Developing Export Pricing Strategies : Decision-making on price adaptation in B2B industrial trade

In nowadays globalized economies companies tend to expand their presence in the foreign markets by exporting their product offerings, which requires managers to revise their strategies to match the international environment. Furthermore, special attention must be paid to pricing since prices are indicated to be an essential strategic tool and have direct influence on profit. It is also known that there are internal company- and external environment-specific contingency factors that incline managers towards adaptation of their pricing strategies and affect export performance of companies. However, little is known about the process that leads managers to certain decisions on export pricing and the roles of different contingency factors in the process are unclear. Therefore, this research develops a theoretical framework to outline the weightiest contingency factors considered by decision-makers and get deeper understanding on the process of developing and adapting export pricing strategies. In addition, the focus is on industrial business-to-business (B2B) trade that has its specificities compared to the business-to-customer (B2C) context while being characterized by more rational trade participants and more complex processes. The empirical data collected in the semi-structured interviews indicate that the most influential factors affecting decisions on export price adaptation in the context of B2B industrial trade are related to competition, market characteristics, product and distribution, together with company goals. Moreover, customer and its situation revealed to play a significant role in the process, which is in line with the theoretical background for the B2B trade pricing, but not considered in the contingency theory. Finally, the heuristic model of the process of making export pricing decisions in B2B industrial trade is proposed to provide industrial managers with indicative guidelines about how to approach export pricing

Facework and Rhetorical Strategies in Intercultural Argumentation

Intercultural discourse (especially via a lingua franca) adds a new dimension—facework (establishing of culture-sensitive politeness strategies)—to the theory and practice of argumentation from a number of perspectives: its specificity as compared to ordinary argumentational discourse, the interpretation of the concept of incommensurability, and the conduct of international negotiations. Politeness systems relevant for different cultures are not unpredictable, but represent linguistically and cognitively a highly generalised universal system which can be adopted by interlocutors and used in practical discourse. Politeness expressions are governed by linguistic components—by language forms of a certain type and by specific discourse patterns. The proper choice of language forms and discourse patterns adds a special dimension to argumentative schemata. The politeness—relevant packaging of discourse adds a zero-step to the normative stages of an argumentative discussion (establishing hierarchical relations as such), and needs permanent alignment of these relations, by using correct language forms and discourse patterns

Neutral delay differential equation Kerr cavity model

A neutral delay differential equation (NDDE) model of a Kerr cavity with external coherent injection is developed that can be considered as a generalization of the Ikeda map with second and higher order dispersions being taken into account. It is shown that this model has solutions in the form of dissipative solitons both in the limit, where the model can be reduced to the Lugiato--Lefever equation (LLE), and beyond this limit, where the soliton is eventually destroyed by the Cherenkov radiation. Unlike the standard LLE the NDDE model is able to describe the overlap of multiple resonances associated with different cavity modes

Neutral delay differential equation Kerr cavity model

A neutral delay differential equation (NDDE) model of a Kerr cavity with external coherent injection is developed that can be considered as a generalization of the Ikeda map with second and higher order dispersion being taken into account. It is shown that this model has solutions in the form of dissipative solitons both in the limit, where the model can be reduced to the Lugiato-Lefever equation (LLE), and beyond this limit, where the soliton is eventually destroyed by the Cherenkov radiation. Unlike the standard LLE the NDDE model is able to describe the overlap of multiple resonances associated with different cavity modes.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Desarrollo de herramientas para gestionar los riesgos profesionales en las empresas y reducir la posibilidad de amenazas a la salud de los empleados

En el control de las organizaciones por parte de las autoridades ejecutivas, se presta especial atención a la disponibilidad de documentos relacionados con la evaluación de los riesgos profesionales. Uno de estos documentos es el registro de riesgos identificados para cada profesión. El trabajo contempla la elaboración de un registro estándar utilizando el ejemplo de un operador de aparatos de pasteurización y refrigeración de leche. La elección de una profesión se basa en la evaluación de los accidentes ocurridos en la empresa -la mayoría de ellos relacionados con esta profesión- y en una variada lista de peligros que surgen en el transcurso del proceso tecnológico y el desempeño de las funciones laborales. El registro elaborado contiene los peligros identificados, agrupados en categorías según la fuente primaria de peligro: mecánicos, térmicos, eléctricos, asociados al microclima, de naturaleza química y biológica, asociados a los aerosoles de acción fibrogénica, al ruido, a las vibraciones, a la iluminación de la zona de trabajo, a la gravedad e intensidad del trabajo, al proceso, al transporte, al fuego y a la explosión. El modelo de registro forma parte de la normativa sobre el sistema de gestión de la SST en la empresa. Puede utilizarse del mismo modo que las instrucciones estándar de SST. La lista de peligros identificados se aplica a la mayoría de las ocupaciones del taller. Los registros tipo reducirán el tiempo dedicado a su elaboración en la organización

Solution Transformation of the Products of AC Electrochemical Metal Oxidation

Electrochemical oxidation of copper and aluminium using alternating current of industrial frequency results in the formation of non-equilibrium products. Their transformations during the ageing in sodium chloride solutions of different concentrations have been considered. According to X-Ray diffraction confirmed by TG/DSC/DTG analysis, irrespective of solution concentration, the ageing products consist of aluminium oxyhydroxide (boehmite, AlOOH), copper-aluminium carbonate hydroxide hydrate (Cu-Al/LDH) and copper chloride hydroxide (Cu[2](OH)[3]Cl). The increase of the solution concentration leads to Cu[2](OH)[3]Cl formation and makes difficulties for metal oxide carbonization to Cu-Al/LDH. Ageing in highly diluted solution contributes not only to Cu-Al/LDH formation but also boehmite hydration that is verified by IR-spectra. The pore structure characteristics have been also discussed. They do not significantly depend on phase composition and vary in ranges of 161.2-172.6 m{2}/g (specific surface areas), 0.459-0.535 cm{2}/g (total pore volumes). Pore size distributions reveal that a pore structure is predominantly formed by pore with the sizes from 3 to 22°nm; 3.6°nm is the size of pores with the largest pore volume

AC Electrochemical Copper and Aluminum Oxidation in Sodium Acetate Solutions

Electrochemical copper and aluminum oxidation using alternating current of industrial frequency was carried out in an aqueous sodium acetate solution. Simultaneous oxidation of metals accelerates copper oxidation, but does not significantly influence the aluminium oxidation rate. It results in the preparation of the copper-aluminum oxide system with a high content of copper oxide (up to 70 wt %). High energy consumption due to the voltage loss to overcome the resistance of the oxidation product layer on the electrode surface considerably limits the process and its product application. Furthermore, the chemical aluminum oxidation in alkaline medium of an aqueous sodium acetate solution instead of electrochemical one does not result in the power-saturated, nanosized metal oxide formation. The results obtained do not only underline the new technology of nanomaterial production, but also allow scientists to consider the mechanisms of the metal oxidation AC-process