CATALOG RETAILER IN‐STOCK PERFORMANCE: AN ASSESSMENT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE LEVELS

The purpose of this article is to study the level of “in‐stock” customer service performance being offered in the catalog channel of distribution. The article provides benchmark information for the catalog industry. More importantly, the article serves as one test of the effectiveness of the modern supply chain, where the expectation is for near perfect orders. Customer service levels are studied by using an empirical observation methodology in which catalog retailer's in‐stock performance was measured. Comparisons are made across item type, season, retailer type, and days from catalog receipt. Overall, items were out‐of‐stock during 15.9% of all checkpoints, compared to an 11.8% stock‐out rate in an earlier study of bricks and mortar retailers.     

On Measuring the Value of a Nonmarket Good Using Market Data

We use line integral theory to lay out in a more general theoretical framework the conditions under which it is possible to measure with market data the welfare effects of a change in a nonmarket good. We present in detail a numerical method of measuring the value of nonmarket goods using market data, under either weak neutrality or weak complementarity. Our numerical method is more flexible than the existing analytical method because it can be used with any well-behaved Marshallian demand function, and can be used even when the willig condition does not hold.     

MNE competitiveness: A scenario-driven technology transfer construct

To compete effectively, multi-national enterprises (MNEs) must establish market presence in their global rivals' home courts and/or profit sanctuaries. Technology transfer is often used as a means toward that end. The technology adoption decisions of an aggressor MNE and a defender MNE are investigated in a model that features indirect moves and changes in strategy through technology transfer. Each firm may adopt a strategy that incorporates the transfer of high technology or appropriate technology. The strategic decision situation is modelled as a closed-loop sequential equilibrium in discrete time. In contrast to results in the technology adoption literature, the aggressor MNE may successfully transfer technology first, to be imitated later by the defender MNE. This and several other scenarios emerge from the model which, by incorporating the cost of social adjustment and risks involved in technology transfer, ties technology to the competitive interaction of MNEs and specifies conditions for creating competitive advantage through technology, both locally and worldwide.     

Call centres and beyond: a thematic evaluation

This introduction aims to place the articles in this special edition in the context of the wider literature on call centres. The discussion is arranged around four themes: the characteristics and organisational features of call centre work, the choices and strategies that are available to manage the work, the effects of this type of work on employees and, finally, the responses and reactions of call centre staff to their work experiences. The articles selected, which are drawn from a conference sponsored by this journal, are then summarised.     

Scaling up support for children in HIV-affected families by involving early childhood development workers: community views from KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates that South Africa has 1.2 million orphans as a result of AIDS. This study investigated the views of communities in KwaZulu-Natal on the potential use of early childhood development (ECD) practitioners for helping children in vulnerable households. It reports on in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with community members and service providers in six different areas of KwaZulu-Natal. Despite the increase in the numbers of deaths, people in affected areas have yet to accept that HIV is the cause. Stigma, denial, myths and witchcraft beliefs were evident, particularly in the rural areas. There was general agreement by the respondents that ECD practitioners with additional training specific to HIV/AIDS could assist families if cost difficulties were overcome. As community members with basic training in childcare they could enhance community responses by linking with community health workers and other service providers to assist children and households in need.     

Ethics,gratuities, and professionalization of the purchasing function

This study investigated (1) whether potential future purchasing agents were predisposed to accept gratuities or whether the practice of gratuity acceptance is a manifestation of the job itself, (2) whether the existence of a code of ethics forbidding gratuity acceptance curtails the occurrence, and (3) whether disparities in ethics policies between the sales and purchasing functions affect gratuity acceptance. Hypotheses based upon the concepts of organizational concern and institutionalized ethics are developed and empirically tested. Results suggest that future purchasing agents are predisposed to accept gratuities and that formal written ethics policies decrease the acceptance of gratuities. Disparities in ethics policies between the sales and purchasing functions concerning gratuities failed to affect gratuity acceptance significantly.Gregory B. Turner is assistant professor of marketing at Livingston University. He has published inThe International Journal of Logistics Management and theTransportation Journal.G. Stephen Taylor is Associate Professor of management at Mississippi State University. His research interests include ethics in computer usage, performance appraisal, and turnover control.Mark F. Hartley is Assistant Professor and National Association of Purchasing Management/Carolinas-Virginia chair of Purchasing at the College of Charleston. His research interests include ethics and professionalization of the purchasing function.     

Effects of adjustment of the green drachma to its current exchange rate

Between 1981 and 1988, the drachma has devalued by 62.5% against the ECU. Until mid-1985 any devaluation of the drachma was followed by a corresponding devaluation of the ‘green drachma‘. After that period, the green rate either remained unchanged or changed by a substantially smaller percentage, resulting in farmers' income loss and consumers' gain. The aim of this paper is to investigate the welfare effects on production/producer, consumption/consumer and budgetary flows from and to FEOGA assuming that an adjustment of the green drachma to its current exchange rate was realized. For this purpose partial analysis methodology is employed. The main findings are that, following a simultaneous adjustment of both rates, the gains to producers and in exchange flows more than make up for the corresponding consumers' losses for all products except beef.     

The Nested PIGLOG Model: An Application to U.S. Food Demand

A new demand system is introduced, the Nested PIGLOG model, nesting thirteen other demand systems including five that are also new. This new model and its nested special cases are applied to models of U.S. food demand that include food-at-home (FAH), food-away-from-home (FAFH), and alcoholic beverages. Although nested tests and out-of-sample forecasting performance favor generalizing models to a certain degree, statistically insignificant improvements to in-sample-fit and even poorer out-of-sample forecast accuracy undermine further generalizations. Based on a subset of preferred models, FAFH is found to be price and income elastic compared to FAH which is price and income inelastic.