What Men and Women Really Want: Differences in Gender-Based Evaluations of Service Recovery Efforts

Under increasing domestic and global pressures, the survival of small agri-businesses in developing countries such as Sri Lanka is being challenged because of their poor strategic focus and weak coordination along the supply chain. The quality, efficiency, and versatility of production, processing, distribution, and marketing systems play a significant role in the competitiveness of agri-businesses. Improved competitiveness requires closer coordination along the supply chain so as to decrease transaction costs and create opportunities for differentiation. In Sri Lanka, the government has a greater role to play in developing an enabling environment for the chains to which small agri-businesses belong.     

New development: Going off the rails? Rail franchising after the cancellation of the West Coast franchise competition

In August 2012, the UK's Department for Transport (DfT) announced the award of the new West Coast rail franchise to FirstGroup. The incumbent operator, Virgin Rail Group, then launched legal proceedings to challenge the decision. The DfT initially defended the award, but cancelled the franchise competition in October 2012 because it discovered serious errors in the procurement process. This article examines the key issues highlighted by this cancellation, and discusses their implications for the future of rail franchising.     

The impact of entry modes on the organisational design of international hotel chains

This paper reports on a study of organisation design within the international hotel chains that simultaneously employ multiple market entry modes. A multiple case study reveals the use of different divisional designs for different types of entry mode within individual chains. These are driven by the desire to maintain strong control over hotel brands. The study concludes that current designs may inhibit the international hotel chains from achieving their organisational potential and recommends that managers look to break down these ‘communities of design’ barriers.     

Developing brand champions: A franchisee perspective

Abstract

The establishment of a compelling brand lies at the heart of a franchise network’s success. To maintain brand integrity, franchisors rely on franchisees to deliver the brand promise consistently. However, franchisee behaviour is sometimes difficult to manage, impacting negatively on the franchise brand. In adopting an internal brand management theoretical lens, this study provides new insight into the development of franchisees as brand champions. This is achieved through the empirical validation of a model, which encapsulates the dynamics of important antecedent variables (i.e. information generation, knowledge dissemination, the ‘H’ factor, role clarity, franchisee satisfaction, and brand commitment) in creating franchise brand champions. The findings provide significant theoretical and practical implications and lay the foundation for future research in this important research domain.     

物流业网络融合的三种模式与创新

本文从产业融合和供应链管理理论出发,研究物流业的网络融合及其创新。本文分析现代物流业的网络特性,阐述了物流业网络融合的内涵,指出了现代物流业网络融合的3种主要形式。对现代物流业网络融合的创新进行研究,指出网络融合对于发展物流业以及提升企业核心能力的意义。     

全球价值链基础上的产业竞争力成因：“五角模型”分析框架

全球价值链理论可以帮助我们从国家层面、产业层面和企业层面来详细研究全球产业结构及产业动态,从而对产业竞争力提升或产业升级进行有效地解释和指导。本文以中国数控机床产业为例,以前人的研究为基础,从全球价值链理论的视角对产业竞争力的形成因素提出了“五角模型”分析框架。     

我国市政公用事业特许经营实施障碍与对策

特许经营是发达国家在市政公用事业市场化改革中普遍应用的一种成熟模式,在我国,特许经营模式应用于市政公用事业还是一个新生事物。尽管市政公用事业特许经营的实施在实践中取得了一定的进展与成效,但目前这一模式在相关政策、政府行为、特许经营者行为等方面还存在不少问题。完善我国市政公用事业特许经营模式,有赖于政府职能的继续转变及审批、土地、融资等一系列领域改革的深化。     

文化旅游产业链治理模式研究

文化是旅游的灵魂,旅游是文化的重要载体。从产业发展的视角看,旅游产业与文化产业相互融合,相得益彰,密不可分。在企业及区域之间的竞争愈趋于以产业链竞争为主要竞争形式的语境中,本文基于产业组织及产业发展理论,沿循文化旅游"产业链界定—产业链构成要素—产业链治理影响因素—产业链治理模式选择"的思路,对文化旅游产业链治理模式进行了探索,旨在进一步深化对文化旅游产业链治理模式的研究。     

多店特许文献综述

多店特许近期发展非常迅速,中外研究者识别了区域发展、主特许、区域代理、特许中介、顺序多店特许、合资特许等多店特许方式,从特许人与受许人动机、多店特许优缺点进行了实证研究,使用了代理理论、国际化理论、集体行为与社会选择等理论方法。国内有关研究强调主特许经营"三层两关系",指出法律不能也不应该对经营模式进行保护。这些研究绝大多数将国内与国际分开,存在局限性;且将多店特许与单店特许比较,而实质上多店特许更应该与特许体系分支机构对应。     

关于连锁超市配送质量问题的研究

文中阐述了连锁超市配送中心、物流质量管理、服务质量管理等相关的概念与理论,描述了连锁超市配送中心目前运营的现状,提出了配送服务普遍存在的问题,如商品破损、交货延迟、顾客抱怨等。并总结了配送服务质量出现问题的原因,简单概括了外包因素、流程因素、设施配备因素等。以顾客满意度为评价主体,建立连锁超市配送中心配送服务质量指标体系。最后提出了流程改善、加强信息自动化、完善外包管理等建议来说明如何提高质量管理。