Strategies to reduce product proliferation

Major problems associated with product proliferation include higher production, inventory, and record-keeping costs; increased expenses associated with trade promotions and slotting fees; added consumer confusion and stress; and increased susceptibility to stockouts. This article describes how a firm can limit product proliferation without incurring reduced sales or lowering consumer loyalty. An effective product proliferation reduction program needs to be based on several principles: resisting the temptation of asking consumers if a greater assortment is required; classifying goods into consumer behavior-based tiers; using interfunctional product pruning teams; practicing mass customization, where appropriate; placing absolute limits on product choice; and implementing effective strategies for product pruning.     

The Role of Ideas in Understanding Industrial Relations Policy Change in Liberal Market Economies

This paper analyzes the uneven processes underpinning industrial relations policy liberalization in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. Drawing upon 140 elite interviews and building upon ideational comparative political theories, the paper highlights the role of ideas in the policy change process. It identifies how particular ideas can be used to construct policy problems, how these ideas can gain legitimacy through battles with competing ideas, and how policy legacies can influence whether ideas take root. The findings from the comparative case analysis expose a critical difference between “positive legacies” and “negative legacies” to account for different liberalization trajectories.     

Accelerating the Durable Replacement Cycle with Marketing Mix Variables

In many established product categories, a large component of sales is due to the replacement of existing units. Because of the long expected lifetime of durables, replacement decisions can often be postponed by the consumer. In light of this, one marketing strategy for manufacturers of such products may be to accelerate the timing of product replacement decisions for buyers planning to replace. In this article, Barry Bayus presents the results of his investigation of the effect of marketing efforts on shortening the replacement cycle. Such information can be used by new product managers to forecast more accurately long-term sales and to help decide when to introduce new products (e.g., with enhanced features). Using data on color television purchases, he shows that the marketing variables of price, advertising, new features and styling are related to the timing of discretionary replacements. Further, these data suggest that price has the most impact in accelerating replacement purchases.     

The impact of prior working papers on auditor evidential planning judgments

There has been significant concern in auditing about the effects of relying on prior working papers in planning audit procedures (“anchoring”). This study employed an experiment with varying information sets: prior working papers, current year information and “scenario” (summarized prior year information). Practicing auditors were asked to design a substantive audit program for a case where changes in the client's environment dictated additional procedures. A consensus program from three partners was used as a bench-mark. Experimental groups were about equally adaptive to the changing environment. However, auditors provided with prior working papers demonstrated lower efficiency. The scenario group exhibited both high relative effectiveness and efficiency, while current information subjects displayed the lowest overall level of performance.     

An empirical model of attendance factors at major sporting events

Sports events represent a major category of event revenue contributing economic benefits to cities and regions. Whilst attendance at sports events is recognised as an important leisure and entertainment activity (Shamir and Ruskin, 1984), over the past 20 years sports event attendance expenditure has been declining as a percentage of total recreation expenditure (Ross, 2006). Consequently, an understanding of the factors that influence sports event attendance is crucial to the sustainability of these events. This study identifies the antecedents of sports event attendance among 460 respondents who were surveyed in Melbourne, a city that was recognised as the Ultimate Sports City in 2008 (Church-Sanders, 2008). Structural Equation Modelling was used to create an empirical model of attendance motivations. The model identifies constructs relating to emotional responses and facilities, as the predictors of event attendance and provides a discussion of the implications of this research for sporting event and hospitality managers.     

Payment Limitations and Acreage Decisions under Risk Aversion: A Simulation Approach

Payment limits have played an important role in U.S. farm policy deliberations for the last thirty years. Current limits are largely nonbinding. Proposals to strengthen and enforce limits are currently in discussion. We evaluate the likely effects of such proposals on acreage for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice in several important producing states. Our results generally indicate that payment limits are unlikely to significantly affect acreage in most cases; exceptions occur for cotton and rice, where the probability that limits would be binding is much greater and thus more likely to affect production.     

Spatiotemporal Modeling of Asian Citrus Canker Risks: Implications for Insurance and Indemnification Fund Models

Asiatic citrus canker is a disease that poses a significant hazard to commercial citrus production. This article examines spatiotemporal models of the risks of citrus canker transmission. Models evaluate risks and are used to price annual contracts, which would pay producers a prespecified indemnity in the event that their grove is found to be infected with canker. Implications for risk management policy are discussed.