Technological Progress: A Proposed Measure

The article suggests a direct measure of technological progress that can be quantified with reasonable confidence on the basis of historical data. The proposed measure is the efficiency with which resources (mainly energy sources) are converted into final services. It decomposes into two components, namely the thermodynamic efficiency of converting an energy source into mechanical work and the efficiency with which mechanical work is used to produce final services. The first part of this can be estimated, by sector, with fair accuracy. The second part can only be estimated with reasonable accuracy in a few cases (such as transportation and illumination), but the results are sufficient to permit some plausible extrapolation. The proposed measure is hopefully of interest in itself. But perhaps it is more important insofar as it suggests a way to construct an economic production function that explicitly reflects technological change, rather than treating “technical progress” as an unexplained residual.     

A hybrid equilibrium in segmented markets: the three-firm case

In this paper, we characterize two hybrid equilibria for the three-firm case in segmented markets in which consumers not only value the product itself but also the environment within which the consumption takes place. In equilibrium, the firm with the larger population of loyal consumers chooses the monopoly price while the remaining two firms play a mixed strategy. In the duopoly case, the unique equilibrium is in mixed strategies and no firm focuses only on its loyal consumers.     

International Buying Center Analysis – The Status Quo of Research

In industrial markets purchasing decisions are made by buying centers. Sellers thus have to analyze buying centers in order to generate effective strategies and measures. If we consider progressive economic globalization in this context, it becomes clear that a success promising analysis of buying centers cannot take place from a purely national perspective. On the contrary, the current ongoing globalization process emphasizes the importance of international investigation perspectives and the need to obtain international findings regarding market powers, processes and decision-making elements. There are numerous differences between buying centers in different countries. However, the international buying center analysis is only at an early stage of development. Most studies only analyze one aspect of the complex multipersonal decision process and mostly only for few countries. Thus we identify a lack of comprehensiveness in international buying center research and reveal some interesting starting points for further research.     

WTO成立以来全球反倾销调查发起趋势之演变

世贸组织成立以后,反倾销成为其保护国内产业的合法措施予以保留。本文对世贸组织成立11年来反倾销整体的发展趋势进行了宏观分析。特别重点关注全球贸易和反倾销领域中的典型代表美国、欧盟、印度．分析了这三个国家和地区反倾销的态势。在此基础上,对于中国发起反倾销调查的趋势,以及在全球反倾销调查的发起中应遵循的立场进行了讨论。     

Establishing a high-technology knowledge transfer network: The practical and symbolic roles of identification

Knowledge transfer networks (KTNs) are composed of interconnected firms, government entities, and research organizations that play a critical role in the funding, development, and dissemination of knowledge in high-technology industries. Despite the common use of KTNs in situations that require technology inputs spanning multiple firms, little research has examined the start-up of KTNs and the marketing literature has essentially ignored them. Using social network, social identity, and relevant attribution and motivation theories, the authors build a conceptual model that explains key outcomes of start-up KTNs. A preliminary empirical investigation of a UK-wide KTN start-up finds evidence that social identification with the network is a key moderating mechanism. Identification plays a practical role in creating positive knowledge-transfer benefits for firms that are central in the KTN's social network. Identification also plays a symbolic role by affecting participants' perceptions of overall KTN performance in light of knowledge-transfer benefits that they received, and as an antecedent to affective commitment to the KTN.     

The impact of technological and organizational implementation of CRM on customer acquisition, maintenance, and retention

In recent years, customer relationship management (CRM) has been a topic of the utmost importance for scholars and managers. Despite the evidence provided by numerous empirical studies, many companies that have implemented CRM systems report unsatisfactory levels of improvement. This study analyzes what influence companies can expect CRM implementation to have on performance and how they can leverage its impact. The authors propose a conceptual model that investigates the link between technological and organizational implementations, as well as the implementations' interactions with management and employee support and CRM process-related performance. By measuring CRM performance in terms of the initiation, maintenance, and retention of customer relationships, the study provides a detailed picture of what CRM implementations are capable of achieving. The results of the empirical study, conducted across four industries and ten European countries, indicate that CRM implementation does not impact performance equally for different aspects of the CRM process, and that it has an impact only if adequately supported by the appropriate company stakeholders.     

Trauma epidemiology and outcome in a developing country: perspectives from a university teaching hospital in Beirut

This study aims at evaluating trauma care at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre (AUB-MC) and comparing it to the norms established by the Major Trauma Outcome Study (MTOS). From January 2001 until January 2003, data necessary to calculate probability of survival using the Trauma Injury Severity Score methodology were collected. M, W, Z, Ws and Zs statistics were calculated to compare outcome at AUB-MC to the MTOS dataset. A total of 873 patients were included in the study. W statistics was calculated at 0.35 with Z score for the overall sample of 0.081 indicating that there was no statistically significant difference in survival between this group and the MTOS group. In a developing country a hospital achieves trauma outcomes similar to the MTOS dataset. Further studies looking at trauma care in Lebanon as a whole are needed.