Strategic Delegation in a Multiproduct Mixed Industry

We examine strategic delegation in a multiproduct mixed duopoly with nonprofit organization (NPO) and for‐profit organization (FPO). We will demonstrate that the nonprofitable mission service can reduce both the interest conflicts between the NPO and FPO owners and those between the NPO owner and self‐benefited manager. The profit orientation in the compensation schemes will vary with different relative costs. Although the NPO owner may have a different objective from the FPO owner, they all end up having their managers raise their prices and reducing competition in the profitable market. Moreover, as the regulated price of mission service increases, both firms will charge more for their profitable services, but the owner of NPO could still overcompensate her or his manager, when the indirect impact on increasing the conflict of interest is higher than the direct impact on price. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding liability of foreignness in an Asian business context: A study of the Korean asset management industry

This study provides an in-depth understanding of the liability of foreignness (LOF) in an Asian business context. Based on previous literature, we distinguish the two distinct cost components that comprise LOF: The cost of foreignness and the cost of multinationality. Whereas the former refers to the costs incurred by foreign firms when they develop location-specific advantages in a host country environment, the latter refers to the costs associated with an MNC’s multinational operation, more specifically, transferring firm-specific advantages from the home country (or elsewhere) and adapting them to a particular host country context. Based on this distinction, we investigate whether and how persistently each of these costs exists in an Asian business environment. Our data on the Korean asset management industry support the presence of both costs, resulting in lower performance increase of foreign firms relative to local ones from utilizing location- and firm-specific advantages, respectively. Furthermore, in our study setting, compared to the cost of foreignness, the cost of multinationality persists longer in the market, suggesting that the latter is more difficult and takes a longer time for MNCs to mitigate than the former. Our results provide important insights into detailed aspects of strategic challenges confronted by MNCs in the Asian business context from which they can derive effective strategic responses.     

The economics of online television: Industry development,aggregation, and “TV Everywhere”

Although still dominated by standard television, the online TV industry is growing rapidly. Entrants employ a range of business models, and we identify a prevalent tendency for leading providers to aggregate programming from a variety of different content owners. We focus on one form of content aggregation by multi-channel programming distributors (MPVDs) widely known as “TV Everywhere (TVE).” Following a brief taxonomy of TVE systems, we develop an economic model to show how this “free-with-authentication” (of MVPD subscribership) bundling practice can be explained as a price discrimination device intended to slow MVPD disconnections. We show that TVE bundling could also deter entry into the online TV market. We discuss the potential roles of horizontal and vertical integration of MVPDs and ISPs in online TV industry development, again focusing on TVE, and conclude with policy implications.     

Extended generalized purchasing power parity and optimum currency area in East Asian countries

We build a model in which corporate governance allows for the adoption of an institution acting as a mechanism to control agency problems. Our model predicts that the incentive to adopt such an institution is decreasing in ownership concentration and increasing in free cash flow. Testing our theoretical model by means of a sample of 157 Italian listed companies over the period 2004–2007, we find that board composition favours independent members in firms with a large free cash flow, and executive members in firms with high ownership concentration, supporting the view of governance as a way to limit agency costs.     

Domestic value added and employment generated by Chinese exports: A quantitative estimation

We develop an input–output methodology to estimate how Chinese exports affected the country's total domestic value added (DVA) and employment in the years 2002 and 2007. For every US$1000 dollar of Chinese exports in 2007 (2002), DVA and employment are estimated to be US$591 (US$466) and 0.096 (0.242) person-year, respectively. To implement these estimations, we use hitherto unpublished Chinese government data to construct several completely new datasets, including an input–output table with separate input–output and employment-output coefficients for processing exports, non-processing exports, and output for domestic use. We hypothesize that, in comparison with the export sector, China's domestic sector would be relatively autarkic due to China's history of central planning. We expect that exports would generate less DVA and employment than output for domestic use. Processing exports, which are highly dependent on imported inputs, would similarly generate less DVA and employment than non-processing exports. Our findings support these expectations. For both 2002 and 2007, the DVA and employment effects of domestic final demand were higher than those of non-processing exports, which were in turn higher than those of processing exports. However, with the progress of economic reforms, we found that the total DVAs of exports and domestic final demand have converged from 2002 to 2007.     

Appropriating the value from innovation: inimitability and the effectiveness of isolating mechanisms

Preventing the imitation of products and their underlying characteristics is a key source of competitive advantage. Isolating mechanisms, such as patents, brand name and speed to market, render an organisation's inventions imperfectly imitable by competitors, helping sustain the above‐normal returns achieved from a new product innovation. A theoretical framework is developed whereby the characteristics of isolating mechanisms, namely causal ambiguity, asset stock effects and enforceability of property rights, are shown to be important determinants of appropriation effectiveness. A multiple method research design, consisting of a survey of 238 large Australian organisations, and a further six case study organisations, is adopted. The results indicate that isolating mechanisms in the form of technological capabilities, market‐based assets and knowledge protection positively moderate an organisation's returns from their innovation activities, while being first‐to‐market is found to negatively moderate the business returns achieved. Implications for managers in increasing the effectiveness of their appropriation regime, and future directions for research are proposed.     

Exploring the impact of product service quality on buyer commitment and loyalty in B TO B relationships

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand and empirically test causal relationships among components of product service quality and commitment and buyer loyalty in business-to-business (B to B) relationships.

Methodology/approach: Data were collected through a web-based survey from 314 buyers of B to B manufacturers in Korea.

Findings: Product quality enhances all three types of commitment in B to B relationships, service quality is positively associated with affective commitment, and support quality has a significantly positive effect on affective and normative commitment. Also, the moderating effects of competitive intensity are significant. If competitive intensity is low in the buyer’s market, product quality and service quality play important roles in deriving buyer commitment; however, if competitive intensity is high, support quality is effective in maintaining long-term committed relationships with buyers.

Research implications: To fully consider product service quality in this study, we established support quality, product quality, and service quality as discrete components of product service quality.

Practical implications: Previous quality-related works have focused on products and services with little research about support activities, and the literature is lacking empirical analyses of support activities. However, this study elucidates the importance of operational and technical support activities in B to B relationships. Specifically, in a fiercely competitive market, a high-quality consumer support strategy is shown to be highly effective in maintaining long-term committed relationships with buyers.

Originality/value/contribution: We analyzed the relationships among components of product service quality and commitment and buyer loyalty in B to B transactions. Our detailed results will help firms develop context-specific quality management strategies at the product service level in order to strengthen customer loyalty.     

微型凹版胶印中液体转移过程的仿真研究

本文通过数字建模方式对凹版胶印过程中的液体转移过程进行研究。具体方法是,用两个相互平行的印版间液体的转移过程模拟在硅橡胶辊或软垫的作用下油墨转移到承印物上的过程;用梯形网穴与其上方运动的印版间的液体转移过程模拟油墨从凹版网穴拉出并转移到硅橡胶辊或软垫上的过程。阐释在两平行印版间的液体转移过程中,液体的拉伸、分裂,以及反冲过程,同时观察卫星式液滴的产生,评估分离速度、液体黏度、表面张力、重力以及接触角对液体转移过程的影响。研究液体从梯形网穴转移到其上方运动的印版中的3个阶段：1）整体拉伸阶段;2）中央拉伸、分裂、以及反冲阶段;3）平衡阶段。找出转移液体的最终幅宽与上部印版的接触角的关系,分析剪切高度的影响因素。本文还对初始距离和网穴形状对液体转移的影响进行了探讨。     

Empirical Analyses of Extreme Value Models for the South African Mining Index

While the classical normality assumption is simple to implement, it is well known to underestimate the leptokurtic behaviour demonstrated in most financial data. After examining properties of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Mining Index returns, we propose two extreme value models to fit its negative tail with a higher degree of accuracy. The generalised extreme value distribution (GEVD) is fitted using the block maxima approach, while the generalised Pareto distribution (GPD) is fitted using the peaks‐over‐threshold method. Numerical assessment of value‐at‐risk (VaR) estimates indicates that both GEVD and GPD increasingly outperform the normal distribution as we move further into the lower tail. In addition, GEVD produces lower estimates relative to that of the historical VaR, and GPD provides slightly more conservative estimates for adequate capitalisation.