The influence of supermarket attributes on perceived customer satisfaction: an East Asian study

Despite the proliferation of theoretical developments in the area of western consumer behaviour, to date the likelihood of Asian variants to existing consumer behavioural models has not been explored in any detail. Based on prior research in the field of retail attribute testing this empirical study investigates the influence of supermarket store attributes on Chinese (Macau) customer satisfaction moderated by the biographical factors of age and income. The results indicate that the store attributes of distance and speed of check out were significant for age, and that delivery service and price reductions were significant by income. Total independent variable rankings indicated store location, price and product variety were perceived by Chinese respondents as being the most important store attributes influencing satisfaction.     

Synchronization of Innovation and Vehicle Projects: Proposal of a Management Tool at Renault SAS

The success of a vehicle on the market depends on its price, reliability, and attractiveness; for the latter, innovations are the key elements in the differentiation from competitors. Managing the processes of selecting and integrating innovation projects into vehicle projects is therefore crucial. This article presents a management tool that aims at managing the interplay between innovation projects and vehicle projects. The objectives are to increase and optimize the amount and value of innovation projects integrated into vehicle projects. The tool, called “Profilor,” is based on the concept of intrusiveness, which is presented from a theoretical and empirical point of view.     

Ethical perceptions of Hong Kong Chinese business managers

This paper investigates ethical perceptions among Hong Kong Chinese managers of themselves and peers according to age, location of education and employment (local vs. multinational), based upon responses to thirteen potentially unethical situations.The major conclusions of the study are: (1) there is little consistency among perceptions of ethical situations; (2) Hong Kong managers perceive their peers as more unethical than themselves; (3) ethical perceptions in some situations are affected by age and to a lesser extent, place of education; and (4) significant interactions were found between age and the nature of employer, as well as between the place of education and the nature of employer.To conclude, the management implications of these findings are discussed.Miss McDonald has for the past five years been Assistant Professor of Marketing and Human Resource Management on the South East Asian postgraduate business programmes of the University of East Asia, Macau. Her commercial experience is in the fields of Advertising, Personnel Consultancy, and Industrial Relations.Dr. Zepp teaches Statistics and Operations Research at the University of East Asia. He was a lecturer at the Ohio State University (USA), where he received his doctorate. He spent 8 years in Africa, teaching at the University of Maiduguri (Nigeria), and the National University of Lesotho. He was an American Fulbright Professor at the Universite d'Abidjan (Ivory Coast), and a statistical consultant to the government of Haiti.     

Does the option market produce superior forecasts of noise‐corrected volatility measures?

This paper assesses the robustness of the relative performance of spot‐ and options‐based volatility forecasts to the treatment of microstructure noise. Robustness of the results to the method of constructing option‐implied forecasts is also investigated. Using a test for superior predictive ability, model‐free implied volatility, which exploits information in the volatility ‘smile’, and at‐the‐money implied volatility, which does not, are both tested as benchmark forecasts of a range of alternative volatility proxies. The results provide compelling evidence against the model‐free forecast for three Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks, over a 2001–2006 evaluation period. In contrast, the at‐the‐money implied volatility forecast is given strong support for the three equities over this period. Neither benchmark is supported for the S&P500 index. Importantly, the main qualitative results are invariant to the method of noise correction used in measuring future volatility. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probabilistic forecasts of volatility and its risk premia

The object of this paper is to produce distributional forecasts of asset price volatility and its associated risk premia using a non-linear state space approach. Option and spot market information on the latent variance process is captured by using dual ‘model-free’ variance measures to define a bivariate observation equation in the state space model. The premium for variance diffusive risk is defined as linear in the latent variance (in the usual fashion) whilst the premium for variance jump risk is specified as a conditionally deterministic dynamic process, driven by a function of past measurements. The inferential approach adopted is Bayesian, implemented via a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that caters for the multiple sources of non-linearity in the model and for the bivariate measure. The method is applied to spot and option price data on the S&P500 index from 1999 to 2008, with conclusions drawn about investors’ required compensation for variance risk during the recent financial turmoil. The accuracy of the probabilistic forecasts of the observable variance measures is demonstrated, and compared with that of forecasts yielded by alternative methods. To illustrate the benefits of the approach, it is used to produce forecasts of prices of derivatives on volatility itself. In addition, the posterior distribution is augmented by information on daily returns to produce value at risk predictions. Linking the variance risk premia to the risk aversion parameter in a representative agent model, probabilistic forecasts of (approximate) relative risk aversion are also produced.     

Bayesian comparison of several continuous time models of the Australian short rate

This paper provides an empirical analysis of a range of alternative single‐factor continuous time models for the Australian short‐term interest rate. The models are nested in a general single‐factor diffusion process for the short rate, with each alternative model indexed by the level effect parameter for the volatility. The inferential approach adopted is Bayesian, with estimation of the models proceeding through a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation scheme. Discrimination between the alternative models is based on Bayes factors. A data augmentation approach is used to improve the accuracy of the discrete time approximation of the continuous time models. An empirical investigation is conducted using weekly observations on the Australian 90 day interest rate from January 1990 to July 2000. The Bayes factors indicate that the square root diffusion model has the highest posterior probability of all models considered.     

It's all fair in love,war, and business: Cognitive philosophies in ethical decision making

Exploratory research was undertaken in four locations in the Asia Pacific Rim to investigate the cognitive frameworks used by managers when considering ethical business dilemmas. In addition to culture, gender and organisational dimensions were also studied. Aggregate analysis revealed no significant differences in the cognitive frameworks used by business managers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Canada. Of the eight frameworks used in the study four cognitive frameworks appeared to feature predominantly. Utilising the results of regression analysis the most salient cognitive frameworks utilised by managers were identified as; Self Interest, Neutralisation, Justice and Categorial Imperative, with Neutralisation and Self Interest being the most significant among all managers. Religious Conviction and the Light of Day framework (which relates to fear of being exposed) did not feature prominently in the analysis. A few significant differences in the ethical frameworks used by males and females were identified. For males in all four locations Self Interest, Neutralisation and Justice appeared to be dominant frameworks, while considerable variability was seen in the frameworks used by females. Marginally significant differences were observed in the cognitive frameworks used by managers with differing functional responsibilities. Across all locations respondents with general management responsibilities relied predominately on Self Interest, while those with marketing responsibilities utilised Neutralisation. Respondents with an accounting orientation also relied predominately on Neutralisation and Categorial Imperative frameworks. Gael McDonald is currently completing her doctorate at the Institute of Management in the London School of Economics and Political Science. Previously she was an Associate Professor with Asia Pacific International University based in Hong Kong and teaching on their international M.B.A. programs within the Pacific Rim. Miss McDonald has published in Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Asia Pacific International Journal of Marketing, Management Decision,the International Review of Retail Distribution and Consumer Researchand is an Associate editor of Business Ethics — A European Review.Patrick C. Pak is a Lecturer in Management with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has a diverse interest in management research. His research interests are mainly in the areas of learning organization, organizational control, leadership, organizational change, business ethics and strategic management.