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This paper aims to investigate the national brand manufacturer's ability from corporate social responsibility (CSR) innovation as a counterstrategy against the private label by a retailer. By constructing a model of manufacturer–retailer interaction, the paper attempts to analyze that the national brand manufacturer’s decision on the CSR innovation and the effect of such innovation on the retailer’s motivation of launching the private label. The results of the theoretical model in this paper could be applied by the actors in supply chains in making decision on CSR innovation and the launch of a new brand.

The theoretical model in the paper describes a manufacturer–retailer interaction with the presence of the private label and CSR innovation on the national brand. Specifically, the manufacturer has option of innovating its products and makes them to be more socially responsible; in the meanwhile, the retailer has option of launching its private label. Moreover, there are heterogeneous consumers with respect to their preferences on the CSR feature. The altruistic consumers prefer the socially responsible product while the normal consumers are indifferent between the socially responsible and basic products. By predicting the expected profit, the two firms make decision over the supply chain.

The authors find that the CSR innovation can indeed restrict the retailer’s incentive to launch the private label. Because of the presence of the altruistic consumers, the CSR innovation can help the national brand product to expand its market relative to the situation without the innovation. They demonstrate that the national brand manufacturer wishes to invest more in CSR innovation under non-linear pricing contract and the retailer is more likely to launch the private label. This is because that the non-linear pricing contract makes the two firms to concern more about their joint profit, causing the competition is less fierce.

This paper explains that the CSR innovation in the national brand product can be an effective counterstrategy by the manufacturer to deter the launch of the private label, which has not been considered by the existing studies about national brand-private label competition. Moreover, this paper also shows that the CSR innovation may benefit both the national brand manufacturer and the retailer under some conditions. In addition, the results of the paper provide some insights to the national brand manufacturer when making decision on the CSR innovation and to the retailer when reacting the manufacturer’s CSR innovation.

From a supply chain perspective, counterfeiting is only part of a wider phenomenon defined as “illegitimate trade,” which includes supply chain infiltrations, factory overruns, gray and parallel markets, retail service counterfeiting and shoplifting. Although different forms of illegitimate trade can be observed, companies address them mainly through legal action, overlooking other counterstrategies such as technology adoption, supply chain integration and communication campaigns. This paper aims to understand which illegitimate trade phenomena are the most common and damaging to high-end fashion firms, identifying the counterstrategies that companies leverage the most and assessing the effectiveness of the counterstrategies.

A survey was conducted to address the above-mentioned research goals. It was targeted at Italian high-end fashion companies and 112 usable questionnaires were collected.

Empirical evidence shows that the most common illegitimate trade events are pure counterfeiting and parallel/gray markets. Various forms of illegitimate trade can co-exist and are correlated, but each of them calls for a targeted bundle of countering strategies. A synergic relationship among strategies is also observed.

This paper addresses the issue of counterfeiting and illegitimate trade with a holistic approach, highlighting the necessity of an interfunctional approach within the company as a condition for effectively countering these problems.

Against the success of Japanese exporting companies during the last decade, a brief but comprehensive review of the factors behind their performance is presented. Based on a combination of secondary and primary data, the structures within which the exporting companies operate are spelled out and integrated. The integration is shown to lead naturally to a particular strategic posture dominated by a long‐run perspective and a high quality/price ratio in products meticulously adapted for very specific market segments. Potentially valuable counterstrategies drawing upon the Japanese experiences and military analogies are developed.

The paper covers the topic of power strategies between actors and the interplay between the service ecosystem and the actor(s), and vice versa. The paper addresses the lack of conceptual development concerning power considerations beyond dyadic, rigid and role-based models found in general marketing literature. Further, the paper opens the area of power relationships, using the service ecosystem as conceptual framework.

The paper has a systemic and sociological view on service-ecosystems using mainly Giddens' structuration theory. Service-dominant logic literature from 2004 to 2021 is systematically reviewed for power issues and qualitatively analyzed. Mayring's step model of, firstly, inductive and, secondly, deductive category development is applied. Subcategories were identified, subsumed and finally grouped into five categories to increase the level of abstraction.

The article investigates power considerations and enables marketers to create power through (1) imbalance, to find strategies and counterstrategies for (2) actor's behavior, to understand the (3) actor's embeddedness within a service ecosystem and its dynamic nature, to learn about (4) institutions and actor's institutional work. A set of seven propositions is presented for the conceptualization of power strategies in a service ecosystem.

The consideration of power on different levels supports both the zooming-in and zooming-out to observe and understand the power phenomena in a service ecosystem. Seven propositions about episodic as well as systemic power relations are presented. Power is conceptualized in service ecosystem as transformative capability of an actor to intervene on institutions and in some way alter them, recognizing that power relations are co-created, dynamic and context-dependent.

The article recognizes different levels (micro-meso-macro) of power considerations and helps practitioners and marketers to create power through (1) imbalance, find strategies and counterstrategies for (2) actor's behavior, understand the (3) actor's embeddedness within a service ecosystem and its dynamic nature, learn about (4) institutions and actor's institutional work. This enables managers to find an appropriate choice of action in their specific context to transform the service ecosystem(s) they are embedded in.

As all social systems are power systems, a service ecosystem can only be fully understood by integrating the elementary concept of power. As such, power considerations within actor strategies and the service ecosystem are relevant to improve the understanding of transformation of the service ecosystem. Power, in the sense of the transformative capability of actors, changes the social and material world.

Power issues are important to understand the “hows” of resource integration in service ecosystems and its transformation or stability.

Product counterfeiting has been ubiquitously observed in various segments of the supply chain. The intrinsic values of brands create more opportunities for counterfeiting. The damaging reputation of such brands leaves them to deal with the fallouts of counterfeits. Hence, such companies address them mainly through legal action, price and quality strategy. However, consumer characteristics and the random distribution of counterfeit products to the consumer types affect the effectiveness of a counter strategy. This paper aims to generate insights on how to leverage digital technology to curb counterfeit entities with consideration of consumer characteristics and the random distribution of counterfeits to them.

The authors used game theory and vertical differentiation model to understand and encounter deceptive counterfeiting of brand products. The study understands the economic relationship between a brand product manufacturer and consumer types based on their awareness. Further, the authors have considered different cases in the model to gain useful insights.

The results reveal that when the consumers are proactive, informed and value-conscious brand product manufacturers take digital technology counterstrategy to earn the maximum revenue. Hence, this analysis highlights that the effectiveness of a counterstrategy critically depends on the consumer characteristics, whether they are proactive, informed or unaware.

The study outlines that brand product manufacturers must emphasize on the digital supply chain, product redesign and product tracking facility to empower informed and value-conscious and proactive consumers. Moreover, the government should take steps to create awareness among uninformed consumers via information campaigns.

This paper incorporates the role of consumers and brand product manufacturers to understand and address the deceptive counterfeiting issue.

The purpose of this study is to explore how nationalistic appeals may affect consumers’ perception and purchasing of targeted brands. Qualitative historical data from old China (1900–1949) reveal that social movement groups can adopt nationalistic appeals assisted by meaning framing – defined as a creative interpretation of symbols, designs, behaviors, social events and cultural identities to serve social and political goals – to shape consumers’ attitudes toward foreign brands. After examining the mechanisms and processes underlying consumer boycotts from 1900 to 1949, the responsive strategies of affected foreign companies are illustrated.

Critical historical research method is applied to historical data and historical “traces” from China’s corporate documents, memoirs, posters, advertisements, newspapers and secondhand sources documenting Chinese boycotts from 1900 to 1949.

Consumers may pursue interests beyond economic interests. Nationalistic appeals can mobilize consumer boycotts against foreign brands that were perceived to support or relate to targeted countries. Political framing of certain events shapes consumers’ perceptions and concomitant brand choices.

Although differences between historical and current contexts may require tailoring past marketing strategies to current conditions, past strategies can inform current and future strategies.

Strategies adopted by foreign companies in old China (1900–1949) can help contemporary companies design effective marketing strategies for a hostile marketplace infused with nationalistic appeals and competing interests.

Although local companies can adopt economic or political nationalism to realize their economic goals, it represents a double-edged sword that can harm national brands.

A historical analysis of nationalistic business appeals in pre-1949 China can inform the counterstrategies modern companies adopt to overcome consumer boycotts.

Through a case study of a recently established but rapidly growing research-intensive university in China, this study explores how transnational joint doctoral programs are strategically instrumentalized to overcome policy restrictions on postgraduate degree accreditation. It utilizes the cumulative (dis)advantage theory as the analytical lens. This study investigates the innovative, bottom-up initiation of transnational higher education tailored to the development goals of the university and this region, thus providing an alternative perspective for the dominant top-down discourse on transnational higher education research in China.

This study employs a qualitative case study design that incorporates semi-structured interviews and document analysis to investigate the examined university’s joint doctoral programs.

The study examines how, through its transnational joint doctoral programs, the case university actively accumulated the advantages of recruiting excellent research students, cultivating the public’s confidence and deepening international collaboration. These advantages created a virtuous circle, which further reinforced each other and accelerated the university’s development. The disadvantages include power disparities between the case university and its partners, students’ study discontinuity because of temporal and spatial division and the challenges of co-supervision. Accordingly, the university implemented counterstrategies such as adopting a differentiated stance with varying partners, offering flexible administrative and management supports and aligning differently with various supervisors’ collaboration styles.

This study presents innovative institutional strategies in the Greater Bay Area of China to pursue rapid development and internationalization through transnational higher education programs. It also strives to illuminate the significant role of transnational higher education in facilitating experimental governance with Chinese characteristics.

Comparative education research in Japan is strongly oriented toward emphasizing fieldwork, unlike Western methodologies that aim for theorization. For this reason, it is sometimes regarded as peripheral research without a theorizing orientation or as a counterstrategy to Western research. This study examines why Japanese comparative education research emphasizes fieldwork, focusing on discussions at the Japanese Society of Comparative Education from the 1990s to the present, and considers whether the discussion far from aimed at theorizing. It can be said that Japanese comparative educational research, while characterized by a field-oriented orientation, has been trying to analyze the subject with sincerity through more in-depth fieldwork and is aware of the back and forth between theorizing and differentiation. Furthermore, recently, an international, agenda-based approach and the concept of transboundary fieldwork based on triangulation and Border Studies as a new way of looking at the field itself have also emerged. Therefore, it can be said that Japanese comparative educational research, while characterized by a field-oriented orientation, is increasingly aiming for a multilayered and relative analysis of the field, which is an argument autonomously derived from a focus on the field rather than being a strategy or a challenge to Western universalization-oriented methodologies.

The term “nonviolence” is often misconstrued and misunderstood (Schock, 2003). Some people associate it with passivity, neutrality, or the total avoidance of conflict. Others assume it is a “bourgeois” tactic that entails nothing more than negotiation, compromise, and gentle calls for change. Some believe that nonviolence is only for total pacifists – that is, those who, for religious or moral reasons, refuse to use any form of violence under any circumstances. Another misconception is that nonviolent methods can only be used in democracies, where the state is reluctant to crack down violently on civilian resisters. And many think that nonviolent methods are inherently slow – requiring long periods of time to yield results – and are generally less effective than violence methods.

Trade in counterfeit goods is perceived as a substantial threat to various industries. No longer is the emergence of imitation products confined to branded luxury goods and final markets. Counterfeit articles are increasingly finding their way into other sectors, including the fast‐moving consumer goods, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries – with, in part, severe negative consequences for consumers, licit manufacturers, and brand owners alike. This paper seeks to shed light on the economic principles of counterfeit trade and the underlying illicit supply chains.

An extensive literature review was conducted that comprised contributions from different strands of management research.

Though governments as well as management have clearly identified the problem, very little is known – both in practice and theory – about the mechanisms and structure of the illicit market, the tactics of counterfeit producers, consumer behavior with respect to imitation products and the financial impact on individual companies. The diversity of the counterfeit phenomenon underlines the need for further research in this area and the development of company‐specific measures for fighting product piracy.

The clandestine nature of the counterfeit market limits direct accessibility to the phenomenon. Consequently, the existing body of literature does not necessarily cover all aspects of counterfeit activities. The review helps to highlight existing research gaps but may not be able to identify additional aspects of the phenomenon that, thus far, have not been deemed relevant.

The paper critically reviews the current state of research across different management‐related disciplines. From an academic perspective it may serve as a starting point for a future research agenda that addresses the current knowledge gaps. From a practitioner's perspective it is helpful for understanding the relevant influence factors and for developing appropriate, state‐of‐the‐art counterstrategies.