THE NEXT MILLENIUM ROUND OF WORLD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS: AGRICULTURAL ISSUES AT STAKE AND STRATEGIES

The next Round of multilateral negotiations is due to commence in 1999. Countries have already learned a lot from the shortcomings of the previous agricultural negotiations in the implementation of the agriculture negotiations and in the Analysis and Information Exchange meetings since 1997. The ministerial meeting of developed countries (OECD), has revealed that their future development of agricultural policy has changed little as a result of policy changes in the 1990s. In the next Round the EU is expected to be mainly on the defensive to try and maintain subsidy provisions. The main players that are expected to fuel the upcoming negotiations are the Cairns Group of agricultural export countries as well as the United States. The main task of reformers would be related to substantial further reduction of distortive trade measures, the covering of matters left unresolved in the Uruguay Round and to close the loopholes of the previous agreement. In general, reformers would like to push for a fairer system with more equal benefits to all.International Relations/Trade,

South African Trade Unions: an Overview for 1995 to 2005

Trade unions played an important role in South Africa’s transition from apartheid in 1994 and continue to play a very public role in the South African economy. Trade unions are found to have had an increasingly positive effect on members’ wages, although it appears that this increase has resulted in part from changes in the composition of union membership. Unions also had an inequality-reducing character, with union premiums for workers at the lower end of the wage distribution being greater than those for workers at the higher end of the wage distribution.Wage level and structure, Trade unions, Objectives, Structure and effect

The power of Store brands: Intrinsic loyalty and conquesting power.

An important evolution in the retailing industry is the growing success of store brands. Still, their level of penetration varies widely across countries and industries. We provide an operational measure of quantify the power of store brands along two dimensions : the intrinsic loyalty of their customer base, and their conquesting power to attract potential switchers. Based on their position along these two dimensions, we classify store and national brands as 'giants, 'misers', 'fighters' or 'artisans'. We use the proposed operationalization to evaluate the absolute and relative strenght of Albert Heijn, the leading Dutch store brand, in 19 products categories.Brands; Loyalty;

A review of brand-loyalty measures in marketing.

Marketing; Brand loyalty;

A review of brand-loyalty measures in marketing.

Brand loyalty represents an important asset to the firm. While considerable agreement exists on its conceptual definition, no unified approach to operationalize the concept has yet emerged in the marketing literature. We provide a conceptual framework to classify existing management approaches, discuss their relative advantages/disadvantages and provide some managerial recommendations.Brand loyalty; Marketing; Loyalty; Management;

Janeites for a New Millennium: The Modernisation of Jane Austen on Film

The late twentieth century saw a surge in cinematic adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels, the films generating wide-spread interest and zeal from a new caste of modern-day Janeites, many of whom were previously unfamiliar with Austen’s work. While the notion of a Janeite culture based purely on motion picture renditions of the original novels is sure to displease literary purists, the purpose of this discussion is not to initiate a debate regarding our responsibility to remain faithful to Austen in her original form. Rather, this article identifies the type of cinematic alterations and emphases which render Austen films more appealing to a certain group of modern-day Janeites. It will be argued that modern-day audiences’ demand for recognisably modern protagonists necessitates the modernization of Austen on film. Thus, cinematic adaptations tend to emphasize Austen’s nascent feminism, re-imagining her heroines as more fiercely independent, lively and witty than their original incarnations. Through additional scenes, altered dialogue and substantial changes to the characters, film producers not only highlight the plight of women in the early nineteenth century, but also circumvent such restrictions by allowing their female protagonists the degree of independence demanded by modern-day audiences

Calibration of mammagraphy ionisation chambers

The South African national calibration facility is currently not equipped for mammography, dose-measuring equipment. A therapy X-ray machine was used as a calibration unit at the national secondary standards dosimetry laboratory (SSDL) for medium and low energy X-ray, therapy calibrations. It is not necessarily intuitive that the latter calibrations are applicable to diagnostic X-ray beams generated by high frequency generators. The response of measuring equipment calibrated in a therapy X-ray beam, compared to its response in a diagnostic or clinical mammography unit, is unknown. The aim of the research was to investigate whether there was a measurable difference between the X-ray beam qualities available for low energy diagnostic radiology and radiation therapy, i.e. up to 100 kV. The beam qualities studied included both mammography and conventional diagnostic radiography, i.e. nominally 20 kV to 100 kV. The diagnostic and therapy X-ray tubes under investigation had different target-filter combinations, inherent filtration and theoretically, different X-ray spectra. Practically, spectrometry of X-ray beams is not possible because of the sophistication of the instrumentation, comprehensive analyses being very time consuming and not practically applicable to the clinical environment (Kharatti and Zarrad, 2003). Furthermore, not all SSDL’s or Hospitals have access to spectral analysers. Clinical beam quality is instead specified in terms of both the tube peak voltage and the half-value layer (HVL), the thickness of material that will reduce the maximum output of the X-ray beam to 50%. The goal was to compare measured HVLl’s to the ones recommended by the International Electro technical Commission (IEC-61267, 2005) for available mammography beam qualities. The method was validated using attenuation curves. The attenuation curves were then used to derive the suitability of the X-ray spectra for calibration of mammography ionisation chambers (Waggener and Blough, 1999). One of the low energy therapy units was found to be suitable for introducing a regional calibration service for mammography

Competitive reactions and the cross-sales effects of advertising and promotion.

Abstract: How do competitors react to each other's price-promotion and advertising actions? How do these reactions influence the net sales impact we observe? We answer these questions by performing a large-scale empirical study of the short-run and long-run reactions to promotion and advertising shocks in over 400 consumer product categories, over a four-year time span.Competitive reaction can be passive, accommodating or retaliatory. We first develop a series of expectations on the type and intensity of reaction behavior, and on the moderators of this behavior. These expectations are assessed in two ways. First, vector-autoregressive models quantify the short-run and long-run effect of a promotion or advertising action on competitive sales and on competitive reactions. By cataloging the numerical results, we are able to formulate empirical generalizations of reaction behavior ('how do they react?'). Second, we estimate structural models of reaction intensity, in function of various market and competitive characteristics ('what are the drivers of reaction?'). Finally, by comparing our findings on reaction behavior with those on promotion and advertising effectiveness, we are able to evaluate competitive reaction behavior ('are they reacting as they should?').A major finding is that competitive reaction is predominantly passive. When it is present, it is usually retaliatory in the same instrument, but accommodating or retaliatory in a different instrument. There are very few long-run consequences of any type of reaction behavior. We also report on several moderating effects that are in line with expectations, and that support the presence of a certain amount of rationality in competitive reaction behavior.The net impact of the over-time effects of advertising and price-promotion attacks, competitive reactions and the sales effectiveness of each, is that competitors' sales are generally not affected, and especially not in the long run. We weigh the evidence that this sales neutrality is 'natural' (i.e., due to the nature of consumer response) versus 'managed' (i.e., due to the vigilance and effectiveness of competitors), and conclude in favor of the former.