Ownership structure and golden parachutes: Evidence of credible commitment or incentive alignment?

Using a sample of S & P 500 firms, we find that golden parachutes are associated with concentrated external ownership, less concentrated internal ownership, and non-Delaware incorporation. We find little support that concentrated external owners use golden parachutes as credible commitment devices. The general multivariate results support the incentive alignment hypothesis, and reaffirm the view that golden parachutes are a mechanism used to align managerial and shareholder interests when there is a separation between ownership and control. (JEL G32)     

Ownership structure and post-issue operating performance of firms conducting seasoned equity offerings in Thailand

This paper investigates the post-issue operating performance of companies that conducted seasoned equity offerings (SEO) in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) during the period 1991 to 1994. It is documented that SEO firms exhibited declining operating performance after the offering. Further, there is a negative relation between inside ownership concentration and postissue operating performance decline. In support of the signaling effect, the ratio of issue proceeds to pre-issue equity also negatively relates to post-issue operating performance. Further, the negative relation between issue proceeds and operating performance decline is intensified among SEO firms with high insider ownership concentration. The finding offers evidence in support of agency conflicts and information asymmetry and suggests that the two factors are operating simultaneously.     

中小企业取胜之道——逆向营销

美国一家规模较小、经营内容与其他竞争对手雷同的银行，尽管内部人员从上到下工作都很努力，但整体经营情况却很是一般。一次该银行在其汽车贷款业务中，发现了一个因为内部流程改变而产生的一项竞争优势——即以24小时完成现在竞争对手48小时才能完成的汽车贷款手续。     

The relationship between major-league sports’ official sponsorship announcements and the stock prices of sponsoring firms

This study presents analysis of the impact of “official product” sports sponsorships with the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) on the stock prices of sponsoring firms. The primary finding of the study is that, in the main, announcements were accompanied by increases in shareholder wealth. The 53 sponsors analyzed experienced mean increases in stock valuations of about $257 million. A multiple regression analysis of firm-specific stock price changes and selected corporate and sponsorship attributes indicates that official product sponsorships with the NBA, NHL, and PGA and those with smaller market shares were associated with the largest gains in share prices. Although corporate cashflow (a proxy for agency conflicts) is statistically unrelated to shareholder approval, sponsorships by high-technology companies were associated with stronger stock price reactions than otherwise. Finally, product congruence with the sponsored sport was positively related to changes in stock prices. T. Bettina Cornwell (b.cornwell@business.uq.edu.au) is Professor of Marketing and Leader of the Marketing cluster in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland, Australia. She was formerly Professor of Marketing in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas. Her research focuses on promotion and consumer behavior, especially with regard to international and public policy issues. Other articles on the topic of sponsorship-linked marketing have recently appeared in theJournal of Advertising, the Journal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Business Research, andPsychology & Marketing. Stephen W. Pruitt (pruittst@umkc.edu) is the holder of the Arvin Gottlieb/Missouri Endowed Chair of Business Economics and Finance in the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He received his Ph.D. from Florida State University. He has published more than 45 articles, most of which employ event study methodologies, in journals such as theJournal of Finance, theJournal of Political Economy, Financial Management, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, and theJournal of Advertising Research. John M. Clark (clarkj@cba.usm.edu) is an assistant professor of finance at the University of Southern Mississippi. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama. His research interests include options and other derivatives, investments, and the impact of real events upon the stock prices of corporations. His work has appeared in scholarly outlets such as theJournal of Advertising Research, theFinancial Review, and theJournal of Business Ethics.     

Micro-level product-market dynamics: Shared knowledge and its relationship to market development

This work draws on consumer and psychology research to explain sociocognitive aspects of product-market dynamics at a higher level of specificity than prior research. The authors extend the field’s understanding of market-shaping shared knowledge through a theory-informed discussion of how shared product knowledge comes to exist and how it changes as product markets develop. They define shared knowledge as the aspects of product representations that are common across the minds of market actors, making it possible for them to understand one another. The authors also discuss ways to track shared knowledge content that is expressed in market narratives. As the characteristics of shared knowledge are explained and linked to stages of product-market development, the authors develop a set of researchable propositions to guide future research. The theoretical arguments and propositions in this article complement extant marketing strategy research by integrating individual-level consumer theory with market evolution models. José Antonio Rosa (jose.rosa@case.edu; Ph.D., University of Michigan) is an assistant professor of marketing at Case Western Reserve University. His research interests include product markets as sociocognitive phenomena, embodied knowledge in consumer and managerial sensemaking, consumer illiteracy and coping, commitment and motivation among members of network marketing organizations, and buying group satisfaction. His research has been published in marketing and management publications, including theJournal of Marketing and theAcademy of Management Journal. Before entering academia, he worked in the automotive and information systems industries. Jelena Spanjol (jspanjol@tamu.edu; Ph.D., University of Illinois) is an assistant professor of marketing at Texas A&M University. Her research interests include product market dynamics, product portfolio management, innovation, sensemaking, and organizational and managerial cognition in marketing strategy. Her research has been published in marketing and management publications, including theJournal of Marketing and several book chapters. Before academia, she worked in the scientific software industry.     

Export marketing,interfunctional interactions,and performance consequences

Firms with export operations have internal environments that are often geared toward serving the home market. As a result, export marketing and other business functions compete for resources, which thus increases the likelihood of conflict between them. Using survey responses from more than 700 exporting firms, the authors test a model of the antecedents and consequences of two important interaction variables: exporting’s interfunctional connectedness and conflict. The model explains 52 percent and 49 percent of variance in exporting connectedness and conflict, respectively. The authors identify the key drivers of successful interactions as follows: management commitment, organizational training and reward systems, relative functional identification, centralization, and export employee job satisfaction and commitment. The authors also demonstrate that connectedness is most critical for export success when export markets are in a state of turbulence, whereas conflict is most detrimental when the firm’s export environment is stable. John W. Cadogan (j.w.cadogan@lboro.ac.uk), Ph.D., is a professor of marketing in the Business School at Loughborough University, United Kingdom. His primary areas of research interest are international marketing, marketing strategy, and sales management. He has published on these issues in theJournal of International Business Studies, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, theInternational Marketing Review, theJournal of Marketing Management, theJournal of Strategic Marketing, and other academic journals. He received his degree from the University of Wales (United Kingdom). Sanna Sundqvist (sanna.sundqvist@lut.fi), Ph.D., is a professor in international marketing in the Department of Business Administration at the Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland). Her research interests deal with the international diffusion of innovations, market orientation (especially in an international context), and consumers’ adoption behavior. She has published in theJournal of Business Research, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, theCanadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, and theAustralasian Marketing Journal. She received her degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Risto T. Saiminen (risto.salminen@lut.fi), Ph.D., is a professor of industrial engineering and management, especially marketing, in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. His primary areas of research interest are customer relationships and networks in business marketing, pedagogy in industrial engineering and management, and international marketing. He has published on these issues in theJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Management, theEuropean Journal of Engineering Education, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, and theAustralasian Marketing Journal. He received his degree from Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Kaisu Puumalainen (kaisu.puumalainen@lut.fi), Ph.D., is a professor in technology research in the Department of Business Administration at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Her primary areas of research interest are innovation, international marketing, and small businesses. She has published on these issues in theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, R&D Management, theCanadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, theJournal of International Entrepreneurship, theAustralasian Marketing Journal, and theInternational Journal of Production Economics. She received her degree from the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland.     

浅析《围城》中知识女性的群体特征

《围城》写于20世纪40年代,一经发表便被誉为是一部新版《儒林外史》。钱钟书先生在《围城》中用大量笔墨勾勒出了一个个鲜活的人物形象,对于女性人物的描写也颇下了一番工夫。在《围城》中,钱钟书先生通过知识女性形象的独特描写,为我们展现了20世纪40年代中国知识女性的生存状况和人生轨迹。尽管她们的境遇不同,命运不同,但在那个特殊的年代里,她们各自的经历却赋予了她们共同的特征。本文笔者仅从小说中几个具有代表性的知识女性形象人手对她们的共同特征进行剖析,并就此提出自己关于知识女性人生观的看法。所谓知识女性,笔者认为在不同的年代有不同的涵义,在20世纪40年代的中国,钱钟书先生笔下的知识女性是指接受过良好教育的知识分子。《围城》中的这样一群女性可以称之为知识女性群体,她们之间的共同的特征如下:群体特征一:接受良好教育,改变社会地位在旧中国,女性是社会中的弱势群体,正所谓“在家从父,出嫁从夫,老来从子”,没有读书识字的自由。这一切严重压抑着女性的身心,命运无法由她们自己来主宰,她们成为了男人的附属品。《围城》中的知识女性正是通过接受良好教育,获取知识来提高自己的社会地位,力争摆脱男人的束缚,进而主宰自己的命运。主要表现在:鲍小姐由未婚夫李医生出资,一个人到英国伦敦学习产科两年,回国后与李医生结婚并一同挂牌行医;苏文纨在法国里昂研究法国文学,做了一篇《中国十八家白话诗人》的论文,获博士学位;孙柔嘉大学毕业,由赵辛楣引荐到三闾大学任教;在家养病的汪太太,“中国画和钢琴”是她嫁妆里代表文化的部分,好比其他女人的大学毕业文凭和学士帽照片。     

Using a customer-Level marketing strategy to enhance firm performance: A review of theoretical and empirical evidence

It is becoming increasingly apparent from the literature that marketers need to consider customer-level information when they generate a marketing strategy for the firm. In this article, the authors develop a customer-focused framework that uses a marketing strategy with an overall objective of maximized financial performance. This strategy is driven by seven customer-level marketing tactics and shows how actual customer data can be used to generate an actionable marketing strategy leading to optimal levels of profitability, customer equity, and shareholder value. In addition, the authors discuss a successful implementation of this strategy for several business-to-business and business-to-consumer firms and offer insights as to how to customize an implementation strategy for any firm, along with presenting potential challenges a firm may encounter during the implementation process. Several suggestions for future research are offered to explore and harness this newly available evidence. V. Kumar (VK) (vk@business.uconn.edu) is the ING Chair Professor of Marketing and the executive director of the ING Center for Financial Services at the University of Connecticut. He spends his time by transferring his knowledge (however little it may be) to his two daughters about customer lifetime value, diffusion models, forecasting sales and market share, retailing, and marketing strategy. J. Andrew Petersen (apetersen@business.uconn.edu) is a doctoral candidate in marketing at the University of Connecticut. His research interests include customer lifetime value, word-of-mouth effects, and customer-level marketing strategy. His research has been published inMarketing Research Magazine and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science.     

Scientific status and knowledge use: Two perspectives

Summary In summary, it is important, from time to time, to step back and consider the publication process, as it exists in marketing and as it operates forJAMS. As part of this consideration, the issue of journal quality is paramount. As mentioned above, there are many ways to assess journal quality, and each method has its advantages and its limitations. In the field of marketing, we have a long history of relying on perceptual data, and this tradition is reflected in methods that rely on expert ratings and rankings of journals. In our field, we also have a history of trying to collect “objective” or quantitative data, and methods that rely on citation counts fit into this tradition. Here, using contrasting but related methods, we report encouraging evidence about the growing status and reputation ofJAMS as an influential publication outlet for marketing scholarship.     

汉诺坝玄武岩中麻粒岩捕虏体的发现

近十余年来,中外地质学家对我国河北西北部的汉诺坝玄武岩及其深源包体进行了广泛深入的研究,发现了种类繁多的上地幔岩石捕虏体,发表了不少专著和论文,但有关麻粒岩捕虏体的报导,迄今为止尚未见到。本文作者经过三年的努力,在汉诺坝玄武岩中发现了五类八种麻粒岩捕虏体,其中包括石榴辉石麻粒岩、斜长石榴辉石麻粒岩、斜长单辉麻粒岩、斜长二辉麻粒岩、石榴钾长石英麻粒岩、石榴斜长石英麻粒岩、辉石二长麻粒岩、辉石钾长麻粒岩。初步研究表明这些麻粒岩大部分是在下地壳环境下形成的,它们具有麻粒岩矿物组合和结构构造特征,但又不完全类同于古老高级变质地体中的麻粒岩。