A nested CES-type utility function and its demand and price-index functions

The nested CES-type utility function is introduced in this paper: it consists of an N-level utility tree of slightly modified CES-type functions. Attractive price- and quantity-indices are developed and an elegant system of demand functions, specified in terms of price-indices, results. In addition, some suggestions are made with respect to the estimation of this system.     

Fear and anger: antecedents and consequences of emotional responses to mobile communication

Many people fear that exposure to mobile phone base stations leads to severe health effects. In addition to those fears, many citizens are unsatisfied or even angry about prevailing base station site-selection procedures. In the present study, it was investigated how these emotions, i.e. fear and anger, determine risk and benefit perceptions and the acceptance of mobile communication. Using structural equation modeling, we found that benefit perception and the acceptance of mobile phone base stations were primarily determined by anger. Risk perception, in contrast was influenced by both emotions. In addition, controllability and fairness emerged as important cognitive appraisals, or antecedents, of fear and anger, while certainty was not related to these emotions. In sum, our findings highlight that fear and anger have specific influences on risk, benefit, and acceptance of mobile communication. Furthermore, the study provides an in-depth understanding of the antecedents that lead to emotional responses within the context of mobile communication. Implications for risk communication will be derived.     

Unlocking the Power of Integrated Marketing Communications: How Integrated Is Your IMC Program?

The future of advertising and marketing communications will be marked by an increasingly diverse collection of new digital options added to the traditional media and communication options already available to marketers. By taking advantage of the unique strengths of different communication options, and combining them and sequencing them strategically, marketers have the opportunity to drive sales and build brands in ways never before possible. Doing so, however, will require new concepts, new tools, and new thinking. Toward that goal, this article describes seven integrated marketing communications (IMC) choice criteria that marketers can use to judge how effectively and efficiently they have assembled their IMC programs. The article also outlines five priority areas for future research to help further guide the successful design and implementation of IMC programs.     

A longitudinal study of the individual characteristics of effective R&D project team leaders

One hundred and eighteen project team leaders from five industrial research and development (R&D) organizations were studied to determine the individual characteristics that longitudinally predict leader effectiveness. Hypotheses generated from an interactionist framework and the theory of purposeful work behavior (Barrick et al., 2013 ) found an innovative orientation and job involvement to each predict 1-year later and 5-years later job performance ratings by immediate supervisors. Low need for clarity predicted 1-year later performance ratings. Self-esteem and job involvement each predicted 5-years later profitability of the project, and job involvement predicted project speed to market. As hypothesized, type of R&D work was found to be a moderator whereby an innovative orientation predicted 1-year and 5-years later job performance primarily for research projects, and a low need for clarity predicted 1-year later performance mainly for research projects. Implications for models of interactionism and leader effectiveness in R&D are discussed.     

CAREER ORIENTATIONS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND COMPANIES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF WEST GERMAN,BRITISH AND US INDUSTRIAL R&D PROFESSIONALS[1]

This study examined dimensions and levels of career orientations and their correlation with work-related outcome criteria among industrial R&D professionals. Questionnaire data were obtained in 11 West German, 4 British, and 2 US R&D units of large industrial companies. Respondents were 729 West German, 217 British, and 124 US scientists and engineers. Managerial career orientation and professional/scientific career orientation emerged from factor and scale analyses as two independent orientation dimensions with similar meaning across the three countries and the 17 R&D organizations. Results indicated significant cross-country differences in levels of professional/scientific career orientation, but not in levels of managerial career orientation. Significant differences in levels of both orientation dimensions were detected between R&D units within countries. Distinctive characteristics of West German firms employing R&D staff with particularly strong professional/scientific or managerial career orientations are suggested. Managerial and professional/scientific career orientations were found to be differentially related to objective indicators and self-ratings of research performance. Directions for future research and managerial implications for selecting and rewarding R&D employees with different patterns of career orientations are discussed.     

Locational Choices of Firms and Decentralized Environmental Policy with Various Instruments

Suppose there exists a federation with a given number of mobile firms generating waste emissions in the jurisdiction in which they locate. This paper demonstrates that if jurisdictions use emission taxes or marketable emission rights to control pollution within their boundaries and distribute the revenues captured by these instruments in a socially efficient way, firms locate efficiently, taking their pollution externalities into account. Decentralized environmental policy relying on direct controls, however, prevents locational efficiency of mobile firms. Furthermore, if jurisdictions are small, decentralized environmental policy with emission taxes and marketable pollution rights also support an efficient environmental quality, while a policy using direct controls sets too high emission standards.     

A decision support system for selecting sanitation systems in developing countries

Due to the socio-economic inhomogeneity of communities in developing countries, the selection of sanitation systems is a complex task. To assist planners and communities in assessing the suitability of alternatives, the decision support system SANEX™ was developed. SANEX™ evaluates alternatives in two steps. First, Conjunctive Elimination, based on 20 mainly technical criteria, is used to screen feasible alternatives. Subsequently, a model derived from Multiattribute Utility Technique (MAUT) uses technical, socio-cultural and institutional criteria to compare the remaining alternatives with regard to their implementability and sustainability. This paper presents the SANEX™ algorithm, examples of its application in practice, and results obtained from field testing.