Do product innovation-related activities affect downsizing decisions? An organizational efficiency perspective

Firms’ innovation strategy typically involves the need to shape organizational changes within work structures and routines, even those concerning employee downsizing decisions. However, little effort has been directed toward exploring the role of firm innovation strategy as a determinant of downsizing. Drawing on organizational efficiency perspective, this study proposes a framework to examine the impact of product innovation-related activities on downsizing. The model will be tested using data from a longitudinal sample of Spanish innovative manufacturing firms. It is expected that the results show that firms developing product and process innovations are associated with downsizing decisions. Furthermore, companies that use formal protection of intellectual property through patents, utility models, trademarks and copyrights are believed to keep their personnel. The study attempt to unravel the impact of firm innovation on downsizing decisions and to offer guidance on how innovative firms might operate to control negative effects on their workforce

Users’ engagement en YouTube como plataforma de comunicación C2C. Analizando las diferencias entre videos patrocinados vs no patrocinados

El creciente poder de los/las bloggers, youtubers, y cualquier otro tipo de líder de opinión, prescriptor o influencer surgido/a en cualquier plataforma social ha emergido en los últimos años como una nueva y valiosa forma de comunicación para las empresas. De hecho, las opiniones que los usuarios vierten en redes sociales se han convertido en parte del proceso de decisión de compra ya que generan electronic word-of-mouth muy fiable, creíble y ayudan a otros usuarios a reducir la incertidumbre y el riesgo ante una compra de un producto desconocido. El presente trabajo profundiza en el fenómeno de la comunicación entre consumidores (C2C) para lo que se propone analizar el contenido generado en plataformas sociales de video (YouTube) por influencers con el objetivo de analizar si existen diferencias significativas en términos de engagement entre el contenido patrocinado y el no patrocinado por marcas.The growing power of bloggers, youtubers, and any other type of opinion leader or influencer emerged from any social platform is considered nowadays as a valuable form of communication for companies. In fact, users-generated content in social networks has become part of the purchase decision process as they generate very reliable and credible electronic word-of-mouth. In addition, this content helps other users to reduce uncertainty and risk associated with a purchase of an unknown product. This research delves into the phenomenon of communication between consumers (C2C). For this task we propose to analyse the content generated in video social platforms (YouTube) by influencers with the objective of examining if there are significant differences in terms of engagement between contents sponsored by brands and contents non-sponsored by brands

Efecto del precio en la efectividad del contenido generado por el usuario en comunidades de marca online

El principal objetivo de esta investigación es comprobar si el precio de los productos ejerce un efecto moderador en la relación entre el contenido generado por el usuario en comunidades de marca online y las ventas. Para ello, se extrae información relativa al contenido generado por el usuario, precio y ventas de una comunidad de marca especializada en videojuegos, Steam. Un análisis de regresión ridge jerárquico ha revelado la existencia de un efecto moderador significativo del precio en la relación entre el contenido generado por el usuario en forma de comentarios positivos y las ventas, resultado que ofrece interesantes implicaciones teóricas y prácticas.The main objective of this research is to check if the price of the products exerts a moderate effect on the relationship between the user-generated content in online brand communities and sales. To develop this research, we extract information about user-generated content, price and sales from a brand community associated with videogames, Steam. A hierarchical ridge regression analysis has revealed the existence of a significant moderating effect of price on the relationship between the user-generated content in the form of positive comments and sales. This result offers interesting theoretical and practical implications

Estimating Customer Potential Value using panel data of a Spanish bank

The main goal of this paper is the calculation of a multi-product model of Customer Potential Value using the Probit method. The results of this first analysis are used to perform an ex-post segmentation of customers, whose output can be employed to improve Customer Relationship Management strategies of the companies. Our research contributes to the consumer behaviour literature insofar as, according to our knowledge, no previous work has examined collectively the proposed drivers of Customer Potential Value in a multi-services retailer. To achieve these objectives, we use a panel data of a Spanish bank. The results allow us to confirm the influence of a set of behavioural variables on the ownership of different banking products and identify those customers whose value is higher and lower through the calculation of Customer Potential Value

A model to improve management of banking customers

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to provide a model to assess and classify banking customers based on the concept of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) in order to determine which kind of customers creates more value to the bank. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model comprises two sub-models: (sub-model 1) modelling and prediction of CLV in a multiproduct context using Hierarchical Bayesian models as input to (sub-model 2) a value-based segmentation specially designed to manage customers and products using the Latent Class regression. The model is tested using real transaction data of 1,357 randomly-selected customers of a bank. Findings – This research demonstrates which drivers of customer value better predict the contribution margin and product usage for each of the products considered in order to get the CLV measure. Using this measure, the model implements a value-based segmentation, which helps banks to facilitate the process of customer management. Originality/value – Previous CLV models are mostly conceptual, generalization is one of their main concerns, are usually focused on single product categories, and they are not design with a special emphasis on their application as support for managerial decisions. In response to these drawbacks, the proposed model will enable decision-makers to improve the understanding of the value of each customer and their behaviour towards different financial products

Multichannel Retailing and Consumer Behaviour: Strategy Design and Implementation

This article aims to analyse and offer managerial guidance about the processes of planning, implementation and control of a multichannel strategy within the framework of Multichannel Customer Management Decision (MCMD). To achieve this objective, firstly we justify the growing adoption of a multichannel strategy by retailers and channels participants. Following MCMD framework, we analyse the consumer behaviours linked to this kind of strategy in order to deeply understand the factors which affect consumer choice decisions related to channels. Alternative channels to brick and mortar retail channel are described, such as online channel. This helps us to offer a guide to define the multichannel strategy. Additionally, we give some ideas about the implementation of this strategy. Finally, in order to get a feedback to this planning process, we suggest carrying out a control phase. The work ends with conclusions section and future research streams

La distribución comercial en Europa: situación actual y tendencias

Retailing industry in EU is currently experienced deeply changes. Environmental forces are pushing a new organization of the retailing in the world: economic crisis, competence between channels, formats and groups, changing patterns of consumer behavior, or technology evolution (Internet and the Web 2.0). This paper makes a diagnostic of the retailing industry in the EU-27, by analyzing the evolution of both wholesale and retailing activities. In particular, it is considered in detail features as the structure of the sector, the state of private brands, the evolution of retailer companies, the concentration of selling in retailing, or the payment periods. Finally, some conclusions about the evolution of the sector are depicted.El sector de la distribución comercial en la Unión Europea se encuentra actualmente en un proceso de reestructuración, debido a los cambios en la situación económica, especialmente por la crisis, la competencia entre canales de distribución, formatos y grupos empresariales, los cambios en el comportamiento de los consumidores y la evolución de la tecnología. El trabajo realiza un diagnóstico del sector en la UE-27, analizando la evolución de la actividad tanto mayorista como minorista. En concreto, se estudia en detalle aspectos como la estructura del sector para todos los países, los formatos comerciales, las marcas de distribuidor, la evolución de los grupos empresariales de distribución minorista, la concentración en la distribución o los plazos de pago, esencialmente. Finalmente, se contienen diversas conclusiones sobre la situación y tendencias de futuro del sector.ABSTRACTRetailing industry in EU is currently experienced deeply changes. Environmental forces are pushing a new organization of the retailing in the world: economic crisis, competence between channels, formats and groups, changing patterns of consumer behavior, or technology evolution (Internet and the Web 2.0). This paper makes a diagnostic of the retailing industry in the EU-27, by analyzing the evolution of both wholesale and retailing activities. In particular, it is considered in detail features as the structure of the sector, the state of private brands, the evolution of retailer companies, the concentration of selling in retailing, or the payment periods. Finally, some conclusions about the evolution of the sector are depicted

Efecto del tamaño del surtido sobre el consumidor en el punto de venta un análisis de artículos publicados

En este artículo se pone de manifiesto la importancia de las decisiones sobre el tamaño del surtido en la gestión minorista, identificándose diversos efectos que dichas decisiones pueden ejercer sobre el comportamiento de los consumidores. A través de un metaanálisis de los principales estudios publicados entre 1974 y 2009 sobre la temática propuesta, se comprueba que en general el tamaño del surtido tiene un efecto heterogéneo sobre el consumo, ya que los consumidores no quedan indiferentes si se produce una variación del tamaño del surtido en el lineal del minorista. Entre los principales resultados se destaca que ante un aumento del tamaño del surtido, la evaluación del mismo será más favorable

An innovative technology proposal for the improving in the communication, social reputation and service quality: a case applied to the hospitality sector

Se presenta una novedosa aplicación móvil llamada RE2, diseñada para ayudar a los profesionales del sector servicios en la gestión de la información de clientes y servicios. Esta basada en uno de los desarrollos más recientes en el área de la gestión de clientes: el compromiso del cliente. En particular, RE2 digitaliza la tarjeta de fidelización de clientes para grabar sus datos personales y sus patrones de consumo. Utilizando esta información, RE2 pretende conseguir una mejora en la calidad del servicio, la estrategia de comunicación y la reputación corporativa, organizando el sistema de recompensas de forma automática y sugiriendo una conexión al cliente con sus redes sociales, donde pueden diseminar sus experiencias con el negocio. Este trabajo presenta las bases teóricas utilizadas para desarrollar RE2, describe sus principales funciones y contribuciones al negocio, aplicado al caso particular de la hostelería (aunque la aplicación puede ser aplicada en otros sectores). AbstractIn this paper it is presented a new mobile application called RE2, that was designed to help service sector professionals with managing information related to customers and services. It is based on one of the most interesting recent developments within the framework of customer management: customer engagement. In particular, RE2 digitizes customers’ loyalty cards, recording the personal data and consumption patterns of customers. Using this information, RE2 aims to achieve an improvement in service quality, communication strategy, and social reputation by organizing the reward program automatically and suggesting connections for customers to their social networking sites, where customers can then disseminate their experiences with the business. This paper presents the theoretical bases used to develop RE2, describes its main functions, and explains its main contributions to the special case of the hospitality industry (although the application can be applied to other industries)