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1 – 10 of over 32000Douglas J. Miller and Hsiao-shan Yang
Resource redeployment may occur when a firm exits from one line of business and enters another. We suggest that when multiproduct firms identify opportunities in new high-growth…
Abstract
Resource redeployment may occur when a firm exits from one line of business and enters another. We suggest that when multiproduct firms identify opportunities in new high-growth markets, their entry will occur alongside exit from low-growth markets when the firm is resource-constrained. For our sample of over 47,000 high-tech US firms in CorpTech from 1993 to 2004, 5% of the firm-years include simultaneous entry and exit at the product market level, which we term “product turnover.” Firms are more likely to engage in product turnover when there is a larger spread between the highest and lowest growth rates for the product markets in the firm’s portfolio. This effect is strongest for small- and medium-sized firms, which tend to be privately held. Therefore, future research on resource redeployment might find fruitful ground in samples of mid-size firms.
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A. Gunasekaran, S.K. Goyal, T. Martikainen and P. Yli‐Olli
In any organization, the information relevant to the problem areais essential in making decisions. The top management makes decisionslike expansion of the plant, automation…
Abstract
In any organization, the information relevant to the problem area is essential in making decisions. The top management makes decisions like expansion of the plant, automation, recruitment of senior personnel and diversification of products, etc. There are many kinds of tools or methods available to analyse these problem areas. Among these, turnover rate is useful for many purposes, especially in evaluating the performance of an organization. Here, the turnover rate is considered in order to identify the effect of the number of types of products or product mix on the performance of a manufacturing system. It can be defined as the ratio of average demand to average inventory level. The model presented discusses the effect of the number of products/product mix on the turnover rate of a production system when the appropriate market value of the products is considered. The turnover rate discussed is based on the economic production quantity (EPQ) and the manufacturing cycle time of each product. An example is presented to explain the application of the model.
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In comparing results across organisations, inventory turnovers often provide a simple, useful and pragmatic utilisation measure of this working asset. Managers, however, must take…
Abstract
In comparing results across organisations, inventory turnovers often provide a simple, useful and pragmatic utilisation measure of this working asset. Managers, however, must take into account differences such as size and product lines to interpret safely comparisons. In this paper a simple model relates turnover to volume and the breadth of product lines. Several case histories are presented to show how managers can develop meaningful turnover targets to adjust for these differences.
Robert Kozielski, Michał Dziekoński, Michał Medowski, Jacek Pogorzelski and Marcin Ostachowski
Companies spend millions on training their sales representatives. Thousands of textbooks have been published; thousands of training videos have been recorded. Hundreds of good…
Abstract
Companies spend millions on training their sales representatives. Thousands of textbooks have been published; thousands of training videos have been recorded. Hundreds of good pieces of advice and tips for sales representatives have been presented along with hundreds of sales methods and techniques. Probably the largest number of indicators and measures are applied in sales and distribution. On the one hand, this is a result of the fact that sales provide revenue and profit to a company; on the other hand, the concept of management by objectives turns out to be most effective in regional sales teams with reference to sales representatives and methods of performance evaluation. As a result, a whole array of indices has been created which enable the evaluation of sales representatives’ work and make it possible to manage goods distribution in a better way.
The indices presented in this chapter are rooted in the consumer market and are applied most often to this type of market (particularly in relation to fast-moving consumer goods at the level of retail trade). Nevertheless, many of them can be used on other markets (services, means of production) and at other trade levels (wholesale).
Although the values of many indices presented herein are usually calculated by market research agencies and delivered to companies in the form of synthetic results, we have placed the emphasis on the ability to determine them independently, both in descriptive and exemplifying terms. We consider it important to understand the genesis of indices and build the ability to interpret them on that basis. What is significant is that the indices can be interpreted differently; the same index may provide a different assessment of a product’s, brand or company’s position in the market depending on the parameters taken into account. Therefore, we strive to show a certain way of thinking rather than give ready-made recipes and cite ‘proven’ principles. Sales and distribution are dynamic phenomena, and limiting them within the framework of ‘one proper’ interpretation would be an intellectual abuse.
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Robert F. Hurley and Hooman Estelami
The service profit chain postulates that higher employee satisfaction levels lead to high customer satisfaction, and ultimately affect consumer loyalty and profitability. One…
Abstract
Purpose
The service profit chain postulates that higher employee satisfaction levels lead to high customer satisfaction, and ultimately affect consumer loyalty and profitability. One construct that has largely been ignored in most of this research has been the role of employee turnover. This paper proposes that employee turnover can also be a powerful predictor of employee sentiment and resulting customer satisfaction levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The relationship between employee satisfaction, employee turnover and customer satisfaction ratings is explored using an extensive data set from a chain of convenience stores. Employee perceptions were obtained from a survey which developed and administered to all store personnel. Turnover data were obtained from archival data. The data are analyzed using path analysis.
Findings
The test of various turnover indicators suggests that certain employee turnover indicators can perform as effectively as single‐item employee satisfaction ratings do in predicting customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
The finding that turnover predicts customer satisfaction as effectively as employee satisfaction is new and has important implications. More attention should be paid to managing customer satisfaction through managing turnover. Also, the use of turnover as an indicator of customer satisfaction should be explored in light of the fact that employee turnover is a naturally collected managerial measure, and does not require the costly administration of employee satisfaction surveys.
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This paper inquires into the tendency of German food retailers to market organic products as private‐label (PL) products.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper inquires into the tendency of German food retailers to market organic products as private‐label (PL) products.
Design/methodology/approach
After a review of the literature, results of a survey of retailers and processors, are presented.
Findings
Interviewed processors of the 62.7 per cent produce organic PL. Retailers sell organic PLs, because they care about “food safety”, “retail as a brand” and “health”, hoping to reach new customers. Requests for entry fees, investment grants and equipment allowances are less important for processors of organic PLs than for those not producing PLs. However, PL producers have to meet other conditions imposed by retailers and feel slight more dependent on few customers.
Originality/value
The results present the first survey of the competitive relation between organic manufacturers and retailers in Germany.
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Laura A. Costanzo and John K. Ashton
Within the UK, low levels of saving has been a continuing policy concern for both government and financial regulators. Why individuals save less than might be expected has been…
Abstract
Purpose
Within the UK, low levels of saving has been a continuing policy concern for both government and financial regulators. Why individuals save less than might be expected has been increasingly associated with an inability of ma… financial services consumers to comprehend product quality and to underta… of firms in this debated through examining the product choices presented to consumers by financial services providers.
Design/methodology/approach
We examine two aspects of poor consumer decision making, yet to be fully explored in the wider regulatory literature. Initially, we review how financial services providers consider product innovations and the marketing strategies they pursue in constructing their offerings to consumers. Secondly, we ass… a popular financial product, the interest bearing deposit account, to examine what savings product choices are actually presented to consumers. These areas are explored through semi‐structured interviews undertaken with semi financial services managers and through a review of the entire product offerings to the interest bearing deposit market.
Findings
We report that savings markets are characterised by high product turnover and short duration. Consumers in the UK, alike many developed nations, and often unfamiliar with, and lack confidence when, buying savings products. Example consumers often have difficulties when making product comparis… Faced by so much proliferation of undifferentiated products, consumers find difficult to make a straightforward comparison between products.
Research limitations/implications
It is concluded that further public education, a greater understanding of ho… firms present product choices to consumers and how consumers perceive s… choices are areas demanding further research and consideration.
Originality/value
Consideration of how firms make decisions with regard to product innovation and savings problem more generally is an area demanding further investigation from a range of disciplinary approaches. Finally, given the perceived high importance of financial services to individuals and the nation… economy at large, some scrutiny should be placed on the issue of the high profitability of the financial services industry and how this is reflected into product innovations and, therefore, differentiated quality choices presented various categories of consumers.
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Ricardo Pires de Souza, Hélio Roberto Hékis, Lucas Ambrósio Bezerra Oliveira, Jamerson Viegas Queiroz, Fernanda Cristina Barbosa Pereira Queiroz and Ricardo Alexsandro de Medeiros Valentim
The Six Sigma project aims at a continual reduction in process variation, eliminating defects or flaws in products and services, optimizing processes and reducing costs. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The Six Sigma project aims at a continual reduction in process variation, eliminating defects or flaws in products and services, optimizing processes and reducing costs. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate improvements in customer service index (CSI), product cycle time and inventory turnover after implementation of a Six Sigma project.
Design/methodology/approach
This research focused on the value stream mapping of a company process, performed by a multidisciplinary team that implemented a pull production system, the standard operational procedure in machines that were process bottlenecks, and the kanban system.
Findings
After three months of implementation, the authors observed an 11.7 percent reduction in product cycle time, increase in customer service index (CSI) from 93.9 to 97 percent and increase in inventory turnovers from 4.9 to 9.
Originality/value
The project was in accordance with the competitive strategy of the company, which is focused on customer satisfaction and cost reduction.
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There has long been a feeling that, because of the dominance of the English language in marketing literature, many excellent contributions in other tongues go unheeded by the…
Abstract
There has long been a feeling that, because of the dominance of the English language in marketing literature, many excellent contributions in other tongues go unheeded by the scholar. This first issue of the Review of European Marketing Literature (REML) is a modest start to ensure a wide knowledge of what marketing issues are being discussed in French, German, Dutch, Italian and the Scandinavian and Central European languages.
Luong Anh Thu, Sun Fang and Sham Sunder Kessani
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect handicraft export from Vietnam to trading partners in the period 2007–2017, and how those factors influence the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect handicraft export from Vietnam to trading partners in the period 2007–2017, and how those factors influence the export of handicraft products of Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses the approach of gravity model based on panel data to evaluate the export of Vietnamese handicraft to 50 main trading partners, covering the period from 2007 to 2017.
Findings
The estimated results reveal that Vietnam’s GDP, importer’s GDP, trading partner’s population, Vietnam’s inflation, the economic distance between Vietnam and importer, the openness of Vietnam, importing country’s common language and the issue that both Vietnam and importer are member of APEC are the main factors affecting Vietnamese handicraft export.
Research limitations/implications
This study also has some limitations. It is limited in the data, as some other areas in the world have not been observed and included in the research. In the future, a study with large-scale data of space and time should be conducted, which will certainly give a universal result and fewer errors. However, this paper, in our opinion, provides a significant result and may help the government and policy makers to undertake appropriate measures to improve and promote the export of Vietnamese handicrafts to the world markets.
Practical implications
The research describes the current situation, and it studies factors influencing Vietnam’s handicraft export using the qualitative analysis. The result should be useful for the policy maker and enterprises to promote export activities of Vietnamese handicrafts to international markets.
Social implications
Handicraft export of Vietnam plays an important part in retaining the culture value and social development as well as encouraging sustainable development for the rural poor within the country.
Originality/value
The past research related to Vietnamese handicraft export almost analyzed the situation to promote export handicrafts. This research is based on the study of factors affecting trade and the gravity model to elaborate and supplement the factors that affect the export of handicraft in accordance with the actual conditions of Vietnam.
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