Sensation seeking and the prediction of attitudes and behaviours of wine tourists

Although socio-economic variables are commonly used for market segmentation and are widely applied in describing winery visitors, increasing awareness is evident in the literature that personality might also be useful for that purpose. The present study examined whether, compared with socio-economic variables (age, gender, education level, personal income, and household income), the personality variable sensation seeking adds to the ability to predict differences in various attitudes and behaviours of wine tourists. With the effects of the former controlled, sensation seeking was observed to be significantly related to spending on wine, and wine drinking, as well as to the frequency of visits to wineries and the number of activities engaged in at wineries, the use of the internet as a source of information about wineries, venturing off the beaten track during a visit to a wine region, and the strength of opportunity for learning, stimulation, or indulgence as incentives to visit a wine region. Sensation seeking was also observed to be significantly related to all but one of those variables when the effects of another variable which is receiving increasing attention as a means by which to characterize wine tourists, “involvement”, were controlled. The practical significance of the results for winery and wine region marketing and management is discussed, and several requirements for further research are identified.     

Options in technology investment games: The real world TFT-LCD industry case

The Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) industry has demonstrated that the investment of huge amounts of capital in new plants is a key factor for success. Decisions about investing in the latest generation of plant involve billions of dollars and a great deal of uncertainty. Moreover, the industry shows distinct oligopolistic characteristics, so the first mover's reactions must be considered when making capital decisions in such competitive environments. The traditional net present value (NPV) rule is a ‘now-or-never’ concept that fails to capture the need for managerial flexibility, which is especially important when investments are irreversible and involve a great deal of uncertainty. In this paper, we use a combination of real options and game theory to analyze the investment strategies of a case company in the TFT-LCD industry. The results show that real options reveal the value of flexibility, which NPV fails to consider. In addition, we apply game theory analysis to different investment strategies to demonstrate the decision-making processes used by competing companies.     

Dynamic Hedging Effectiveness in South Korean Index Futures and the Impact of the Asian Financial Crisis

This paper focuses on the impact of the 1997 Asian financial market crisis upon hedging effectiveness within the KOSPI 200 stock index and index futures markets. The paper utilizes the inter-temporal relationship between the two markets to examine the characteristics of several minimum variance hedge ratios. It also examines the performances of alternative hedging strategies for dynamic portfolio management in the presence of cointegrated time-varying risks. The results show a decline in the persistence of conditional volatility within market prices after the crisis. This decline leads to the relative performance of utilizing constant hedge ratios to increase, though not significantly so to guarantee a superior performance over more sophisticated time-varying hedge ratio strategies.     

Human capital,innovation and productivity in Colombian enterprises: a structural approach using instrumental variables

ABSTRACT

In this paper we explore the R&D–innovation–productivity linkage for the Colombian manufacturing industry, paying special attention to the role of human capital. Using data from two firm-level surveys, the Survey of Development and Technological Innovation (EDIT) and the Annual Manufacturing Survey (EAM), we extend the model of Crépon, Duguet, and Mairesse [1998. ‘Research, Innovation and Productivity: An Econometric Analysis at the Firm Level.’ Economics of Innovation and New Technology 7 (2): 115–158] (hereafter CDM) by including human capital at the investment decision stage. We implement an instrumental variable methodology to correct the potential endogeneity that may arise with the inclusion of human capital. Our results suggest that human capital has a causal effect on research and development (R&D) investment decisions, the innovation behavior of the firm, and increases the labor productivity of the firm. The conclusions highlight the relevance of human capital in the surrounding literature which stands in contrast to prior work that has not included this variable.     

Organizing and personalizing intelligence gathering from the web

In this paper, we describe how an integrated web‐based application, code‐named FOCI (F lexible O rganizer for C ompetitive I ntelligence), can help the knowledge worker in the gathering, organizing, tracking and dissemination of competitive intelligence (CI). It combines the use of a novel user‐configurable clustering, trend analysis and visualization techniques to manage information gathered from the web. FOCI allows its users to define and personalize the organization of the information clusters according to their needs and preferences into portfolios. These personalized portfolios created are saved and can be subsequently tracked and shared with other users. The paper runs through an example to show how the use of a predefined domain template coupled with personalization can greatly enhance an organization and tracking of CI gathered from the web. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Voices from the Field: How Exceptional Electronic Industrial Innovators Innovate

This exploratory research uses in‐depth qualitative interviews to investigate how 11 exceptional innovators in the electronics industry initiated, created, and commercialized radical innovations in their firms. From the data, two initial frameworks emerged for how radical innovations were created by these individuals. Four themes emerged associated with what these innovators bring to the organization as an underpinning for being able to radically innovate. Additional themes emerged as to the process by which they innovate. Across the literatures of innovation, psychology, and management, creativity is discussed in terms of person, product, or process. This research samples on highly creative innovations (products) and finds that it appears that both person and process need to be considered in attaining radical innovation. One may not be able to consider separately the person who achieves radical innovation from the process he or she uses to achieve it. These exceptional innovators have specific personality characteristics that support radically creative behavior, supplemented by a perspective or worldview that focuses on having a business orientation yet also a somewhat idealistic attitude. They have prepared for innovation by studying deeply, within not just one primary technology topic but also a secondary or peripheral technology topic. In addition, they have prepared broadly, across technology, business, and markets. They are both extrinsically and intrinsically motivated to innovate. People communicating what problems are urgently important to them to be solved produce external motivation for the innovator, who is then intrinsically motivated to solve these people's problems by creating new products. In terms of how they innovate, these exceptional innovators are organizationally savvy and both understand and participate in the politics necessary to gain acceptance of and resources for their project. They use an innovation process that emphasizes the up‐front aspects of finding interesting problems, planning first before executing, and understanding customer needs in great detail. This allows them to generate insights into how to solve those problems profitably for the firm. Once they have obtained and validated their insights for solving the problem, they participate in the actual implementation of the concept to a commercialized product. However, this development aspect of innovating is not much spoken of, as if it is taken for granted. Finally, they actively disseminate knowledge and acceptance of the innovation postinvention.     

Cost-effectiveness of metformin plus vildagliptin compared with metformin plus sulphonylurea for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a Portuguese healthcare system perspective

Objective:

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of vildagliptin plus metformin vs generic sulphonylurea plus metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, not controlled with metformin, from a Portuguese healthcare system perspective.

Methods:

A cost-effectiveness model was constructed using risk equations from the UK Prospective Diabetes Study Outcomes Model with a 10,000-patient cohort and a lifetime horizon. The model predicted microvascular and macrovascular complications and mortality in yearly cycles. Patients entered the model as metformin monotherapy failures and switched to alternative treatments (metformin plus basal-bolus insulin and subsequently metformin plus intensive insulin) when glycated hemoglobin A1c >7.5% was reached. Baseline patient characteristics and clinical variables were derived from a Portuguese epidemiological study. Cost estimates were based on direct medical costs only. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the model.

Results:

There were fewer non-fatal diabetes-related adverse events (AEs) in patients treated with metformin plus vildagliptin compared with patients treated with metformin plus sulphonylurea (6752 vs 6815). Addition of vildagliptin compared with sulphonylurea led to increased drug acquisition costs but reduced costs of AEs, managing morbidities, and monitoring patients. Treatment with metformin plus vildagliptin yielded a mean per-patient gain of 0.1279 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and a mean per-patient increase in total cost of €1161, giving an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of €9072 per QALY. Univariate analyses showed that ICER values were robust and ranged from €4195 to €16,052 per QALY when different parameters were varied.

Limitations:

The model excluded several diabetes-related morbidities, such as peripheral neuropathy and ulceration, and did not model second events. Patients were presumed to enter the model with no diabetes-related complications.

Conclusion:

Treatment with metformin plus vildagliptin compared with metformin plus sulphonylurea is expected to result in a lower incidence of diabetes-related AEs and to be a cost-effective treatment strategy.     

Do changes in credit ratings of REITs affect their capital structure decisions?

Existing research has highlighted the high leverage ratio of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). To the extent that credit rating is important to REITs when sourcing for capital from the public debt markets, our paper investigates the effect of changes in REIT credit ratings on capital structure decisions while controlling for endogeneity effects. Our results indicate that REITs that face the prospect of an imminent credit rating downgrade issue approximately 11% less debt net of equity as a percentage of total assets than other REITs. This effect is asymmetric in that positive rating outlooks do not have a significant impact on REIT capital structure activities.     

Has the ECB’s monetary policy prompted companies to invest,or pay dividends?

This paper focuses on the influence of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policies on non-financial firms. It sheds light on non-financial firms’ decisions regarding leverage, and on how the ECB’s conventional and unconventional policies may have affected them. The paper also examines how these policies influenced non-financial firms’ decisions on capital allocation – primarily capital spending and shareholder distribution (for example, dividends and share repurchases). We use an exhaustive and unique dataset comprised of income statements and balance sheets of leading non-financial firms operating in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The main results suggest that ECB’s monetary policies have encouraged firms to raise their debt burden, especially after the global recession of 2008. Finally, the ECB’s policies, especially after 2011, also seem to have led non-financial firms to allocate more resources not just to capital spending but to shareholder distribution as well.     

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Operationalization Challenge for Global Tourism Organizations

Tourism businesses have increasingly sought to contribute to society through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Larger tourism organizations normally seek to institutionalize CSR under their corporate CSR policy and strategy that is common for their whole organization. This presents challenges for organizations with global operations. This article examines the operationalization of CSR policy by hotel properties in coastal destinations in Thailand. The research found that stakeholders other than the hotels played pivotal roles in the implementation of CSR programs and that there was a preference for involvement by hotels in local projects, over those situated elsewhere in the country or internationally. These hotels tended to partner with other non-hotel stakeholders to execute their external CSR programs and for these to be directed at social issues rather than environmental issues. Overall it was concluded that there are limits to the extent that corporate headquarters may direct the implementation of CSR.