Consumer Perceptions of Tesco Own Brands: the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom

Relatively little is known about the consumer perceptions of own brands in the newly emerging markets of central and eastern Europe. This paper attempts to fill a gap in knowledge by investigating various aspects of consumer perceptions of Tesco own brands in the Czech Republic. The key data for this research was collected by structured questionnaires from Tesco supermarket customers in the Czech Republic and the UK. Non probability quota sampling was used and the sample was stratified according to gender, age and income. The results of the research indicate that the general view of Tesco own brands is slightly less positive among Czech than British customers. However, significant differences emerge when these are examined in terms of income. Increases in income lead to a decrease in the favourability with which own brands are viewed in the Czech Republic - the opposite to the position in the UK The age of consumers was also found to be significant, although there is not a linear trend. No strong correlation was found to exist between gender and any of the characteristics under investigation. The sample was limited in size (n = 100 in each country). In depth interviewing would be necessary to assess consumer attitudes further. The results of this research may help Tesco in relation to its general expansion in central and eastern Europe and its brand building in particular. The originality of the paper relates to its study of consumer behaviour in one of the emerging markets of central and eastern Europe

Czech wine consumers: maturing with age?

The purpose of this study is to identify the most important motivations for drinking wine and the factors influencing wine purchase in the Czech Republic and to ascertain if there are significant differences between genders and age groups. An online survey was conducted, using e-mail and social networks, of wine consumers in one of the 14 regions of the Czech Republic. This resulted in a sample of n=237. Spearman’s correlation test was conducted to find correlations between wine consumption and age and the chi-square test for differences between genders. Four motivations were found to be significantly correlated with age – to be sociable, to be respected, because wine is considered healthy and because it belongs with a nice meal, as well as seven factors affecting wine purchase – label, provenance, brand/producer, vintage, design of the bottle, recommendations of salesperson and a preference for the lowest priced wines. As the majority of respondents came from one of the 14 Czech regions, generalizations for the whole Czech Republic cannot be made. It is recommended that future work should include more complex segmentation. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the Czech wine market, where very little research has been conducted so far, as well as by exploring the influence of age on the motivation for wine consumption

Transition Economies in the Middle East: the Syrian Experience

There have been no in depth studies of post Socialist transition in the Middle East. Syria’s experience is therefore a useful one to explore given its historically important role in the region. The Socialist economic policy followed in Syria from 1963 to the early 1990s is outlined. The Syrian economic transition was in two phases: an incremental liberalization phase and a transition to Social Market Economy phase. During both phases, Syrian policy makers showed a preference for a gradualist approach to economic transition, rather than a big-bang approach. This was facilitated by oil revenues and subsidies from the Gulf states. The Syrian experience therefore has its own distinct characteristics, as well as elements in common with the transitions in other post Socialist economies

Political risk assessment in the Czech Republic

This paper seeks to conceptualise a new approach to the identification of the factors influencing the adoption of a political risk assessment (PRA) function. The research population will comprise a convenience sample of Czech international firms. The information whether or not a firm has set up a PRA function will be obtained via a questionnaire survey. By making use of firm value maximization and risk aversion and considering the rationale for risk management activities: (i) reducing the expected costs of financial distress; (ii) reducing the risk premiums payable to various partners; (iii) increasing investment possibilities; and (iv) reducing expected tax payments, we develop a number of determinants which be employed in PRA studie

Corruption, Social Trust and Transition: the Case of the Czech Republic

The purpose of this paper is to propose research into corruption and social trust and their effect on businesses in transition economies with special reference to the Czech Republic. The literature review discusses the concepts of corruption and social trust and provides an explanation of how these can be used, in the case of the Czech Republic, when investigating the influence of these two phenomena on businesses operating in this environment. The discussion is augmented by a preliminary analysis based on secondary data obtained from Transparency International, the World Values Survey, the World Bank and the Polity IV project. This suggests that the assumptions derived from the literature review are valid. The paper concludes by proposing a methodology for further research

Stability and Profitability in the Chinese Banking Industry: evidence from an auto-regressive-distributed linear specification

The important role played by the Chinese commercial banks in the development of China’s economy makes the government and banking regulatory authority give great concern about the performance of Chinese commercial banks, while the stability in the banking sector, without any doubt, has attracted greater attention since the financial crisis during 2007 and 2009. The principal objective of this study is to investigate the inter-relationships between profitability and stability in the Chinese banking industry. Using a sample of Chinese commercial banks over the period 2003-2013, the current study examines the inter-relationships under an auto-regressive-distributed linear model. With regard to the measurement of stability, both Z-score and stability inefficiency were used, while Return on Assets (ROA) was used as the indicator of profitability. In terms of the econometric methods, the current study used different types of Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators including difference GMM, one-step system GMM, two-step system GMM as well as two-step robust GMM. In order to the check the robustness of the results, alternative econometric techniques were used such as ordinary least square (OLS) estimator, between effect estimator as well as fixed effect estimator. The results show that higher insolvency risk/lower bank stability leads to higher profitability of Chinese commercial banks and also that higher profitability leads to higher bank fragility

The impacts of risk-taking behaviour and competition on technical efficiency: evidence from the Chinese banking industry

This paper tests the impact of risk and competition on efficiency in the Chinese banking industry over the period 2003-2013. Comprehensive types of risk-taking behaviour are considered including credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk, and insolvency risk. Competition is measured by the Lerner index. The results are cross-checked using an alternative econometric technique as well as an alternative competition indicator. The findings show that the technical and pure technical efficiencies of Chinese commercial banks are significantly and negatively affected by liquidity risk. They further show that greater competition precedes declines in technical and pure technical efficiencies of Chinese commercial banks. The results suggest that Chinese bank efficiency is significantly affected by bank diversification, banking sector development, stock market development, inflation and GDP growth rate. The findings also indicate that, compared to state-owned commercial banks, joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks have lower technical and pure technical efficiencies

Strategic Decision Implementation in an Emerging Market: "The Nature of the Beast?"

Purpose The paper investigates the extent to which the institutional context impacts on strategic decision implementation in an emerging market. Previous studies of strategic decision making in emerging markets have not examined decision implementation. Given the changes in the world economy during the past decade, and in particular the growing importance of emerging market multinationals, this is an increasingly salient issue. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires were delivered to general managers in all Jordanian publicly quoted industrial firms. A 53.7% response rate was achieved. The structure of the questionnaire built on earlier studies in developed markets and, in particular, Alexander’s (1985) seminal study. Findings The strategic decision implementation problems which are found in Jordan are similar to those found in developed economies. However, external shocks are a more important influence on strategic decision implementation that has been found to be the case in developed economies. The success of companies in the emerging market of Jordan is associated with the frequency and extent of their experience of strategic decision implementation problems. Formal strategic planning helps Jordanian firms to deal with these problems more effectively. Research limitations/implications It was difficult to explore some of the “why” questions related to the implementation of strategic decisions in the sampled firms since most respondents agreed to complete the questionnaire but not to be interviewed. Single, rather than multiple, respondents participated in the research. A larger sample size would be desirable, although the results are statistically robust. Practical implications The results will help managers to make and implement strategic decisions, both in the context of market entry and market maintenance, in the Middle East and in other emerging markets. Originality/value Context (institutional) factors are found to be less influential in the case of decision implementation than strategic decision making itself. This is the first study of the problems associated with the implementation of strategic decisions in Jordanian firms and one of the first in any emerging market

Does competition only impact on insolvency risk? New evidence from the Chinese banking industry

Purpose- This paper investigates the impact of competition on credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk and insolvency risk in the Chinese banking industry during the period 2003-2013. Design/methodology/approach- This study uses a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) system estimator to examine the impact of competition on risk. In particular, translog specifications are used to measure the competition and insolvency risk. Findings- The results show that greater competition within each bank ownership type (state-owned commercial banks, joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks) leads to higher credit risk, higher liquidity risk, higher capital risk, but lower insolvency risk. Originality- This paper is the first piece of research testing the impact of competition on different types of risk in banking industry and it further contributes to the empirical literature by using a more accurate competition indicator (efficiency-adjusted Lerner index) and a more precise insolvency risk indicator (stability inefficiency)