Relationship Between Competitive Intensity,Internal Resources,and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indian ITES Industry

The purpose of this article is to investigate how competitive intensity impacts the relationship between crucial firm resources (human capital, organizational capital, management capability) and firm performance. Using a sample of 105 service providers from the Indian information technology–enabled services (ITES) industry, I find that competitive intensity positively moderates the relationship between firm resources and firm performance such that the relationships become stronger when competitive intensity is high than when it is low. Results imply that top managers' evaluation of the performance implications of internal firm resources are significantly shaped by the perceptions of intensity of competition encountered by their firms. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

ESTIMATING SPATIAL CONSUMER PRICE INDICES THROUGH ENGEL CURVE ANALYSIS

In this paper we propose a method of estimating spatial multilateral price index numbers from cross‐section consumer expenditure data on different items using Engel curve analysis. The novelty of the procedure is that it overcomes the problem of data inadequacy, a problem that is shared by most of the developing countries. The procedure does not require item‐specific price/unit value data and price index numbers can be calculated from consumer expenditure data grouped by per capita income/total consumer expenditure class in a situation where unit level data are not available. To illustrate the method, we use published state‐specific data of the 50th round (1993–94) and 55th round (1999–2000) consumer expenditure surveys of India's National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) and calculate the spatial consumer price index numbers for 15 major states of India, with All‐India taken as base, separately for the rural and the urban sector for each round.     

Multi-level and mixed-level <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-circulant supersaturated designs

Supersaturated designs (SSDs) constitute an important class of fractional factorial designs that could be extremely useful in factor screening experiments. Most of the existing studies have focused on balanced designs. This paper provides a new lower bound for the \(E(f_{NOD})\)-optimality measure of SSDs with general run sizes. This bound is a generalization of existing bounds since it is applicable to both balanced and unbalanced designs. Optimal multi and mixed-level, balanced and nearly balanced SSDs are constructed by applying a k-circulant type methodology. Necessary and sufficient conditions are introduced for the generator vectors, in order to pre-ensure the optimality of the constructed k-circulant SSDs. The provided lower bounds were used to measure the efficiency of the generated designs. The presented methodology leads to a number of new families of improved SSDs, providing tools for directly constructing optimal or nearly-optimal k-circulant designs by just checking the corresponding generator vector.     

B2B relationship calculus: quantifying resource effects in service-dominant logic

Increasingly, knowledgeable business-to-business (B2B) customers and evolving customer needs are leading to seismic shifts in vendor–client interactions. Across industries, sellers are changing their business models from a simple goods orientation to a hybrid goods–services model, placing greater emphasis on delivering complete customer solutions. In such an environment, companies must find ways to prioritize investments in resource development. The service-dominant (S-D) logic framework offers significant insights into this challenge; however, these effects have not been tested quantitatively. This study addresses that gap, examining the influence of various seller resources on buyer satisfaction. An empirical analysis of buying organizations that purchased and implemented business intelligence systems finds that “augmented” operant resources that the buyers ascribe to the software’s sellers—resources that go above and beyond expectations—are the most significant predictors of both successful technology assimilation and overall customer relationship quality. In particular, an augmented operant resource reflecting a seller’s ability to see value creation opportunities from the buyer’s perspective (value mindset) has up to three times the effect on relationship satisfaction as “core” operant resources such as product-specific expertise or basic interpersonal service skills. These results can help sellers prioritize resource investments.     

New product introduction under demand uncertainty in competitive industries

A game-theoretic model is employed to examine the conditions under which firms in a duopoly, faced with a new product introduction opportunity of uncertain profitability (because of uncertainty in demand), choose to enter the market immediately or, alternatively, decide to wait, thereby avoiding the risk of failure. The implications for a firm's strategic behavior are contrasted with situations in which the competitor is believed to be (1) passive, implying that the firm expects to enjoy indefinite monopoly status if it introduces the new product, and (2) committed to a waiting strategy, implying monopoly status for a limited time period, if the new product is successful.     

An Investigation into the Potential Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in the United States: Implications and Implementation

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have been adopted by most of the G20 countries. Given the broad worldwide acceptance of IFRS and significance of attaining comparability to facilitate free flow of capital, the US standard setter, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) made a commitment to jointly work with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to explore the possibilities of convergence of US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) with IFRS. In 2007, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) eliminated the requirement that foreign companies listed on the US stock exchanges reconcile their IFRS‐based financial statements with the US GAAP. In the same year the US SEC issued a concept release to the public requesting comments on a proposal to allow US issuers to prepare financial statements in accordance with IFRS. Following these initiatives by the FASB and SEC, the aim of the present study is to investigate the implications of a potential full adoption of IFRS by the US. The present study details the challenges and benefits of adoption and outlines the steps required for a successful outcome of this process.     

Bayesian U-type design for nonparametric response surface prediction

This paper deals with Bayesian design over U-type designs of n runs and s factors with q levels for nonparametric response surface prediction. The criterion is developed in terms of the asymptotic approach of Mitchell et al. (Ann Statist 22: 634–651, 1994) for a specific covariance kernel. An optimal design is given in approximate design theory over the all level combinations. A connection with orthogonality and aberration is established. A lower bound for the criterion is provided, and numerical results show that this lower bound is tight.     

Financial knowledge among Iranian investors

This research is the first to describe financial knowledge in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Data were collected from a convenience sample of investors in the Tehran Stock Exchange. The data were used to examine objective and subjective knowledge as well as overconfidence in one's financial knowledge. The results indicated that compared with other populations, Iranians did not perform well on either basic or advanced financial knowledge questions, especially when the questions dealt with interest rates. This is likely related to the Islamic law ban on usury‐based investing. Regression analysis indicated that demographic charactristics related to basic financial knowledge were income, labour force status and being a student. Demographic characteristics related to advanced financial knowledge were education, labour force status and age. Higher income and education reduced the odds of being overconfident about one's financial knowledge, while being a student and male increased the odds. The article concludes with recommendations about future research as well as building a national financial education strategy.     

Dealing with consumer default: Bankruptcy vs garnishment

What are the positive and normative implications of eliminating bankruptcy protection for indebted individuals? Without bankruptcy protection, creditors can collect on defaulted debt to the extent permitted by wage garnishment laws. The elimination lowers the default premium on unsecured debt and permits low-net-worth individuals suffering bad earnings shocks to smooth consumption by borrowing. There is a large increase in consumer debt financed essentially by super-wealthy individuals, a modest drop in capital per worker, and a higher frequency of consumer default. Average welfare rises by 1% of consumption in perpetuity, with about 90% of households favoring the change.     

International market selection and subsidiary performance: A neural network approach

How should multinational enterprises (MNEs) select international markets? We develop a model of international market selection that adds firm-specific advantages and transaction cost considerations to previously explored target market factors based on Dunning's Eclectic Framework. Results obtained using neural network (NN) analysis indicates that our model has strong predictive power in explaining international market selection. Further tests show that firms selecting international markets predicted by the model reported significantly higher subsidiary performance relative to firms whose investments were not predicted by the model. Our results provide strong initial evidence that a firm-level strategic approach to international market selection facilitates MNE success.