Luxury products for the circular economy? A case study of Bang & Olufsen

This paper examines whether luxury products can support a circular economy. This is done through a literature review of luxury products and the links to circular economy, as well as a case study of Bang & Olufsen (B&O). The literature review revealed links between some of the core characteristics of luxury products and the circular economy. This included aspects such as the high quality, durability, service schemes, extended warranties, and large aftermarkets. The case study supports the links between the inner circles in the circular economy (maintenance, repair, and reuse) and some of the core characteristics of luxury products. B&O produces products with a long lifespan, has extended warranties, repair and service schemes, spare part availability for 8 years, an aftermarket, and leasing schemes. B&O also does reconditioning of components for its repair loop, conducts dismantling tests, marks plastic parts, and has a negative list that excludes certain hazardous components.     

Using the Pack‐and‐a‐Half Rule to Eliminate Backroom Inventories in Retail Operations

In the retail industry, backroom inventories are typically associated with higher labor costs and greater operational complexity. Thus, retailers look for ways to eliminate backroom inventories. A heuristic used for this purpose is the pack‐and‐a‐half rule which suggests that the shelf space allocated for a product should be at least 50% larger than the case pack quantity in which the product is delivered. Despite its popularity among retailers, the pack‐and‐a‐half rule has been ignored in the academic literature. We introduce the pack‐and‐a‐half rule, assess its impact on a retailer's profits, identify cost, demand, and product characteristics driving this impact, and propose a modification. Based on an analysis of data obtained from a retailer on 1,986 SKUs in 20 categories, we find that the pack‐and‐a‐half rule decreases a retailer's profits, on average, by 10% when applied uniformly across all SKUs. Further, this decrease is significantly affected by product depth, product width, demand elasticity, case pack quantity, and inventory carrying cost. Finally, we develop a set of modifications based on these variables where the pack‐and‐a‐half rule is applied selectively and in a stepwise fashion. These modifications limit the decrease in a retailer's profits to a range between 6% and 7%.     

农业院校促进乡镇经济发展的个案研究

在知识就是第一生产力的今天，乡镇经济的发展已不仅是地方政府、乡镇企业的责任，农业院校在履行其育人、科研功能的同时，更应该发挥其服务社会的功能，为乡镇、县域经济的发展起到巨大的带动、推进作用。文章以位于吉林市昌邑区左家镇的吉林农业科技学院为例，分析农业院校在自身发展壮大的同时对所在地方经济的促进作用，将有高等教育辐射的左家镇与没有高等教育辐射的土门岭镇在人均收入、农林牧渔各项产值等方面进行比较，用翔实、准确的数字表明：农业院校是促进乡镇经济快速发展的主力军。     

反倾销规则与“中欧石材案”

反倾销规则是 WTO允许的世界各国均可采用的维护公平贸易秩序、抵制不正当竞争的重要手段之一 ,其规则非常严密 ,主要是明确规定了反倾销必须同时具备的三个条件及反倾销的程序。WTO成立以后 ,各成员方纷纷修改本国的反倾销法律 ,我国于 2 0 0 1年 12月 10日颁布了《中华人民共和国反倾销条例》,使之与 WTO的反倾销规则相一致。同时 ,也在积极利用 WTO反倾销规则来反对他国反倾销的滥用。 2 0 0 1年引起各界广泛关注的欧盟对我国石材业反倾销申诉案 ,经涉诉的我国 2 7家企业的积极应诉 ,终以欧盟撤诉 ,我方取得全面胜利而告终。这是我国按照 WTO原则建立自我保护体系 ,有效保护本国经济利益和经济发展的重要举措。意味着我国政府也将利用反倾销这把“利剑”来保护国内企业     

China＇s Social Security： Case Studies of the Interest Groups and Policy Monopoly

This section introduces an asymmetric information model to analyze the interest groups and policy monopoly in social security management, mainly focusing on the relation between the interest groups in the social security products market and the social security government institutions at the central level, namely the major social security policy makers.     

网络营销创新定位、运行模型及案例分析

网络营销的创新性质包括创新程度和创新效益两个方面。创新程度反映网络营销创新的影响力度,是过程性指标;创新效益反映网络营销的经济效应,是结果性指标。将创新度和效益度垂直相交构成一个二维平面,并将其分别划分为高低两个级别段,可形成四个定位模块,即触网型创新、网络实验型创新、网络营销专家和运营网络型创新。一般情况下,企业网络营销创新往往从触网型创新出发。进而上升到运营网络型创新阶段,但在网络营销实践中,某些创新运动并不是严格地起于触网型创新,而止于运营网络模型,更有逆向运行的情况存在。     

杜邦莱卡:化纤产业互动营销的经典案例

系统地剖析了杜邦莱卡纤维独特的互动营销模式，阐述了导入消费品营销手法、与下游企业建立互动联盟从而推动化纤产品市场营销运作的新思路，激励本土化纤食业创新理念、争取主动。     

结果质量与过程质量探析

服务营销专家格罗鲁斯认为，服务质量包括两方面内容：结果质量与过程质量。但对于结果质量与过程质量孰轻孰重，是一个在理论上和实际生活中都未能很好解决的问题。文章在回顾相关理论的基础上，认为判断服务结果质量与过程质量孰轻孰重不能一概而论，而应综合考虑行业、顾客和社会文化等因素，将提升服务质量的努力放在不同的方面。     

In at the deep end: Conducting processual research on organisational change

This article provides a series of reflections on the practice of carrying out processual research on organisational change. At a broad level, some of the main tasks associated with conducting company case studies are described and the benefits of this approach for dealing with complex change data are outlined. At a more specific level, the article addresses three main areas tied to the actual “doing” of processual research. First, the notion of tacit knowledge and “getting your hands dirty” by engaging in ongoing in-depth fieldwork. Second, the design and implementation of a longitudinal case study research programme. Third, the advantages and concerns of combining a range of different data collecting techniques in carrying out processual studies. Overall, the main intention is to provide some useful reflections and practical insights, as well as providing something of the flavour of carrying out this type of research.     

Driving organizational citizenship behaviors and salesperson in-role behavior performance: The role of management control and perceived organizational support

Interest in management control approaches and organizational factors associated with higher levels of salesperson performance is reflected in research streams concerned with behavior-based control strategies and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). This study makes two distinct additions to the literature relating to control, organizational citizenship behaviors and salesperson performance. First, the study distinguishes between salesperson in-role behavior performance and outcome performance to model in-role behavior performance as a mediator between OCB and outcome performance. Second, the work supports sales manager control as an antecedent to OCB. A second model introduces perceived organizational support (POS) as an additional antecedent to salesperson OCB, and more important, as a consequence of sales manager control. This construct has not been included in prior salesperson OCB studies. Results show sales manage control has a stronger impact on OCB through POS, than directly, and POS has a strong impact on salesperson OCB. Nigel F. Piercy (Nigel.Piercy@wbs.ac.uk) is a professor of marketing in the Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wales and a higher doctorate (D.Litt) from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. His current research interests focus on strategic sales and account management. His work has been published in many journals including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of International Marketing, and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is coauthor to David Cravens onStrategic Marketing (8th ed., Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2006). David W. Cravens (D.Cravens@tcu.edu) holds the Eunice and James L. West Chair of American Enterprise Studies and is a professor of marketing in the M. J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas. He has a doctorate in business administration from Indiana University. His areas of specialization include marketing strategy and planning, sales management, and new product planning. His research has been published in a wide range of journals including theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theInternational Journal of Marketing. Nikala Lane (Nikala.Lane@wbs.ac.uk) is a senior lecturer in marketing in the Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wales and was previously a senior research associate at Cardiff University. Her research interests are focused on gender and ethics issues in sales and marketing management. Her work has been published widely in the international literature and includes articles in theJournal of Management Studies, theBritish Journal of Management, the Journal of Business Ethics, and theJournal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. Douglas W. Vorhies (dvorhies@bus.olemiss.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing in the School of Business Administration at the University of Mississippi. His primary research interests are in the areas of marketing strategy, marketing resources and capabilities, the links between innovation, strategic market management and performance, and professional selling and sales management. His other work has been published in many journals including theJournal of Marketing, Decision Sciences, theJournal of Product Innovation Management, theEuropean Journal of Marketing, and theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management.