Components of art exhibition brand equity for internal and external visitors

This paper aims to explore determinants of brand equity for cultural activities from the perspective of internal as well as external visitors. Our analysis advocates four elements for brand equity in artistic and cultural activities (loyalty, brand image, perceived quality and brand values) and assesses them for the case of an itinerant art exhibition staged over the past twenty years in a region of Spain. Building on extensive literature, a model of the relationship is developed and empirically tested using survey data collected from 406 visitors. Data are analysed through Partial Least Squares. Findings suggest that external visitors attach greater importance to brand image as a determinant of value than do internal visitors, whereas for the latter brand values are the main source of value.     

Managerial Complexity in Process Industrial R&D Projects: A Swedish Study

Process industries often have features that differ from other businesses, such as round‐the‐clock production and costly and specialized production processes—features that have not been dealt with in the project management literature. We highlight and identify the complexity of R&D projects in the Swedish process industry and its interrelated process development and product development activities based on results from interviews and a case study. The different competence areas in which a project manager must integrate and manage R&D projects is illustrated. We conclude that a project manager needs both production and product‐related competence, including customers' processes.     

Multi-dimensional analysis of perceived switching costs

The creation of switching costs for customers is an important aspect of strategic planning in today's competitive environment. These costs enable firms to address variations in customer preferences and competitor influence in attempting to gain their customers' loyalty. Although the recognition of the importance of such switching costs has long existed in a variety of contexts, the conceptualization and measurement of the construct is lacking in clarity and consistency. This study proposes that perceived switching costs (PSC) constitute a higher-order construct made up of six dimensions that reflect the customers' perception of the time, effort, and money involved in the switching process. The study also proposes that each of the six dimensions has a distinctive set of antecedents and outcomes. The test of the model is an empirical study in the Spanish insurance sector. The results confirm the validity of the higher-order formative construct of PSC and provide insights for specific strategies to address the perceptions of various customers with regard to switching costs.     

Commodity prices, trade, and poverty in Uruguay

The 2006-2008 food price spike raised concerns about the impact of high commodity prices on poverty in developing countries. This paper addresses these concerns in relation to Uruguay, a small country that exports agricultural commodities and imports fuels. Applying a general equilibrium model, we find that, as a whole, an increase in commodity prices has a positive effect on the economy of Uruguay. Benefits obtained through a growth in export activities are partially outweighed by an increase in crude oil prices. In this context, extreme poverty increases. As in other countries, the increase in food prices affects the already poor population, who become even poorer. This fact highlights the need for policies that mitigate the negative effects of price shocks.     

Morals,Markets and Sustainable Investments: A Qualitative Study of ‘Champions’

Sustainable investment (SI), which integrates social, environmental and ethical issues, has grown from a niche market of individual ethical investors to embrace institutional investors (e.g. pension funds) resulting in ￡764 billion in assets under management in the UK alone [Eurosif, 2008: ‘European SRI Study 2008’ (Eurosif, Paris)]. Explaining this growth is complex, involving shifts in personal and collective values, reactions to corporate scandals, scientific and media pronouncements about climate change, Government initiatives, responses from financial markets and the influence of SI innovators in The City of London. The article examines the influence of human agency through interviews with 14 SI champions who have variously been responsible for launching SI funds and changing investment processes and organisational structures in order to enhance SI. Interviewees were asked about their motivations and persuasive strategies, the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them as well as broader implications of SI for financial markets. The following key categories inform the results and the discussion: Values; Conservatism, Antipathy and Incredulity; Optimism and Sympathy from Insiders; The Social and Political Context; The Business Case; Organisational Constraints; Inappropriate forms of Remuneration; Short-termism; The Nature of Capitalism. Three discourses were also identified. The first is the necessity to make a business case for SI; the second is the benefits that SI can bring to the quest of overcoming short-termism; the third is a belief that for SI to have a significant influence, greater government intervention is required.     

MUTUAL FUNDS SELECTION BASED ON FUNDS CHARACTERISTICS

The popular investment strategy in the literature is to use only past performance to select mutual funds. We investigate whether an investor can select superior funds by additionally using fund characteristics. After considering the fund fees, we find that combining information on past performance, turnover ratio, and ability produces a yearly excess net return of 8.0%, whereas an investment strategy that uses only past performance generates 7.1%. Adjusting for systematic risks, and then using fund characteristics, increases yearly alpha significantly from 0.8% to 1.7%. The strategy that also uses fund characteristics requires less turnover.     

The effect of variety-seeking on customer retention in services

Intrinsic variety-seeking has been analyzed as an individual consumer trait affecting consumer's varied behavior. However, very little research has been done on the consumer service sector. In this paper, the authors explore the negative role of variety seeking on customer retention for services. This basic hypothesis is tested through structural equation modeling applied to an empirical study of food-service at three Universities. The results support the hypothesis: variety-seeking negatively affects customer retention and lessens the impact of the management efforts to improve service quality and customer satisfaction.     

Duality,income and substitution effects for the competitive firm under price uncertainty

This paper uses duality theory to decompose the total effect on the competitive firm's output of an increase in the riskiness of output price into income and substitution effects. Properties of preferences that control the sign of each effect are identified. The analysis extends to the general class of quasi‐linear decision models in which the payoff is linear in the random variable. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of investors’ status on their evaluation of positive and negative,and past and future information

This paper examines the effect of investors’ status (current and prospective) on their evaluation of information varying in valence (negative and positive) and temporality (past and future). Master of Business Administration graduates, proxying for current or prospective investors, rated the relevance of negative, positive, past, and future Management Discussion and Analysis information. Investors’ relevance ratings of information resulted in the following ranking (from highest to lowest): negative‐future, negative‐past, positive‐future, and positive‐past information. Furthermore, prospective investors (relative to current) rated positive and future information as more relevant and negative information as less relevant. Implications for effective disclosure strategies and policies are discussed.