Business Commons^™

Light Vs. Regular Brands: Do They Follow The Same Patterns?, Therese Sjostrom, Polymeros Chrysochou, Armando Maria Corsi, Carl Driesener

Polymeros Chrysochou

Little is known about the market performance of brands that carry light claims (i.e. light brands) in comparison to their regular counterparts. In order to fill this gap, we explore whether light brands a) perform similarly to regular brands in terms of brand performance measures, b) achieve similar loyalty levels to regular brands, and c) share the same customers (show similar partitions) as regular brands. The analysis is conducted on four product categories (Colas, Flavoured Carbonated Beverage, Soups and Margarine) using household panel data provided by TNS. The results show that when considering standard brand performance measures (i.e. market share, …

Do Organic Labels Drive Repeat Purchase Loyalty? Investigating Reasons Of Growth Of The Danish Organic Food Market, Polymeros Chrysochou, Boyan Vassilev

Polymeros Chrysochou

This paper investigates the reasons that have led to the growth of the organic food market in Denmark; a country with the highest market among countries in Europe. To fulfil this objective trends are explored in market performance and repeat purchase loyalty for a period of ten years (2001-2010) across nine product categories. The results show that growth during this period is primarily driven by penetration, whereas repeat purchase loyalty and purchase frequency remain almost stationary. Another important finding is that organic foods suffer in terms of repeat purchase loyalty, mainly due to lack of availability. Implications from this research …

Generating A Random Collection Of Discrete Joint Probability Distributions Subject To Partial Information, Luis V. Montiel, J. Eric Bickel

Eric Bickel

In this paper, we develop a practical and flexible methodology for generating a random collection of discrete joint probability distributions, subject to a specified information set, which can be expressed as a set of linear constraints (e.g., marginal assessments, moments, or pairwise correlations). Our approach begins with the construction of a polytope using this set of linear constraints. This polytope defines the set of all joint distributions that match the given information; we refer to this set as the “truth set.”We then implement aMonte Carlo procedure, the Hit-and- Run algorithm, to sample points uniformly from the truth set. Each sampled …

Should Ad Hoc Committees Have Fiduciary Duties?: Judicial Regulation Of The Bankruptcy Market, David L. Perechocky

David L Perechocky

This article is the first to substantively and directly address the question of whether informal creditor groups in bankruptcy cases could and should have fiduciary duties to other creditors. The rise of activist investors and claims traders in bankruptcy proceedings has significantly changed the bankruptcy process, to much controversy. One particularly contentious topic is the growing presence of informal, or “ad hoc,” creditor groups. Proponents argue that these groups are beneficial by enabling creditors to work together efficiently and effectively, but critics view their actions as disruptive and often unfair to other creditors. A recent decision in the Washington Mutual …

The Bonds That Tie: Will A Performance Bond Require That A Surety Deliver A Certified Green Building?, Darren Prum, Lorilee Medders

Darren A. Prum

In 2006, the city of Washington, D. C. passed landmark legislation that introduced green building requirements for various types of structures into the jurisdiction over a five-year period. A noteworthy aspect of the legislation directed construction projects within the district to purchase green performance bonds up to $3 million to guard against a privately owned project’s failure to meet its green building aspirations. In essence, this law placed the burden of guaranteeing compliance with the government’s policy upon the contractors and sureties of a green building project.

Following the passage of this act, confusion amongst the construction industry and sureties …

Brett Loebel, Resume, Brett Loebel

Brett Loebel

My social media methodologies reflect an integrated mix of communications strategies and tactics with blogs, social media networks, social bookmarking, discussion groups and forums to drive brand awareness, online engagement, expand market share, and increase traffic to your website/landing pages/social media pages that support the business objectives set by management. You may visit my website at http://www.brettloebel.com for a complete detail on my methodological approach to optimizing websites.

Interview With Thompson Reuters, Bryane Michael

Bryane Michael (bryane.michael@stcatz.ox.ac.uk)

Interview with Informer Magazine

Hong Kong Sponsors Should Have Little To Fear From Proposed Sfc Rules, Bryane Michael

Bryane Michael (bryane.michael@stcatz.ox.ac.uk)

New rules threaten to increase the legal liability of IPO sponsors in Hong Kong. What effect will the new rules have the IPO market in Hong Kong --- and the sponsors who prepare the new issue? We argue that the new rules -- rather than hindering the IPO market -- promise to deepen it. We review (for the lay-person) the relevant law, previoius econometric studies in the area, and provide conclusions.

The Middle Eastern Wealth Management Industry: Boon Or Bust?, Bryane Michael

Bryane Michael (bryane.michael@stcatz.ox.ac.uk)

The wealth management industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) represents a roughly $800 billion opportunity. Yet, tapping this opportunity will require new strategies by the wirehouses looking to penetrate into this market. In this paper, we argue that Middle-Eastern policymakers and bankers will need to develop an indigenous wealth management industry which keeps the super-wealthy’s investments at home. Developing a local national wealth management industry requires letting in foreign competition, changing banking and securities laws, and growing local companies whose share are worth buying. We show why Turkey has succeeded in growing a nationally and internationally competitive …

Who Is Your Company? Where To Locate To Compete In Emerging Markets, Bryane Michael

Bryane Michael (bryane.michael@stcatz.ox.ac.uk)

Who’s your city? For companies in the developing world, this question determines their market sizes, access to innovative ideas, regulatory environment and proximity to innovative staff. In this brief, we identify the most attractive metropolitan areas to locate in to sell in emerging markets. Taipei, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Shanghai and Beijing comprise our top 10 list. Close runners-up include Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Cairo and others. We describe how companies can work with local governments to provide a more attractive business environment in these emerging metropoli. Some ways including providing resources for airport …

5x20 Matrix For Knowledge Management Lifecycle Based On The Five C’S Model And A Critical Review, Philadelphia University

Philadelphia University, Jordan

No abstract provided.

The Short Story In Jordan Its Origin And Development, Philadelphia University

Philadelphia University, Jordan

No abstract provided.

Negotiations On The Bilateral Investment Treaty Between China And The Usa: Consensus, Controversies And Prospect (In Chinese), Karl P. Sauvant, Huiping Chen

Karl P. Sauvant

The negotiation on the bilateral investment treaty between China and the USA in October 2012. So far, the two parties have almost reached agreements on preamble, scope of investor, most-favored-nation treatment, fair and equitable treatment, indirect expropriation, and denial of benefits. The controversies between the two parties focus on national treatment, performance requirement, labor and environment standard, and some provisions on investor-state dispute settlement. Among them, the most disputed and difficult issue is national treatment. The authors suggest some constructive solutions to these controversial issues, and believe that the future concluded China-US BIT based on negotiations and compromise will play …

Strategizing And Executing The Town Hall Meeting During A Time Of Crisis., Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

No abstract provided.

The Sustainable Corporation: Lessons From Avatar, Norm Borin

Norm A. Borin

This article uses the fictitious company RDA from the movie Avatar as a textbook case of corporate non-sustainability. We provide a list of mistakes RDA made and provide parallel corporate examples in our own society in the areas of stakeholder analysis, corporate governance and systems thinking using the triple bottom line. For each area we present a framework that companies could use to operate in a more sustainable manner.

Pricing In Online Auction Procurement: A Review Of Empirical Methods And Current Understandings, M. Zhou, William Y. Jiang, M. Cao

William Y. Jiang

The online auction has become an important channel for procurement and sourcing management. As firms often expect lower procurement prices through online auctions, how the prices are determined in online auctions should be of major interest to procurement managers and supply chain researchers. Despite the abundant empirical studies on online auction prices, an aggregated view is still absent. This study fills this gap with a review of extant studies. More specifically, this study provides summaries of all major theories behind online auction pricing, defines and analyzes often encountered econometric issues, and discusses how the treatments of these issues have been …

Alignment Of Strategy With Structure Using Control Systems, Syeda Noorein Inamdar

Syeda Noorein Inamdar

Considerable experimentation in organizational form has focused executive attention on the design and use of management control systems (MCS) to align environmental context and corporate strategy with a variety of organizational structures. The paper explores how two multibusiness health care firms with a similar corporate strategy–but with different structures, centralized versus decentralized–design and use MCS. Strategy based contingency model is applied to examine the interrelationships among five constructs–environment, corporate strategy, organizational structure, MCS and performance. Results demonstrate the design and use of MCS are contingent on the extent of centralization between the corporate office and business units. In the decentralized …