Distribution service : competition within and among retail formats

Distribution service provision is an important instrument for the creation of availability. The book addresses in five parts the role of distribution service in individual channel member decision making in a competitive retailing environment through theoretical and empirical modeling and analysis. The empirical applications all concern the Dutch domestic cut flower market. The book starts in part I with development of a new and integrative conceptualization for distribution service elaborating on views from logistics, economics, and psychology. The second part of the book addresses the theory underlying consumer evaluation of and choice from assortments. It provides a theoretical framework of consumption goals, situational, and contextual variables, including retailer distribution service provision, as determinants of consumer evaluation of and choice from assortments. Several hypotheses are tested in an empirical study. Extended multinomial logit modeling of the experimental choice data has been used as a tool for optimization of retail assortments. Part III investigates the role of retail distribution service provision in consumer post-purchase evaluation processes and extends existing research on consumer post-purchase evaluation. Part IV focuses on the role of distribution service in vertical and horizontal strategic interactions between channel members, particularly between manufacturers and retailers, and its consequences for the emergence of different channel structures and retail formats. A game-theoretic model has been developed for retail competition with respect to price and distribution service and its consequences for the emergence of differentiated retail formats. Finally, part V discusses research implications and future research challenges.</p

Selection by consequences and the marketing firm

The research operationalizes the Darwinian meta-principle Selection by Consequences to conduct an empirical investigation. The project originates from a concern to understand the distal reasons why many of the marketing practices adopted by Wall’s appear to have persisted relatively unchanged for several decades and to have consistently conferred advantage to allow this manufacturer to dominate the UK ice cream market since before WWII. Central to Selection by Consequences is the claim that socio-cultural practices evolve through a process similar to biological natural selection and analogous to operant conditioning. The aim of the research is to assess and evaluate the empirical validity of this latter claim. A review of the literature suggests three pressing obstacles immediately barring the project, namely, relative incompleteness of the natural selection-operant conditioning analogy, methodological issues when applying operant principles (uncovered scientifically within experimental laboratories) to frame corporate market practices in the real world, and, insufficiency of these principles to account for the idiosyncrasies of the economic behaviour of organisations. The Marketing Firm provides the theoretical underpinning of this research because it begins to tackle the latter problems. After addressing these issues, the research interprets qualitative evidence narrating a 1979 investigation into the strategic practices of Wall’s conducted by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. The inquiry is designed as a qualitative longitudinal case study. Generally, the evidence upholds the operant conditioning characterisation. However, several theoretical elaborations and empirically grounded refinements must be taken into account. Future research is directed towards further clarification and testing the analogy to destruction. As its primary original contribution, the research generates the first empirical study wherein Selection by Consequences is operationalized to produce an operant account of the evolutionary selection of marketing practices. The study also contributes by suggesting means to demonstrate, albeit qualitatively, processes typically identified through experimental methods and quantitative data

Request for proposals final with addendum 1

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to select a Proposer to perform the Project services described in this RFP. SCDOT desires that this Project be constructed in a very efficient and timely manner. This proposal is for a design-build project for a Closed and Load Restricted Bridge Package for Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Newberry, and Saluda Counties

Supply chain strategy and optimization in an outsourced environment

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-78).Sun Microsystem's Network Storage (NWS) Division provides computer network storage hard disk arrays to accompany Sun's core server products. In recent years, all of the incumbent network storage providers, including Sun, have been squeezed by the combination of competitors encroaching on the low-end of the business and the increased commoditization of storage products. As a result, these incumbents are under pressure to reduce costs significantly, and are scrutinizing their supply chain to identify opportunities to improve performance. Most of the production of these storage products is outsourced through either OEM relationships or contract manufacturing, creating numerous challenges for managing the supply chain. This thesis sets forth a framework for improving supply chain performance, and applies it to the Sun's Network Storage group. The supply chain analysis framework used in this thesis suggests improving a supply chain by analyzing six key elements: Metrics, Benchmarking, Inventory Management, Cycle-Time, Design for Supply Chain, and Supply Chain Structure. Metrics were developed to improve supplier delivery. Benchmarking revealed Sun's competitive position.(cont.) Inventory management was improved with the implementation of a min-max inventory scheme to select products. Cycle-time was investigated via a direct shipment initiative and test time investigations. The upstream component led to product development recommendations. And the supply chain strategy of postponement of customization concept was developed. Key learnings include the relevance of metrics, the difficulty of moving down market, and a greater understanding of the impact product development has on operations. The research for this thesis was conducted during an internship at Sun Microsystems, within the Worldwide Operations group, in affiliation with the Leaders for Manufacturing program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.by John M. Clemens.S.M.M.B.A