Influence of market orientation on performance: the moderating roles of customer participation breadth and depth in new product development

ABSTRACT

With a greater number of B2B firms integrating customers into the new product development (NPD) process, how to utilize customer involvement in NPD is an important decision because it may be a double-edged sword carrying both bright and dark sides. Utilizing a sample of 193 B2B firms across various industries, we validate previous research that suggests market orientation positively influences NPD performance and subsequently examine how this relationship may either be enhanced or diminished contingent upon how customers are utilized in the NPD process. The results show that the market orientation–NPD performance relationship is enhanced by having customers participate in a greater number of activities throughout NPD (customer participation breadth) and diminished when customers are involved at deeper levels (customer participation depth). This research suggests that the exact involvement of customers is a critical decision and has clear implications for the dialogues about customer involvement and management of customer relationships.     

On the impact of spatial pattern,aggregation, and model parameters in planar Huff-type competitive location and design problems

A chain wants to set up a single new facility in a planar market where similar facilities of competitors, and possibly of its own chain, are already present. Fixed demand points split their demand probabilistically over all facilities in the market proportionally with their attraction to each facility, determined by the different perceived qualities of the facilities and the distances to them, through a gravitational or logit type model. Both the location and the quality (design) of the new facility are to be found so as to maximize the profit obtained for the chain. Several types of constraints and costs are considered. Applying an interval analysis based global optimization method on several spatial patterns in a quasi-real-world environment, the behaviour of optimal solutions is investigated when changes are made in the basic model parameters. The study yields valuable insight for modellers into the impact of spatial pattern and various model parameters of the model on the resulting location and design decision. Spatial patterns differ in distribution of demand, of own and/or competing facilities, and of facility qualities. Studied model parameters include push force effects, investment restrictions and aggregation of demand. An extended version of this paper including additional studies on model parameters and the exact data used in the computational experiments is available at Optimization Online (see Tóth et al. (2008)). This work has been supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain (TIN2008-01117, SEJ2005-06273/ECON and ECO2008-00667/ECON), Junta de Andalucía (P08-TIC-3518), and in part by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).     

基于结合分析的产品意象造型设计研究

为设计出符合消费者感性需求的产品,提出基于结合分析的产品意象造型设计方法。首先采用多元尺度法和聚类分析法选择典型样本,进而应用形态分析法确定产品的属性和各属性的水平。其次,利用因子分析法确定产品的感性意象,并用造型吸引力对其进行整合。在此基础上,使用对应分析法对感性意象和产品属性的关系进行探讨。最后,利用结合分析建立二者之间的数学模型。该文结合办公座椅进行研究,结果表明该方法是正确可行的。     

An econometric analysis of the effects of the penalty points system driver's license in Spain

This article seeks to quantify the effects of the penalty points system driver's license during the 18-month period following its coming into force. This is achieved by means of univariate and multivariate unobserved component models set up in a state space framework estimated using maximum likelihood. A detailed intervention analysis is carried out in order to test for the effects and their duration of the introduction of the penalty points system driver's license in Spain. Other variables, mainly indicators of the level of economic activity in Spain, are also considered. Among the main effects, we can mention an average reduction of almost 12.6% in the number of deaths in highway accidents. It would take at least 2 years for that effect to disappear. For the rest of the safety indicator variables (vehicle occupants injured in highway accidents and vehicle occupants injured in accidents built-up areas) the effects disappeared 1 year after the law coming into force.     

The impact of childhood symptoms of conduct disorder on driver aggression in adulthood

Background

Despite limited empirical investigation, existing scientific literature suggests that individuals with a history or current diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD) may be more likely to demonstrate reckless and aggressive driving. Much of the limited research in this field examines the impact of childhood CD on driver behaviour and collision risk in young adults. Few if any, studies assess the impact of this disorder on driver behaviour beyond age 21 years. The current research is a population-based study of the impact of CD symptoms during childhood on the risk of engaging in driver aggression during adulthood.

Methods

Data are based on telephone interviews with 5230 respondents who reported having driven in the past year. Data are derived from the 2011–2013 cycles of the CAMH Monitor, an ongoing cross-sectional survey of adults in Ontario, Canada aged 18 years and older. A binary logistic regression analysis of self-reported driver aggression in the previous 12 months was conducted, consisting of measures of demographic characteristics, driving exposure, problem substance use, alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and childhood (before age 15) symptoms of CD.

Results

When entered with demographic characteristics, driving exposure, and other potential confounders, childhood symptoms of CD increased the odds of reporting driver aggression more than two-fold (adjusted OR = 2.12). Exploratory analyses of the interaction between childhood symptoms of CD and age was not a significant predictor of driver aggression.

Conclusions

Results suggest that symptoms of CD during childhood are associated with significantly increased odds of self-reported driver aggression during adulthood. Limitations and future directions of the research are discussed.     

基于组织机构代码数据浅析宁波市海洋产业结构现状与发展对策

本文以宁波市组织机构代码数据库为基础,对宁波市海洋产业组织机构的区域分布、经济行业、机构类型、经济类型、投资金额等进行分析,以此来探讨宁波市海洋产业结构、区域发展重点、投资方式、发展方向等方面的对策措施。     

Factors influencing the effects of the Starlink Satellite Project on the internet service provider market in Thailand

This quantitative study explores the impact of the Starlink project on the internet service provider market in Thailand. A convenience sampling technique was used to recruit 617 participants, who completed an online questionnaire. The study examined several independent variables, including demographic factors, such as gender, age, education, status and income, and user behaviour, such as devices used for internet access, time spent online and social media platforms used. Binary regression was used to analyse the data. The results showed that the Starlink project had a significant impact on the competitive structure of the internet service provider market in Thailand. This impact was influenced by factors such as age, education, income, internet duration, mobile internet use, Facebook and TikTok. The study recommends that businesses develop effective strategies to meet the needs and expectations of their customers. Organisations with internet access have the opportunity to collect data to develop new products, which can give them a competitive edge. It is important to maintain a competitive environment to prevent artificially low collection rates or exorbitant prices due to collusion or tacit pricing agreements.     

基于时间竞争的单元组织结构初探

合拢管理包括三层涵义:合拢个体独立运作、组织全面协调、坚定的目标和信任体制.基于合拢管理思想,提出了基于快速反应能力的单元组织结构模型.人员、角色和业务单元是组成单元组织框架的最基本构件.业务单元与工作团队在工作目标及性质、组织依赖性和柔性、规模边界和管理方式等方面存在本质区别.     

An encompassing view on markdown pricing strategies: an analysis of the Austrian mobile phone market

Fierce competition and rapid technological progress have considerably reduced the life cycle length for mobile phones in the last decade. Once a new mobile phone is launched, providers on the market under consideration practice a markdown strategy. Profits of the providers are generated mainly via the monthly (base plus variable) fees accruing during contract duration whereas the mobile phones are over large parts of their life cycle sold below the constant purchase price charged by the OEM supplier. The problem of applying such markdown strategies has recently been further emphasized by an increased competition among the providers cutting back revenues generated by the contracts. Although providers frequently complain about this situation of pre- and cross financing the mobile phones, none of them has yet risked stopping the practiced markdown pricing strategies. In our contribution, we investigate a new model for the analysis of the effects of alternative (markdown) pricing strategies. Building on previous research that has investigated the dynamics and feedbacks between pricing and inventory decisions caused by delays and inaccurate forecasts, we develop a more encompassing view on the market considering the dependency and dynamics between customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat purchase rates. Furthermore, we explicitly model price and reference price effects and their impact on the attraction of new customers. Various data sources are employed to calibrate a system dynamics model for one of the providers and its interrelation with a typical supplier and the customers. Our model indicates that a reduction of the currently practiced markdown strategy would reduce the provider’s overall profit for contract customers. In contrast, the results for prepaid customers could be improved by a careful reduction of markdowns.This research was supported by WWTF project: Mathematical Modeling for an integrated Demand and Supply Chain Management. The authors wish to thank Alf Kimms, the editor and the anonymous referees for their valuable comments     

An analysis of thermal gradient impact in thermal–mechanical fatigue testing

Thermal–mechanical fatigue (TMF) testing is a good method to decrease the number of isothermal tests for non‐isothermal behaviour laws identification. Based on experimental results of the TMF Standard European Working Group, this study aims to investigate the impact of thermal gradients on mechanical heterogeneity within the gage length specimen. The quality of the TMF test is examined by an energy criterion related to error bounds for nonlinear behaviour. A sensitivity analysis is then made for a given behaviour law identified on a TMF test to answer to the above question. Moreover the geometric instability phenomenon, already noticed by Sheffler and Coffin, is modelled herein.     

The influence of human capital investment on the exports of services and goods: An analysis of the top 25 services outsourcing countries

Abstract and Key Results

The impact of technology development on the future of the labour market in the Slovak Republic

One of the current open labour market issues is to analyze how the technology progress in production processes will affect the labour market, especially in the context of the replacement of human workers with machines. This paper aims to identify potential threats faced by the labour market in Slovakia, which based on the analysis, employs a significant number of workers in areas susceptible to automation. According to the results, industrial production in Slovakia is divided into several areas, where almost 41% of all industrial workers are employed in the manufacture of metal constructions, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, semitrailers and trailers and the number of people employed in this sector is increasing linearly over the reference period from 2008 to 2016. The paper focuses on potential scenarios that may arise in the labour market in the near future, using Cobb-Douglas production function. In the original model, the production function of the company is based on production factors in which labour plays an important role. However, with the growth of automation, the original model of companies is changing, transforming, and workforce who has played the key role in the production process of goods or services are becoming redundant due to the growing autonomy of machines. The analyzed scenarios show situations that may arise in the labour market if a company changes the scale of the use of production factors in its production process. In other words, given the current situation as labour costs increase, the power and capabilities of machines are growing and a company wants to stay competitive on the global market.     

The role of impressions on users’ tactile interaction with product materials: An analysis of associative concept networks

Depth impressions are an inner associative layer of humans’ expressed impressions. To analyze tactile interaction, it is essential to examine what users feel and imagine and how they create depth impressions by touching and looking at different product materials. On the basis of tactile interactions, this study aims to capture and analyze users’ depth impressions of materials. This research also proposes an ‘impressionably’ new tactile material for design from the viewpoint of depth impressions. To capture depth impressions, we investigated users’ tactile interactions in an experiment. The experiment used samples of six common natural and artificial materials, along with the proposed new micro-print-based material. A concept network-based method was employed in two stages to analyze the experimentally obtained verbalized protocols and to identify any depth impressions. This method allowed us to capture and analyze the depth impressions behind the surface impressions. This research found that the feel of materials’ tactile naturalness and users’ habituation to the tested samples are related to their depth impressions and the complexity of their concept networks. The depth impressions and concept network of the proposed micro-print material are distinct and beyond those for existing natural or artificial materials. These findings will provide the basis for employing new analysis tools and facilitate the development of impressionably better tactile materials for design.     

The impact of strategic inventory and procurement strategies on green product design in a two-period supply chain

This study analyses the impact of power structures and strategic inventory on the development-intensive and marginal-cost-intensive green product types under three procurement strategies. The results suggest that (i) in the manufacturer-Stackelberg game, the retailer retains strategic inventory to earn higher profits. The retailer's decision improves profit for the manufacturer and greening level of the product; (ii) for the marginal-cost-intensive green product, the power structures and procurement strategies cannot make any impact on the greening level and the retailer cannot build up strategic inventory under retailer-Stackelberg game; (iii) under the Nash game, the procurement decision creates conflict between the supply chain members for marginal-cost-intensive green products; (iv) if the retailer does not maintain strategic inventory or procures product in a single lot, then the manufacturer prefers to produce marginal-cost-intensive products and retailer prefers to sale development-intensive products to receive maximum profits under manufacturer-Stackelberg game. The optimal preferences are concurrent under retailer-Stackelberg game, but not under the Nash game; (v) single-period equilibrium solutions may exhibit sub-optimal characteristics, but two-period planning can lead to exemplary outcomes in the perspective of the greening level and profits of the supply chain members.     

产业集群特征对集群内人才根植意愿的影响——基于我国四个产业集群的一项实证研究

通过文献回顾与理论推理,提出产业集群特征与集群内人才根植意愿的关系模型,并以武汉光谷、北京中关村、苏州工业园区、东莞振安工业园四个产业集群为对象进行实证分析.运用验证性因素分析、方差分析、回归分析以及优势分析等方法处理数据.研究发现:集群经济、集群人才政策和集群文化三个维度对人才根植意愿有显著的正向影响,其影响程度从大到小依次为集群人才政策、集群经济、集群文化;不同职务、不同年龄的人才其根植意愿具有显著差异;集群生活环境、性别、学历对集群内人才根植意愿没有显著影响.     

我国大中型工业企业研发效率及其收敛性分析

运用Malmquist指数法对我国2006~2011年30个省、自治区和直辖市大中型工业企业的研发活动效率进行了动态测度,并运用Barro的经济收敛性分析框架对东中西三大地带大中型工业企业研发效率的收敛性进行了实证,结果表明：我国大中型工业企业研发活动效率大幅提升,且是依靠“追赶效应”和“移动效应”双轮驱动,其中中部地区省份大中型工业企业研发效率增长最快,东部地区居中,西部地区最慢。我国大中型工业企业研发效率存在收敛现象,其中东部和西部地区省份大中型工业企业研发效率收敛性现象显著,且东部地区局部收敛速度最快,但中部地区大中型工业企业研发效率收敛现象不明显。提出了要抓住当前大中型工业企业研发效率收敛的良机,综合运用经济和行政手段,快速提升西部地区大中型工业企业研发效率,缩小与中东部地区的差异。     

Policy analysis and decision making in a network: how to improve the quality of analysis and the impact on decision making

In a network, parties have different interests and are interdependent. This hampers collective decision making. If, in such a network, a policy analysis is made to support the decision making, the findings from this analysis are likely to lack authority. For a policy analysis to be authoritative and to contribute to collective decision making, a process of interaction between the analyst and the parties concerned should be organized. This is called process management. This article presents a number of guidelines for such a process. They are based on two case studies into the use of policy analysis in networks.     

An empirical study on the impact of critical success factors on the balanced scorecard performance in Korean green supply chain management enterprises

Rapid industrial modernisation and economic reform have been features of the Korean economy since the 1990s, and have brought with it substantial environmental problems. In response to these problems, the Korean government has been developing approaches to promote cleaner production technologies. Green supply chain management (GSCM) is emerging to be an important approach for Korean enterprises to improve performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of GSCM CSFs (critical success factors) on the BSC (balanced scorecard) performance by the structural equation modelling, using empirical results from 249 enterprise respondents involved in national GSCM business in Korea. Planning and implementation was a dominant antecedent factor in this study, followed by collaboration with partners and integration of infrastructure. However, activation of support was a negative impact to the finance performance, raising the costs and burdens. It was found out that there were important implications in the implementation of GSCM.