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The major findings of this exploratory research are that a firm’s level of market commitment through future investments will increase in strategically important markets, regardless of high consumer complicity to purchase fake goods; that companies will employ additional anti‐counterfeiting tactics in markets with a high level of pirates and a high degree of enforcement of its intellectual property rights; and that companies employ a standardized approach of anti‐counterfeiting tactics targeted at consumers.

This paper aims to investigate popular technical trading rules (TTRs) applied to the FTSE Turkish all-cap and small-cap indexes from September 23, 2003 to August 9, 2019 to determine rules that produce net excess returns over the Buy-and-Hold strategy (B&H).

Five TTRs, namely, simple moving average, relative strength index, moving average convergence divergence, momentum, and rate of change, are applied, singly (one indicator) and in combination (two indicators) for multiple time periods.

For the small-cap index, some TTRs – including the famous Golden Cross, when the 50-day moving average rises above 200-day moving average – produced net annual excess returns (NAERs) over the B&H strategy, for the entire period and each sub-period, after accounting for risk and transaction costs. Results were mixed for the large-cap index. The results support Cakici and Topyan (2013).

This study investigates several indicators, but future studies should examine others, especially based on volume and price.

Investors in the FTSE Turkish small-cap index may use some trading rules to earn NAERs over the B&H strategy.

This research is important because it addresses a gap in the research by examining numerous TTRs in the Turkish stock market. Studies of TTRs in Turkey are scarce.

ALLAN RAMSAY'S The Gentle Shepherd is one of these dramas that few people nowadays have read or seen. True, the production in The Royal High School during two of the earlier Edinburgh Festivals drew the attention of many to this old favourite, and the charm of Ramsay's words and songs produced in the classic setting of the old High School hall is such a pleasant memory that a revival at some future Festival would be welcome.

The cruise industry has witnessed steady growth, with passenger volume increasing from 17.8 million in 2009 to 30 million in 2019. In the context of global competition and an uncertain business environment, competition in business has changed dramatically from battles of “firm versus firm” to “supply chain versus supply chain”. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to understand the cruise industry from a chain perspective, which has not drawn widespread research attention.

This paper brings together the insights, opinions, concepts and frameworks from a literature review of different disciplines (maritime shipping, tourism management, logistics management, operations management and supply chain management) and analysis results from 22 semi-structured interviews to make an early attempt to conceptualise the cruise supply chain (CSC).

The cruise supply chain is elaborated on the process, the role of each entity and its characteristics by comparing with the maritime supply chain and tourism supply chain. Based on the understanding of the CSC, two specific characteristics of the Chinese CSC are examined, which need further investigation.

The CSC is articulated with detailed processes and characteristics based on the literature review and empirical study. The findings of this paper not only advance the knowledge of the supply chain in the cruise industry but also highlight the importance of further research on the CSC.

The accessible nature of straw bale building lends itself well to self-built and workshop-built housing; straw is known to be both relatively inexpensive and easy to work with for people new to construction. A question then arises as to whether or not hiring an experienced builder can reduce overall costs of such a structure. This study conducts a worldwide survey to straw bale home owners to answer this question and to determine general economic data on straw bale homes, such as: what home owners value, who the main builder typically is, and what usually causes budgets to overrun. A key finding is that self-building is economically justified if the projected saving is higher than the cost of a contractor and if the usually longer time needed to build the home is amenable to the investor. An economic case study is also conducted on a straw bale home in Radomlje, Slovenia. All building expenses are categorized by building phase and subgrouped by cost in accordance with accepted building standards. A key observation is how demanding any specific building phase is in comparison to conventional building.

As a network analyst, I am fascinated by social interactions. The ways in which people connect with one another and exercise power and authority by deploying different forms of capital. This piece returns to the underlying and changing kinship network structure of the village of Ambridge over time, explores the role of ‘kin-keeping’ as deployed by the matriarchs Peggy and Jill. I am most interested in the ways in which gender as performed by the women of the village intersects with abundance or lack of other forms of capital, and how far inequalities persist and why. It is clear that there is an intergenerational power dynamic at play in the spreading or hoarding of the various dimensions of power layered together and how forms of capital intersect for protection or precarity. Social and cultural capital at birth in the village is defining in terms of both ‘serious’ life outcomes as well as how more minor infractions and foibles are viewed. Further, I return to discuss how my various network-based predictions have fared over time. The Headlam Hypothesis and the fate of Ed Grundy – King of Ambridge are revisited and their durability explored.

The aim of this paper is to describe an innovative promotional and product development approach that has implications for new product developers in consumer industries.

The case describes an approach to new product development and promotion. The organization's original name has been retained as well as individual managers' names.

The paper provides information and action approaches to new product developers that may reduce the risk of product failure. The subject company recognizes that third party competitive awards are public relations tools to build sales and product image. Their results offer direct implications for new product development and promotional teams in the wine industry. By extension, the implications may aid traditional companies outside of the wine industry.

As in all case studies, the specific conditions found in one organization may not be found more generally in others. Readers are cautioned that the conclusions drawn in the case may have limited applicability.

The case depicts an innovative application of word of mouth generating quality competitions in boosting sales. It also depicts the use of consumer and expert opinions in selecting wines to submit for judging. Other organizations may find the technique of value in their own efforts.

The case is one of the first to describe a successful promotional technique that minimizes the reliance on advertising and concentrates on the product quality characteristics resulting from the product development process.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of messages in anti-counterfeiting campaigns that use a fear of legal prosecution, role models, peer pressure, linkages to organized crime and education.

A web survey of consumer perceptions regarding the effectiveness of different anti-counterfeiting campaigns on complicity was administered to 1,786 consumers in Brazil, China, India, Russia and the USA.

The effectiveness of the different anti-counterfeiting campaigns varies by country. Some can be used more successfully than others to limit complicity with the goal to transform consumers from accomplices of infringers to advocates of authenticity.

An unexpected finding of this study was that several of the anti-counterfeiting campaigns were perceived as effective by consumers who reside in countries, such as China, that are well known for flourishing domestic counterfeit markets. Thus, these exploratory results provide a starting point for future researchers and practitioners to create and evaluate the efficacy of messages in anti-counterfeiting campaigns in markets where counterfeits and pirated goods are readily accessible in both physical and virtual markets.

Prior research establishes why consumers accept counterfeit and pirated products and also suggests a number of strategies to decrease its occurrence, mostly from a managerial perspective. This is the first multi-country study to assess whether consumers believe anti-counterfeiting campaigns will curb product counterfeiting.

Previous research has found that industry concentration and firm efficiency affect stock returns. However, it is not clear if concentration is a byproduct of efficiency and hence its effect on stock returns is driven by efficiency. This paper aims to examine the relationships between industry concentration, firm efficiency and average stock returns. Mainly, it aims to answer if the effects of industry concentration and firm efficiency on stock returns are independent and significant.

The stochastic frontier approach is used to estimate firm efficiency. The Herfindahl index is used to measure industry concentration. Regression and vector autoregressive analyses are performed to examine cross-sectional and lagged relationships between concentration, efficiency, profitability and stock returns. The characteristics-based benchmark approach is also used to investigate performance of test portfolios.

Industry concentration and firm efficiency have independent and significant effects on average stock returns through profit margins and market shares, which are related to firms’ profitability. Industry concentration has a greater positive impact on market shares than on profit margins, whereas firm efficiency has a greater positive impact on profit margins than on market shares. In sum, highly efficient firms in highly concentrated markets have lower distress risks and hence provide lower average stock returns.

The paper shows the linkages between industry concentration, firm efficiency, profitability and stock returns that have not been documented together in prior studies. Businesses can better understand the impact of concentration and efficiency on market shares and profit margins. Researchers may consider incorporating concentration and efficiency, both of which are meaningful microeconomic variables, into an asset pricing model. Investors can enhance their returns by having a zero-cost portfolio with long and short positions in stocks of firms with different levels of concentration and efficiency.