An interpersonal approach to modelling business-to-business relationship quality

In the last two decades, we have been watching a dramatic change in the nature of buyer-seller relationships. Relationship quality (RQ) is nowadays seen as the source of superior performance and competitive advantage, rather than service quality and/or customer satisfaction. As firms move towards closer, more collaborative relationships, the role of relationship managers as marketers is increasingly vital to organisational success. Despite the crucial role that relationship managers play in building business-to-business (B2B) RQ, very little research has looked at the key constructs of inter-organisational RQ from an interpersonal approach. Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, this study aims at contributing to a better understanding of the nature, determinants, and dimensions of RQ. Particular attention is paid to developing and testing a B2B RQ model from an interpersonal perspective. In response to a gap identified in the literature, which draws primarily on buyer only perspectives, the exploratory, qualitative phase of this study was conducted from a dyadic perspective, thereby providing a stronger conceptualisation of RQ and its determinants and dimensions. A combination of literature with a series of semi-structured interviews with representatives of hotels operating in Portugal and their corporate clients helped inform the development of a RQ model which was subsequently tested through structural equations modelling. For the main survey, the unit of analysis was the relationship of the dyad, as perceived by the client, and 948 client representatives provided their perceptions of their relationship with their counterparts in hotels, yielding a 40.7 percent response rate. Goodness-of-fit estimates provided strong support for the model. All but one of the suggested research hypotheses were supported and the amount of explained variance by the proposed determinants was acceptable. Three alternative models were analysed and rejected in favour of the proposed model. Findings highlighted the importance of social bonds, which seem to promote contractual bonds and have a positive impact on perceived RQ, likelihood of recommendation and expectation of future contact. If social bonds are able to encourage repeat business and loyalty, then they may influence overall profitability. This research also expanded the empirical research on RQ by submitting its key constructs to a rigorous, quantitative test, this way contributing to narrow another gap in the literature, which refers to the existence of some consensus on building blocks of RQ such as commitment, satisfaction and trust, but not on their connections in the model. In addition, results emphasised customer orientation as a building block of RQ. This, in turn, draws the attention to the importance of including in the design of firms’ strategies the careful selection, training, and motivation of (designated) relationship managers, the ‘face’ of the organisation, in order to maximise the performance of organisations in building B2B RQ. By focusing on relational drivers, this study responds to the lack of research on the interactive characteristic of RQ, i.e. buyer-seller interactions primarily in a person-to-person communication, and suggests theoretical and managerial guidelines regarding the social level in the governance of business relationshipsPrograma Doutoral em Gestã

Business-to-business relationship quality

Relationship quality (RQ) is increasingly seen as a key factor of competitive advantage, replacing service quality and customer satisfaction as a source of superior performance. Despite the crucial role that relationship managers play in building business-to-business (828) relationships, little research has looked at the antecedents of RQ from an interpersonal perspective. In order to respond to the numerous calls for clarification, for there is still some ambiguity around this topic, this study aims to provide a better understanding of the nature and determinants of RQ. A combination of a literature review and the results of a series of interviews with relationship managers of hotels operating in Portugal and their counterparts in corporate clients informed the development of a model, which was subsequently tested using LISREL. Findings highlighted the association between the presence of designated client managers and high quality business relationships, and suggested directions to improve the performance of organisations in building 828 RQ

Fission of metallic clusters in the liquid drop model

Using the liquid drop model and the jellium model, we calculate fission barrier heights as a function of charge and mass asymmetry for a family of shapes consisting of two spheres connected by a quadratic surface. We find the fissibility for which a mass asymmetric splitting gives place to the symmetric one (Bussinaro-Gallone point) and evaluate the size of charged clusters of alkali metals for which the fission barrier height is equal to the evaporation energy (critical sizes). The results for the critical sizes agree very well with experimen

Ciência e tecnologia em Portugal : métricas e impacto (1995-2011)

Apresenta-se um retrato do sistema científico-tecnológico nacional, com base na sua evolução de 1995 até 2011. Contextualiza-se a ciência e a tecnologia nacionais usando alguns países de referência e discutimos o desempenho português nos programas europeus. São dadas respostas às seguintes questões: Que ciência se faz em Portugal? Que áreas são mais dinâmicas e que resultados se destacam? Que resultados surgiram do investimento realizado nesse período? Quais as forças e as fraquezas do nosso sistema científico

Interesses e valores de alunos do ensino profissional

[Resumo] A presente investigaçao pretendeu estudar a relaçao entre os interesses e os valores dos alunos do ensino profissional de nível II!. O Inventário de Interesses Vocacionais e a Escala de Valores WIS foram aplicados a 379 alunos de ambos os sexos que frequentavam diferentes cursos técnicos, em quatro escolas profissionais do districto de Leiria. Os resultados confirmam a existencia de diferen<;as significativas entre os interesses (Investigador, Artístico, Social, Empreendedor, Convencional e Realista) para cada urna das áreas de forma<;ao. Ao nível dos valores verificámos algumas diferenças significativas entre o sexo masculino e o sexo feminino e entre as diversas áreas de formaçao. As correlaçoes entre os interesses e os valores sao na generalidade baixas, no entanto, verificase a existencia de relaçoes significativas, no sentido esperado, nomeadamente entre a escala que avalia os interesses empreendedores e as escalas que avaliam os valores Autoridade, Prestígio, Promoçao e Económico, e entre a escala que avalia os interesses Artísticos e a Criatividad

Relações de negócio em hotelaria: um modelo estrutural aplicado ao segmento empresarial

This article aims to conduct research on the influence of the importance and quality of business relationships on a company’s decision to maintain its relationship with a certain hotel. To address the issue, we propose a model tested based on data from a survey of a final sample of 483 representatives from Portuguese small and medium enterprises&nbsp;(SMEs) who expressed their perceptions about the business relationships with their key partners in a hotel chain. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling statistical technique. The study produced several important results. The quality of the relationship is influenced by interpersonal variables, highlighting the role of Client Manager (i.e. the representative of the hotel), and other variables associated to the relationship itself. As for the importance of the relationship, several factors emerge as significant indicators such as the benefits of the relationship and the costs of its interruption. The results suggest that the importance of the relationship plays a major role in determining the propensity for future interaction. As regards theoretical contribution, this research adds value to the relationship marketing paradigm because we test and validate a model of the influence of the importance of the relationship, in addition to the quality of the relationship, and the propensity of future interaction between SMEs and hotels. This study also suggests practical management-related implications, in light of the success of relationship marketing strategies, and with the goal of customer loyalty and profitability of the business relationship which they have established.El presente artículo tiene como objetivo investigar sobre la influencia de la importancia y la calidad de las relaciones comerciales en la decisión de una empresa de mantener su relación con un determinado hotel. Para abordar el problema, se propone un modelo puesto a prueba con base en los datos de una encuesta de una muestra final de 483 representantes de pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMEs) de Portugal. Los participantes expresaron sus percepciones acerca de las relaciones comerciales con sus socios clave en una cadena de hoteles. Los datos se analizaron utilizando la técnica estadística de modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. El estudio produjo varios resultados importantes. La calidad de la relación está influenciada por variables interpersonales, entre las cuales se destaca el papel de Administrador de Clientes (es decir, el representante del hotel), y surgen otras variables asociadas a la relación misma. En cuanto a la importancia de la relación, surgen varios factores como indicadores significativos, tales como los beneficios de la relación y los costos de su interrupción. Los resultados sugieren que la importancia de la relación juega un papel preponderante en la determinación de la propensión a la interacción futura. En cuanto a la contribución teórica, la presente investigación añade valor al paradigma del marketing relacional, ya que somete a prueba y valida un modelo de la influencia de la importancia de la relación, además de los efectos de la calidad de la relación en la propensión de la futura interacción entre las PYMEs y los hoteles. Este estudio también sugiere implicaciones prácticas relacionadas con la gestión, a la luz del éxito de las estrategias de marketing relacional, y con el objetivo de fidelizar al cliente y obtener rentabilidad de la relación comercial que se haya establecido.O presente artigo tem como objetivo investigar a influência da importância e da qualidade das relações de negócio na decisão de uma empresa em manter o envolvimento com determinado hotel. Para tratar a questão, é proposto um modelo testado com base em dados de um inquérito realizado a uma amostra final de 483 representantes de pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) portuguesas, que manifestaram as suas perceções sobre as relações de negócio com os seus interlocutores privilegiados numa cadeia hoteleira.Os dados foram analisados com recurso à técnica estatística de modelação em equações estruturais. O estudo produz vários resultados importantes. A qualidade da relação é influenciada por variáveis interpessoais, com destaque para o papel do Gestor de Clientes (i.e., o representante do hotel), e por outras associadas à relação propriamente dita. Quanto à importância da relação, vários fatores surgem como indicadores significativos, tais como os benefícios da relação e os custos da sua interrupção. Os resultados sugerem que a importância da relação assume um papel preponderante na determinação da propensão de interação futura. Em termos de contribuição teórica, a investigação acrescenta valor ao paradigma do marketing relacional, ao testar e validar um modelo da influência da importância da relação, adicionalmente aos efeitos da qualidade da relação, na propensão de interação futura entre PMEs e hotéis. O estudo sugere igualmente implicações práticas de gestão, com vista ao sucesso das estratégias de marketing relacional e com o objetivo da fidelização dos clientes e rentabilização das relações de negócio com eles estabelecidas

Estimating bankruptcy using neural networks trained with hidden layer learning vector quantization

The Hidden Layer Learning Vector Quantization (HLVQ), a recent algorithm for training neural networks, is used to correct the output of traditional MultiLayer Preceptrons (MLP) in estimating the probability of company bankruptcy. It is shown that this method improves the results of traditional neural networks and outperforms substantially the discriminant analysis in predicting one-year advance bankruptcy. We also studied the effect of using unbalanced samples of healthy and bankrupted firms. The database used was Diane, which contains financial accounts of French firms. The sample is composed of all 583 industrial bankruptcies found in the database with more than 35 employees, that occurred in the 1999-2000 period. For the classification models we considered 30 financial ratios published by Coface available from Diane database, and additionally the Beaver (1966) ratio of Cash Earnings to Total Debt, the 5 ratios of Altman (1968) used in his Z-model and the size of the firms measured by the logarithm of sales. Attention was given to variable selection, data pre¬processing and feature selection to reduce the dimensionality of the problem

Um contributo para o estudo da difusão das tic nas escolas com projecto nónio

[Resumo] Já é generalizada a ideia que a escola deve preparar o aluno para as exigencias da vida actual, isto é, corresponder as complexas exigencias da nova era das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação. Deste modo, para que a Educação escolar nao se tome obsoleta e para que a sua função primordial de educar o aluno para a vida nao se desvie, é importante repensar as funçoes e métodos da escola. Toma-se necessário uma escola capaz de dotar os alunos de competencias relativas as formas de acessibilidade e de processamento de informaçao. A introdução das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação é uma realidade no nosso contexto educativo, por isso, pretende-se esbçar um diagnóstico possível do grau de implementação das novas tecnologias, tendo como referencia o contributo do Programa Nónio Século XXI nas escolas Portuguesas. A renovação é urna exigencia da sociedade actual que se norteia por elevados padroes de qualidade, desde o conhecimento científico e tecnológico até a produtividade em geral, passando pela qualidade da Educação em geral. Os resultados aqui apresentados poderao constituir urna plataforma de recolha de informação e de análise para futuras abordagens desta temática

Exploring data collection innovations by examining the effects of relationship marketing on performance in times of crisis

La calidad científica, el rigor y el impacto de una cantidadconsiderable, por no decir la vasta mayoría, de estudios de marketing dependende un proceso efectivo de recolección de datos. La mayoría delos investigadores de estas áreas y áreas relacionadas, confían en lasformas tradicionales de recolección de datos, como los cuestionarios caraa cara, de lápiz y papel, o en línea, que no son muy efectivos en términosdel tiempo y dinero necesarios para recolectar una cantidad razonablede observaciones. Teniendo en cuenta que las crisis también deben seroportunidades para que los investigadores y las instituciones desarrollenherramientas y procedimientos de investigación más productivos y efectivos,esta investigación tiene dos objetivos: i) probar un modelo que relacionalos esfuerzos del marketing relacional (MR) con el desempeño; yii) explorar métodos de recolección de datos innovadores y más efectivospara emplearlos en un contexto de investigación de mercados. Con estefin, este estudio propone y prueba un modelo de los efectos de los antecedentesy mediadores del MR sobre el desempeño objetivo. El trabajoempírico se basa en las percepciones de 4389 representantes empresarialessobre sus relaciones con sus contrapartes en hoteles, que recolectamosusando Npolls de Appgeneration. Los resultados de los modelos deecuaciones estructurales sugieren que el compromiso es el determinantemás poderoso de la participación en los negocios, y media por completo elimpacto de la calidad de las relaciones (con la satisfacción y la confianzacomo dimensiones de primer orden) sobre el desempeño objetivo. Desdeuna perspectiva metodológica innovadora, este estudio demuestra quees posible recolectar una cantidad significativamente grande de observacionesen un período de tiempo muy corto, con ventajas considerablesversus los procedimientos tradicionales de recolección de datos