Advertising and pricing policies in the equine breeding industry or sex and the single stallion

A unique aspect of the equine breeding industry is the way in which the current year's demand for stud services depends on the previous year's production levels. In a monopolistically competitive market, product differentiation and product promotion and advertisement are important aspects of industry conduct. A stallion's reputation and therefore demand for his services depend on the stallion owner's ability to differentiate the product.

The price a stallion owner charges depends on the quality of the stud himself, and also on the quality of his offspring. The producer's output (foals) become advertisements for the stallion when they are raced, shown, etc. They also can become substitutes for the stallion, since they are an alternative source of the stallion's genes. Stallion owners are in the special position that they need to prove their stallion's ability to sire quality offspring, while bearing in mind they are producing possible substitutes. Outstanding offspring will generate demand for the parent's services if they are successfully shown, raced, etc. Conversely, progeny who compete unsuccessfully will decrease demand by contributing to a poor reputation for themselves, their breeder and their sire. But, outstanding individuals eventually become breeding stock and therefore offer an alternative source for the ‘winning genes’.

This intergenerational dependence has led to pricing policies and practices in the equine breeding industry which have important implications. Common practices include: incentives to compete, rebates for gelding male offspring, price discrimination in favour or quality mares and limited bookings. These policies illustrate aspects of industry conduct commonly discussed in industrial organization literature such as first-degree price discrimination, non-linear pricing and non-price competition. The use of artificial insemination and other new breeding technologies and thus the potential for a stallion to breed larger numbers of mares, further compounds the extent and results of such practices.

This paper investigates pricing policies in the equine breeding industry, using a case study approach. A model of indsutry pricing policies is developed and tested using data for American Quarter Horses.     

面对不断变化的消费习惯,酒店数字化营销该怎么做?

虽然了解最佳和最差情形的预测很重要,但无论结果如何,酒店都需要对消费者的行为转变有所准备,对数字化营销方案深思熟虑,并采取整体策略来弥补之前的损失。当我们竭尽全力控制新冠肺炎疫情在全球范围蔓延的时候,酒店行业能否根据旅游业的迅速变化以及疫情的长期影响,作出有针对性的方案显得非常重要。     

The influence of job demands and resources on repatriate career satisfaction: A relative deprivation perspective

Drawing on Job Demands–Resources and relative deprivation theories, we develop a model of repatriate career satisfaction. We examine three job demands (psychological contract breach associated with pay, career derailment, and perceived underemployment) and suggest that each induces feelings of relative deprivation and thus is detrimental to repatriate career satisfaction. We further examine how two job resources, repatriates’ perceptions of how valuable their international assignment is to their careers and their beliefs about how it is valued by their organizations, moderate the job demands–career satisfaction relationships. Using a sample of 84 repatriates, we found some support for our integrated framework.     

Emotions as Strategic Game in a Hostile Workplace: An Exemplar Case

This exemplar case study demonstrates that, under some circumstances, staff may be encouraged by a hostile workplace to use their feelings in order to survive. This case study was undertaken as part of a larger phenomenological study of emotions in organisational life. This particular case was chosen as it depicts the story of emotions being used as strategic tools of defence against a vindictive, aggressive and hostile work place. The increase in abusive organisations has been noted in the literature: this was one person's protective response to it. The strategic gamesmanship used to positive effect included the hiding of emotions, emotional acting and the deliberate expression of emotions. Unfortunately, negative outcomes were also reported.     

Dangerous Liaisons: An Application of Supply Chain Modelling for Studying Innovation within the UK Clothing Industry

An empirical study into innovation supporting and blocking factors has been conducted of the strategic perceptions of stakeholders within the supply chain of a mature industry sector, based on interview analysis. The data revealed strategic intentions and assumptions that support the emergence of two distinct trajectories of change in the industry based on co-partnership and ad-hoc relationships respectively. A model of the trajectories using current partnership theories of lean supply indicated that the co-partnership trend offers some scope for incremental innovation; the ad-hoc relationship trend offered rather less scope for incremental innovation. Both trends seem to be reducing the scope for development of entrepreneurial networks within which independent design innovators can flourish. The strategic assumptions identified point to an environment that is not supportive of radical innovation. The absence of in-house R&D capabilities may be an important factor in the industry's difficulties in innovating.