The prospects for African urban economies

Cities generally function as sources of economic development and human progress. One of the puzzles about Africa's urbanization is that it has not been accompanied by greater economic dynamism. The paper considers the distinctive development trajectory of African urban economies. It considers the applicability of the argument that cities are drivers of economic growth, and the idea that cities develop more complex, higher-value functions over time. It examines the recent revival of African economies, and asks whether the fashionable idea of enhanced international integration through cross-border collaboration might facilitate greater urban prosperity

A Bayesian Network Estimation of the Service-Profit Chain for Transport Service Satisfaction

Bayesian network methodology is used to model key linkages of the service-profit chain within the context of transportation service satisfaction. Bayesian networks offer some advantages for implementing managerially focused models over other statistical techniques designed primarily for evaluating theoretical models. These advantages are (1) providing a causal explanation using observable variables within a single multivariate model, (2) analysis of nonlinear relationships contained in ordinal measurements, (3) accommodation of branching patterns that occur in data collection, and (4) the ability to conduct probabilistic inference for prediction and diagnostics with an output metric that can be understood by managers and academics. Sample data from 1,101 recent transport service customers are utilized to select and validate a Bayesian network and conduct probabilistic inference

Demand forecasting with high dimensional data: The case of SKU retail sales forecasting with intra- and inter-category promotional information

In marketing analytics applications in OR, the modeler often faces the problem of selecting key variables from a large number of possibilities. For example, SKU level retail store sales are affected by inter and intra category effects which potentially need to be considered when deciding on promotional strategy and producing operational forecasts. But no research has yet put this well accepted concept into forecasting practice: an obvious obstacle is the ultra-high dimensionality of the variable space. This paper develops a four steps methodological framework to overcome the problem. It is illustrated by investigating the value of both intra- and inter-category SKU level promotional information in improving forecast accuracy. The method consists of the identification of potentially influential categories, the building of the explanatory variable space, variable selection and model estimation by a multistage LASSO regression, and the use of a rolling scheme to generate forecasts. The success of this new method for dealing with high dimensionality is demonstrated by improvements in forecasting accuracy compared to alternative methods of simplifying the variable space. The empirical results show that models integrating more information perform significantly better than the baseline model when using the proposed methodology framework. In general, we can improve the forecasting accuracy by 12.6 percent over the model using only the SKU's own predictors. But of the improvements achieved, 95 percent of it comes from the intra-category information, and only 5 percent from the inter-category information. The substantive marketing results also have implications for promotional category management

The strategic use of Gamification in brands’ CRM

The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze the strategic impact of Gamification in brands’ and retailers’ CRM strategy, with a deep focus on loyalty and reward programs. Having this in mind, the main research questions of this dissertation aim to understand if there are certain characteristics in Gamification that generate value for the end-user and if Gamification can be a source of sustained competitive advantage for firms in the retailing industry. With a view to be able to answer the two research questions, a “Gamification in CRM processes” is proposed, aiming at enumerating the main functionalities of Gamification that may have an impact in a CRM strategy. Through an online survey, taken by 191 people from 25 different nationalities, it is possible to confirm that consumers are interested in participating in a gamified platform and in providing relevant data to brands and retailers in order to receive personalized offers. Moreover, it is also ascertained that Gamification has a potential to increase brand loyalty levels. Gamers’ Tacit Knowledge is then identified as a strategic resource that can be obtained by a gamified application. When applying the RBV framework it is possible to conclude that Gamers’ Tacit Knowledge is a VRIN resource, since it is related to a deep organizational learning and to continuous innovation. This is mainly explained by the nature of a Gamified application - based on human interaction and subject to network externalities, which increases the switching costs to current and potential competitors, and provides companies with a knowledge advantage over their competitors. Gamification can, indeed, create value for brands and be a source of sustained competitive advantage.O principal objectivo desta dissertação é analisar o impacto estratégico de Gamification nas estratégias de CRM (Customer Relationship Management) de marcas e retalhistas, tendo especial enfoque em programas de fidelidade e recompensas. Deste modo, as principais questões da investigação pretendem compreender se existem características numa estratégia de Gamification capazes de geral valor para o consumidor final, e se Gamification pode ser uma fonte de vantagem competitiva sustentável para as empresas que operam na indústria retalhista. Tendo em vista a resposta a estas duas questões de investigação, é proposto o modelo “Gamification em processos de CRM”, que visa enumerar as principais funcionalidades de Gamification que podem ter um impacto numa estratégia de CRM. Através de um questionário online, respondido por 191 pessoas de 25 nacionalidades distintas, é possível confirmar que os consumidores estão interessados em participar em plataformas gamificadas e em providenciar informação relevante a marcas e retalhistas, de modo a receberem ofertas personalizadas. Adicionalmente, é ainda verficado que Gamification possuir potencial para aumentar os níveis de fidelidade a uma marca. Conhecimento tácito é identificado como um recurso estratégico que pode ser extraído de uma plataforma gamificada. Com a aplicação do modelo RBV é, então, possível concluir que o conhecimento tácito é um recurso VRIN, uma vez que se encontra relacionado com um processo de aprendizagem organizacional e com inovação contínua. Isto é maioritariamente explicado pela própria natureza de uma plataforma gamificada - baseada na interacção humana e sujeita a efeitos de rede,o que aumenta os custos de mudança para concorrentes existentes e potenciais, e faz com que as empresas tenham uma vantagem no conhecimento face a concorrentes. De facto, Gamification pode criar valor para marcas e ser uma fonte de vantagem competitiva sustentável

Big data, computational science, economics, finance, marketing, management, and psychology: connections

The paper provides a review of the literature that connects Big Data, Computational Science, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Management, and Psychology, and discusses some research that is related to the seven disciplines. Academics could develop theoretical models and subsequent econometric and statistical models to estimate the parameters in the associated models, as well as conduct simulation to examine whether the estimators in their theories on estimation and hypothesis testing have good size and high power. Thereafter, academics and practitioners could apply theory to analyse some interesting issues in the seven disciplines and cognate areas