The decision processes of innovative communicators and other adopters

Based on the nature of their involvement with the target product category three market segments of consumers of fashion innovations are identified. It is hypothesised that each segment of consumers should use a different decision process when adopting an innovation. The major findings of this study are that the more innovative consumers used a less extensive pattern of decision making activity than consumers who were either less involved with the product category or were concerned about how the purchase would effect their perceived social status. These findings suggest that involvement with the category is different to involvement in the decision making process, and that the latter is somewhat contingent on situational factors.Thanks are expressed to John Rossiter, Judy Zaichkowsky, and the editor and reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft.     

Performance improvement decision aid systems (PIDAS) in retailing organizations using data envelopment analysis

This paper investigates the usefulness of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models to aid decision making in multi-level retail organizations. It is argued that market efficiency is a key performance measurement dimension in retail organizations. The paper proposes three variants of market efficency that correspond to different tiers of management in a multi-level setting. The disentanglement of market efficiency will lead to the development of the Performance Improvement Decision Aid System (PIDAS) which seeks to classify units on clusters of different performance profile. The method is illustrated using data from a restaurant chain in the UK.     

Scope,timing and strategic adjustment in emerging markets: Manufacturer strategies and the case of MRI

This study examines the realized strategies of all domestic manufacturers in a growing, high technology, industrial market characterized by high levels of regulatory, demand, and technological uncertainty. These manufacturers have behaved quite differently and experienced varying levels of success in the market. A typology of entry strategies grounded in an intensive analysis of these data is presented. Specifically, it addresses the timing and scope of a firm's entry into the market, strategic adjustments over time, and the impact of these decisions on the firm's performance. It is proposed that these strategies represent trade-offs between the risks of resource commitment and competitive preemption. Specific, testable hypotheses based on this typology are also provided.     

Risk management behaviour by the Northern Ireland food consumer

The main criteria that consumers use during the decision‐making process when purchasing food have traditionally been a combination of prices, incomes, taste and social attitudes, with price being seen as the main determinant. However, in the past 10 years risk has become a ‘new’ criterion that can affect the consumer's decision whether or not to purchase a particular food item. The effect of the perception of risk has been observed during the numerous food scares in the last decade and in trends for the demand for foods that connote a health image. This research, carried out in Northern Ireland, looked at how consumers quantified and managed risk. The research involved 202 primary food consumers and identified the factors that were perceived to be important from both a societal and a personal perspective. Using principal component analysis techniques, societal food risks were seen as either processing or dietary, and personal food risks were seen as either extrinsic or intrinsic. Further investigation into the attributes of the personal risk using the same techniques revealed a three‐factor solution described as fear, involvement and newness. Although these factors cannot be used as predictors of the risk associated with a particular food, they help to describe and explain how the risk may be managed. The relationship between two of the factors, involvement and fear, provide a framework for understanding the way consumers manage their perception of the risk, particularly of high‐risk items. Consumer and scientific knowledge of the risk in question, and the degree of control over the risk were seen as important in the management of the risk in question. The conceptualization of the mechanism by which risks are processed and acted upon provides information regarding risk management and communication strategies that should be employed by educators, food retailers and government policy makers.     

品牌资产及其构建

品牌资产是企业以前的经营活动所赋予品牌的联想及由此带来的独特的市场营销效果。品牌资产产生于消费者的品牌选择 ,消费者往往依据所拥有的品牌知识进行购买决策。建立品牌资产 ,必须从构建消费者品牌知识入手 ,使品牌具有较高的认知度 ,具有强烈的、积极的、独特的品牌形象。企业必须遵循消费者品牌知识形成的规律 ,精心选择品牌元素 ,根据品牌定位制定科学的市场营销策略组合 ,整合运用各种营销传播工具 ,利用间接品牌联想 ,以建立强有力的品牌资产。     

Stradin: A Strategic Dynamic and Interactive Decision-Making Process

This article proposes a new strategic decision-making process: Stradin. Stradin uses recent developments in computerized network systems and user-friendly interfaces in order to address management challenges of corporations of the 1990s. Five strategic challenges are addressed: (1) finding the right balance in the centralization-decentralization dilemma; (2) conciliating strategic decisions and their operational implementation; (3) finding a balance between role differentiation and integration; (4) using conflict constructively in order to improve decision making; (5) conciliating emerging strategies and continuity. The article below discusses each of these challenges and shows how Stradin can help in meeting them.     

决策模拟课程建设和实践探讨

管理模拟教学作为参与式教学法的一种在西方发达国家已得到广泛的应用,而在我国仍处于探索和发展阶段。在建设模拟决策实验室过程中,应该多交流和考察,将户外体验式拓展训练等热身项目引入到教学中,经过科学合理地组织各个模拟决策项目,可以达到提高学生解决企业经营问题和经营企业的能力的效果。     

认真学习贯彻《决定》精神加快地质工作的改革与发展

结合湖北地质工作的实际,阐述了《国务院关于加强地质工作的决定》战略决策的重要现实意义和深远的历史意义,分析了新形势下地质工作的不适应因素,提出要大力推进地质工作体制改革和机制转变;加强战略性矿产勘查,提高矿产资源保证程度;加快矿产资源优势转化为经济优势;加强技术创新,提高矿产资源的利用水平。     

被购并企业高层经理去留问题探析

在企业购并中的一个值得关注的问题就是被购并企业高层管理人员的流动问题 ,它对于购并后企业的业绩有着重要的影响。高层管理人员的流失对于企业有何影响 ,在何种情况下适宜撤换 留任被购并企业的原高层经理 ,是值得讨论的课题。