Customer value elasticity, equi-value curves and value vectors: implications for customer behaviour and strategic marketing.

The analysis presented in the paper uses algebraic and geometric methods to explore the implications of the two different specifications of the customer's value equation, the ratio approach and the subtractive approach, for customer behaviour and strategic marketing decisions. Three key concepts are defined and investigated for each specification of the customer's value equation: customer value elasticity, equi-value curves (or "iso-values"), and value vectors. Customer value elasticity measures the sensitivity of customer value to small changes in customer perceived benefits and sacrifices. Equi-value curves are functions connecting points of equal customer perceived value. Value vectors are customer-value-based marketing strategies which have a specific directional orientation with respect to equi-value curves. The analysis of customer value elasticity and of equi-value curves suggests a number of important hypotheses for subsequent empirical testing. The analysis of value vectors suggests that there are eight feasible customer-value-based marketing strategies available to business organisations

Beyond and beneath the hierarchical market economy: global production and working-class conflict in Argentina's automobile industry

This paper argues that the hierarchical market economy (HME) category does not provide an adequate starting point for addressing capitalist diversity in Latin America. Building from a critical perspective on the global commodity chain (GCC) and global production network (GPN) approaches, it instead considers the impact of firms’ transnational relations and the often neglected role of working-class struggles. It will argue that capitalist diversity can only be understood at the nexus of these ostensibly global and local phenomena; and by specifying the strategic decisions taken by firms in Argentina’s automobile industry, it will account for the failure of that sector. Finally, it examines the role of working-class struggles in the industry in Córdoba, Argentina, arguing that these were vital in shaping the specific and unstable form of capitalist diversity in Argentina, as well as potential alternatives to it

Improving fertiliser management: redefining the relationship between soil tests and crop responses for wheat in WA

Most soils in Western Australia (WA) are highly weathered with very low levels of phosphorus. WA soils initially contained adequate indigenous soil potassium for cropping but removal of potassium over time in harvested grain has gradually resulted in the some soils becoming potassium-deficient for grain production. Fertiliser costs represent a significant part of the variable costs of growing crops in WA. Chen et al. (2009) identified the need for updated soil test interpretations due to substantial changes in farming systems, fertiliser practices and crop yield potential. The aims of this study were (1) to compile experimental data containing the standard soil test measurements and observed wheat crop yield responses for both nil and fertilised treatments across different soil types and seasons from published or unpublished sources, and (2) to critically analyse soil test-crop response relationships to derive better critical soil test values in soils and environments suitable for wheat grain production in WA

Early diversion and empowerment policing : evaluating an adult female offender triage project

This paper provides an evaluation of a police pilot early-diversion scheme for adult females who were arrested for low-severity offences using a natural experiment design. The intervention is novel in that it diverts arrestees to a women’s centre for assistance to address their criminogenic needs rather than process them through the criminal justice system. The intervention is timely and attractive given its rehabilitative features and its potential for reducing demand on the criminal justice system through community resolution. The study found a promising effect of the intervention on rates of rearrest and daily risk of rearrest over a twelve month follow-up period, but a higher frequency of rearrest among those of the intervention group who were rearrested. The findings are discussed in relation to the political context, theoretical background and police performance and the gendered dynamics of offending

When is violence not a crime? : factors associated with victims' labelling of violence as a crime

Many people do not regard violence against them as a crime, but the factors that influence this response are unknown. Understanding how the ‘crimeworthiness’ of violence is interpreted allows an insight into how victims make sense of their experience, how communities influence attitudes towards victimisation and the reporting of crime to the police. A pooled cross-sectional sample of respondents to the Crime Survey for England and Wales was used to identify factors associated with the decision to label or discount a violent incident as a crime. Individual and neighbourhood-level effects were estimated using multilevel modelling. Harm, the perceived unjustness of the incident and victim-offender relational distance predicted labelling, whereas frequency of victimisation and victim initiation of the incident predicted discounting. Neighbourhood and neighbourhood crime had little effect on victims’ interpretations of the ‘crimeworthiness’ of violence. When victims interpret violence against them, they appear to do so unencumbered by social norms, but are influenced by the impact of the violence, the ‘prototypicality’ of the incident as a crime and their previous experience of violence

Selected aspects of lunar mare geology from Apollo orbital photography

Crater size-frequency distributions were studied (100-500 m) and are shown to provide significant integrated information concerning mare surface ages, subsurface stratigraphy, and surficial geology. Equilibrium cratering is discussed gradually reducing the relative numbers of craters smaller than 300-400 m in diameter as surfaces age and regolith thickens. Results for surface ages are in good agreement with other published crater ages. The existing correlations of large ring structures among various circular mare basins are shown to be based on criteria that are inconsistent and nonstandardized. A means of comparing equivalent ring structures in the different maria is proposed which takes into account the important characteristics of young unflooded basins (Orientale) as well as the progressive development of tectonic and volcanic features within the older flooded maria. Specific geologic aspects of several of the lunar maria are discussed and especially Mare Smythii, because of its great age and significantly different surface morphology. Lunar photographs and maps are shown

Service provider difficulties in operationalising coercive control

We examined perspectives of social workers, police officers, and specialist domestic abuse practitioners about their perceived ability and organizational readiness to respond effectively to incidents of coercive and controlling behavior. Interviews revealed intervention and risk assessment strategies structured around an outdated, maladaptive concept of domestic abuse as an unambiguous and violent event and frontline services that lacked appreciation of the power dynamics inherent in controlling relationships. The analysis demonstrates how lack of definitional clarity around nonphysical domestic abuse can increase the use of discretion by frontline services and, by extension, increase the discounting of coercive control by pressured frontline officers

The IMP contribution to understanding business with China.

A cursory inspection of the output from IMP research will quickly show that issues to do with business in China are a reasonably common topic. Our purposes are to pull together all of the IMP papers concerning business in China in order to evaluate whether or not key themes can be identified in this research, and to evaluate the overall contribution to knowledge made by this work to the field of business-to-business relationships and networks in business with China. A systematic search of the online IMP database, augmented by a manual search of the proceedings of the IMP Asia conferences, generated a total of 58 relevant papers. Of these, 20 were directly concerned with Chinese cultural values, 27 were more broadly concerned with doing business in China, and 11 were more peripherally concerned with China, perhaps including China as a component of a wider Asian study. The 58 papers were analysed using three methods: conventional literature review, quantitative content analysis, and text mining. The key findings are that IMP research addressing business with China has largely adopted IMP conceptual frameworks, and only secondarily frameworks based on Chinese cultural values. Explicit consideration of Chinese cultural values is found in comparatively few IMP papers addressing business in China. Furthermore, there are few instances where IMP researchers adopt an integrative theoretical approach, using both core IMP concepts and key Chinese cultural business concepts. Although considerable attention has been paid to the concept of guanxi by IMP researchers, other key Chinese cultural business concepts are used comparatively infrequently