Mathematical models for decision-making in planning drug abuse control programs

In this paper, a framework for systematizing the different applications of decision-making models to the control of drug abuse is first presented. Next, the available literature on the topic is used to exemplify as many as possible of the elements of the framework presented. Finally, extensions of the current state of the field in the direction of disaggregated and of dynamic models are presented.     

Competitive forces and the importance of management control systems in emerging-economy firms: The moderating effect of international market orientation

Using survey and archival data from exchange-listed Chinese firms, we investigate the relationship between competitive forces (i.e., the threat of foreign entrants and buyers’ bargaining power) and the importance that the firms place on their management control systems (MCS), and whether the firms’ international market orientation moderates this relationship. We examine five MCS practices—formal procedures, strategic planning, budget targets, approval procedures, and participative budgeting—both as a package and separately. We predict and find a positive association between the threat of foreign entrants and the importance that the firms place on their MCS, but this association is larger for firms competing predominantly in the domestic market than for those competing predominantly in international markets. Further, we predict and find that the association between buyers’ bargaining power and the importance that the firms place on their MCS is larger for firms competing predominantly in international markets than for those competing in domestic markets. We probe deeper into our empirical findings using qualitative data collected from post hoc interviews with managers of Chinese firms and those of international firms operating in China. We discuss the implications of our findings and provide some directions for future research.     

IS MARKET‐ORIENTED REFORM PRODUCING A ‘TWO‐TRACK’ EUROPE? EVIDENCE FROM ELECTRICITY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

ABSTRACT: The European Commission has formally recognized that adequate provision of basic household services, including energy, communications, water and transport, is key to ensuring equity, social cohesion and solidarity. Yet little research has been done on the impact of the reform of these services in this regard. This article offers an innovative way to explore such questions by analyzing and contrasting stated and revealed preferences on citizen satisfaction with and expenditure on two services, telecommunications and electricity, in two large countries, Spain and the UK. We find evidence that in telecommunications, but not in electricity, reform has led to a ‘two‐track’ Europe, where citizens who are elderly, not working or the less‐educated behave differently in the market, with the result that they are less satisfied with these services than their younger, working, better‐educated, counterparts.     

Managing customer relationships: Account manager turnover and effective account management

Managing relationships with customers and clients is a critical task for industrial sales organizations. This paper reports on research that focuses on improving client relationships through effective handling of account manager turnover and improved account management. Even in situations where account manager turnover is high, the relationship between the company and the SME client does not suffer if the account management turnover process is well managed. When account manager turnover is not well managed, customer satisfaction suffers. The research also identifies eleven specific management activities that are highly related to supplier satisfaction with both the account manager and the supplier financial institution.     

An empirical study of factors influencing innovation implementation in industrial sales organizations

The authors formulate and test a model of organizational factors leading to successful implementation of the telemarketing innovation. Data to test the model were collected by interviewing two key informants in each of 110 industrial salesforces. Support was found for many of the individual hypotheses in the model. Preliminary conclusions are drawn for marketing management and theory.     

A scale for measuring attitude toward private label products and an examination of its psychological and behavioral correlates

A measure of consumers’ attitude toward private label brands is developed, and its psychometric properties are assessed. Predictions are then tested regarding relationships between private label attitude and (1) latent perceptual and sales promotion constructs, and (2) purchase behaviors measured in a field setting. The measure is positively related to value consciousness, deal proneness, and smart-shopper self-perceptions, and negatively related to the propensity to be brand loyal and hold price-quality perceptions. Predictive validity of the private label measure is supported by a positive relationship with private label purchases from a grocery store shopping trip. Despite a positive relationship between the latent constructs of private label attitude and deal proneness, the consumer segment that allocated a high percentage of total purchases to private label products made fewer purchases on sale or with a coupon. These findings suggest that consumers may choose between price-related deals and private label purchases. Scot Burton is professor and Wal-Mart chairholder in the Department of Marketing and Transportation at the University of Arkansas. His research interests include public policy and consumer welfare concerns, consumer price and promotion perceptions, and survey research measurement issues. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, theJournal of Applied Psychology, and others. Donald R. Lichtenstein is a professor in the Department of Maketing at the University of Colorado. His research interests include consumer processing of price and sales promotion information and consumer welfare issues related to marketplace choice. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, and others. Richard G. Netemeyer is a professor in the Department of Marketing, E. J. Ourso College of Business Administration at Louisiana State University (LSU). He received his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of South Carolina in 1986. Since then, he has been a member of the marketing faculty at LSU. His research interests include measurement and scaling, public policy, maladaptive behaviors, and consumer behavior in general. His research has been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Applied Psychology, theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, and others. He is also a member of the editorial review boards of theJournal of Consumer Research and theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing. Judith A. Garretson is a Ph. D. candidate in the Department of Marketing and Transportation at the University of Arkansas. Her research interests include promotion issues and public policy and consumer welfare. her work has appeared in theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, theJournal of Professional Services Marketing, and proceedings of the American Marketing Association and Association for Consumer Research.     

The Decision to Exploit an R&D Project: Divergent Thinking across Middle and Senior Managers

Research and development (R&D) generates projects, but the question often remains: which projects should be exploited? Building on the innovation, strategy, and managerial cognition literatures, we use a conjoint field experiment to collect data on 4032 decisions made by 126 R&D managers to test how project attributes, strategic context, and managers' characteristics influence innovation exploitation decisions. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we find that (1) experience impacts project exploitation decision policies of middle managers more than senior managers, (2) divergent thinking across middle and senior managers increases with experience, and (3) experienced middle managers diverge from experienced senior managers in their decisions to exploit opportunities by placing greater emphasis on strategic context (relative to competitors and fit within the portfolio) and lesser emphasis on uncertainty (technological and demand). These findings have implications for the strategy and innovation literature.     

The attributes,behavior, and performance of U.S. mutual funds

This article examines the risk and return characteristics of U.S. mutual funds. We employ an equilibrium version of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) and a principal-components-based statistical technique to identify performance benchmarks. We also consider the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) as an alternative. We implement a procedure for overcoming the rotational indeterminacy of factor models. This procedure is a hybrid of statistical factor estimation and prespecification of factors. We estimate measures of timing ability for the CAPM and extend it to the APT. We find that this timing test is misspecified due to noninformation-based changes in mutual fund betas. We develop a modification of the timing measure that, under certain conditions, distinguishes true timing ability from noninformation-based beta changes.