Understanding the Elusive Black Box of Dynamic Capabilities

A major challenge for managers in turbulent environments is to make sound decisions quickly. Dynamic capabilities have been proposed as a means for addressing turbulent environments by helping managers extend, modify, and reconfigure existing operational capabilities into new ones that better match the environment. However, because dynamic capabilities have been viewed as an elusive black box, it is difficult for managers to make sound decisions in turbulent environments if they cannot effectively measure dynamic capabilities. Therefore, we first seek to propose a measurable model of dynamic capabilities by conceptualizing, operationalizing, and measuring dynamic capabilities. Specifically, drawing upon the dynamic capabilities literature, we identify a set of capabilities—sensing the environment, learning, coordinating, and integrating—that help reconfigure existing operational capabilities into new ones that better match the environment. Second, we propose a structural model where dynamic capabilities influence performance by reconfiguring existing operational capabilities in the context of new product development (NPD). Data from 180 NPD units support both the measurable model of dynamic capabilities and also the structural model by which dynamic capabilities influence performance in NPD by reconfiguring operational capabilities, particularly in higher levels of environmental turbulence. The study's implications for managerial decision making in turbulent environments by capturing the elusive black box of dynamic capabilities are discussed.     

Convergence Rates of Empirical Bayes Estimation for the Parameter of the Uniform Distribution U(0, θ) Under Random Censorship

ABSTRACT

This article considers the empirical Bayes estimation problem in the uniform distribution U(0, θ) with censored data. For the parameter θ, using the empirical Bayes (EB) approach, we propose an EB estimation of θ which possesses a rate of convergence can be arbitrarily close to O(n ^?1/2) when the historical samples are randomly censored from the right, where n is the number of historical sample. A sample and some simulation results are also presented.     

Approximations of the Distributions of Test Statistics for Homogeneity of a Product Multinomial Model

Statistics R ^a based on power divergence can be used for testing the homogeneity of a product multinomial model. All R ^a have the same chi-square limiting distribution under the null hypothesis of homogeneity. R ⁰ is the log likelihood ratio statistic and R ¹ is Pearson's X ² statistic. In this article, we consider improvement of approximation of the distribution of R ^a under the homogeneity hypothesis. The expression of the asymptotic expansion of distribution of R ^a under the homogeneity hypothesis is investigated. The expression consists of continuous and discontinuous terms. Using the continuous term of the expression, a new approximation of the distribution of R ^a is proposed. A moment-corrected type of chi-square approximation is also derived. By numerical comparison, we show that both of the approximations perform much better than that of usual chi-square approximation for the statistics R ^a when a ≤ 0, which include the log likelihood ratio statistic.     

现代产品设计中逆向工程的应用

阐述了逆向工程的概念及其在产品设计中的应用,有效地解决造型设计与后续的工程设计、制造环节相脱节的问题,为工业产品造型设计与后期的工程制造的连贯开辟了一个新的途径,其设计流程的过程为产品设计系统化提供行之有效的措施,从而缩短了产品设计开发周期,实现了产品造型设计的系统化·     

品牌质量差异、消费者产品涉入程度对品牌敏感的影响研究

品牌敏感是消费者品牌行为研究方面的一个新课题,它反映了消费者在购买决策过程中对品牌的重视程度.同一产品类别不同品牌之间的质量差异和消费者的产品涉入程度被认为是品牌敏感的两类主要解释变量.本文利用结构方程模型进行的实证分析表明,品牌质量差异和消费者产品涉入程度总体上对品牌敏感起正向影响作用,但该作用因产品类别而异,因产品质量和产品涉入程度的维度而异.     

公司信息的纵向与横向溢出效应:公司品牌与产品品牌组合视角

很多企业已横跨多种产品业务,不同产品业务存在地位差异,公司层信息对不同地位产品评价是否存在差异化影响,不同地位产品之间信息如何流动,这是现有文献的研究断层.本文通过两个实验,检验了公司信息的纵向(公司层→产品层)和横向(产品→产品)溢出效应.研究发现,在纵向溢出中存在非对称效应,旗舰产品评价受社会责任信息的影响效应更大;非旗舰产品评价受公司能力信息的影响效应更大.在横向溢出中,存在旗舰产品对非旗舰产品评价的影响,但不存在非旗舰产品对旗舰产品的影响.本文的理论创新点在于,将产品区分为旗舰和非旗舰产品,从而得出公司层信息对不同产品的非对称溢出效应以及旗舰产品到非旗舰产品的非对称溢出效应.     

产品标准化战略模型及其实证检验--以60家"世界500强"在华跨国公司的实证检验为例

产品标准化战略作为跨国公司全球营销战略重要的经营模式,一直以来,在理论和实践方面都受到跨国公司的普遍关注,在全球营销战略领域表现出极强的实践性.但是,迄今为止,尚缺乏一个对理论和实践均具有指导意义的产品标准化战略的综合模型.本研究在继承、发展以往学者有关产品标准化战略的零散研究基础上,对产品标准化战略的内涵和影响该战略的内外部因素进行了深入、系统的梳理、归纳和提炼,构建了"产品标准化战略理论模型",并对60家"世界500强"在华跨国公司的调研数据进行了实证检验,丰富和发展了全球营销战略理论.     

Optimizing Service Attributes: The Seller's Utility Problem*

Service designers predict market share and sales for their new designs by estimating consumer utilities. The service's technical features (for example, overnight parcel delivery), its price, and the nature of consumer interactions with the service delivery system influence those utilities. Price and the service's technical features are usually quite objective and readily ascertained by the consumer. However, consumer perceptions about their interactions with the service delivery system are usually far more subjective. Furthermore, service designers can only hope to influence those perceptions indirectly through their decisions about nonlinear processes such as employee recruiting, training, and scheduling policies. Like the service's technical features, these process choices affect quality perceptions, market share, revenues, costs, and profits. We propose a heuristic for the NP‐hard service design problem that integrates realistic service delivery cost models with conjoint analysis. The resulting seller's utility function links expected profits to the intensity of a service's influential attributes and also reveals an ideal setting or level for each service attribute. In tests with simulated service design problems, our proposed configurations compare quite favorably with the designs suggested by other normative service design heuristics.     

A Competitive Model of Customization with Lead‐Time Effects

In this article, we study the competitive interactions between a firm producing standard products and a firm producing custom products. Consumers with heterogeneous preferences choose between n standard products, which may not meet their preferences exactly but are available immediately, and a custom product, available only after a certain lead time l. Standard products incur a variety cost that increases with n and custom products incur a lead time cost that is decreasing in the lead time l. We consider a two‐stage game wherein at stage 1, the standard product firm chooses the variety and the custom firm chooses the lead time and then both firms set prices simultaneously. We characterize the subgame‐perfect Nash equilibrium of the game. We find that both firms can coexist in equilibrium, either sharing the market as local monopolists or in a price‐competitive mode. The standard product firm may offer significant or minimal variety depending on the equilibrium outcome. We provide several interesting insights on the variety, lead time, and prices of the products offered and on the impact of problem parameters on the equilibrium outcomes. For instance, we show that the profit margin and price of the custom product are likely to be higher than that of standard products in equilibrium under certain conditions. Also, custom firms are more likely to survive and succeed in product markets with larger potential market sizes. Another interesting insight is that increased consumer sensitivity to product fit may result in lower lead time for the custom product.     

Extending Financial Portfolio Theory for Product Management*

This paper attempts to modify financial portfolio theory for application in product portfolio decisions. The proposed multiperiod portfolio framework should help marketers in allocating scarce corporate resources to various competing products as well as contribute to developing a body of theory to solve an important problem in marketing management. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.