"Global since Gold" The Globalisation of Conglomerates: Explaining the Experience from South Africa, 1990 - 2009

The internationalisation of enterprises is one of the essential ways to strengthen the competitiveness of firms from developing countries (UNCTAD, 2005c: 3). Strong growth in outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from developing countries has become the distinguishing feature of the twenty-first century. This OFDI flows from state-owned enterprises, sovereign wealth funds (SWF) as well as private enterprises operating as multinational companies from a home base or as free-standing companies. Multinational corporations have commenced activities since the 1960s by moving operations to resource-rich, low-cost labour and capital markets (Wilkins, 1970; 1974; 1988; Jones, 1994; 2005). The first wave of OFDI during the 1960s and 1970s was motivated by efficiency and market-seeking factors. This wave was dominated by firms from Asia and Latin America. A second wave of OFDI followed in the 1980s, led by strategic assetseeking enterprises from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea (Dunning et al., 1996; UNCTAD, 2005b: 3s). Since the 1990s China, Brazil, India, Russia (the so-called BRIC countries) Malaysia, Turkey and South Africa are among the countries expected to add significantly to OFDI growth (UNCTAD, 2005c: 4). The flow of investment funds from developed countries was expected, but the reverse trend displayed the emerging capacities in countries and firms outside the core of the international economy, which challenged the dominance of developed countries and companies from developed countries. These developments have prompted several questions: how do developing country firms succeed in entering global markets? Do these firms improve their competitiveness through OFDI? This paper investigates this phenomenon from the experience of South Africa. The emergence of EMNC (Emerging Market Multinational Corporations) prompted extensive analysis and debates about the nature of and motives for EMNCs, but has also led to more in-depth analysis of specific country characteristics and firm-specific reasons for OFDI.overseas foreign direct investment internationalisation business history conglomerates competitiveness industrial protection management strategy

Second-best Congestion Pricing Schemes in the Monocentric City

This paper considers second-best congestion pricing in the monocentric city, with endogenous residential density and endogenous labour supply. A spatial general equilibrium model is developed that allows consideration of the three-way interactions between urban density, traffic congestion and labour supply. Congestion pricing schemes are analyzed that are second best ‘by design’ (and not because distortions exist elsewhere in the spatial economy), like cordon charging and flat kilometre charges. Both for Cobb-Douglas utility and for CES utility, the analyses suggest that the relative welfare losses from second-best pricing, compared to first-best pricing, are surprisingly small. *Affiliated to the Tinbergen Institute, Roetersstraat 31, 1018 WB Amsterdam. Key words: Traffic congestion, second-best pricing, urban structure, spatial general equilibrium JEL codes: R41, R48, D62

Suppression of local haze variations in MERIS images over turbid coastal waters for retrieval of suspended sediment concentration

Atmospheric correction over turbid waters can be problematic if atmospheric haze is spatially variable. In this case the retrieval of water quality is hampered by the fact that haze variations could be partly mistaken for variations in suspended sediment concentration (SSC). In this study we propose the suppression of local haze variations while leaving sediment variations intact. This is accomplished by a multispectral data projection (MDP) method based on a linear spectral mixing model, and applied prior to the actual standard atmospheric correction. In this linear model, the hazesediment spectral mixing was simulated by a coupled water-atmosphere radiative transfer (RT) model. As a result, local haze variations were largely suppressed and transformed into an approximately homogenous atmosphere over the MERIS top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance scene. The suppression of local haze variations increases the number of satellite images that are still suitable for standard atmospheric correction processing and subsequent water quality analysi

Time, speeds, flows and densities in static models of road traffic congestion and congestion pricing

This paper deals with some of the features of static models of road traffic congestion that have caused much debate in the literature. It first focuses on the difficulties arising with the backward-bending cost curve defined over traffic flows in the context of `continuous congestion'. The relevance of the backward-bending segment of this curve is questioned by demonstrating that the `equilibria' on this segment of the cost curve are dynamically infeasible. Next, the implications for static models of `peak congestion' are considered. In doing so, attention is paid also to the implicit assumptions, particularly on the nature of scheduling costs, that are necessary to render static models of peak congestion internally consistent. The paper ends with a brief discussion of the implications for dynamic models of peak congestion.

A general conservative extension theorem in process algebras with inequalities

We prove a general conservative extension theorem for transition system based process theories with easy-to-check and reasonable conditions. The core of this result is another general theorem which gives sufficient conditions for a system of operational rules and an extension of it in order to ensure conservativity, that is, provable transitions from an original term in the extension are the same as in the original system. As a simple corollary of the conservative extension theorem we prove a completeness theorem. We also prove a general theorem giving sufficient conditions to reduce the question of ground confluence modulo some equations for a large term rewriting system associated with an equational process theory to a small term rewriting system under the condition that the large system is a conservative extension of the small one. We provide many applications to show that our results are useful. The applications include (but are not limited to) various real and discrete time settings in ACP, ATP, and CCS and the notions projection, renaming, stage operator, priority, recursion, the silent step, autonomous actions, the empty process, divergence, etc

Further Thoughts on CRM

Skepticism and disappointment have replaced the initialenthusiasm about CRM. The disappointing results ofCRM-projects are often related to difficulties thatmanagers encounter in embedding CRM in their strategyand organization structure. In this article we presenta classification scheme on how CRM can be strategicallyembedded in organizations using the value disciplinesof Treacy and Wiersema. We use the findings from threecase studies to illustrate our classification. Based onthese case studies and interviews with managers wedistinguish between strategic and tactical CRM, andderive important issues that managers should considerbefore successfully implementing CRM.customer relationship management;marketing strategy;marketing performance

Predicting Customer Potential Value: an application in the insurance industry

For effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM), it is essential to have information on the potential value of customers. Based on the interplay between potential value and realized value, managers can devise customer specific strategies. In this article we introduce a model for predicting the potential value of a current customer. Furthermore, we discuss and apply different modeling strategies for predicting this potential value.marketing models;customer potential;customer relationship management;insurance industry

Consumer Perception and Evaluation of Waiting Time

Telephone waiting times for a commercial service were varied in two different experiments. In the first experiment, the telephone rate was either zero or fixed at Dfl.1.- (approx. $0.40) per minute. Consumer perceptions of waiting times could be described best by a psychophysical power function. Furthermore, wait evaluations were mainly influenced by the difference between the consumers' acceptable and perceived waiting times. The negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations was increased by the monetary costs of waiting.In the second experiment, the waiting times were filled in different ways: music, queue information, and information about expected waiting time. Information about the expected waiting time significantly reduced the consumer's overestimation of waiting time, whereas information about wait duration and queue increased the negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations.customer satisfaction;experiment;psychophysics;telephone waiting times

High-resolution methods for fluorescence retrieval from space

The retrieval from space of a very weak fluorescence signal was studied in the O2A and O2B oxygen atmospheric absorption bands. The accuracy of the method was tested for the retrieval of the chlorophyll fluorescence and reflectance terms contributing to the sensor signal. The radiance at the top of the atmosphere was simulated by means of a commercial radiative-transfer program at a high resolution (0.1 cm-1). A test data set was generated in order to simulate sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence at the top of the canopy. Reflectance terms were spectrally modeled using cubic splines and fluorescence by means of the sum of two Voigt functions. Sensor radiance residual minimization was performed in the presence of a multiplicative noise, thus ensuring that the sensor simulations were realistic. The study, which focused on the possibility of retrieving fluorescence with an accuracy better than 10%, was performed for instrument resolutions ranging from about 0.4 cm-1 to 2 cm-1 in order to test the algorithm for the characteristics of existing and planned hyper-spectral sensors. The algorithm was also used to retrieve fluorescence in the single O2A band at the OCO and TANSO-FTS instrument spectral resolution