MARKETING IN WESTERN VERSUS EASTERN CULTURE – COMPARING AND CONTRASTING BETWEEN THE U.S. AND JAPAN

In this paper we consider differences in marketing in Western vs. Eastern cultures and use the United States and Japan as the primary, but not exclusive, focus of our discussion. We first consider the general issue of companies trading internationally, and home in on the U.S. and Japan. We consider corporate cultures and examine a deeper look at the U.S. vs. Japan along a set of six dimensions, and we distinguish between internal and external aspects. We use case studies of three companies to illustrate our points, and end with a noting of our conclusions and managerial implications and some advice for companies seeking to enter the Japanese market

ETHICS IN DATA COLLECTION AND ADVERTISING

This paper will explore the ethical connotations within the current advertising methods used by companies who want to market their products online. Specifically, the paper will focus on how customer data is collected and used via targeted advertising and what the ethics behind this method of advertising are. While marketers argue that targeted advertising using customer information results in greater consumer market efficiency, by sparking customers’ interests through tailored advertisements, many consumer privacy groups have questioned the ethicality of such practices

Evaluating College Quarterbacks As They Enter the National Football League Draft

The National football League (NFL) in the United States has become a quarterback-centric league, where an elite quarterback is needed to win a Super Bowl. This paper will aim to provide statistical insight into how to project which college quarterback prospects will have the most successful NFL careers. We specifically focus on two quarterbacks, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariotta, who, respectively, were the first and second choice in the first round of the NFL draft recently, in May, 2015. However, our methodology is applicable to other quarterback draftees, and, with modest adaptation, to evaluating players at other positions

Consistency conditions for regulatory analysis of financial institutions: a comparison of frontier efficiency methods

We propose a set of consistency conditions that frontier efficiency measures should meet to be most useful for regulatory analysis or other purposes. The efficiency estimates should be consistent in their efficiency levels, rankings, and identification of best and worst firms, consistent over time and with competitive conditions in the market, and consistent with standard nonfrontier measures of performance. We provide evidence on these conditions by evaluating and comparing efficiency estimates on U.S. bank efficiency from variants of all four of the major approaches -- DEA, SFA, TFA, and DFA -- and find mixed results.Financial institutions ; Bank supervision

Optimizing Data Management with Disparities in Data Value

When there is a disparity in the value of different data records and fields, there is a need for an optimization of data resources. Not all data necessarily contribute the same value. It depends on the usage of the data, as well as a variety of other factors. This paper presents models for optimizing data management in the presence of a disparity between the values contributed by different data. We expound on what disparity of data value represents and illustrate models to derive a numerical measure of such disparity. We then use real-world data from a large data resource used to manage alumni relations, and demonstrate our optimization methods and results. We then discuss the tradeoffs involved between value and cost, and the implications for data management, both in this real-world context and in general

Tradeoffs in Managing the Quality of Marketing Data

A large majority of work in database marketing deals with what to do with data when it is available. This paper focuses on an aspect of data that has been infrequently examined in the database marketing literature – managing quality of data resources from a profit perspective. The notion that “more is better” often prevails in quality management decisions, with very little consideration, if any, of cost. This paper suggests that such decisions should be driven by consideration of cost-benefit tradeoffs and profit maximization. It specifically addresses data-quality decisions which are relevant in the database marketing area: the time-span covered by and targeted quality levels within datasets. These decisions are routinely made based on satisfying technical and functional requirements. We propose a model that quantifies the benefits and costs associated with these decisions and helps maximize profit. The paper describes the model development, discusses its implications for data-quality management decisions, and highlights its contributions with illustrative examples

Which Investments Improve Student Performance? The Impact of Extracurricular Activities, Paid Classes, and At-Home Internet Use on Student Performance in Secondary School

The importance of education is acknowledged by modern society. As more and more people are willing to invest in education to improve students’ performance, the question of which areas of investment contribute most strongly to better academic performance arises. Parents can choose to involve their children in extracurricular activities, or they can choose to pay for additional classes outside of regular schooling. In addition, the use of technology, or, more specifically, access to the Internet at home, is becoming more and more common, and its influence on student performance is a popular topic of study. In this paper, we use two experiments to uncover the factors that influence students’ performance in Math and Portuguese Language and to support strategies for investment in education

PACKAGING – AN IMPORTANT MARKETING TOOL FOR BRANDS

The intention of this research is to analyse how packaging influences the consumer buying behavior of personal care products. As an example, we specifically include consideration of the importance of packaging of personal care product with respect to sales, brand recognition and providing information about the product to the end user. The consumer’s buying decision is strongly based on packaging and its features, such as  packaging color, packaging material, background image, design of the wrapper, printed information, innovations, and font style. The basic idea for conducting this study is to identify those packaging element that add value to personal care products and thus influence consumer buying behavior. This research will not only help marketers in bringing innovation and creativeness into the packaging of personal care products, but will also provide the policy makers to implement effective decision-making in bringing changes and creating strategy to packaging in general

Quantitative single-molecule microscopy reveals that CENP-A(Cnp1) deposition occurs during G2 in fission yeast

The inheritance of the histone H3 variant CENP-A in nucleosomes at centromeres following DNA replication is mediated by an epigenetic mechanism. To understand the process of epigenetic inheritance, or propagation of histones and histone variants, as nucleosomes are disassembled and reassembled in living eukaryotic cells, we have explored the feasibility of exploiting photo-activated localization microscopy (PALM). PALM of single molecules in living cells has the potential to reveal new concepts in cell biology, providing insights into stochastic variation in cellular states. However, thus far, its use has been limited to studies in bacteria or to processes occurring near the surface of eukaryotic cells. With PALM, one literally observes and 'counts' individual molecules in cells one-by-one and this allows the recording of images with a resolution higher than that determined by the diffraction of light (the so-called super-resolution microscopy). Here, we investigate the use of different fluorophores and develop procedures to count the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENP-A(Cnp1) with single-molecule sensitivity in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). The results obtained are validated by and compared with ChIP-seq analyses. Using this approach, CENP-A(Cnp1) levels at fission yeast (S. pombe) centromeres were followed as they change during the cell cycle. Our measurements show that CENP-A(Cnp1) is deposited solely during the G2 phase of the cell cycle