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During the 1990s, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) instituted a policy of arresting and detaining people for minor offenses that occur in public as part of their quality‐of‐life (QOL) policing initiative. The purpose of this paper is to examine the pros and cons of the current policy and compare it with possible alternatives including: arrest and issuing of a desk appearance ticket (DAT); issuing of a non‐criminal citation (violation); street warnings; and toleration of public marijuana smoking.

The paper reviews several studies of QOL policing and examines the pros and cons of the current NYPD policy, compared to possible alternatives.

The number of NYPD arrests for marijuana in public view (MPV) (with most detained for one or two days) increased from 3,000 in 1994 to over 50,000 in 2000, and have been about 30,000 in the mid‐2000s. Most of these arrestees (84 percent) were minority; Blacks were 2.7 more likely and Hispanics 1.8 times more likely to be detained than Whites for an MPV arrest. Minorities received more severe dispositions, even controlling for demographics and prior arrest histories.

The paper recommends that the NYPD change to routinely issuing DATs to reduce detention for marijuana violators. Drug policy reformers might wish to further pursue changing statutes regarding smoking MPV into a violation (non‐criminal) or encourage the wider use of street warnings, as in Britain. Any of these policy changes would help reduce the number detained and the disproportionate burden on minorities associated with the current arrest and detention policy. These policies could help maintain civic norms against smoking marijuana in public.

Tests new proposed tools for measuring media exposure in a crisis management situation. A theoretical formula based on a literature review is applied to two crises: the TWA 800 crash and the ValuJet 592 crash. The application of the proposed formula was generally successful. The outcomes showed that diverse comparisons of media exposure are possible through the new methods.

To achieve objective information about how media delivered messages to cover an issue, the Microsoft antitrust trial case was investigated from the media coverage of five national newspapers in the USA. From the outcomes, this study revealed that Microsoft got better media coverage at the early issue status than the later issue status, public policy status. As the issue developed, the amount of coverage as well as the number of cases had grown. However, at the later public policy status, unfavorable coverage dominated favorable coverage, thus, monetary value which Microsoft had obtained from the coverage was smaller than that of the earlier status. Newly devised formulae for media content analysis were successfully applied to this case and showed the elaborated methodology for investigating an issue. The research register for this journal is available at http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald‐library.com/ft.

Tests new proposed tools for measuring media exposure in a crisis management situation. A theoretical formulae based on a literature review is applied to two crises: the TWA 800 crash and the ValuJet 592 crash. The application of the proposed formulae was generally successful. The outcomes showed that diverse comparisons of media exposure are possible through the new methods.

The purpose of this paper is to examine in greater depth the influence of internal factors on the disclosure of environmental information by companies. The influence of pro-environmental managers´ personal values on environmental disclosure quality is analyzed and the extent to which the influence of those values is mediated by the practices associated with the environmental organizational structure of the company.

The authors use a partial least squares structural equation model to analyze the relationship between the quality of the environmental information disclosed by 137 environmentally sensitive Spanish firms, their level of commitment towards the environment and the personal values of the directors in charge of those reports.

A central finding of this work is that a positive relationship between the pro-environmental managers’ personal values and environmental disclosure quality is fully mediated by the environmental organizational structures of their companies.

A better understanding of the relationship between the personal values of managers and corporate environmental reporting quality will contribute to the design of policies that can enhance firm transparency and accountability, for example, by educating future managers in sustainability values.

Light is cast on the mechanisms that can enhance corporate transparency and accountability in relation to environmental matters.

In this paper, a quantitative study of the internal driving forces of environmental disclosure is conducted, an aspect that has often been ignored in the literature on quantitative voluntary social reporting. The merit of this approach is its contribution to the literature through the analysis of the reasons why powerful actors within firms could (or could not) develop corporate social reporting practices.

The main objective of this study is to examine how political institutions affect economic performance in Ethiopia over the 1980–2019 time periods.

Mainly, the impact of political institution indicators including, level of democracy, political violence, democratic accountability and regime durability have been examined using auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound test approach to co-integration and the error correction model.

This study confirms that level of democracy and democratic accountability has an adverse long effect on the economic performance of Ethiopia. On the other hand, political violence has a negative short-run causal effect on economic performance in Ethiopia. The study concluded that the deterioration of political institutions harmfully affected economic performance in Ethiopia.

Government policymakers should primarily pay attention to promoting and changing those political institutions that harm economic performance. Additionally, better management of political violence has important implications for fostering the economic performance of Ethiopia.

This study provides some valuable evidence on the nexuses between political institutions and economic performance in Ethiopia. Likely, this is the first investigation on the subject under the consideration to use time analysis and will vigorously contribute to the literature as well by employing the ADRL bound test. Previous studies have examined the impact of the institution on economic growth on a cross-country basis. Further analysis is required to understand the effects of institutions such as level of democracy, political violence and democratic accountability on economic development.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the superior relationship between blood lipid- and cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related hematological parameters using superior grey relational analysis (GRA).

A total of 294 individuals who underwent simultaneous routine blood examination and blood lipid examination in the Physical Examination Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College were included in this study. Superior GRA was performed to find out the superior factor in CVD-related hematological parameters and blood lipids. CVD-related hematological parameters included red blood cell distribution width, white cell count, and platelet count, platelet distribution width, mean platelet volume, as well as platelet crit. The indicators of blood lipids analyzed here consist of low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride and total cholesterol.

The results showed that all the grey relational degree of hematological parameters and blood lipids were over 0.8; the superior factor in hematological parameters was PLT, whereas TC was the superior factor in blood lipids.

Findings of this study suggested that hematological parameters are closely related to blood lipids and a potential role for hematological parameters in the prediction of dyslipidemia, which need further study; TC has the greatest influence on hematological parameters, whereas TG displays a minimal impact.

To the authors’ best knowledge, it was the first study to analyze the relationship between various CVD-related hematological parameters and blood lipids via superior GRA.

In mature industries, downward vertical (line) extension has become an increasingly popular strategy, particularly for automobile manufacturers aiming at expanding their consumer bases and/or avoiding competition in higher market segment. This paper aims to examine how Mercedes-Benz (MB) practiced a downward vertical line extension within the same product category. When commercialized as a product line innovation, the MB A-Class was the first and most symbolic move made by a premium brand in the automobile industry.

This paper investigates the microfoundations of a vertical downward extension strategy. To do so, the authors adopt a narrative style to analyze the story of the MB A-Class from its inception to its commercialization. Secondary data sources, such as company websites, annual reports, internal documents, books, public relations and press releases, were used. Qualitative as well as quantitative performance outcomes were assessed using market and product sales in Western Europe (1997-2016) and the results of an MB brand image survey conducted in 1998 following the accident faced by the A-Class.

The case illustrates that contrary to initial assumptions, lower-quality extensions may be relevant for prestige brands under certain conditions and identifies four strategy components that may drive a successful downward stretch: combine organizational, product, process and marketing innovation with the support of dynamic capabilities; manage paradoxes/contradictions in terms of product development; target the high-end of a lower consumer segment; and adopt a “brand humility talk scheme”.

Existing studies primarily focus on consumers’ evaluations of vertical step-down extensions. Rare are the articles that adopt the company’s perspective. Moreover, additional research is needed to assess the short- and long-term impacts of vertical downward extension on performance outcomes.

The case of the MB A-Class encourages top executives to consider the trade-offs inherent to a down-market strategic move: keeping the (premium) brand’s standards high within a reduced cost/price envelope while learning the codes of the new/bottom of the market. In addition, the A-Class may serve as a fundamental school case for marketing managers and creative advertising agencies on what should and should not be done, whether at the product or at the advertising level.

This paper demonstrates that a premium brand that practiced a vertical downward line extension can expand its sales in a mass market, by targeting a small but growing segment with a high willingness to pay for more expensive products. This adds to the contention that it is not the downscale extension product price per se that negatively affects the parent brand but rather where it stands in the hierarchy of the market segment considered and the ability of the premium brand to integrate the downscale extension to its own history (i.e. combining its original values with tangible product benefits while backing the cause of the new market). Finally, the story of the A-Class strongly suggests that any company needs to upgrade its capabilities as part of the learning process of a new market to convert a business opportunity into a market success.

Overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is a major policy concern for many countries. Chinese government has adopted many technologies and management practices to reduce their use. However, little is known about the effects of social-economic method such as short supply chain (SSC) participation. SSC is an important organizational innovation in fresh food supply chains aiming at directly connecting farmers and consumers. Closer relationships between farmers and consumers may result in production behavioral changes. Thus the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of SSC participation on agrochemicals application.

Based on the household level data collected from Jiangsu province in China, this paper employs an instrumental variable (IV) method to address the self-selection bias when we evaluate the effects of SSC participation on use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides. In addition, this paper also distinguishes between growth inputs and facilitating inputs in the production function when we calculate the marginal production values of chemical fertilizer and pesticides.

The empirical results show that SSC participation significantly reduces chemical fertilizer use by 351 kg and pesticides costs by 1659 Yuan (RMB) per hectare, accounting for 43.4% of the average chemical fertilizer use and 49.4% of the average pesticide costs, respectively for Chinese vegetable farms. However, SSC participation still cannot improve the use efficiency of agrochemicals.

This paper uses both application quantities and allocation efficiencies of chemical fertilizer and pesticides to comprehensively evaluate the effects of SSC participations. The results will reveal the core role of SSC played in promoting sustainable development of Chinese agricultural sector dominated by small-scale farmers.

Marketing. Sub subjects: customer segmentation, targeting, positioning and new product launch strategies.

This case can be taught at degree and master level management programmes including distance education mode in business schools having marketing management as one of the subjects.

Maruti Suzuki a leading global Japanese car manufacturer recently launched a new multi utility passenger car with the brand name Ertiga. Ertiga was launched by Maruti Suzuki as life utility vehicle (LUV) using lifestyle categorization instead of using car categorization to position Ertiga using LUV theme. This new category created called LUV is in car categorization between high end hatchbacks and multi utility vehicles/sedans. This case highlights how Maruti Suzuki through effective market research was able to identify a new category and also create and offer a car to the Indian market. This case covers some of the innovative promotional strategies like in film promotions and brand placements which was used to promote Ertiga in India.

The case is designed to enable students to understand the concept of segmentation, targeting, and positioning about the various products launch strategies companies adopt in the emerging markets. Also this case covers the marketing mix concepts and how it was adopted during the Ertiga launch in India.

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