Myopic Versus Farsighted Behaviors in a Low-Carbon Supply Chain with Reference Emission Effects

The increased carbon emissions cause relatively climate deterioration and attract more attention of governments, consumers, and enterprises to the low-carbon manufacturing. This paper considers a dynamic supply chain, which is composed of a manufacturer and a retailer, in the presence of the cap-and-trade regulation and the consumers’ reference emission effects. To investigate the manufacturer’s behavior choice and its impacts on the emission reduction and pricing strategies together with the profits of both the channel members, we develop a Stackelberg differential game model in which the manufacturer acts in both myopic and farsighted manners. By comparing the equilibrium strategies, it can be found that the farsighted manufacturer always prefers to keep a lower level of emission reduction. When the emission permit price is relatively high, the wholesale/retail price is lower if the manufacturer is myopic and hence benefits consumers. In addition, there exists a dilemma that the manufacturer is willing to act in a farsighted manner but the retailer looks forward to a partnership with the myopic manufacturer. For a relatively high price of emission permit, adopting myopic strategies results in a better performance of the whole supply chain

Revenue Management and Demand Fulfillment: Matching Applications, Models, and Software

Recent years have seen great successes of revenue management, notably in the airline, hotel, and car rental business. Currently, an increasing number of industries, including manufacturers and retailers, are exploring ways to adopt similar concepts. Software companies are taking an active role in promoting the broadening range of applications. Also technological advances, including smart shelves and radio frequency identification (RFID), are removing many of the barriers to extended revenue management. The rapid developments in Supply Chain Planning and Revenue Management software solutions, scientific models, and industry applications have created a complex picture, which appears not yet to be well understood. It is not evident which scientific models fit which industry applications and which aspects are still missing. The relation between available software solutions and applications as well as scientific models appears equally unclear. The goal of this paper is to help overcome this confusion. To this end, we structure and review three dimensions, namely applications, models, and software. Subsequently, we relate these dimensions to each other and highlight commonalities and discrepancies. This comparison also provides a basis for identifying future research needs.Manufacturing;Revenue Management;Software;Advanced Planning Systems;Demand Fulfillment

The Future of Retail Operations

Retailing consists of all the activities associated with the selling of goods to the final consumer. In this article, we review the research on retail operations published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Research (M&SOM) since 1999. We then discuss the current retail landscape and the new research directions it offers, in which M&SOM can play a prominent role

A waste of energy? A critical assessment of the investigation of the UK Energy Market by the Competition and Markets Authority

This document is the accepted manuscript version of the following article: Chrysovalantis Amountzias, Hulya Dagdeviren and Tassos Patokos, ‘A waste of energy? A critical assessment of the investigation of the UK energy market by the Competition and Markets Authority’, Competition & Change, Vol. 21 (1): 45-60, February 2017. The final version of this paper is available at doi: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1024529416678070. Published by SAGE Publishing.In this paper, we assess the findings of the UK energy market investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority, conducted during June 2014–June 2016.We argue that the results of the investigation have been advantageous for the large energy companies and they risk failing to bring any significant and positive change to the energy industry.We highlight three major aspects of the Competition and Markets Authorities assessment. First, the panel examined retail and wholesale segments of the energy industry in isolation, which can be misleading in the assessment of vertical integration. It also considered new entries to the sector as a sign of competitive strength when many were due to favourable government policies in the form of exemptions from various obligations. Second, its conclusion that a position of unilateral market power by the large energy companies arises from weak customer engagement (i.e. low switching rates) shifts the focus and responsibility for the problems of the energy markets away from the conduct of the companies onto customers. Finally, the investigation placed an overemphasis on competition without due reference to its consequences for consumers’ welfare.Peer reviewe

Identify successful marketing communication strategies that apply to a small hair salon

A selected organisation provides hair dressing services and hair products to customers. The aim of this report is to analyse how the small hair salon could improve their marketing communication strategies in order to attract more customers and enhance the relationship between customers and the organisation. The approach to collecting information was to use a questionnaire with 50 participants, to gather primary information and to conduct a secondary research study. The result of this research was to decide that the role of a successful marketing communication strategy is to attract the customer to consume. In order to make the marketing communication strategy successful, it needs to choose a suitable channel that enables it to connect with the customer. New media is an effective channel that can promote the business to the customer and interact with them. New media is also suitable for a small business to use. A recommendation for the organisation is they create their own website page, Facebook page, YouTube video and WeChat group to promote themselves and interact with customers. Those channels are popular in New Zealand, with a high number of active users. Most the organisation customers like to use those channels too, so if the organisation applies those channels to their marketing communication strategy they will be able to attract customers and persuade them to consume more products

Examining the implications of the anti-money laundering and countering financing of Terrorism Act 2009 on New Zealand accounting firms

Money laundering is the act of introducing illicitly gained funds into the economy to assist in concealing their origin. On October 1 2018, it became mandatory for most New Zealand accounting firms to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. The purpose of this act is to help detect and deter money laundering within New Zealand. The AML/CFT Act creates additional requirements for accounting firms and has severe penalties for non-compliance. This led to the research question of ‘What are the implications of the AML/CFT Act 2009 on New Zealand Accounting firms?’ For this research, interviews were conducted with accounting firms to help identify the costs and implications associated with the AML/CFT requirements. The results revealed that despite the October 1 deadline, accounting firms are still implementing programs. The new requirements were unclear and underestimated by firms. Large money and time costs were reported by all the interview participants and they all feel that the new requirements are excessive. As the AML/CFT Act is still new, it would be beneficial to explore further research in the future that examines the actual impact of maintaining the AML/CFT programs

Strategic planning for a SME

The purpose of this research is to find competitive advantages for an organisation and prepare a long-term strategic planning for the SME. In a New Zealand context, small business enterprises play vital roles in business and the economic sector. However, most small business do not have specific competitive advantage and long-term strategies to compete in the market. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have been used as mixed method research. Interviews and surveys have been done. Using those methods, researchers are intended to use the most effective implementation methodology to find out the best solution to the problem and cause of a SME. Location and customer satisfaction have been identified as the prime factors for the firm to run the business successfully. The business has been operating smoothly without using any further strategies to compete in the market. Recommendations involve pricing, advertising and stock management

Sales training

This project involves discovering how sales training works and the impacts of sales training. The goal is to show how sales training can help a business grow and to set benchmarks in the market. After the negative impact in the performance of sales representatives of a national company in the sales industry, their management made decisions about changes which need to be taken to get good results from sales training. The method which has been used to complete this study is desktop training, which includes self-experiences and secondary data. It is necessary to have appropriate and successful training which delivers the best to the company. The main aim of this research is to study and analyse the training procedure and processes in a business, since the training process involves more activities that require mental strength with the willingness to perform well with learning. The overall study of the process includes investigating lack of training, practice time and overcoming doubts raised by the customer at the time of performing the job. Hence, it is recommended that businesses should deliver new strategies and conduct more training sessions and online modules, leading to the success and growth of employees

Small business preference for software package

Until late 2016, the majority of small business uses QuickBooks and Excel to do their accounting work. However, the functions of these accounting tools are insufficient, and also the demands of companies are increasing. It has become inefficient and antiquated to use the software. A small business looked for new accounting software, but found that choosing an accounting software system is not straightforward, as every software package consists of different functions for users. The aim of this research was to analyse small business’ perceptions and preferences for accounting software systems in New Zealand. This is followed by an analysis of why users might want to replace their previous accounting software systems. In addition, the requirements for selecting accounting software were analysed. The main method used was qualitative research. Three people were interviewed regarding the reason for replacing their previous accounting software system. The first interviewee had not changed their accounting software system previously, but their reason for replacing their current accounting software system was that their previous accounting software system lacked the functionality he wanted. The second interviewee said e she disliked that the system frequently crashed and that it lacked the features she wanted. The reason why the last interviewee changed her previous accounting software system was that MYOB system could not improve her work efficiency

Trust between service provider and customer in online environments

Nowadays online shopping is getting more and more popular in China. However, opportunities and challenges are coexisting, and the growth of e-commerce is also inevitable. In e-commerce online, trust has become a significant factor hindering development. A New Zealand organisation faces a lot of competitors. In order to increase its market share and remain competitive in the market, the organisation needs to have more loyal customers who repeatedly purchase their products. Therefore, the organisation should find an appropriate way to form or create trust with customers, to retain them. This research investigates how trust has been created in an online environment between an organisation and its customers. A qualitative method was adopted in this research and data collected using semi-structured interviews. The collected data was analysed adopting a thematic analysis method. The research findings show that a two-way communication system is the core factor in forming trust in the online environment. This research suggests that the organisation should consider two-way communication seriously, and develop that as a useful tool to build trust between them and customers; not just as a communication tool but as a tool for trust formation