Virtual schools

Virtual schools have already made their appearance. This paper examines the factors which promote or slow the spread of virtual schools. Technological change, economic rationalism, and the suitability of conventional schools for the information age are identified as reasons for the continued growth of virtual schools. Conversely, the identification of an appropriate pedagogy, the lack of required teaching skills, concerns for the reshaping of human values, socialisation, and the continued need for student supervision are seen as reasons why virtual schools will not rapidly overtake conventional ones. It is concluded that virtual schools will continue to increase in the 21st century, and that appropriate planning must be made for their impact.     

Immigration and the Australian Macroeconomy: Perspective and Prospective

Australia has long been a nation of immigrants. The economic purposes of migration and its economic consequences are major public policy issues. This selective review of research looks at the macroeconomic dimensions of this issue for Australia.     

To Bundle or Not to Bundle: Firms’ Choices under Pure Bundling

We examine the economic implications of pure bundling under the settings of monopoly and duopoly. We show that under monopoly and pure bundling of goods with independent demands, the bundled price is strictly less than the sum of the unbundled prices. In the setting of duopoly and Nash prices, we examine whether bundling can be used as a tool to deter entry. In contrast to the findings of previous studies, we show that with low entry costs, entry is deterred by unbundled as opposed to bundled sales. With high entry costs, however, the incumbent chooses to bundle.     

Sophisticated but confused: The impact of brand extension and motivation on source confusion

Legal and consumer psychology scholars have focused recent attention on source confusion, which is the likelihood that consumers will be confused regarding the company that is a product's source or sponsor. The authors evaluate two potential antecedents of source confusion: (1) consumer motivation and (2) a brand extension that has been undertaken by a competitor. There have been disagreements in the courts, the scholarly legal literature, and the consumer psychology literature concerning the nature and extent of the impact of these two variables on the likelihood of consumer confusion. Based on schema theory, the authors hypothesize that consumer motivation and brand extension will influence the likelihood of source confusion. An interaction between the two variables is proposed, with consumer motivation having an effect that is opposite to the effect typically identified in the literature and case law. The results of a controlled laboratory experiment support the theoretical predictions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Retailer's Perspective on the Link Between Logistical Resources and Perceived Customer Loyalty to Manufacturer Brands

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between logistics and brand‐related resources, and assess their impact on the retailer's perceptions of customer loyalty to manufacturer brands. On the basis of theoretical underpinnings of the resource‐based view, this study explores the relationships among four main variables: (1) variety of collaborative logistics technologies shared between retailers and manufacturers, (2) manufacturer's logistics operations quality provided to retailers, (3) retailer's brand differentiation orientation, and (4) retailer's perceptions of customers loyalty to manufacturer brands. An online survey was conducted on 313 senior marketing and supply chain managers from retailer firms. The results of the structural equation analysis support a mediated relationship between logistical resources and perceived loyalty to manufacturer brands. The retailers believe that shared logistics technologies enable manufacturers and retailers to offer higher levels of availability and visibility of preferred brands to their end‐user customers. In turn, the end‐users become more confident with their decisions to repurchase the same brand offerings.     

The use of logit and probit models in strategic management research: Critical issues

The logit and probit models have become critical parts of the management researcher's analytical arsenal, growing rapidly from almost no use in the 1980s to appearing in 15% of all articles published in Strategic Management Journal in 2005. However, a review of three top strategy journals revealed numerous areas in their use and interpretation where current practice fell short of ideal. Failure to understand how these models differ from ordinary least squares can lead researchers to misunderstand their statistical results and draw incorrect conclusions regarding the theory they are testing. Based on a review of the methodological literature and recent empirical papers in three leading strategy journals, this paper identifies four critical issues in their use: interpreting coefficients, modeling interactions between variables, comparing coefficients between groups (e.g., foreign and domestic firms), and measures of model fit. For each issue, the paper provides a background, a review of current practice, and recommendations for best practice. A concluding section presents overall implications for the conduct of research with logit and probit models, which should assist both authors and readers of strategic management research. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Size (and competition) among organizations: modeling scale‐based selection among automobile producers in four major countries, 1885–1981

Based on previous empirical research, size is perhaps the most powerful explanatory organizational covariate in strategic analysis. We suggest that theoretical arguments about size be examined carefully to specify models with explicit comparison sets and with mechanisms linking size and underlying processes to outcomes. We illustrate the approach here by advancing arguments about scale competition within an organizational population. In this effort, we feature a theoretical model of scale‐based selection, which posits that a firm's chances of survival decrease with its aggregate distance from larger competitors on a transformed size gradient. The model assumes that the appropriate comparison set consists of all contemporaneous similar organizations competing on the basis of scale and operating in a localized geographic setting. We argue that aggregate distance of a focal firm from larger other firms (a specific form of relative position in the size distribution) reflects the extent to which it can capitalize on potential competitive advantages of scale emanating from economic, political, and social processes. Analyzing the mortality rates of large organizations across the entire histories of automobile industries in four major countries provides support for the theory. We discuss the general implications of our findings for strategic and organizational analysis. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Risk analysis of new maize technology in Zaire: a portfolio approach

Risk associated with the adoption of new maize technology and the impact of mandatory cotton production on traditional farmers in the Kasai Oriental Region of Zaire are evaluated within a portfolio context using a quadratic programming model. Seasonal net returns for farm plans including four levels of maize technology in combination with staple food crops are evaluated, with and without mandatory cotton production. The results indicate that cropping systems that include new maize technology are risk-efficient relative to local maize varieties while mandatory cotton production is not risk-efficient at the prevalent price and yield levels in the farming system.