The purpose of this paper is to comment on Professor Ming-Jer Chen’s recent publication titled “Competitive dynamics: Eastern roots, Western growth” and present an asymmetry…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to comment on Professor Ming-Jer Chen’s recent publication titled “Competitive dynamics: Eastern roots, Western growth” and present an asymmetry reversing perspective on the competitive dynamics between two nonobvious, invisible or indirect competitors, namely, how emerging market resource-poor firms compete and outcompete advanced country resource-rich rivals.
Design/methodology/approach
The author first identifies an important neglect in Professor Chen’s scholarship on competitive dynamics, i.e., the neglect of the ubiquity of the less visible competition between two actors who initially would not be considered as competitors. Then, the author proposes an asymmetry reversing theory (ART) of competitive dynamics to redress this neglect. The theory is presented in two parts. The first part describes the competitive dynamics between the two actors as a three-stage process of reversing the asymmetry in resource possession and market position between the resource-poor firm and its resource-rich rivals. The second part explains the key success factors for the resource-poor firm to go through each of the three stages.
Findings
The growth process of the resource-poor firm can be broadly divided into three stages: surviving, catching-up, and outcompeting. For ambitious yet pragmatic resource-poor firms, in the surviving stage, they often (have to) accept the asymmetry between themselves and their resource-rich rivals in terms of resource possession and market position, and try to avoid any direct competition with the strong incumbents. They often tactically appear to pursue different paths of development from those of the strong incumbents by focusing on particular product categories and market segments. Doing so allows the resource-poor firms to win times and spaces for non-interrupted growth. Once they have accumulated sufficient resources and market experiences, they start to reduce the asymmetry between themselves and their better-endowed rivals by entering the similar or same product categories and market segments. To effectively catch up and outcompete the incumbents, they often differentiate themselves from their rivals by offering cheaper products or services, adding new features to their products, providing extra services to their customers, inventing new business models, etc.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of this paper is that the ART framework has so far been built on anecdotal evidences. It needs to be tested by empirical studies and refined further in the future. Another limitation is that the proposed theory is based on competitive dynamics between emerging market resource-poor firms and advanced country resource-rich firms. It needs to be tested whether this theory has applicability to any other firms.
Originality/value
This paper fills an important research gap in the competitive dynamics literature by proposing an asymmetry reversing theory of competitive dynamics between a weak latecomer and a strong incumbent in a competitive field.
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Yamin Xie, Zhichao Li, Wenjing Ouyang and Hongxia Wang
Political factors play a crucial role in China's initial public offering (IPO) market due to its distinctive institutional context (i.e. “economic decentralization” and “political…
Abstract
Purpose
Political factors play a crucial role in China's initial public offering (IPO) market due to its distinctive institutional context (i.e. “economic decentralization” and “political centralization”). Given the significant level of IPO underpricing in China, we examine the impact of local political uncertainty (measured by prefecture-level city official turnover rate) on IPO underpricing.
Design/methodology/approach
Using 2,259 IPOs of A-share listed companies from 2001 to 2019, we employ a structural equation model (SEM) to examine the channel (voluntarily lower the issuance price vs aftermarket trading) through which political uncertainty affects IPO underpricing. We check the robustness of the results using bootstrap tests, adopting alternative proxies for political uncertainty and IPO underpricing and employing subsample analysis.
Findings
Local official turnover-induced political uncertainty increases IPO underpricing by IPO firms voluntarily reducing the issuance price rather than by affecting investor sentiment in aftermarket trading. These relations are stronger in firms with pre-IPO political connections. The effect of political uncertainty on IPO underpricing is also contingent upon the industry and the growth phase of an IPO firm, more pronounced in politically sensitive industries and firms listed on the growth enterprise market board.
Originality/value
Local government officials in China usually have a short tenure and Chinese firms witness significantly severe IPO underpricing. By introducing the SEM model in studying China IPO underpricing, this study identifies the channel through which local government official turnover to political uncertainty on IPO underpricing.
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Low-carbon agricultural technology (LAT) extension is a key strategy for the agricultural sector to address climate change. Social capital, which consists of social networks…
Abstract
Purpose
Low-carbon agricultural technology (LAT) extension is a key strategy for the agricultural sector to address climate change. Social capital, which consists of social networks, trust and norms, can play an active LAT extension role. This paper aims to analyze the mechanism of the role of social capital in the process of LAT extension.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire data from six counties in Jiangsu, China, were used to measure social capital and analyze its effect on LAT extension using logistic regression. Data from 27 interviews were used to analyze the LAT extension experiences and problems.
Findings
LAT is mainly deployed by the government to farmers and distributed among them. In this process, the village officials who form parts of the government’s composition and the villagers play a dual role that facilitates a close link between them and the farmers and ensures LAT integration. However, social norms did not play a significant role in the process.
Practical implications
Farmers’ acceptance of LAT is based solely on the trade-off between local networks’ benefits and trust in local villagers and village officials. LAT-related laws and technical measures, thus are essential to strengthen LAT practices’ authority and incorporate LAT-based agricultural production as the norm of production behavior.
Originality/value
This paper provides an insight into the process and essence of farmers’ acceptance of LAT, which provides theoretical lessons for the LAT extension in China and indeed other developing countries.
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Junbo Liu, Yaping Huang, Shengchun Wang, Xinxin Zhao, Qi Zou and Xingyuan Zhang
This research aims to improve the performance of rail fastener defect inspection method for multi railways, to effectively ensure the safety of railway operation.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to improve the performance of rail fastener defect inspection method for multi railways, to effectively ensure the safety of railway operation.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, a fastener region location method based on online learning strategy was proposed, which can locate fastener regions according to the prior knowledge of track image and template matching method. Online learning strategy is used to update the template library dynamically, so that the method not only can locate fastener regions in the track images of multi railways, but also can automatically collect and annotate fastener samples. Secondly, a fastener defect recognition method based on deep convolutional neural network was proposed. The structure of recognition network was designed according to the smaller size and the relatively single content of the fastener region. The data augmentation method based on the sample random sorting strategy is adopted to reduce the impact of the imbalance of sample size on recognition performance.
Findings
Test verification of the proposed method is conducted based on the rail fastener datasets of multi railways. Specifically, fastener location module has achieved an average detection rate of 99.36%, and fastener defect recognition module has achieved an average precision of 96.82%.
Originality/value
The proposed method can accurately locate fastener regions and identify fastener defect in the track images of different railways, which has high reliability and strong adaptability to multi railways.
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Vincenzo Varriale, Antonello Cammarano, Francesca Michelino and Mauro Caputo
The purpose of this study is to identify and characterize the role of both original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and module supplier (MS) knowledge in the smartphone industry. In…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify and characterize the role of both original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and module supplier (MS) knowledge in the smartphone industry. In particular, this study aims to evaluate which of the two actors possesses the knowledge that has the greatest impact on the market satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
This study explores and combines the concepts of modularity and knowledge management by investigating the patent portfolio of 16 leading smartphone OEMs and 144 MSs. The applied methodology is based on the content analysis of patent data to extract information on both OEM’s and MS’s component knowledge.
Findings
The results show that, although its components are purchased from external MSs, the OEM should preserve both a general and specific concentration of component knowledge, as well as on the end product, to achieve a greater market satisfaction. Moreover, a positive direct relationship was found for the MS between the general concentration of component knowledge and the market satisfaction.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study is to segment the knowledge of both the OEM and the MS on multiple levels. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies that investigates the end product and component knowledge of both actors by filtering patent data using text-mining techniques. The originality of this work is to intercept the relationship between the different shades of knowledge of each actor and the market satisfaction.
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Dong Yang, Xiaolin Sun and Yurou Li
The managerial questions of this paper are as follows: What are the equilibrium conditions of transfer price, quantity and profits when considering dynamic subsidies from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The managerial questions of this paper are as follows: What are the equilibrium conditions of transfer price, quantity and profits when considering dynamic subsidies from the government? Which collection channel is better for a manufacturer, direct collection by itself or through an online platform?
Design/methodology/approach
This research investigates the three collection models: the manufacturer-driven model, the online platform-driven model and the competitive model. Based on the differential game, this research explores the transfer price, collection cost, subsidy and manufacturer and online platform profit in different models when considering the dynamic subsidy.
Findings
The results show that the collection strategy for the manufacturer depends on its collection cost. If the collection cost is lower, then the manufacturer may prefer to collect by itself. When the collection cost meets a certain range, the manufacturer may collect the used product through an online platform. The online platform-driven model is the most efficient because both the manufacturer and the online platform can make a higher profit.
Originality/value
This research bridges the gap between waste electrical and electronic equipment collection and government subsidies by demonstrating the dynamic condition of subsidies. It offers an approach to address the influence of dynamic subsidy, which can provide practical insights for the government implementing the subsidy policy.
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This paper outlines the rapid rise of China's fintech companies over the past decade with a focus on their globalization strategies as they enter their next phase of development.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper outlines the rapid rise of China's fintech companies over the past decade with a focus on their globalization strategies as they enter their next phase of development.
Design/methodology/approach
The author examines China's current and prospective influence on global financial digitization trends, and assesses both domestic and foreign opportunities and challenges confronted by China's fintech firms as they look to expand abroad.
Findings
The Chinese government is experimenting with a radically new fintech system and a regulatory regime in response to it. Chinese ambitions to expand fintech influence through private companies and the state-led “digital RMB” (e-CNY) will likely provoke a wave of “digital protectionism” among developed nations to protect internal digital payments.
Originality/value
This paper is an original economic history research on China's fintech industry.
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Marzanna Katarzyna Witek-Hajduk and Anna Grudecka
The objective of the study is to identify both reasons for ignoring and for paying attention to the country of origin (COO) by consumers when choosing brands of durable goods.
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of the study is to identify both reasons for ignoring and for paying attention to the country of origin (COO) by consumers when choosing brands of durable goods.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper a qualitative approach was applied, i.e. 25 in-depth semistructured interviews with Polish consumers of durable goods purposively selected out of those who had previously participated in a quantitative survey conducted by the authors.
Findings
Among the reasons for paying attention to the COO when choosing brands of durable goods, cognitive (rational), affective (emotional) and normative factors have been identified, while among the reasons for ignoring the COO by consumers, the authors identified only cognitive (rational) and affective (emotional) factors.
Research limitations/implications
The conclusions can be applied by brand managers, e.g. when making decisions whether and why to communicate COO dimensions.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the international marketing literature as it develops a deeper insight into consumer behavior with reference to the consumers’ reasons for paying attention to and ignoring the COO, with very little published on the latter in particular. Furthermore, it is one of still relatively few qualitative studies conducted so far on COO taking a perspective of a consumer, especially the one from an emerging market from the European Union (EU).
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Stephen Oduro, Alessandro De Nisco and Luca Petruzzellis
This study aims to draw on cue utilization and irradiation theories to: determine the extent to which country-of-origin image and its sub-dimensions exert an aggregate and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to draw on cue utilization and irradiation theories to: determine the extent to which country-of-origin image and its sub-dimensions exert an aggregate and relative influence on consumer brand evaluations; and identify the contextual and methodological factors that account for between-study variance in the focal relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
A random-effects model was used to examine 166 empirical articles encompassing 499,563 observations, and 282 effect sizes from 1984 to 2020 using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software.
Findings
Results show that country-of-origin image has a positive, moderate effect on consumer brand evaluations. Moreover, findings reveal that each dimension of country-of-origin image – general country image, general product country image, specific product country image and partitioned country image – significantly influences consumer brand evaluation, but the effect of general product country image is the largest. What’s more, the aggregate impacts of country-of-origin image on consumer brand evaluation – brand commitment, brand-specific associations and general brand impressions – show that the effect on brand commitment is the largest. Finally, findings show that contextual factors (brand source, product sector, culture [individualism vs collectivism], brand origin continents and respondents’ continent) and methodological factors (cues, sampling unit, publication year and sample size) significantly account for between-study variance.
Originality/value
This study provides the first meta-analytic review of the relationship between country-of-origin image and consumer brand evaluation to help clarify mixed findings and balance out the literature, which has only seen quantitative reviews on product evaluation and purchase decisions.