How Inventory Cost Influences Introduction Timing of Product Line Extensions

In the industry with radical technology push or rapidly changing customer preference, it is firms' common wisdom to introduce high‐end product first, and follow by low‐end product‐line extensions. A key decision in this “down‐market stretch” strategy is the introduction time. High inventory cost is pervasive in such industries, but its impact has long been ignored during the presale planning stage. This study takes a first step toward filling this gap. We propose an integrated inventory (supply) and diffusion (demand) framework and analyze how inventory cost influences the introduction timing of product‐line extensions, considering substitution effect among successive generations. We show that under low inventory cost or frequent replenishment ordering policy, the optimal introduction time indeed follows the well‐known “now or never” rule. However, sequential introduction becomes optimal as the inventory holding gets more substantial or the product life cycle gets shorter. The optimal introduction timing can increase or decrease with the inventory cost depending on the marketplace setting, requiring a careful analysis.     

What probability should a jury address?

Probability of guilt is not the criterion on which a verdict in a criminal trial should be based, says Tony Gardner-Medwin . The courts, quite sensibly, do not even allow access to some of the background evidence on which a proper assessment of this probability should be made. He argues that a more satisfactory criterion is the probability, or degree of belief, that the evidence could have arisen without guilt.     

After the War Comes Peace? An Examination of the Impact of the Northern Ireland Conflict on Young People

When the conflict in Northern Ireland erupted over 30 years ago many voiced concern at the implications for children and young people. In the early years many looked to U.S. experience in order to frame questions, problems, and solutions. This article examines the strands of psychological research that developed and their link to the articles in the present collection. The article critiques the consensus among psychologists in the 1970s and 1980s that young people coped reasonably well in difficult circumstances. One theme of the current collection is to highlight the difficulties of dealing with the legacies of the past thirty years and hence the constraints facing the attempt to establish a peaceful and settled society.