many of them involve situations where one or more players are uncertain about the other's preferences. Some of these events are interesting and important in their own right, given their potential impact on regional security and the amount of attention paid by scholars and politicians alike. Therefore, these cases warrant independent studies utilizing Bayesian models. In this paper, we have developed two Bayesian models for the changing relationships North Korea has with South Korea and the United States. We also discuss another interesting aspect of North‐South Korea‐United States relations where North Korea is simultaneously playing similar, but separate, games with South Korea and the United States.     

Investment and Innovation State Support of Agriculture in Russia as a Condition of WTO

Russian agriculture is one of the industries operating in the unstable economic situation in a developing market taking into account risks of the world economy, economic, political, and climatic factors. The role of agriculture is to provide people＇s needs for food, significant effects on employment, the efficiency of domestic production, and way of life in rural areas by obligatory preserving food security in Russia. One of the major tasks for agriculture is the development of innovations and investments aimed at improving the competitiveness of the domestic agricultural sector. Russia＇s membership in the WTO since 2012 is getting a particular importance in the innovation and investment support of agriculture. The strategy of innovative development of the Russian Federation until 2020 ＂Innovative Russia--2020＂ assumes three possible options for innovative development： inertial （directed on imports）, catch-up development and a local technological competitiveness and a variant of achieving leadership in leading scientific and technical sectors, and fundamental research. A positive point is that the strategy provides an algorithm of state support of the innovation cycle. The innovation cycle is the process associated with the sequence of innovation transformations （scientific or business ideas） in products, technology, business process and launches it on the market for commercial use. A positively developing regional aspect is of great importance.