Relationship marketing in the casino industry

For casinos involved in targeting high-end clients, relationship building and customer retention are important marketing activities. This paper investigates the effectiveness of two marketing approaches, namely customer orientation and adaptability. The paper explores how these approaches influence the performance of frontline employees operating in the casino high-end market. The investigation involved a survey administered to frontline service representatives within the VIP gaming areas of one of the world’s largest casinos. The questionnaire focused on the issues of customer orientation, adaptability and service performance. Various statistical analyses including multiple regression were deployed to analyse the data generated by the 152 valid responses. It is concluded that relationship-oriented selling behaviours are significant predictors of service performance. The predictive capacity of adaptability was particularly strong in terms of the criterion variable

Determinants of foreign firms' collective action in emerging economies: evidence from India

Emerging economies are increasingly becoming long-term investment locations for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) from developed countries. An important facet of foreign firms’ strategies in emerging economies is to engage in the policymaking process of these economies, as a means to reduce the negative impact of uncertain institutional environments and to shape host-government policy in a way that is conducive to their long-term business operations (Ahuja and Yayavaram, 2011; Li, Zhou and Shao, 2008; Luo, 2001, 2006; Sun, Mellahi and Thun, 2010; Zhou, Poppo and Yang, 2008). A key decision for firms in this regard is about their nature of participation in the policymaking process (Hillman and Hitt, 1999; Hillman, Keim and Schuler, 2004). While some firms may choose to participate in the policy process on an individual basis — that is, without co-acting with other firms, others may decide to participate collectively, or in a collaborative manner, such as through associations of firms belonging to the industry/sector or with those that collate the voices of firms across industry verticals (Astley and Fombrun, 1983). By engaging in collective action, foreign firms can influence policy and governance issues such as product quality standards, codes of conduct and environmental protection that are of collective interest (Boddewyn and Doh, 2011)

Resource tangibility and foreign firms’ corporate political strategies in emerging economies: evidence from India

Foreign firms operating in emerging economies are increasingly exploiting and becoming dependent on locally existing intangible resources such as intellectual skills, technological know-how and reputation. Political strategies are used to absorb the external constraints associated with this external dependence. Little is known about the different types of political strategies used by foreign firms in emerging economies and the factors that determine this choice. We draw on Resource Dependence theory to argue that this choice will be influenced by the degree to which foreign firms depend on tangible vs. intangible resources. Using a sample of 105 foreign subsidiaries in India, we find that foreign firms that depend on local intangible resources are more likely to use information-based political strategies, but less likely to provide direct financial incentives to policymakers; whereas firms that depend on local tangibles are less likely to use information-based strategies. Foreign firms that depend on both tangible and intangible resources are more likely to use the constituency building strategy. Our findings enhance our understanding of the factors affecting foreign firms’ political strategy in emerging economies

Depth Requirements for a Tonne-scale 76Ge Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay Experiment

Neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments can potentially determine the Majorana or Dirac nature of the neutrino, and aid in understanding the neutrino absolute mass scale and hierarchy. Future 76Ge-based searches target a half-life sensitivity of >10^27 y to explore the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. Reaching this sensitivity will require a background rate of <1 count tonne^-1 y^-1 in a 4-keV-wide spectral region of interest surrounding the Q value of the decay. We investigate the overburden required to reach this background goal in a tonne-scale experiment with a compact (copper and lead) shield based on Monte Carlo calculations of cosmic-ray background rates. We find that, in light of the presently large uncertainties in these types of calculations, a site with an underground depth >~5200 mwe is required for a tonne-scale experiment with a compact shield similar to the planned 40-kg MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR. The required overburden is highly dependent on the chosen shielding configuration and could be relaxed significantly if, for example, a liquid cryogen and water shield, or an active neutron shield were employed. Operation of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and GERDA detectors will serve to reduce the uncertainties on cosmic-ray background rates and will impact the choice of shielding style and location for a future tonne-scale experiment. 4/2013: The peer review process revealed that one of the veto rejection factors (the factor-of-4 described on p12) needs to be better established. Our reevaluation of this parameter to date has not yielded strong support for the value stated in the manuscript, and we require further study to develop a solid estimate. This further study will supersede the work described in this manuscript, and may or may not lead to the same conclusion regarding the ~>5200 mwe requirement for future tonne-scale 76Ge neutrinoless double beta decay experiments