Brand response to environmental turbulence: A framework and propositions for resistance,recovery and reinvention

As valuable assets of corporations, governments and not-for-profit organizations, brands have attracted considerable research attention. We know a lot about how brands create knowledge in their target consumers’ minds, which leads to an attitude towards or relationship with the brand that translates into a number of favorable outcomes. The resultant brand equity is often associated with improved performance of the organization in reaching its objectives such as increasing market value. We know less about the dynamic nature of brand equity and, in particular, how it may interact with turbulence in the external environment in which the brand competes, both positively and negatively. We examine three key dimensions of brand equity—brands’ access to their target markets, perceived differentiation, and level of brand engagement with their target consumers—that influence the effect environmental turbulence has on diminishing equity or providing future opportunities for brand equity growth. Borrowing from the strategy literature, we suggest ways in which agile and resilient firms can use brand equity to resist environmental turbulence, recover from any damage that may result from it, and reinvent themselves to leverage opportunities created by a radically altered external environment. We close with a set of propositions intended to guide managers in anticipating and responding to environmental turbulence and inform and shape future research in this area.     

Activity outsourcing and competitive strategy in the hotel industry. The moderator role of asset specificity

This paper analyzes hotel outsourcing from the perspective of the competitive strategy and asset specificity. A comprehensive model is developed to establish the relationships among the competitive strategy (cost leadership and differentiation strategies), asset specificity and activity outsourcing. Asset specificity is used as a moderator variable in the relationship between the competitive strategy and activity outsourcing. A specificity-outsourcing matrix is developed to classify the activities by their level of asset specificity and outsourcing. The main hotel activities are investigated in a representative sample of hotels in Taiwan. The findings indicate that the cost leadership strategy positively and partially influences outsourcing, while the differentiation strategy has a negative impact on outsourcing an activity. The results confirm the negative relationship between asset specificity and the level of activity outsourcing. Moreover, they show that asset specificity positively moderates the relationship between the competitive strategy and outsourcing.     

Effects of internal resources on airline competitiveness

This article examines the performances of 114 major international airlines between 1987 and 2010 using the resource-based theory. Results show that intangible resource is the most important resource among the human, physical and intangible resources at the aggregate industry level. In addition, successful airlines need to be able to provide an adequate level of service at relatively low cost. Nonetheless, some airlines enjoy higher profits than the others due to the country-specific differences arising from the bilateral open skies agreement between countries, the geographical location of the airline hub etc. There are also evidences suggesting an increasing consumer acceptance of new airlines, which connote that established airlines cannot be complacent. Following the emergence of budget airlines that provide point-to-point service to short distance destinations, full legacy carriers could differentiate themselves by offering direct connections on long-distant flights.     

Online entrepreneurial communication: Mitigating uncertainty and increasing differentiation via Twitter

Research shows that some narratives and symbolic actions produced by entrepreneurial firms can help to reduce audience uncertainty about their quality and differentiate them from rivals. But can communications via online social media channels – which we characterize as “communicative streams” – be used to reduce uncertainty and enhance differentiation? This seems debatable, given that such streams comprise multiple, brief messages (a) that encode signals lacking narrative cohesion; (b) are only fleetingly accessible; and (c) are minimally customized. We address this puzzle using qualitative methods to compare the communications enacted by eight firms that are using Twitter in order to pursue growth. Our theoretical contribution rests in positing links between specific types of communicative streams and audience responses that reflect reduced uncertainty or enhanced differentiation. Our analysis suggests that firms enacting a “Multi-dimensional” communicative stream (which entails a high volume of posts, a high proportion of which signal quality, relational orientation, distinctiveness, and positive affect) are most likely to elicit audience affirmation of firms' quality and/or distinctiveness. Implications for theory, research methods and practice are discussed.     

混合绩效评估下的区位——价格竞争研究

本文以具有平方交通成本的Hotelling模型为基础,探讨了存在混合绩效评估时两企业两阶段区位—价格竞争问题。混合绩效评估的含义是,每个企业的"实际收益"不但依赖于自己的利润,还依赖于它与对手企业的利润之差,而实际收益对利润之差的敏感度代表了相对绩效评估权重。分析表明,对应于不同的相对绩效评估权重,本文模型可以产生包括"最小化差异原理"、"最大化差异原理"等在内的各种均衡结果。作为一个应用,本文模型也可以为理解困扰中国经济发展的重复建设现象提供一些新的洞见。     

手机银行差异化发展策略浅议

手机银行越来越成为改变金融业竞争格局的新型服务渠道。同时也是现代商业银行应对竞争的一种必然选择。随着我国金融业开放程度进一步扩大,中外银行在新业务领域的竞争将更加激烈。因此,银行业大力发展手机银行,应该迎接个性化、多元化、国际化等各个方面的挑战,走差异化路线。本文结合实际,提出了手机银行差异化发展的五个可行方向,试图提高手机银行业务对客户的吸引力。     

Location strategies of multiunit service businesses: spatial differentiation and agglomeration among hamburger restaurants in Paris, 1984–2004

In this article, we study how multiunit service businesses locate their units, choosing between two opposite spatial strategies. Whereas, locating one’s units close to competitors’ brings positive agglomeration externalities, locating one’s units far away from others’ allows local monopolies through spatial differentiation. We examine location strategies of the two biggest hamburger restaurant chains—namely McDonald’s and Quick—in Paris between 1984 and 2004. Results show that competitive standings impact locational strategy choices. The market leader favors spatial differentiation, thus preempting premium locations. Conversely, the challenger favors locations close to the leader, thus aiming at agglomeration externalities.

Product Differentiation,Industry Concentration and Market Share Turbulence

Building on the current theory of industrial concentration, we analyze the relation between market size and product differentiation, and show how product differentiation impacts market share turbulence. We first propose that in markets where vertical product differentiation dominates, firms will have an incentive to escalate investment in advertising and/or R&D as market size increases. Secondly, such (firm‐specific) investments will make competitive advantage more sustainable as the firm is less imitable. This will not be the case if the market is primarily characterized by homogeneous products or horizontal product differentiation. Our predictions are tested using an original EU dataset for 1987 and 1997. Our results strongly support our predictions – the degree of market share turbulence increases with market size. However, this relation is weakened by competitive investment in advertising and R&D.     

Leapfrogging in a Vertical Product Differentiation Model

The model considers a two-period duopoly game where in the first period the leader produces a good with a given quality and the other firm can only imitate it. It is the Stackelberg case where, in addition, the leader has the choice of the quality of the good and the imitation is costly, but not prohibitively so. Under this assumption quantities and profits in terms of the quality are derived as subgame perfect equilibrium. In the second period there exists the possibility for the leader and/or the follower to make an investment. The outcome of this is uncertain: it could either be the case that a good of better quality can be introduced, or that a cost-reduction in producing the existing good is attained. The former case is a product innovation, whereas the latter case is a process innovation. By solving the game backwards as a function of the quality of the first period, there exists the possibility of an equilibrium where the follower chooses to invest and the leader does not invest .     

基于Nested—Logit模型和产品差异性理论哦企业“广义利润”最大化策略及应用

本文介绍了Logit模型,并分析了Logit不足,引出了更适合于研究产品之间的替代关系的Nes- ted-Logit模型。考虑到国内家电市场价格战现状,提出有别于“利润”概念的“广义利润”,其中涉及到与市场份额有关的“长远利润”。通过市场份额与价格的联系,制定使企业广义利润最大化的价格,同时通过计算机模拟轿车市场的定价,我们将会更加深刻地体会模型的实际使用。在追求广义利润最大化的基础之上,我们假设产品差别市场中存在纳什均衡,随后通过理论与计算机方法考虑在博弈情况下的定价组合。