Perceptions of assortment variety: The effects of congruency between consumers’ internal and retailers’ external organization

This research shows that consumers’ perceptions of variety and satisfaction are dependent upon how the assortment is organized, both internally by the consumer and externally by the retailer. The results of three laboratory studies indicate that for familiar categories, congruency between a consumer's internal categorization structure and the external store layout leads to higher perceptions of variety and higher satisfaction with product choices, while for unfamiliar product categories, congruency between shopping goals and external structure leads to lower perceptions of variety but increased satisfaction with the store's assortment. However, if retailers institute external category filters congruent with consumers’ internal shopping goals that allow them to bypass products, consumers have both lower variety perceptions and satisfaction with the assortment offering.     

The changing genderization of the accounting workforce in the US, 1930-90

The accounting profession in 1930 was predominantly a male workforce. By 1990, the gender composition of accounting had changed dramatically. Women, who in 1930 had represented only 10 per cent of the accounting workforce, now represented over 50 per cent of the workforce and earned 53 per cent of the accounting degrees. Increases in the aggregate workforce were not accompanied by subsequent proportional increases in participation at the upper-management levels of accounting firms. Thus, what occurred was a stratified regenderization of the aggregate workforce rather than an overall regenderization of the accounting profession. This paper delineates the historical, cultural, legal, economic and educational forces that led to this changing genderization.     

A matrix model for resident attitudes and behaviours in a rapidly changing tourist area

This paper focuses upon the linkages between local resident perceptions of the impacts of a mega attraction, the Foxwoods casino and attitudes toward this casino; toward the tribe (the developers); and toward the casino as an economic development tool; as well as linkages with specific types of resident behaviours. Using data collected from 203 resident telephone interviews, these linkages are explored. Perceptions of casino impacts were found to influence attitudes toward the casino and toward the tribe. A matrix model which has been well referenced in the tourism literature but never before tested, was modified and used to analyse the linkage between attitudes and behaviours. A composite measure of attitude toward the casino was developed and this scale performed well on reliability and validity tests. A simplified version of this scale was applied to the attitudinal axis of the model. The behavioural dimension of the model was created using an index of positive, neutral and negative behaviours. Statistically significant results were achieved for attitudes toward the casino and specific behaviours and for attitudes toward the tribe and these behaviours. However, attitudes toward casinos as an economic development tool showed less significant results.     

Food costs for the current and recommended diet of German infants,children and adolescents

Abstract Higher food costs of a recommended diet may be a barrier to the improvement of unhealthy dietary habits. For the assessment of food costs for children, age-specific dietary intakes as well as average food prices must be known. This study is based on the measured food intake from a total of 1668 3-day weighed diet records of children aged from 5 months to 18 years and on recommended dietary intakes for these age groups. Based on the food costs related to the energy intake (Deutschmarks per megajoule; DM per MJ), the recommended diet using common food products does not incur higher costs than the current diet in all age groups. For infants, a diet using commercial infant food conforming to the restrictive German pesticide regulations incurs 50–150% higher food costs than the use of home-made meals. For children and adolescents, the nutritionally inferior quality of the current diet can be improved by a price-balanced interchange of foods, mainly by favouring plant foods instead of meat and confectionery.     

A tidal wave for change. The case of the automotive supply chain in the West Midlands

The focus of this paper concerns change in the automotive supply chain, industry responses, and policy and strategic implications. Automotive components suppliers are buffeted by global trends and forces, including rising quality standards, environmental issues, and product and process innovation. Although the higher ranks of the supply chain adapt to change continuously, new technologies on the horizon threaten to make many automotive components manufacturers obsolete within some three to ten years. The West Midlands region is particularly vulnerable given its high concentration of automotive suppliers. The potential for related diversification is limited and investment is needed in new manufacturing activities (rather than assembly or sales/distribution) related to environmental, alternative power and electronic technologies. This will position the UK's automotive supply base at the forefront of technological advance against strong and aggressive global players notably from the US, Germany and the Far East. Both the private and public sectors have a strategic and supporting role to play in ensuring that opportunities are maximised. The West Midlands case study has a broader currency for initiatives targeting diversification both in vehicles production and in other manufacturing sectors. Its significance is heightened by the increasing tendency for other sectors-such as food and drink production, and domestic appliances- to adopt automotive practices.     

Exploiting knowledge across networks through reputation management

The emerging paradigm of network competition is increasingly in evidence across many industrial sectors and provides further support for the idea that ‘supply chains compete, not companies’. It can be argued that network competition requires a much greater focus on managing the interfaces that connect the individual players in that network and exchanging and leveraging knowledge across the network. This paper sets out to establish a framework whereby the critical interfaces and the knowledge sharing benefits can be identified and how the strength of the relationships at those interfaces can become the basis for building organisational reputation and create an environment more conducive to co-operation and knowledge sharing. Finally, the paper analyses the potential impact of reputational risks in influencing the perception of stakeholders about the organisation.Whilst the idea of value-adding networks based on closely connected providers of capabilities and resources is appealing, it should be recognised that, if not properly managed, the actions of the stakeholders in those networks can impact the risk profile of the business significantly—particularly reputational risk. The more that organisations become part of complex global networks, the more dependent they become upon the other network members for knowledge and other resources. Because of this dependency there is always the danger that the reputation of the focal firm can be damaged by the actions of other network members, hence reducing the likelihood of future collaborative working and knowledge exploitation.Using examples drawn from a variety of industries, the paper highlights the potential for reputational risk if the critical network interfaces are not closely managed. It will be argued that by actively managing relationships with stakeholders in the network the risk to the organisation's reputation can be mitigated and the sharing of knowledge simultaneously enhanced.     

Wealth effects, the Taylor rule and the liquidity trap

This paper analyzes the dynamic properties of the Taylor rule with the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate in an optimizing monetary model with overlapping generations à la Yaari–Blanchard–Weil. The main result is that the presence of wealth effects is not sufficient to rule out the possibility of infinite equilibrium paths with decelerating inflation. In particular, in the presence of wealth effects, the occurrence of liquidity traps is not avoided when the central bank implements a Taylor-type interest-rate feedback rule.     

Which factors are perceived as obstacles for the growth of Italian academic spin-offs?

During the last decades, academic spin-offs have received increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners, mainly due to their ability to advance industrial application of scientific knowledge. In the past, scholars believed that these organisations were subjected to fast growth after their establishment. Only in the last decade, scholars realise that the fast-growing perspective hypothesised was an oversimplification, as the majority of high-tech academic spin-offs growth slowly or remain small in size for long time. The aim of our study is to investigate the reasons that inhibit the growth of established academic spin-offs, focusing on the Italian context. Through the implementation of the Delphi technique and of the fuzzy logic we derive new and relevant results, for scholars, spin-offs’ managers and policy-makers.     

Why is Assortment Planning so Difficult for Retailers? A Framework and Research Agenda

When retailers conduct product assortment planning (PAP), they determine (1) The variety of merchandise, (2) The depth of merchandise, and (3) Service level or the amount of inventory to allocate to each stock-keeping unit (SKU). Despite longstanding recognition of its importance, no dominant PAP solution exists, and theoretical and decision support models address only some of the factors that complicate assortment planning. This article simultaneously addresses the variety, depth, and service level aspects of PAP to provide a more thorough understanding. A review of current academic literature and best trade practices identifies open questions and directions for further research and applications.