Debra J. Dahab, Wanru Su, Laura Riolli and Raymond Marquardt
This paper presents the results of survey research conducted in 1994 and 1995 on consumer perceptions of different retail formats in Albania. As a developing country where…
Abstract
This paper presents the results of survey research conducted in 1994 and 1995 on consumer perceptions of different retail formats in Albania. As a developing country where consumers and retailers are learning to adjust to a new market system, Albania presents a unique context for this type of study. We measured consumer perceptions of merchandising and customer service attributes and overall satisfaction for private stores with a permanent location, kiosks, and open market vendors. Contrary to other studies of informal retailers, our results show that open market vendors and, to a lesser extent, kiosks provide consumers with less overall satisfaction as compared to the permanent, private stores. Since these markets are segmented to a certain extent by product type, consumers shopped across all markets. Over time, consumers are becoming more confident of their decision skills, product quality has become more important, and permanent private stores were perceived as improving in merchandising and service. However, shopping frequency in the open market increased due to the economic situation. Implications for both Albanian entrepreneurs and potential foreign investors are discussed.
Stephen B. Castleberry and Anna V.A. Resurreccion
Considers the extent of the marketers need to communicate qualityto the consumer and the best ways of doing so. Examines the results ofan experiment involving consumers. Suggests…
Abstract
Considers the extent of the marketers need to communicate quality to the consumer and the best ways of doing so. Examines the results of an experiment involving consumers. Suggests that some communication of quality is generally better than no such communication, although whether specific or non‐specific quality appeals should be used depends on the relative price of the brand.
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Claretha Hughes, Lionel Robert, Kristin Frady and Adam Arroyos
Peter A.C. Smith and Judy O’Neil
Many organizations now utilize action learning, and it is applied increasingly throughout the world. Action learning appears in numerous variants, but generically it is a form of…
Abstract
Many organizations now utilize action learning, and it is applied increasingly throughout the world. Action learning appears in numerous variants, but generically it is a form of learning through experience, “by doing”, where the task environment is the classroom, and the task the vehicle. Two previous reviews of the action learning literature by Alan Mumford respectively covered the field prior to 1985 and the period 1985‐1994. Both reviews included books as well as journal articles. This current review covers the period 1994‐2000 and is limited to publicly available journal articles. Part 1 of the Review was published in an earlier issue of the Journal of Workplace Learning (Vol. 15 No. 2) and included a bibliography and comments. Part 2 extends that introduction with a schema for categorizing action learning articles and with comments on representative articles from the bibliography.
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Mehdi Dehghani, Mahdi Ahmadi, Alireza Khayatian, Mohamad Eghtesad and Mehran Yazdi
The purpose of this paper is to present a vision-based method for the kinematic calibration of a six-degrees-of-freedom parallel robot named Hexa using only one Universal Serial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a vision-based method for the kinematic calibration of a six-degrees-of-freedom parallel robot named Hexa using only one Universal Serial Bus (USB) camera and a chess pattern installed on the robot's mobile platform. Such an approach avoids using any internal sensors or complex three-dimensional measurement systems to obtain the pose (position/orientation) of the robot's end-effector or the joint coordinates.
Design/methodology/approach
The setup of the proposed method is very simple; only one USB camera connected to a laptop computer is needed and no contact with the robot is necessary during the calibration procedure. For camera modeling, a pinhole model is used; it is then modified by considering some distortion coefficients. Intrinsic and extrinsic parameters and the distortion coefficients are found by an offline minimization algorithm. The chess pattern makes image corner detection very straightforward; this detection leads to finding the camera and then the kinematic parameters. To carry out the calibration procedure, several trajectories are run (the results of two of them are presented here) and sufficient specifications of the poses (positions/orientations) are calculated to find the kinematic parameters of the robot. Experimental results obtained when applying the calibration procedure on a Hexa parallel robot show that vision-based kinematic calibration yields enhanced and efficient positioning accuracy. After successful calibration and addition of an appropriate control scheme, the robot has been considered as a color-painting prototype robot to serve in relevant industries.
Findings
Experimental results obtained when applying the calibration procedure on a Hexa parallel robot show that vision-based kinematic calibration yields enhanced and efficient positioning accuracy.
Originality/value
The enhanced results show the advantages of this method in comparison with the previous calibration methods.
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Aliyu Akorede Rufai, Raymond Liambee Aor and Afees Adebare Salisu
This study aims to construct alternative models to establish the dynamic nexus between inflation and housing prices by estimating the short- and long-run relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to construct alternative models to establish the dynamic nexus between inflation and housing prices by estimating the short- and long-run relationship between housing prices and inflation for 15 OECD countries from 1980Q1 to 2022Q4. Furthermore, the authors examined this association using the core and headline inflation and price-income and price-rent ratios as proxies for inflation and housing prices, respectively.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use the panel autoregressive distributed lag technique to examine the nexus between housing prices and inflation to capture the distinct characteristics of the sample countries, estimate various short-run and long-run dynamics cum separate analyses for turbulent and calm periods in the relationship between housing prices and inflation.
Findings
Changes in housing prices have a greater impact on core inflation than headline inflation. Overall, the authors establish a positive (negative) relationship between housing prices and core inflation in the long run (short run) based on alternative proxies of housing prices. However, this connection tends to be less significant for headline inflation and episodic over smaller samples, as it seems stronger during calm periods than turbulent ones.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors are the first to examine the association between housing prices and inflation by demonstrating how these variables behave during calm and turbulent periods.
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Pramod Iyer, Arezoo Davari, Mohammadali Zolfagharian and Audhesh Paswan
The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which an organization’s pursuit of radical and disruptive innovations and refinement of existing processes and incremental…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which an organization’s pursuit of radical and disruptive innovations and refinement of existing processes and incremental innovations influence the brand management capability, and subsequently, the brand performance in business-to-business firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The key informant approach is used for data collection. Panel data are obtained using the services of a reputable research firm. Existing scales are used to measure all the focal constructs. Partial least squares based structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results of this study indicate positive associations of both exploitative and exploratory innovation types with brand management processes. These findings signify the need for organizations to balance both these innovation types to maximize their performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study prescribes an insight into the complex relationship that exists between organizational ambidexterity, brand management processes and brand performance, providing a framework that reconciles the seemingly conflicting goals of relevance and consistency in the development of brand management capability.
Practical implications
Given that very few firms can achieve ambidexterity, this study provides a means to maximize the potential of this organizational process.
Originality/value
This study borrows from the existing research on brand management to argue that organizations are required to balance both exploitative and exploratory innovation types to maximize their performance.