Numeric or weighted distribution? The effect of different channel performance metrics on market share

Abstract

Previous studies have found a convex relation between weighted measures of distribution and market share for consumer products in developed economies, while companies in emerging markets often use a non-weighted (numeric) distribution measure to manage their channel strategy. In contrast to the markets with high retail concentration, the numeric distribution could be best suited to a more fragmented retail market in which the percentage of physical distribution is important. We investigate the effects of expanding numeric versus expanding weighted distribution by studying stores in channels and regions characterized by structural differences in an emerging market. Our data come from retail audits in Brazil and include 91 soft drink manufacturers, 195 brands and 1,110 stock-keeping units. Our study highlights the importance of numeric distribution as a performance measure in this market. Additionally, we show that the effects of numeric and weighted distribution on market share vary by region and channel format.     

English mercantilist influences on the foundation of the Portuguese School of Commerce in 1759

The Portuguese School of Commerce, founded in 1759, is promoted frequently as the world's first official, government-sponsored school to offer formal instruction in commerce. This paper contends that Sebastião Carvalho e Melo (1699–1782), the Marquis of Pombal, was responsible for the transfer, from England to Portugal, of the educational “know how” instrumental to the School's success. Pombal was influenced by the English mercantilism he observed as the Portuguese ambassador to England (1738–43), particularly proposals by a writer on mercantilism, Malachy Postlethwayt, for academy-based commercial education in England. Another influence on Pombal was former East India Company employee, John Cleland. Pombal's motives were to imitate the success of British mercantilism, develop trade and economic activity in Portugal, and improve and expand Portugal's merchant class.     

Factors affecting success in the professional entry exam for accountants in Brazil

This paper explores factors that have affected the success of candidates in the professional entry exam conducted by Brazil’s Federal Council of Accounting. We analyse results of 18,948 candidates who sat for the exam in 2012, using a logistic regression model and the key indicators used by government to monitor the performance of higher education institutions (HEIs) and the characteristics of candidates. We find that success is related positively to the quality of the HEIs from which candidates graduated and to a measure of student ability that is used widely in Brazil. We find also that males perform better than females and that younger candidates perform better than older candidates. The geographical region of Brazil within which candidates completed the exam was also significant. The insights provided will help public policy-makers in Brazil, and the Brazilian accounting profession, to understand key factors associated with current low pass rates.     

The origins of modern accounting in Brazil: Influences leading to the adoption of IFRS

Despite the increasing importance of Brazil, there has been little documentation of how accounting developed and about the significant formative influences involved. This paper explores the significant influences on Brazilian accounting and the path to the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Several important influences are emphasized: the equity theory of the Italian school of accounting in the early 20th century; the birth of the Brazilian accounting profession in 1931 and the certified accountants association in 1946; the impact of US trade and American accounting in the 1950s; and the high rates of inflation that occurred from the beginning of the 1960s. Modern Brazilian accounting had its beginning in the 1970s with the development of the stock market, the reforms of the financial system, and the decrease of tax influences on accounting. The globalization process and the need for Brazilian accounting to converge with international accounting led to the decision to adopt IFRS in 2007.     

The London Commercial Property Price Index

Of the top ten global commercial property markets, London’s has had the highest transaction turnover for the past decade according to Real Capital Analytics. Its prime real estate is part of every major European and US institutional investor’s portfolio and London’s market has the most developed commercial property derivatives market outside of the US. Yet, no transaction-based index exists for the London office market. The aim of this study is to fill that gap. Using a comprehensive dataset of transactions from Estates Gazette interactive and Real Capital Analytics, this paper analyzes different repeat-sales estimation strategies and noise filters to produce a quarterly index series from the first quarter of 1997 to the fourth quarter of 2011. In addition, the index series is measured against IPD’s London capital valuation series and the MIT Center for Real Estate New York office market repeat sales index series. Results show that the market turn of the first financial crisis is clearly visible in the transactions-based indices, and that this index leads the capital valuation series by about a year. London’s office market seems to have been affected by the crisis considerably earlier than New York’s market and correlations between the two markets are low.     

Import substitution and economic growth

Despite Latin America's dismal performance between the 1950s and 1980s, the region experienced strong capital deepening. We suggest that these facts can be explained as a consequence of the restrictive trade regime adopted at that time. Our framework is based on a dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin model, with scale economies in the capital-intensive sector. Initially, the economy is open and produces only the labor-intensive good. The trade regime is modeled as a move to a closed economy. The model produces results consistent with the Latin American experience. Specifically, a sufficiently small country experiences no long-run income growth, but an increase in capital.     

Factors that Influence Consumer Adoption of E-government Services in the UAE: A UTAUT Model Perspective

The objective of this research study is to identify the constructs and factors important to the user-centric transformation of e-governments. The research design follows the comprehensive Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model. The primary data for the research were collected from potential and current users of e-government services in the United Arab Emirates. Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract the important constructs from the 19 factors identified from the literature. Regression analysis was used to identify the influence of individual constructs on overall satisfaction, while correlation analysis was used to identify the relationship between Internet usage and user satisfaction. Analysis of variance and t-test were used to identify potential differences among demographic factors and their overall satisfaction with e-government services. This study identifies confidentiality and users’ trust and attitudes toward using technology as key determinants of overall satisfaction and the subsequent adoption of e-government services. The study also identifies significant differences in how different genders adopt the use of e-government services.     

A quality approach to airport management

This paper discusses aspects of airport service quality evaluation using fuzzy multicriteria analysis and the alpha-cut concept. It presents a fuzzy multicriteria methodology for analysing a complex set of quality variables. This methodology develops a step by step set of indicators that allow managers have a holistic view of the quality dimension. It also helps the understanding of cause and effect relation, it helps tracking service quality problems and benchmarking them. From the alpha-cut concept, by defining upper and lower limits, this approach seeks to assist managers in evaluating a complex number of quality criteria and decision-makers’ behaviour. This approach gives managers a broader view of comparative perceptions of quality among the airports in a given sample, by presenting the results of the analysis in fuzzy form and allowing managers to consider different styles of evaluation. The methodology discussed is applied to six Brazilian international airports.     

Monotonic Knowledge Models,Cycles, Linear Versions and Auctions with Differential,Finite Information

In games of incomplete information where each player's information is represented by a partition of the state space, this paper presents a characterisation of monotonic models in terms of connected partitions and another in terms of versions . A model is monotonic if and only if there is a linear version, and this is true if and only if there is a real‐valued function on the state space such that every partition of the model is connected with respect to this function. These results help us understand the strength of the connectedness assumption on common‐value, second‐price auctions with differential, finite information. We offer a simple sufficient condition for non‐monotonicity to check if models are monotonic.     

Dynamic business modeling for sustainability: Exploring a system dynamics perspective to develop sustainable business models

In the last decade, business models for sustainability have gained increasing attraction by corporate sustainability scholars with international conferences and scientific journals encouraging the development of the debate on their design, use and innovation processes. Capitalizing on the basic principles, requirements, and methodological limitations found in the literature on sustainability‐oriented business model design, this paper aims to conceptualize a dynamic business modeling for sustainability approach, which combines an adapted sustainable business model canvas and system dynamics modeling. To this end, the paper also illustrates the key operating principles of the proposed approach through an exemplary application to Patagonia's business model. Findings suggest that dynamic business modeling for sustainability may contribute to sustainable business model research and practice by introducing a systemic design tool, which frames environmental, social, and economic drivers of value generation into a dynamic business model causal feedback structure, thus overcoming methodological gaps of the extant business model design tools.