Vendor managed inventory: a survey of the Taiwanese grocery industry

Recent research has shown the importance of improving the supply chain competitiveness by means of strategic alliances. This study considers the retailer–supplier partnership through a vendor managed inventory (VMI) system. The characteristics of a VMI system and a retailer–supplier power relationship are discussed in some detail with a case illustration to examine the practical implementations of the system in the Taiwanese grocery industry. VMI not only has the ability to reduce costs, but also to improve service levels and create business opportunities for both parties in the supply chain. Thus, it is considered as one of the main systems in a strategic alliance.     

社会资本参与水利建设的典型模式及操作要点

水利是国民经济和社会发展的重要基础设施,也是国家创新投融资机制、鼓励社会资本发展的重要领域。通过大量的实地调研和案例收集整理,对当前国内社会资本参与水利工程建设运营的典型模式进行总结,重点分析了股权投资、特许经营、购买服务、设立融资平台4种不同模式下政府和社会资本合作的方式和途径,指出每种模式的主要特征、适用项目类型以及相应的操作要点。     

我国零售业上市公司经营效率评价与分析

2005年,我国零售业进入全面开放时期,分析这一期间内资零售企业经营效率的变化情况和原因,对评价开放对内资零售企业的冲击,提高内资零售企业经营效率十分重要。本文综合运用三种方法,即DEA、MPI和Tobit模型,对我国58家零售业上市公司2005～2010年的经营效率进行了评价和分析。研究表明:受全面开放的影响,零售行业竞争加剧,我国零售业上市公司的平均经营效率有所下降,且内部差异在加大;变动方向相反的技术变化和效率变化的叠加导致了这一结果;环境变量中,仅总部所在地对经营效率有显著影响。     

餐饮业在吉林省经济发展中的重要作用

餐饮业是满足人们对饮食方面需求的行业。“民以食为天”。餐饮业的快速发展满足了人们对吃好、喝好的要求,提高了人们的生活质量和消费水平,同时也促进了农业、农产品加工业、旅游业和会展业的发展。     

Arm's length funding for civil society

Abstract

Support for the development of civil society became a major aim in the transition economies in Eastern Europe after the political changes of 1989. However, the need for government funding and the aspirations for independence have remained somewhat contradictory until the recent emergence of the ‘arm's length’ methods of supporting civil society organizations. This article reports on recent experiences of using these methods in Hungary.     

An exploratory study into brand alignment in B2B relationships

B2B relationships are characterized by strategic partnerships between firms and the suppliers of goods and services integral to their offerings. Failure to choose the right partner could jeopardize the survival of both partners. While a number of studies suggest that partnering firms need to be aligned operationally, few studies look at whether there should be alignment between the brands of firms and their suppliers. Therefore, we build on existing studies on sexual selection to develop a theory of whether similarity in brand attributes affects the success of B2B relationships. We propose that firms wishing to portray particular brand images to their customers choose suppliers whose images mirror their own. To develop our proposition, we investigate the brand personality alignment between well-known firms and their suppliers in four industries. The findings of our analysis have significant implications for scholars and managers interested in the nature and success of B2B partnerships.     

The evolution of inter-organisational social capital with foreign customers: Its direct and interactive effects on SMEs’ foreign performance

Taking a longitudinal approach, we analyze how the evolution of different dimensions of social capital between an SME (Small and Medium enterprise) and its key foreign customers directly influences the firm’s foreign performance growth. Moreover, we utilize a contingency approach by introducing two dyad-specific characteristics into the analysis: psychic and geographic interorganizational distances. Our findings contribute to the international business literature on social capital and suggest that while an investment in social capital with distant foreign customers always reinforces SMEs’ foreign performance development, relational and cognitive social capital have the same positive effects only for low levels of interorganizational psychic distance.     

Betrayal in buyer–seller relationships: Exploring its causes,symptoms, forms,effects, and therapies

Building on literature in social psychology that discussed betrayal in interpersonal relationships, this article explored betrayal in buyer–seller relationships using data collected from a survey conducted among 109 buyers and 115 sellers in the United States. The results indicated that betrayal was a complex, multifarious, and dynamic phenomenon, consisting of a sequence of phases, namely causes, symptoms, forms, consequences, and therapies, with multiple issues being involved at each phase. Our study also revealed that the views of buyers differed from those of sellers in terms of how various relational characteristics contributed to the emergence of betrayal episodes, what behavior and attitudes helped to diagnose partner betrayal, in which forms the betrayal acts were manifested, how the victims of betrayal felt, and how betrayal problems could be handled in a working relationship. In fact, the various dimensions in each of the betrayal phases examined were consistently more frequently mentioned by buyers than sellers.     

Preference for a career in retailing: a question of personality

Drawing on previous findings from the field of brand personality research and employer branding, this paper aims to explore the symbolic attributes of the retail industry image in South Africa and to identify those personality traits that distinguish preferred industries from the retail industry. The research provides a contemporary overview of the current image of the retail industry in South Africa from the perspective of young university students and allows retailers to strengthen their joint communication effort accordingly. Therefore, a quantitative survey study with 1426 participants from five South African universities was conducted. Participants assessed personality characteristics of the retail industry as well as their most preferred industry. The main results suggest that retail and non-retail students hold different personality perceptions of the retail industry and that prior retail involvement accounts for this difference to some extent. Moreover, the analysis shows that retailing performs significantly worse on those personality attributes that are of major importance for future job seekers. Additionally, the study identifies those attributes that exert a strong effect on students’ preferences for the retail industry. The findings provide useful communication themes for educational institutions, retail companies, and industry associations in order to foster positive personality perceptions associated with the retail industry.