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The purpose of this paper is to propose a chi‐square‐based heuristic statistical procedure that considers the most recent bid prices of self and competitors in proposing an optimum winning bid price. The use of simple regression method to predict the adjusted optimum bid price is also considered.

In order to achieve this objective, the proposed approach uses past bid prices of the case company and its competitors. A heuristic chi‐square statistical procedure is then developed to obtain the expected bid prices. The absolute difference between the prices is obtained and the same is adjusted to get the optimal bid price for the forthcoming bid.

It is demonstrated that the proposed heuristic chi‐square‐based approach is superior to that of the regression method, which is otherwise in practice in the case company, since the latter still gets support from the former. Further, the paper throws light on how a familiar statistical method could be conveniently but effectively applied as a tactic of marketing management.

The method is developed based on the experience of the case company in bid participation. Therefore, the study on the performance of the application of the proposed method from the perspective of different types of companies can be taken up as a future work. Also, if appropriate, the time and other factors may be considered as other independent factors along with the tender quantity in predicting the tender price.

The proposed heuristic chi‐square procedure is simple to implement as the required data on bid prices are usually available once the bids are open. The case study reveals how the method can be successfully implemented to win bids in a competitive market place. Also, the procedure is more generic so that it can be adapted as it is or with slight modification as desired by companies of any nature participating in bids.

The proposed approach would have a high value among manufacturing firms and marketing managers who participate in tenders with an aim to increase sales turnover which in turn will increase profit. The paper is unique of its kind and will help researchers to think of either extending or proposing such new approaches as they need.

This paper aims to investigate the role of store brands as a time- and money-saving heuristic in the context of an omnipresent store brand hierarchy. Drawing on the work of Tversky and Kahneman (1982), it proposes that the store brand hierarchy is characterised by many of the traits of frequently used heuristics employed by grocery shoppers.

Based on Chaiken’s (1980) model of information processing and Stigler’s (1961) perspective on the economics of information search, the study deductively establishes a model of store brand proneness to reveal the role of store brands as time- and money-saving heuristic. The model is tested on a sample of 535 US households using structural equation modelling and subsequent multigroup analysis based on two subsamples of households experiencing high financial pressure but who differ in terms of time pressure.

The findings provide strong support for store brands as a time- and money-saving heuristic and as a substitute for price search among households experiencing financial and time pressures.

The main limitation is that the study is based on a sample of households located in one region of the US market.

Retailers need to be aware that any extension of the store brand portfolio beyond the traditional multi-tiered price/quality hierarchy risks undermining what has emerged to be a valuable heuristic used by certain shoppers.

This study extends our understanding of the role of store brands in the marketplace by going beyond their conceptualisation as a competitive device used by retailers to instead position them as a decision-making tool used by consumers. It also deepens our understanding of the boundary between rational search activities and the transition to the use of frequently flawed heuristics within the shopping process.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how IT managers' decision styles affect their evaluation of information technology.

Four different decision styles were assessed in a leadership test directed towards IT managers. Each style included two dimensions: confidence judgment ability and decision heuristic usage. Participants belonging to each style were interviewed and their answers analysed with regard to their reasoning about central areas of IT management.

Results suggest that a decision style combining intuitive and analytical capabilities lead to better evaluations of information technology.

The results of the present study are valuable for the understanding of how decision styles impact on IT management in everyday life.

Facing a high birth rate, a falling mortality rate, and inconsistent policies on family planning from the 1950s to the early 1970s, the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched its widely known one‐child policy in 1979. The intention was to restrict population growth by reducing fertility through family planning and thereby to conserve the nation's resources to advance economic development. The effectiveness of the one‐child policy has varied greatly because policy regulations are differentially carried out by officials of provinces, municipalities, counties, communes, and minority regions. Generally speaking, the state policy has had greater acceptance in urban areas but is far less rigidly enforced by local officials in rural areas and for certain national minorities, which can have a second child under certain circumstances (Chow and Chen, 1994).

There is increasing evidence of the inadequacy of ‘rational’ explanations of asset pricing. It has been established empirically that mood, induced by such natural phenomena as lunar phases or sunshine, affects asset prices. This paper provides evidence from one‐day cricket international (ODI) matches played by India that there is a significant negative impact on the daily stock market returns when the national team loses. Empirically, losing in India matters somewhat more than losing outside. The mood induced by losing a match appears conditioned by history, in that losing to nations that represent the ‘colonizers’ matters but losing to nations that share India's experience of being ‘colonized’ does not.

The aim of this paper is to examine whether the concepts of organizational politics, procedural justice, and psychological contract breach can serve as indicators of a global evaluation of the (un)fairness of the organization, and that this general fairness evaluation predicts attitudes and behaviors.

The paper compares the model to one in which the concepts are considered in terms of both their unique effects and the interrelationships among them. In addition, the study examines how psychological contract types are related to each model. A survey of 311 bank employees in Israel was conducted.

The findings show that neither model is strongly superior to the other. This suggests that the three exchange variables can be conceptualized, not only in terms of their unique effects and interrelationships, but also as aspects of one global concept of fairness.

This study suggests that the concepts of organizational politics, procedural justice, and psychological contract breach can serve as indicators of a global evaluation of the (un)fairness of the organization, and that this general fairness evaluation predicts attitudes and behaviors.

This study examines whether the absolute number heuristic holds for consumers' responses to higher-priced versus lower-priced products. Further, it explores whether the different construal level as induced from presence or absence of a product image can be a boundary condition for the absolute number heuristic.

Four experiments were conducted. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were presented with a discount either in the amount off or percent off format, for products whose prices were 99 Yuan, 100 Yuan and 101 Yuan, respectively. In Experiment 3, the prices were changed to be 90 Yuan, 900 Yuan and 9,000 Yuan, respectively. In Experiment 4, the prices were 48 Yuan and 480 Yuan, respectively.

Experiment 1 showed neither main effect of discount frame nor interaction between price level and discount frame for all dependent variables (i.e. willingness to pay or WTP, purchase intention, attitude and perceived value), thus posing a challenge to the absolute number heuristic. Notably, the lack of main effect and interaction for purchase intention, attitude and perceived value were replicated in Experiments 2, 3 and 4. With WTP being the dependent variable, however, Experiment 4 showed that the effect of discount frame was dependent on price level.

The current findings pose a challenge to the absolute number heuristic and contribute to the literature by revealing that the joint effects of price level and discount frame can be moderated by whether an ad contains the product image.

It is necessary for marketers to realize that inclusion of a product image may eliminate the effect of discount frame. Specifically, in terms of promoting a relatively expensive product, in order for the percent off discount to enhance the amount of money that consumers are willing to pay, an ad without a product image may be more favorable.

The current study is the first to challenge the absolute number heuristic by showing that the interaction between price level and discount frame is contingent on whether an ad contains the product image.

Demonstrates the application of the recently proposed shifting mean heuristic to statistical quality control situations. Proposes the heuristic search procedure primarily as a tool for retrospective (or post mortem) data analysis, retrospectively examining a known data set to establish shifts of process mean, as illustrated in the traditional Manhattan diagram (i.e. a plot of observations with superimposed sub‐process means). However, because the procedure can be operated automatically, it is suggested that where sampling rates are relatively slow it could also be used for online quality monitoring by providing a dynamic Manhattan diagram which changes shape when a newly developed series of observations establishes a shift from a pre‐specified reference level or target value. Briefly reviews other approaches to establishing shifts in process mean, describes the concepts underlying the heuristic search procedure, and reviews the statistical considerations involved. Compares the procedure with other approaches, and provides examples of the heuristic search procedure operating as a tool for retrospective data analysis using three time series kindly provided by the editor which were analysed “blind” by the author. The editor’s comments on the results are appended.

This study aims to examine ship loading strategies during large-scale military deployments. Ships are usually loaded to a stowage goal of about 65% of the ship's capacity. The authors identify how much cargo to load onto ships for each sailing and propose lower stowage goals that could improve the delivery of forces during the deployment.

The authors construct several mixed integer programs to identify optimal ship loading strategies that minimize delivery timelines for notional, but realistic, problem variables. The authors study the relative importance of these variables using experimental designs, regressions, correlations and chi-square tests of the empirical results.

The research specifies the conditions during which ships should be light loaded, i.e. loaded to less than 65% of total capacity. Empirical results show cargo delivered up to 16% faster with a light-loaded strategy compared to fully loaded ships.

This work assumes deterministic sailing times and ship loading times. Also, all timing aspects of the problem are estimated to the nearest natural number of days.

This research provides important new insights about optimal ship loading strategies, which were not previously quantified. More importantly, logistics planners could use these insights to reduce sealift delivery timelines during military deployments.

Most ship routing and scheduling problems minimize costs as the primary goal. This research identifies the situations in which ships transporting military forces should be light loaded, thereby trading efficiency for effectiveness, to enable faster overall delivery of unit equipment to theater seaports.