A Strategy for Opening a New Market and Encroaching on the Lower End of the Existing Market

We identify and analyze a scenario where a firm first opens up what we call a “detached” market, by offering a new product that meets a customer need that is very different from (i.e., detached from) the need met by the old established product. Our analysis builds on the previous studies that describe alternate ways in which a new product might open a new market and ultimately encroach on an existing market. Consider the example of cell phones: They opened up a new detached market by meeting the customer need for mobility, a need very different from the traditional attribute of reception quality. By meeting an important detached need, a new product can sell at a high price, even though it might be woefully deficient with regard to the traditional performance dimension (the reception/coverage of early cell phones was sorely lacking). A person who is a high‐end customer for the old product initially despises the new product as a replacement for the old one but might simultaneously be one of the first customers for the new product because it fills the detached‐market need. Over time, the new product improves along the traditional dimension (e.g., cell phone reception/coverage has dramatically improved), and eventually it becomes a replacement for the old product, encroaching from the lower end upward (the first customers to drop their landlines have been lower‐end customers such as students and apartment dwellers, whereas higher‐end business customers still have landlines in their offices). We call this the detached‐market form of low‐end encroachment and show how it helps explain the conundrum of an expensive “disruptive” innovation. We go on to relate our results to the finding that “willingness to cannibalize” is a key factor in an incumbent firm's growth and survival, and to the “blue ocean strategy.”     

‘It's just like another home,just another family,so it's nae different’ Children's voices in kinship care: a research study about the experience of children in kinship care in Scotland

Growing acknowledgement of the importance of the role of kinship carers in caring and supporting children and young people in Scotland has led to a burgeoning of research on this topic. However, most research has tended to focus on the role of kinship carers. A significant gap has been direct studies into the views and experiences of children and young people living with relatives or friends. This paper seeks to address this by drawing on the findings from a small‐scale qualitative collaborative research project with 12 children and young people living in informal and formal kinship care in the Northeast of Scotland. The literature on foster and kinship care is reviewed and key themes identified. The qualitative research data is outlined employing a thematic analysis approach. The key findings are analysed with a view to the potential implications for policy and practice. The paper concludes with proposals for potential future research.     

Optimal Acquisition of FMS Technology Subject to Technological Progress*

In order to gain competitive advantage, a firm must link its technology choice to its total manufacturing strategy and business unit's goals. A dynamic model is presented to examine the strategic decision concerning the acquisition of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) technology. A major contribution of this model is its ability to capture the strategic benefits of FMS with respect to economies of scope and technological progress. Decisions such as the timing and size of new technology acquisition and the scrapping of conventional capacity are explored as a firm plans for the upgrading of its facility to meet future dynamic strategic goals. This model may be used to assist with strategic planning because it identifies the critical relationships and trade-offs between various exogenous forces (such as market growth or decay, the cost of acquiring flexible manufacturing systems, and the rate of technological progress) and the decision variables considered.     

Family planning and resilience: associations found in a Population,Health, and Environment (PHE) project in Western Tanzania

Using 2016 household survey data from Tanzania, we define and measure resilience within the context of Population, Health, and Environment programming and quantify the link between resilience and family planning. We created a multicomponent model using confirmatory factor analysis in a structural equation modeling context. Factor loadings for eight defined latent factors of resilience were statistically significant (p?<?0.001). We created a factor called “FP-MCH” reflecting awareness, attitudes, and access to family planning (FP) and health care services and use of maternal and child health care (MCH) facilities. Analysis, with controls, shows that a 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in FP/MCH was associated with a 0.68 SD increase in resilience (p?<?0.01), suggesting that the association between FP/MCH and resilience is robust across a range of factors. Analyses showed that the association between FP/MCH is broadly related to the construct of resilience and not through any single component. This study supports the importance of including FP/MCH as part of integrated projects to enhance resilience.     

A media framing analysis of a U.S. presidential advisor: Alternative flacks

Political public relations became headline news when Kellyanne Conway, Advisor to U.S. President Trump, described provable falsehoods as alternative facts. Other memorable/misstatements became part of the cultural zeitgeist even as journalists continued to interview her. Public relations professionals are inextricably connected to the journalists who shape public opinion. The author therefore conducted a qualitative framing analysis to understand how journalists framed her occupational role and job performance. Articles from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal revealed that journalists assigned Advocacy and Gendered framing for her occupational role. Analysis also indicated that journalists alternately depicted her performance as adequate, unreliable, and manipulative. The author considers implications of findings for public relations professionals.     

Testing overdispersion in the zero-inflated Poisson model

The zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model is used to account for commonly occurring overdispersion detected in data that are initially analyzed under the zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) model. Tests for overdispersion (Wald test, likelihood ratio test [LRT], and score test) based on ZINB model for use in ZIP regression models have been developed. Due to similarity to the ZINB model, we consider the zero-inflated generalized Poisson (ZIGP) model as an alternate model for overdispersed zero-inflated count data. The score test has an advantage over the LRT and the Wald test in that the score test only requires that the parameter of interest be estimated under the null hypothesis. This paper proposes score tests for overdispersion based on the ZIGP model and illustrates that the derived score statistics are exactly the same as the score statistics under the ZINB model. A simulation study indicates the proposed score statistics are preferred to other tests for higher empirical power. In practice, based on the approximate mean–variance relationship in the data, the ZINB or ZIGP model can be considered, and a formal score test based on asymptotic standard normal distribution can be employed for assessing overdispersion in the ZIP model. We provide an example to illustrate the procedures for data analysis.     

Lockdown Learnings: No Longer the Mirrored Room

During the COVID‐19 lockdown in Aotearoa/New Zealand, a discussion panel was convened comprising of family therapy students and experienced family therapists to investigate the effects of the use of online digital mediums for family therapy. This article discusses the learnings from that panel. It seems that the use of a screen can change the power dynamic between therapist and client family, perhaps levelling the field slightly and resulting in implications for the therapeutic relationship. Suggestions for practice are given and the situation is likened to that of the ‘mirrored room’ proposed by Hare‐Mustin (1994).     

Confessions of an Identity Junkie

How is it that sexual identity can become such a troubling preoccupation? In this paper, the author explores the problems she has experienced regarding sexual identification due to fluctuating desires and changing circumstances. Charting a course through her personal life using the pioneering theoretical work of Jeffrey Weeks, Judith Butler, and Donna Haraway, she intimately examines the contradictions, difficulties, and possible political functions of sexual identification.     

Investment in Facility Changeover Flexibility for Early Entry into High‐Tech Markets

A model is introduced to analyze the manufacturing‐marketing interface for a firm in a high‐tech industry that produces a series of high‐volume products with short product life cycles on a single facility. The one‐time strategic decision regarding the firm's investment in changeover flexibility establishes the link between market opportunities and manufacturing capabilities. Specifically, the optimal changeover flexibility decision is determined in the context of the firm's market entry strategy for successive product generations, the changeover cost between generations, and the production efficiency of the facility. Moreover, the dynamic pricing policy for each product generation is obtained as a function of the firm's market entry strategy and manufacturing efficiency. Our findings provide insights linking internal manufacturing capabilities with external market forces for the high‐tech and high‐volume manufacturer of products with short life cycles. We show the impact of manufacturing efficiency and a firm's ability to benefit from volume‐based learning on the dynamic pricing policy for each product generation. The results demonstrate the benefits realized by a firm that works with its manufacturing equipment suppliers to develop more efficient and flexible technology. In addition, we explore how opportunities afforded by pioneer advantage enable a firm operating a less efficient facility to realize long term competitive advantage by deploying an earlier market entry strategy.     

Two‐Year Follow‐up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: An Investigation of Relationship Satisfaction and Attachment Trajectories

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT; The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection. New York, NY: Brunner‐Routledge) is an evidence‐based couple therapy that aims to create lasting change for couples (Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6(1), 67–79). Although studies have demonstrated strong results in follow‐up (Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 28(4), 391–398), less is known about relationship functioning across time after therapy has ended. We modelled change in relationship satisfaction and attachment from pre‐therapy through 24 months follow‐up in 32 couples. HLM results confirmed a significant growth pattern demonstrating increases in relationship satisfaction and secure base behaviour and decreases in relationship specific attachment anxiety over the course of therapy and across follow‐up at a decelerated rate. These findings support the theoretical assumption that EFT helps couples engaged in therapy create lasting relationship satisfaction and attachment change.