Queue management: Elimination,expectation, and enhancement

Queues in a service process represent an unmet customer need and can detract from the value an organization provides. In this article, we present a framework based on three principles for managing customer queues to reduce the discomfort experienced while waiting: (1) eliminate or reduce the wait through process enhancements, (2) manage expectations through timely and relevant communication with one’s customers, and (3) enhance the waiting experience. We provide examples of historical and recent innovations along all three dimensions in multiple situations and suggest practical approaches for managers to add additional value to customers while they wait.     

EMPIRICAL TESTS OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE CURRENCY OPTION MARKET

Tests of a hedge and a rational boundary of the efficiency of the currency option market are conducted in this study. These tests use transactions data and account for the effects of currency and option bid/ask spreads, synchronization of option prices and underlying exchange rates, market depth, execution lags, and transaction costs. Currency options, unlike domestic stock options, exhibit continuous dividends. The nature of the option and of the data set employed makes the immediate exercise lower bound test one of the purest tests of market efficiency to date. Results reported here indicate no ability to earn abnormal economic or riskless arbitrage profit for the period when these tests are conducted.     

Toward a national food policy for the USA

This special report discusses the need for a national food policy in the USA. Based on a speech¹ made by Carol Tucker Foreman, Assistant Secretary, Food and Consumer Services, of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), it is part of an ongoing debate in that country. Assistant Secretary Foreman made the speech at the Food and Agricultural Outlook Conference sponsored by the USDA in Washington DC, 14–17 November 1977. The views presented here are not an official US government statement, but rather one part of an important policy making process. FOOD POLICY welcomes submission of other opinions on the question of a food policy for the USA, or for any other nation.     

Apologies and Transformational Leadership

This empirical investigation showed that contrary to the popular notion that apologies signify weakness, the victims of mistakes made by leaders consistently perceived leaders who apologized as more transformational than those who did not apologize. In a field experiment (Study 1), male referees who were perceived as having apologized for mistakes made officiating hockey games were rated by male coaches (n = 93) as more transformational than when no apology was made. Studies 2 (n = 50) and 3 (n = 224) replicated this effect in two vignette studies to enhance internal and ecological validity. Contrary to expectations in Study 3, there were no apology×leader gender interactions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Business as Usual? An Institutional View of the Relationship Between Management Control Systems and Strategy

The relationship between management control systems (MCS) and strategy has received considerable attention in the management control literature. Contingency‐based approaches, however, have traditionally dominated this research, with limited attention devoted specifically to how MCS and strategy may combine in organisations operating within highly institutionalised environments. Adopting an institutional perspective, the current study is based on interviews with CEOs and senior executives in 32 Australian Not‐for‐Profit organisations. Our findings indicate a tendency for these organisations to decouple informal control from MCS, producing a ‘business as usual’ mentality via the pervasive informal approach to control, supplanting contingency‐based predictions relating to MCS‐strategy relations.     

A quality human resource curriculum: Recommendations from leading senior HR executives

This article describes a high quality human resource management curriculum as perceived by one group of customers–senior human resource executives who hire, train, and work with university and college graduates. A Delphi research methodology was used to survey the opinions of 24 members of the Human Resources Council, an advisory body to the American Management Association. The study confirms that the major topics taught in most HRM curricula at the bachelor and masters levels are perceived by HR executives to be just about right. It also presents their views about the relative value of the topics and shares specifics about their conviction that graduates need a much deeper understanding of how and where the HR function fits into the overall business strategy of an organization. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A study of diffusion processes for foreign exchange rates

The nature of the stochastic process generating the time path of foreign exchange rates plays an important role in dynamic theories of international financial economics. An important consideration in this stochastic process is the relationship between currency return variances and exchange rate levels. Using five years of daily data separated into quarterly intervals, this study demonstrates that currency return variances depend on exchange rate levels and the dependency is unstable intertemporally. Thus, these empirical results contradict the assumption of stable log-normal distribution and the more general assumption of constant elasticities of variances. For elasticity coefficients ordinary least squares estimates are compared to maximum likelihood estimates; the maximum likelihood estimator clearly is superior. Implications of these results for models of foreign exchange rates are discussed.     

Digital Data,Platforms and the Usual [Antitrust] Suspects: Network Effects,Switching Costs,Essential Facility

This paper asks whether the large amounts of digital data that are typically observed on large technology platforms—such as Google, Facebook, Uber and Amazon—typically give rise to structural conditions that would lead to antitrust concerns. In particular, I evaluate whether digital data augments or decreases concerns with regard to network effects and switching costs. I also evaluate whether data should be thought of as an ‘essential facility’.

     

The Influence of Digital Design and IT on Modular Product Architecture

The architecture of a product is the design and specification of inherent subsystems, components, and interfaces between subsystems. Well‐defined interfaces allow the development of standardized subsystems that may be shared across product lines, e.g., technology platforms. Past research shows the benefits of modular product architecture in terms of improving cost of goods through common components and materials as well as improving development time cycles for derivative products. Product architecture does not occur by accident; it must be engineered and implemented. This study explores the impact of digital design and information technology (IT) on the development of modular product architectures. Through an empirical study of 122 firms and follow‐up interviews with several respondents, we study the impact of digital design tools and IT infrastructure on the development of modular product architecture and overall project outcomes. The results indicate that a firm's IT infrastructure has a strong, significant relationship with the development of modular product architecture. The findings also show a strong, positive relationship between the development of modular product architecture and project outcomes. However, in contrast to the common perception that digital design tools enhance R&D productivity and effectiveness, we do not find a significant relationship between digital design tool usage and modular product architecture or overall project outcomes. The findings suggest that digital design tools and their organizational implementation need improvement in up‐front new product development phases.