Removing the contextual lens: A multinational, multi-setting comparison of service evaluation models

Four service evaluation models are identified from the literature that are commonly offered to depict the relationships amongst the primary service evaluation constructs of sacrifice, service quality, service value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. We comparatively test the models using samples of service consumers in Australia, Hong Kong, Morocco, the Netherlands, and the United States, as well as across varied temporal and service settings. The results of the comparative analyses reveal that one conceptualization, the “comprehensive” model, best captures the identified relationships. This model is the best fitting across all countries and settings, which indicates it has the greatest external validity. These findings are discussed relative to the limitations associated with the use of less generalizable models.     

Internet versus bricks-and-mortar retailers: An investigation into intangibility and its consequences

Intangibility has long been studied as a unidimensional construct with the focus being placed upon the physical element. This paper explores the effects of three unique intangibility dimensions on a consumer's ability to evaluate goods and services, and the perceived risk (PR) associated with the transaction. The authors examine these relationships in purchase environments that include both traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers and the Internet. Their investigation further incorporates prior knowledge as a moderating factor into the proposed framework. This allows for a thorough comparison of the effects and relationships that exist between intangibility and its consequences in general, evaluation difficulty (ED) and perceived risk (PR) in particular. The authors develop hypotheses pertaining to the proposed model and test them with two experiments. The empirical results are broadly supportive of the hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications to the services marketing literature are discussed.     

Traffic law enforcement in Hyderabad, India

The aim of the study was to understand traffic law enforcement (TLE) carried out by the police to reduce non-compliance with traffic laws on the roads of Hyderabad city in India for 2001-2003. The Traffic Police database of citations issued to drivers who violated traffic laws in Hyderabad was analysed for the years 2001-2003 to describe the TLE activities of the police, to describe and compare the TLE activities for the different types of vehicles and to compare the TLE activities for the 3 years. The violations were classified in five categories - those related to driving, parking, vehicle, document and others; and TLE into safety and other TLE. A total of 646 161 traffic-law violations were registered in 2001, 904 447 in 2002 and 964 275 in 2003 for Hyderabad. Driving and parking violations were the most common violations registered in all 3 years, with parking violations slightly higher in 2001 (43.5%) and driving violations slightly higher in 2002 (35%) and 2003 (36.4%). Auto-rickshaws (three-wheel commercial passenger vehicles) accounted for the highest violations registered in 2001 (41.4%) whereas motorized two-wheelers had the highest registered violations in 2002 (35.5%) and 2003 (33.2%). Safety TLE activity (detecting and registering driving violations) was only one-third of all the TLE activity performed by the police in the 3 years, and disobeying traffic signals was the most common violation registered under safety TLE. Indian rupees 50 (US$1.1) were collected by way of a fine in 87% of the cases registered. Age and gender of the violators were not recorded in the database. These data can be used for planning, monitoring and evaluating TLE in Hyderabad. These can help identify traffic control and human factors that could lead to traffic noncompliance, and help identify priorities for improving road safety. These data indicate a need to enhance the safety TLE activity of the police, to make TLE more visible in Hyderabad, and to assess the effectiveness of the current legal action as deterrence to improve road safety. Recommendations to enhance TLE within the given resources of the police are made. More effort is needed towards systematic collection and analysis of data on TLE in India to facilitate long-term improvements in TLE for safer roads.     

Foreign direct investment and wages in domestic firms in Ireland: Productivity spillovers versus labour‐market crowding out

There is a large literature on the positive spillovers frequently thought to be associated with inward foreign direct investment. Aitken et al. (1996 Aitken, BJ, Harrison, AE and Lipsey, RE. (1996). Wages and foreign ownership: a comparative study of Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. Journal of International Economics, 40: pp. 345–71 [Google Scholar]) identify several cases, however, where inward FDI appears to have reduced wages in domestic firms. They suggest that this might arise either because foreign firms increase the degree of product‐market competition that domestic firms face, or because they poach the best workers from domestic firms. We concentrate on the second effect, arguing that the first is unlikely to arise in the Irish case to which our data pertain. In a theoretical section we show that the labour‐market poaching effect cannot generate the results postulated if labour markets are competitive and production functions are of the Cobb–Douglas variety, but that it can arise if production functions display higher elasticities of substitution. In an empirical section based on a sample of larger Irish firms we show that, consistent with our theoretical model, foreign presence has different effects on wages and productivity in domestic exporting and non‐exporting establishments.     

Challenges of AACSB international accreditation for business schools in the United States and Europe

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB International) is committed to its role in setting worldwide standards to enhance the quality of management education. The organization is expanding its brand presence in Europe, where business schools are beginning to seek AACSB International accreditation. In the United States, an increase in the number of business schools seeking AACSB International accreditation is also occurring. Business school leaders not only see the transcendent importance of AACSB International accreditation; they also realize the challenges that are involved in the accreditation process. The focus of our discussion is on the challenges confronted by business schools in both the United States and Europe. We compare and contrast the challenges on both continents. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Customer-centric pricing: The surprising secret for profitability

Companies spend enormous amounts of energy and capital in creating value for customers, but less regard is given to actually capturing the value they have created. Segmentation based on buying behavior uncovers a tremendous differential in willingness to pay for subjective product attributes such as convenience, status, and quality. Purchase decisions are made through an assessment of a myriad of factors balancing perceptions of value components against price in a subtle, complex, and often sub-conscious decision matrix. Customer-centric pricing requires the simultaneous and continuous assessment of product attributes, customer perceptions, and the circumstances of time and place by listening to customers' actions. It is a means of assuring that companies assess the value they create for customers and extract that value from the marketplace.     

Rückkehr der Inflation?

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Labour market policies in the western industrialised countries

The longer the high levels of unemployment continue in western countries the greater is the discussion about a policy aimed at reducing unemployment which is independent of general counter-cyclical and growth policies. What type of labour market policy measures have been adopted up to now in these countries?     

The monetary approach to the balance of payments: A nontechnical guide

The monetary approach uses monetary rather than multiplier and market stability tools. It differs from the `elasticities,' `Keynesian multiplier,' `absorption,' and `economic policy' approaches in introducing stocks as well as current expenditure flows into the adjustment process so that payments disequilibria are transitory and conditional on domestic monetary policy. The development of the approach is sketched, and some policy implications briefly discussed.