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In the present paper, amixed (quantitative and qualitative) and comparative (Europe vs. North America) analysis is accomplished for the assessment of the production and diffusion of strategy knowledge. With such an analysis we have attempted to identify which countries have the most consolidated and prestigious means for the diffusion of Strategic Management investigation at international level, and what is the character of its scientific production in the field. We have also tried to ascertain whether international or local cooperation plays a substantive and increasing role in the production and dissemination of knowledge on Strategic Management, specially nowadays, when, in despite of the strong existing competition, an ever greater attention is paid to the role played by cooperation.
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Julien Chevallier and Dinh-Tri Vo
In asset management, what if clients want to purchase protection from risk factors, under the form of variance risk premia. This paper aims to address this topic by developing a…
Abstract
Purpose
In asset management, what if clients want to purchase protection from risk factors, under the form of variance risk premia. This paper aims to address this topic by developing a portfolio optimization framework based on the criterion of the minimum variance risk premium (VRP) for any investor selecting stocks with an expected target return while minimizing the risk aversion associated to the portfolio according to “good” and “bad” times.
Design/methodology/approach
To accomplish this portfolio selection problem, the authors compute variance risk-premium as the difference from high-frequencies' realized volatility and options' implied volatility stemming from 19 stock markets, estimate a 2-state Markov-switching model on the variance risk-premia and optimize variance risk-premia portfolios across non-overlapping regions. The period goes from March 16, 2011, to March 28, 2018.
Findings
The authors find that optimized portfolios based on variance-covariance matrices stemming from VRP do not consistently outperform the benchmark based on daily returns. Several robustness checks are investigated by minimizing historical, realized or implicit variances, with/without regime switching. In a boundary case, accounting for the realized variance risk factor in portfolio decisions can be seen as a promising alternative from a portfolio performance perspective.
Practical implications
As a new management “style”, the realized volatility approach can, therefore, bring incremental value to construct the conditional covariance matrix estimates.
Originality/value
The authors assess the portfolio performance determined by the variance-covariance matrices that are derived by four models: “naive” (Markowitz returns benchmark), non-switching VRP, maximum likelihood regime-switching VRP and Bayesian regime switching VRP. The authors examine the best return-risk combination through the calculation of the Sharpe ratio. They also assess another different portfolio strategy: the risk parity approach.
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Chia-Hsun Chang, Jingjing Xu, Jingxin Dong and Zaili Yang
Container shipping companies face various risks with different consequences that are required to be mitigated. Limited empirical research has been done on identifying and…
Abstract
Purpose
Container shipping companies face various risks with different consequences that are required to be mitigated. Limited empirical research has been done on identifying and evaluating risk management strategies in shipping operations with different risk consequences. This paper aims to identify the appropriate risk mitigation strategies and evaluate the relative importance of these strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review and interviews were used to identify and validate the appropriate risk mitigation strategies in container shipping operations. A questionnaire with a Likert five-point scale was then conducted to rank the identified risk mitigation strategies in terms of their overall effectiveness. Top six important strategies were selected to evaluate their relative importance under three risk consequences (i.e. financial, reputation and safety and security incident related loss) through using another questionnaire with paired-comparison. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was then conducted to analyse the paired-comparison questionnaire.
Findings
After conducting a systematic literature review and interviews, 18 mitigation strategies were identified. The results from the first questionnaire show that among the 18 strategies, the top three are “form alliances with other shipping companies”, “use more advanced infrastructures (hardware and software)” and “choose partners very carefully”. After conducting fuzzy AHP, the results show that shipping companies emphasize more on reducing the risk consequence of financial loss; and “form alliance with other shipping companies” is the most important risk mitigation strategy.
Originality/value
This paper evaluates the risk mitigation strategies against three risk consequences. Managers can benefit from the systematic identification of mitigation strategies, which shipping companies can consider for adoption to reduce the operational risk impact.
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The paper aims to review the latest management development across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to review the latest management development across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
The paper finds that the first purpose of corporate universities is not education. Corporate universities build up specific knowledge relevant to the business. They create a workforce that suits the corporate strategy of the company. In a globalizing environment superior skills can bring sustainable competitive advantage. The development of corporate universities has been a direct consequence of increasingly strategic human resources. They offer a flexible concept that can adapt to the nature of the organization's business environment, react to market changes and competitive pressure.
Practical implications
The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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Christopher A. Boone, Christopher W. Craighead and Joe B. Hanna
The purpose of this paper is to assess and document the progress of postponement research, identify current gaps, and provide direction for future research efforts.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess and document the progress of postponement research, identify current gaps, and provide direction for future research efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
Postponement literature published from 1999 to 2006 was reviewed.
Findings
The review revealed a significant increase in the number of postponement research efforts, many of which at least partially addressed past challenges noted in previous research. Several opportunities to continue addressing these past challenges were identified. Future researchers are challenged to validate new postponement concepts and extend postponement research beyond its manufacturing context. Other challenges call for the continued assessment of the relationship between postponement and uncertainty and the investigation into the slow rate of postponement adoption among practitioners.
Research limitations/implications
This effort is not an exhaustive review of all postponement research. This review does not consider unpublished papers, papers in non‐academic journals, or papers presented at conferences.
Practical implications
This review is a useful resource for supply chain researchers interested in supply chain strategies and the evolution of postponement as a supply chain concept.
Originality/value
This paper uses the challenges of past research as a measure of the progress of postponement thought and theory. The gaps identified and challenges made will serve as a foundation upon which future researchers can build.
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Rajiv D. Banker, Raj Mashruwala and Arindam Tripathy
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the strategic positioning of firms and the sustainability of firm performance. The paper argues that pursuing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the strategic positioning of firms and the sustainability of firm performance. The paper argues that pursuing a differentiation strategy leads to more sustainable financial performance compared to following a cost leadership strategy. However, a differentiation strategy may also be associated with greater risk.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate the research questions, the authors utilize publicly available archival data consisting of 12,849 firm-year observations for the period 1989-2003. In the first stage of the analysis, factor analysis is used to determine firms’ strategic positioning. The resulting factor scores are subsequently used in regression analysis to investigate the sustainability of performance based on the strategic positioning of firms.
Findings
The results indicate that both cost leadership and differentiation strategies have a positive impact on contemporaneous performance. However, the differentiation strategy allows a firm to sustain its current performance in the future to a greater extent than a cost leadership strategy. The differentiation strategy, though, is also associated with greater systematic risk and more unstable performance.
Originality/value
Sustainability of performance refers to how much a firm's current profitability can be sustained in future periods. The main contribution of this study is the comparison of generic strategies based on the sustainability of firm performance. This aspect of the strategy-performance link has not been considered in prior work. Another contribution of the study is that it considers multiple dimensions of firm performance in order to evaluate the trade-offs involved with pursuing different strategies. In particular, the authors contribute to the literature by documenting that while differentiation leads to more sustainable earnings, it also leads to riskier and more unstable earnings.
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Charles Blankson and Stavros P. Kalafatis
This article aims to examine positioning strategies of international and multicultural‐oriented service brands.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine positioning strategies of international and multicultural‐oriented service brands.
Design/methodology/approach
Following review of the literature and pilot study, three main populations (executives and experts, companies' marketing communications, and the target group of consumers) were examined. The methodology concerned triangulation research involving face‐to‐face long interviews, secondary data, content analysis and mail survey.
Findings
The paper highlights that while no single positioning strategy is significant across the four card brands (Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Diners Club), “the brand name” positioning strategy appears to be the most preferred among Visa, MasterCard and Amex and not Diners Club. The findings also show that “top of the range” positioning strategy is favored among Amex and Diners Club card brands. However, “country of origin” positioning strategy is incompatible within the study setting.
Research limitations/implications
Apart from the low response rate from survey of the general public, another limitation of this study is the concentration on a single sector of the services industry. The latter poses difficulties for generalization across all service brands.
Practical implications
Service managers now have an insight into the positioning activities of the plastic card brand sector. These serve as building blocks and benchmarks for appreciating and operationalizing the concept of positioning – a research issue that is missing in the extant literature.
Originality/value
This study is a step forward in the operationalization of the concept of positioning. The research also provides diagnosis of the congruence between management's presumed positioning strategies, firm's actual positioning practices and target group's perceptions of the positioning strategies. Without such knowledge, managers cannot expect to choose the best competitive options to defend or enhance their positions in the market place.
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Deborah Hutchings, Nick Heather, Emma Dallolio, Eileen Kaner, Catherine Lock and Paul Cassidy
Excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of health and social problems in the UK. Research has shown that alcohol‐related problems are responsive to early identification and…
Abstract
Excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of health and social problems in the UK. Research has shown that alcohol‐related problems are responsive to early identification and brief intervention in primary health care. However, primary health care professionals have generally been reluctant to implement alcohol screening and brief intervention into routine practice. Addressing this issue has been the latest focus of an ongoing World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Project. The present study (Phase IV) is concerned with the implementation of screening and brief intervention materials and procedures for widespread and routine use in primary health care.
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Pielah Kim, Hua Chang, Rajiv Vaidyanathan and Leslie Stoel
Customization allows brands to provide goods that match customers’ preferences, but its impact on consumer–brand relationships is unclear. This study aims to examine the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
Customization allows brands to provide goods that match customers’ preferences, but its impact on consumer–brand relationships is unclear. This study aims to examine the impact of two key moderators on the effectiveness of customization to enhance brand’s perceived partner quality, which mediates the relationship between customization and brand attitude.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 (n = 219) tests the moderated–mediation relationship, the effect of customization (IV) on perceived partner quality (mediator), and its indirect effect on brand attitude (DV), which is moderated by consumers’ self-construal orientation (Moderator 1). Study 2 (n = 416) extends the model tested in Study 1 by including an additional moderator, shopping task context (Moderator 2).
Findings
Results empirically demonstrate the impact of self-construal and shopping task context on the effectiveness of customization in improved customer–brand partner quality and eventual brand attitude.
Practical implications
Customization may not appeal to every customer for the same reason. Marketers must target customers’ individual traits (independents vs interdependents) and understand the context of the shopping task context (self-purchase vs gift-giving).
Originality/value
The work reveals how brands can enhance consumers’ perceptions of the brand by allowing them to customize the product. It is novel in demonstrating that customization is not just a fine-grained segmentation strategy but a brand building tool. It highlights contextual factors affecting the outcome of customization by demonstrating the conditions under which it is most effective.
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