Managing knowledge distribution to prevent product imitation and counterfeiting

Product piracy poses an existential threat to many companies. Juristic property rights, which are currently dominantly put to practice, do not suffice to combat this threat. The rise in cases of piracy and the increasing professionalism of the counterfeiter, give grounds for effective methods of prevention. Based on the gap of existing approaches identified we evaluate how knowledge modeling could help to design preventive measures. We develop a novel approach which makes information and knowledge leaks transparent, analyzable and controllable. The approach is based on modeling the interactions and transfers of information and knowledge between departments of a company with internal and external business partners. For this purpose, a modeling process for knowledge-rich business interactions is used and modified for the specific purpose. Choosing dynamic assessment questions allows to on the one hand establish the level of risk of information and knowledge on piracy and on the other hand to prioritize measures specific to a company. In addition, the procedure reappraises companies’ existing modes of prevention. Based on this analysis, the method helps to develop and rank measures to hinder the theft of information by pirates. The introduced approach fills the gap in known concepts of protection, which are used only after a case of piracy has taken place. The approach also adds a new perspective in knowledge management

Exploring (anti-) counterfeiting management: Conceptual foundations and empirical examination

Die Forschungsfragen wurden in neun einzelnen Beiträgen untersucht. Der Forschungsfrage 1 („Marken- und Produktpiraterie“) wurde in zwei Beiträgen nachgegangen. Beitrag 1 stellt die relevanten Dimensionen der Betrachtung von Fälschungen dar. In Beitrag 2 erfolgt eine umfassende Auseinandersetzung mit den definitorischen Grundlagen, den Gründen für die Zunahme der Fälschungen sowie den daraus entstehenden Schäden zur Abgrenzung, Systematisierung und Bewertung der Thematik. Die Forschungsfragen 2 („Schutzmanagement“, ACM) und 3 („Fälschungsmanagement“, CM) werden sowohl mit konzeptionellen als auch qualitativ und quantitativ empirischen Beiträgen bearbeitet. Zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfrage 2 enthält die kumulative Dissertation vier Beiträge. In Beitrag 3 werden Grundlagen und Inhalte eines unternehmerischen Schutzsystems erarbeitet. Beitrag 4 komplettiert dieses Thema durch eine umfangreiche Analyse relevanter Schutzinstrumente. Die Erklärungsinhalte des ressourcen- bzw. kompetenzbasierten Ansatzes zur Ableitung einer prozessorientierten Sichtweise auf ACM beinhaltet Beitrag 5. Mittels einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse wird das Wissen aus Experteninterviews analysiert und ein Konstrukt zur Ableitung der unternehmerischen Schutzkompetenz vorgestellt. In Beitrag 6 erfolgen die Verfeinerung des Modells und die finale Untersuchung von ACM auf Basis eines konfigurationsorientierten Mixed-Methods Ansatzes zur inhalts- sowie cluster- und varianzanalytischen Bestimmung von Schützerklassen und -konfigurationen. Wichtige Elemente sind Kompetenzen, die verfolgten Strategien bzw. eingesetzten Instrumenten sowie die Evaluierung des Erfolgs auf Grundlage von Fragebogendaten. Zur Behandlung von Forschungsfrage 3 sind drei Beiträge er¬stellt worden. Beitrag 7 beschäftigt sich mit dem bisher stark vernachlässigten Bereich CM. In diesem wird zur Annäherung an die Thematik der aktuelle Stand der Forschung zu Fälschertypen, relevanten Strategien sowie taktischen Maßnahmen aufgearbeitet und mit Expertenwissen angereichert. In Beitrag 8 erfolgen eine managementorientierte Aufbereitung der Fälscherthematik und eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse zur Identifikation von Strategien und Instrumenten. Darüber hinaus wird eine kompetenzbasierte Methodik zur Bewertung von Fälschern erarbeitet. Beitrag 9 schließt die Untersuchung der Fälscherseite analog zu Beitrag 6 ab

Perceptions of Intellectual Property:A Review

In “The right to good ideas: patents and the poor”, The Economist depicts two driving forces in the contemporary discourse on IP and globalization. The one is interested in advancing the knowledge economy, an approach based on the belief that knowledge is the driving factor behind economic growth. The other resides on a belief that IP is a major means to advance the process of globalization. While the former is strongly motivated by new economic growth theory, as for example advanced by Stanford professor Paul Romer, the latter is based on typical anti-globalization arguments, such as for example the position that the IP system helps multinational companies to build up monopolies to the detriment of the poor, drives small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local business in developing countries out of business and increases prices for consumer products, be they pharmaceuticals or software. The purpose of this review is to help understand the current discourse on intellectual property, to grasp underlying themes, assumptions and connotations associated with the term “IP”, so as to identify paths leading to a more comprehensive understanding of IP and the opportunities and pitfalls it may provide

Profiling business support provision for small, medium and micro-sized enterprises in London’s fashion sector

The primary aim of this paper is to build a profile of the business support landscape that exists for fashion SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and MSEs (micro-sized enterprises) in London. In the face of multiple challenges, fashion sector SME/MSEs benefit from the services provided by business support organisations. We have identified 21 fashion support organisations that exist in London. They can be broadly divided into two types of business support organisations: fashion incubators and partial-support organisations, both of which play an equally important role in the sector

THE ABC OF COUNTERFEITING VIS-À-VIS LUXURY BRAND MARKET

Everything that can be produced can be counterfeited right from a soap to something of paramount value like an airplane yet the overarching effects of counterfeits in each industry is dismissed away by corporates. This paper attempts to shed light on the counterfeit industry, elucidate the concept of counterfeits, its presence in ever industry, its overarching effects and the need to address the problem on immediate basis. Herein the steps that a corporate can take to combat the problem at its end have also been duly specified. The paper has specifically gone beyond the general addressal of the menace to specifically address the problem in the luxury fashion industry wherein the effect might not be fatal yet is paramount in nature

Counterfeit Luxury Businesses in China: The Impacts of Counterfeit Consumption on Global Economy

Today, counterfeiting is growing prevalent all over the world due to enormous returns on investment and low levels of risk. Despite of all the intellectual and ethical issues proposed by criminologists and policy makers, the issue of counterfeit products has been addressed in the economic sector. It is conspicuous that global businesses are raising awareness in problems caused by counterfeit products. The purpose of this study is to investigate Chinese consumer’s purchasing behaviours in counterfeit luxury products and discuss how they will potentially influence the global luxury market

ESSAYS ON DECEPTIVE COUNTERFEITS IN SUPPLY CHAINS: A BEHAVORIAL PERSPECTIVE

This dissertation is comprised of three essays intended to contribute to the operations management discipline, specifically within supply chain management. The first essay provides a research agenda for studying deceptive product counterfeits, which are products that have been manufactured and/or distributed and sold by an entity in violation of another’s intellectual property rights and intentionally misrepresented by the seller as the genuine article. The proliferation of counterfeits into legitimate supply chains presents quality, health and safety and cost concerns for nearly all industries. We identify antecedents of vulnerability to deceptive counterfeits for firms and their supply chain partners using Situational Crime Prevention Theory and Normal Accident Theory. Vulnerability to counterfeiting has negative performance impacts for the firm, its customers and society. We propose using the Six Ts of Supply Chain Quality Management (Roth, Tsay, Pullman and Gray, 2008) as an approach to select effective strategies to mitigate these impacts. Essay Two serves as an initial effort to understand how counterfeits can enter supply chains. In this essay, we test whether purchasing specialists can serve as effective guardians of the supply chain using a scenario based role playing experiment. We explore if buyers can detect signals of counterfeits in proposals and successfully avoid the counterfeit supplier in the decision process. We additionally examine whether time constraints and workload pressure detracts from the ability to successfully process signals and avoid the counterfeit. We find that the buyers can successfully detect counterfeit signals and avoid the counterfeit in the selection decision, but don’t find support for time constraints and workload pressure effects. The final contribution of this dissertation is a methodological essay that explores the effect of time pressure on decision making by using a combination of perceived time pressure and objective measures of time spent in the decision process to determine if time pressure affects the quality of the decision making in a supplier selection decision. We find that time constraints and perceived time pressure are related constructs that negatively affect decision quality in a supplier selection decision

An Empirical Analysis to Control Product Counterfeiting in the Automotive Industry\u27s Supply Chains in Pakistan

The counterfeits pose significant health and safety threat to consumers. The quality image of firms is vulnerable to the damage caused by the expanding flow of counterfeit products in today’s global supply chains. The counterfeiting markets are swelling due to globalization and customers’ willingness to buy counterfeits, fueling illicit activities to explode further. Buyers look for the original parts are deceived by the false (deceptive) signals’ communication. The counterfeiting market has become a multi-billion industry but lacks detailed insights into the supply side of counterfeiting (deceptive side). The study aims to investigate and assess the relationship between the anti-counterfeiting strategies and improvement in the firm’s supply performance within the internal and external supply chain quality management context in the auto-parts industry’s supply chains in Pakistan