Search results

This paper aims to investigate the moderating role of co-creation in the implementation of servitization strategies in the pharmaceutical industry in a business-to-business (B-to-B) context. More specifically, this investigation explores the impact of different levels of services (base, intermediate and advanced) on servitization and on performance by using co-creation as a moderating factor.

A research framework was developed and empirically tested in the pharmaceutical sector. Data collection was conducted through the online distribution of questionnaires. The final sample included 219 pharmacy stores, and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling.

Main findings suggest that when the level of co-creation of the design of services is high, there are significant effects of servitization on firm performance. The moderating effect of co-creation is illustrated in regard to intermediate and advanced services, but results referring to the impact of intermediate services on servitization appear non-significant with a low degree of co-creation. No significant effects could be found for the impact of base services on performance and servitization for both high and low degrees of co-creation. Findings show an impact of advanced services on performance through the mediating effect of servitization when the degree of co-creation is high.

Most research concerning servitization has been done from the perspective of manufacturers and service providers. This study adds value to the literature because it was designed from a customer’s perspective. Moreover, it contributes towards the conceptualization of the servitization research strategy and business models in a B2B context. This is accomplished through the investigation of the moderating effect of co-creation on the impact of the different levels of services on servitization and on performance.

Distribution problems deal with distribution from a number of sources to a number of destinations. Each source offers amounts of goods, while each destination demands quantities of these goods. The object is to find the cheapest transporting schedule that satisfies demand without violating supply restraints. In this paper we propose the use of fuzzy sets to represent the provisional information related to costs, demands and other variables. Moreover, we suggest including the problem of shortest route for the distribution vehicles. Finally, to solve this complex problem we propose using a genetic algorithm with a fuzzy fitness function.

Mesoscale air quality models are an important tool to forecast and analyse the air quality in regional and urban areas. In recent years an increased interest has been shown by decision makers in these types of software tools. The complexity of such a model has grown exponentially with the increase of computer power. Nowadays, medium workstations can run operational versions of these modelling systems successfully. Presents a complex mesoscale air quality model which has been installed in the Environmental Office of the Madrid community (Spain) in order to forecast accurately the ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide air concentrations in a 3D domain centred on Madrid city. Describes the challenging scientific matters to be solved in order to develop an operational version of the atmospheric mesoscale numerical pollution model for urban and regional areas (ANA). Some encouraging results have been achieved in the attempts to improve the accuracy of the predictions made by the version already installed.

The purpose of this paper is to study the use of a heterogeneous and evolutionary team approach based on different sources of knowledge to address a real-world problem within the telecommunication domain: the frequency assignment problem (FAP). Evolutionary algorithms have been proved as very suitable strategies when they are used to solve NP-hard optimization problems. However, these algorithms can find difficulties when they fall into local minima and the generation of high-quality solutions when tacking real-world instances of the problem is computationally very expensive. In this scenario, the use of a heterogeneous parallel team represents a very interesting approach.

The results have been validated by using two real-world telecommunication instances which contain real information about two GSM networks. Contrary to most of related publications, this paper is focussed on aspects which are relevant for real communication networks. Moreover, due to the stochastic nature of metaheuristics, the results are validated through a formal statistical analysis. This analysis is divided in two stages: first, a complete statistical study, and after that, a full comparative study against results previously published.

Comparative study shows that a heterogeneous evolutionary proposal obtains better results than proposals which are based on a unique source of knowledge. In fact, final results provided in the work surpass the results of other relevant studies previously published in the literature.

The paper provides a complete study of the contribution provided by the different metaheuristics included in the team and the impact of using different sources of evolutionary knowledge when the system is applied to solve a real-world FAP problem. The conclusions obtained in this study represent an original contribution never reached before for FAP.

The purpose of this paper is to aim to identify the antecedents of both actual acceptance and future use of the internet as a tourism information source. In the tourism sector, the internet is a medium of growing importance. Nonetheless, very few studies have researched the antecedents of internet acceptance and use by tourists.

This purpose was pursued by extending the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and applying it to a broad sample of international tourists.

The main findings concern the antecedent role of actual use with regard to future use, as well as the roles of usefulness and ease of use as drivers of the acceptance of the internet as an information source by the tourist.

The study analysed the acceptance of the internet as an information source but not its use as a medium for purchasing tourism products or services.

While most research results suggest that businesses and institutions should direct their attention to the usefulness rather than to the ease of use of the internet, the results of this study imply that within the tourism sector ease of use plays an equally vital role in internet acceptance. Furthermore, the results show that the creation of an internet‐use habit in the tourist builds a barrier to change of information source.

Amidst the rather few existing studies focused on tourist internet use, there is a body of research (including the present work) that identifies significant differences between tourism and other contexts (e.g. work, e‐commerce) regarding the importance of the antecedents of internet use. Moreover, there is, to our knowledge, no research to date testing the inclusion of behavioural habit to explain technology use.

The purpose of this paper is to address a multiobjective FAP (frequency assignment problem) formulation. More precisely, two conflicting objectives – the interference cost and the separation cost – are considered to characterize FAP as an MO (multiobjective optimization) problem.

The contribution to this specific telecommunication problem in a real scenario follows a recent approach, for which the authors have already accomplished some preliminary results. In this paper, a much more complete analysis is performed, including two well‐known algorithms (such as the NSGA‐II and SPEA2), with new results, new comparisons and statistical studies. More concretely, in this paper five different algorithms are presented and compared. The popular multiobjective algorithms, NSGA‐II and SPEA2, are compared against the Differential Evolution with Pareto Tournaments (DEPT) algorithm, the Greedy Multiobjective Variable Neighborhood Search (GMO‐VNS) algorithm and its variant Greedy Multiobjective Skewed Variable Neighborhood Search (GMO‐SVNS). Furthermore, the authors also contribute with a new design of multiobjective metaheuristic named Multiobjective Artificial Bee Colony (MO‐ABC) that is included in the comparison; it represents a new metaheuristic that the authors have developed to address FAP. The results were analyzed using two complementary indicators: the hypervolume indicator and the coverage relation. Two large‐scale real‐world mobile networks were used to validate the performance comparison made among several multiobjective metaheuristics.

The final results show that the multiobjective proposal is very competitive, clearly surpassing the results obtained by the well‐known multiobjective algorithms (NSGA‐II and SPEA2).

The paper provides a comparison among several multiobjective metaheuristics to solve FAP as a real‐life telecommunication engineering problem. A new multiobjective metaheuristic is also presented. Preliminary results were enhanced with two well‐known multiobjective algorithms. To the authors' knowledge, they have never been investigated for FAP.

The aim of the present study is to provide an insight into the effect that the satisfaction with the information obtained through the Internet may have on the satisfaction with the selected destination. In particular, assuming that the Internet functions as an effective source of information for the tourist, one would expect the above relationship to be positive and significant.

In order to test the proposed hypotheses, a structured questionnaire was administered to tourists of different nationalities. The total number of valid cases was 279. The field work was done between June 2004 and June 2005.

The results seem to show that the greater the tourist's satisfaction with the Internet, the fuller is his or her enjoyment of the holiday. This relationship, however, is moderated by two variables – the tourist's previous experience of the destination and the tourist's experience of the Internet. These conclusions may well prove crucial for the future use of the Internet in the promotion of tourism destinations.

The results of the study lend support to the importance of the Internet as an information source in the promotion of tourism destinations, which contributes in particular to attracting new visitors. However, its development will depend heavily on improvements in the ease of use of the information highway and will progress with the passage of time and the concomitant increase in the Internet experience of its users.

The study focuses on empirically testing the advantages that, from a merely conceptual perspective, are becoming evident in the use of the Internet in the tourist sector.

The purpose of this article is to analyse the impact of the internet, as a new information channel for the consumer, on business results, and in particular, the consequences of attitude towards the web site with regard to customer behaviour and web site sponsor brand.

A survey instrument was used to gather data to test the relationships in the research model.

The paper shows the importance of attitude towards the web site and attitude towards the internet in explaining attitude towards the brand and consumer e‐behaviour, and identifies the hierarchy of effects operative among these three concepts of attitude: attitude towards the internet; attitude towards the web site; and attitude towards the brand.

This study only looked at one category of web site – free‐content sites. Future research could apply the conclusions of this study to other types of web sites, e.g. the e‐commerce web site and the corporate web site.

The main practical consequence of the study lies in the need to take into account that the profitability of an e‐business should not be measured solely in terms of direct profitability. Profits generated indirectly should also be considered, given the proven positive relationship between attitude towards the web site and attitude towards the brand. This conclusion is of vital importance since very few e‐businesses obtain direct profits. Brick‐and‐click firms eliminate their e‐businesses without bearing in mind the positive consequences they may be having on the brand itself.

The study aimed to take a more in‐depth look at the value of e‐businesses for brick‐and‐click firms. It analysed sources of indirect profitability for the e‐business that should be taken into account when looking at web site value.

This paper is a historical account of the process by which Michael Porter and INCAE Business School put together a regional competitiveness strategy for Central America that was officially adopted by the governments of five participating countries, and implemented through a series of Presidential Summits that occurred between 1995 and 1999. The paper provides a unique case study on the adoption of the concepts put forth by Porter in his book “The Competitive Advantage of Nations” (1990) at the highest level of government. The study arrives at a series of practical implications for policy makers that are particularly relevant for the implementation of supra-national regional strategies.

The authors conduct an extensive literature review of 190 policy papers produced by INCAE Business School, that are used to recreate the historical evolution of the regional competitiveness strategy. The effect of Porter’s intervention is also assessed by comparing the main economic indicators of each participating country with those of 2005-2010. One of the authors was the main protagonist in the successful implementation of the strategy, and the paper relies partially on his accounts of events.

This study describes how economic policy in Central America was profoundly influenced by Michael Porter’s thinking in the second half of the 1990s. These policy changes promoted international competition of Central American clusters and firms, and opened the region for international investment and tourism. The region experienced important increases in its economic integration, its international trade, foreign direct investment and tourist arrivals. Gross domestic product growth was accelerated in Honduras and Nicaragua.

Like all case studies, this study has limits related to the generalizability of its conclusions. Additionally, it is not possible to determine the precise nature of the relation between the implementation of the regional economic strategy, and the impact on economic growth, integration, FDI attraction and exports.

The paper has several practical implications that relate to the design of regional economic strategies. First, it identifies policy areas that are more effective as part of regional strategies, and distinguishes them from those that should be resolved at the national level. Second, it suggests a process that can facilitate execution. Finally, it provides an example of the coordinating role that can be assumed by an academic institution such as INCAE.

The Central American Competitiveness Initiative provides a unique setting to study the implementation of competitiveness policy for several reasons. First, in all countries in Central America, Michael Porter’s diamond framework (1990) and cluster theory were officially adopted at the highest level of government. Second, in addition to their individual competitiveness strategies, all countries adopted a regional strategy for cooperation and economic integration. Finally, the Central American Competitiveness Initiative was founded on one of the first competitiveness think tanks of the world.

“Dora! Dora!” squealed my 18-month-old son from his stroller on the crowded subway platform. I scanned the crowd but could not locate the source of his excitement. Then a young girl turned her back to us and I saw on her purple backpack the face of “Dora the Explorer,” whose name had made its way into my son's small vocabulary. This scene could have easily taken place in any city or town in the US; young children of all ethnicities are familiar with Dora's animated television program. Worldwide, parents have spent over $3 billion on Dora the Explorer merchandise since 2001, and most products feature English and Spanish phrases (Jiménez, 2005). And Dora is not alone: her show was just the first in a recent wave of animated educational children's programs featuring Latino main characters and dialogue in Spanish.