Competitive Market Environment Research Articles

Analysis on Competitive Strategy of Bilibili

The Internet and technology have contributed to the development of video sites. Bilibili is currently the most significant community-based video application in China, an ACG secondary culture community and video site that has gradually become a mature ecosystem. At the same time, Bilibili is also facing intense market competition. Its competitors are mainly China’s three major traditional video platforms: Tencent, Youku, and Aiki. Currently, the main competition pattern in the domestic online video platform industry is still oligopolistic competition, seeking differentiated development, i.e., a few head enterprises compete and survive together. As the head force in the optimization and innovation of content and services, the comprehensive video market supports the overall mobile video user scale and continues to pull up. Based on this, this study analyzes the competitive market environment of Bilibili.

An Evidence-Based Approach to Developing Faculty-Wide Training for Graduate Teaching Assistants

In 2000, Sharpe proposed a framework for graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training based on three key principles: departmental training, faculty training, and accreditation. Sharpe’s paper culminated in a call for Higher Education (HE) institutes to adopt this framework. Whilst the principles of Sharpe’s work remain relevant, the shape and structure of HE and accrediting bodies has changed due to the increasingly competitive market environment. Herein we provide an updated framework for GTA training based around implementation at a large English Russell Group University. We identify seven key elements for effective GTA training based on literature. We then demonstrate how this framework and the key elements can be implemented in practice, using GTA role descriptors and input from staff in Departments and Faculty. We demonstrate how the framework is applicable on a broad subject basis and how training is now supporting the 950 GTAs annually who work across the nine Schools within the Faculty of Science and Engineering, at the University of Manchester. The developed modular training sessions are mapped out and are benchmarked against both the Vitae Researcher Development Framework and the UK Professional Standards Framework allowing postgraduate students to apply for HEA accreditation through Advance HE (after suitable practice). Finally, the report discusses the benefits of implementation as well as lessons for future action, providing a set of key principles for others who want to develop their existing GTA training provision or set up a new training programme.

Marketing Path of Enterprise Brand Management Under the New Economic Situation

Under the new economic situation, the previous marketing concept of “good wine needs no bush” is now applicable to the operation and development of modern enterprises. Therefore, enterprises must actively innovate marketing concepts and pay adequate attention to brand management. Only in this way can enterprises develop sustainably in a highly competitive market environment. We explore and analyze the significance and existing problems of enterprise brand management marketing under the new economic situation and put forward a marketing path in hope that this research will contribute to the development of enterprises.

Microgrids in Competitive Market Environment: An Indian Perspective

Microgrids are believed to be the befitting green solution to the ever-rising energy crisis in the developing nations. The resource rich nations are rapidly shifting their dependence on microgrids to meet the reduced carbon footprint target at a global level. This paper addresses this issue and presents a detailed technical review on microgrid integration in competitive electricity market scenario. An in-depth coverage of the need for and importance of microgrid deployments across India is presented in this work. The relevant literature that highlights the significance of various energy storage systems is reviewed. The authors present the perspective of microgrid integration in a competitive market scenario covering both day ahead and real time market scenarios thereby discussing the concept of maximizing social benefit in a grid integrated microgrid framework. This work also focuses on microgrid optimization techniques and outlines a detailed comparison showing merits and demerits of all the techniques implemented by the researchers so far. The authors highlight the fact that green energy holds the potential to not only outgrow the fossil fuels but it shall do so by fetching the requisite economic benefit to the investors as well.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES IN THE FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOODS (FMCG) SECTOR: A QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT IN THE BANGLADESH MARKET

This study seeks to investigate the intricacies of strategic partnerships in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry in Bangladesh. The research aims to explore the motivations, challenges, critical success factors, and implications of alliances in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. This will be done through 40 in-depth interviews with industry experts, managers, and executives from various FMCG companies. The study focuses on the rapidly changing and competitive market environment. The study utilizes qualitative analysis to reveal a notable transformation in the objectives and extent of strategic relationships. Originally centered on resolving issues related to distribution, alliances have progressed to include other goals such as innovation, market growth, and operational effectiveness. The motivations behind these agreements encompass risk reduction, consolidation of resources, market entry, and obtaining a competitive advantage. Nevertheless, fundamental difficulties were recognized, such as cultural gaps and opposing objectives among collaborating companies. To overcome these obstacles, it is necessary to implement strategic initiatives such as cultural integration programs, efficient communication techniques, and well-defined governance frameworks. The study’s conclusions are primarily constrained by its qualitative nature, which may impact its generalizability. Moreover, the emphasis on the Bangladeshi Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector could restrict the wider repercussions for the industry. However, the results provide practical advice for FMCG companies, including solutions to overcome difficulties and improve the efficiency of strategic partnerships. Furthermore, the incorporation of sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities into these partnerships signifies a transition towards ethical corporate practices, which not only benefits business objectives but also contributes to the well-being of society. This study enhances the current body of knowledge by offering empirical observations on the changing characteristics, difficulties, and key determinants for success in strategic partnerships within Bangladesh’s FMCG industry. Nevertheless, the limitations encompass potential biases from participants and the inherent subjectivity in the qualitative research methodology.

An identity-based dynamic group signature scheme for reputation evaluation systems

As many Internet service platforms have launched reputation evaluation systems for applications, some malicious merchants are trying to disrupt the market competition environment by harassing evaluators or hiring netizens to give many untrue praises. Protecting evaluators’ identity privacy and the evaluation system’s fairness and justice is essential. Group signatures allow group members to sign messages anonymously in the name of a group. The group manager can find the actual signer in case of a dispute. Group signatures are widely used in reputation evaluation systems, digital cash, etc. However, most existing solutions are expensive, difficult to meet complex application requirements, and need more privacy protection or regulatory compliance. This paper proposes an identity-based dynamic group signature scheme for reputation evaluation systems standardized in IEEE P1363. We prove our scheme is secure in the random oracle model. Moreover, we provide a theoretical analysis of our scheme and conduct experiments by using the Miracl library on the PC platform to verify the analysis result. The analysis demonstrates that the size of the group public key and signatures do not increase with the number of group members. Our solution is efficient in reputation evaluation systems.

Optimal production scheduling with multi-round information interaction for demander-dominated decentralized scheduling problem

Demander-dominated market scenarios are becoming increasingly common owing to the emergence of alternative service providers and competitive market environment. However, these scenarios have not been considered in previous studies pertaining to decentralized scheduling problems. Thus, service providers cannot formulate optimal production scheduling schemes for such scenarios. In this study, we investigate a demander-dominated decentralized scheduling problem in which the demander can adopt the private-strategic behavior of transferring partial orders towards its alternative service providers. The aim of this study is to provide guidance to service providers for developing high-quality production scheduling solutions under asymmetric information. First, we design a multi-round information interaction mechanism with a learning strategy to realize information interaction. Subsequently, a metaheuristic algorithm termed MAM is developed based on the multi-round information interaction mechanism to solve the proposed problem. A problem-dependent initialization method and a solution generation method integrating the learning strategy are developed to improve the search efficiency. Experimental results indicate the usefulness of the initialization method and learning strategy. Based on a comparison with two well-established adapted algorithms, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is confirmed, particularly for instances with loose due dates. Furthermore, we analyze the effect of MAM on both the service provider and the demander by comparing it with traditional centralized approaches. Statistical results show that the proposed algorithm yields high-quality solutions for the service provider and that maintaining the confidentiality of private information is conducive to the demander, particularly when the due dates are tight.

Impact of Electricity Price Expectation in the Planning Period on the Evolution of Generation Expansion Planning in the Market Environment

With the continuous promotion of China’s electricity market reform, the introduction of competition in the power generation market provides a new research direction for the generation expansion planning (GEP) problem, which is of great significance in the promotion of the optimization of the power energy structure. In the context of marketization, the electricity price expectation during the planning period is a key factor of GEP for independent power generation groups. There is some literature showing that the electricity price expectation in the planning period can be estimated according to certain laws of market supply and demand, while it seems to us that a future Pay as Bid (PAB) mechanism is better to determine the electricity price expectation. In this paper, to explore the impact of these two different electricity price formation mechanisms on the evolution of the generation market, a multi-agent framework is first established to describe the interaction process among the generation market agents; then, a GEP model for independent power generation groups is developed in the market competition environment, and four representative scenarios are finally designed for detailed comparative studies. Based on these case studies, the conclusion can be summarized as: (1) the PAB bidding mechanism has a lower electricity price and higher market installed capacity almost all the time during the whole planning period for all four scenarios; (2) it is more important that PAB can reduce the impact of parameter uncertainty in the laws of market supply and demand, which can obtain more reliable and reasonable results regarding the long-term evolution of the generation market.

Did place-based industrial policy promote regional economic growth? ---- Evidence from China.

Whether the place-based industrial policy promotes regional economic growth is a hot issue in the field of regional industrial economic practice. As a major national strategy in China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei industrial coordinated development policy has been implemented more than 8 years. Verifying its effect on regional economic growth and revealing the policy action path will help to further optimize the policy implementation process through feedback. In this paper, the policy effect and its differentiation are empirically studied from 'quality' and 'quantity' respectively by establishing a growth model using the Dual Differences method. The results show that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei industrial coordinated development policy improves total factor productivity by 2.26% in terms of 'quality', and reduces GDP growth rate by 4.65% in terms of 'quantity'. For the different region, the GDP growth rate increased by 1.28%, while total factor productivity decreased by 2.63% in Beijing, the GDP growth rate decreased by 3.17% and total factor productivity increased by 0.87% in Tianjin, and the GDP growth rate increased by 2.56% and total factor productivity increased by 1.58% in Hebei. The policy is mainly realized by fixed asset investment, capital deepening degree and enterprise scale expansion, while the effect of labor input, R&D investment and enterprise number is not significant. The policy is to give full play to the driving role of fixed asset investment such as "new infrastructure", increase investment in labor and research and development in the region, strengthen the construction of a competitive market environment, and stabilize the 'quality' and 'quantity' to further release policy dividends.

Formation of competitive strategies in the activities of service enterprises in the context of the development of a competitive market environment

Formation of competitive strategies in the activities of service enterprises in the context of the development of a competitive market environment

Research on Time to Market and Pricing of Platform Products in a Competitive Environment

Platforms are gradually becoming important business organization models, and platforms with bilateral market characteristics such as payment platforms and online shopping platforms are gradually penetrating people’s lives. Freemium content mostly exists in particular platforms such as online video platforms, etc. Platforms need to balance upstream and downstream markets when formulating strategies. This paper is the first to explore the time-to-market and pricing strategies of products in bilateral markets. By connecting upstream and downstream markets through cross-network externalities, we construct a system dynamics model of the problem, simulate the diffusion process of new product launches, and solve the problem of the optimal time to market and optimal pricing of the product. The simulation analyzes the effects of different parameters on the optimal time-to-market and pricing strategies, and comparing the diffusion in a unilateral market, we find that in a competitive market environment, the time-to-market and pricing of products are influenced by exogenous variables such as network externalities, and firms can promote their products more efficiently by changing the marketing mix strategy of platform product benefits and quality reputation. Meanwhile, the results obtained by considering bilateral markets when developing strategies for platform-based companies can lead to higher returns.

Constitutional obligation of Ukraine to ensure freedom of entrepreneurial activity: urban planning reform

The article analyzes the urban planning reform initiated by the Law of Ukraine of December 13, 2022 «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Reforming the Sphere of Urban Planning» and its impact on the development of freedom of entrepreneurship in Ukraine. The author establishes that the State has objectified in this Law a number of progressive novelties which significantly reduce corruption risks in the sphere of urban development and create a solid basis for Ukraine to fulfill its constitutional obligation to ensure freedom of entrepreneurship, which is in line with the idea and purpose of European integration legislation.
 It is substantiated that legislative and practical ensuring of demonopolization and regulatory transparency in the sphere of urban development is an urgent duty of Ukraine, which should make the necessary efforts to attract huge investments in order to rebuild the industrial facilities, housing, infrastructure, destroyed during the war.
 It is stated that officials performing the functions of state architectural and construction control and supervision, in fact, even without the purpose of obtaining an undue benefit from the customer, are absolutely not interested in prompt and high-quality provision of their services, since their remuneration does not depend in any way on the quantity and quality of services provided by them. At the same time, the main opponents of this Law are city, town and village mayors, who cite a number of arguments, but the author of this article has systematically and consistently refuted these arguments of local government officials, as discussed in this publication. The application of these legislative innovations should destroy the monopoly on state architectural and construction control and remove the corruption component from this activity. The new law should ensure the implementation of the «three-part» test in social reality in order to eradicate corruption from the sphere of urban development. The «three-part» test consists of the following components: reasonable regulation of urban development activities based on the principles of legality and legal certainty; ensuring a free market competitive and transparent environment for entrepreneurship in the field of urban development; and the absence of personal contact between an «official» and an «entrepreneur» through the automation of services in this area.

Optimal Pricing Strategy of New Products and Remanufactured Products Considering Consumers’ Switching Purchase Behavior

Due to income constraints, increased awareness of environmental protection and preference for new products, consumers generate switching purchases between new and remanufactured products, which often lead to a “cannibalization effect” in the market, and make sellers fall into a vicious circle of price reduction. Considering consumers’ switching purchase behavior, this study examines the pricing problem of new products and remanufactured products in the competitive market environment. Based on two-period duopoly asymmetric price game models, there has been less research on the effectiveness of the price matching strategy and the traditional dynamic pricing strategy, which is the issue that this paper is dedicated to discussing. This study analyzes the equilibrium profits and their influencing factors under the dynamic pricing and price matching strategies of sellers, and discusses the simplified solution of the model. The results show that consumer learning costs, initial consumers and product differences can affect the sellers’ pricing decisions. Consumers’ learning costs of products reduces the equilibrium profit of the manufacturer and increases that of the remanufacturer. Initial consumers are not always advantageous for sellers’ profitability. Product differences affect the determination of the seller’s equilibrium strategy. In the optimal strategy, the remanufacturer should insist on price matching, while the manufacturer should choose dynamic pricing or price matching according to the product differences. This study provides sellers with insights to choose appropriate and custom pricing strategies to maximize profit as well as prevent the majority of consumers switching purchase.

STUDY ON ATTRACTING AND RECRUITING TALENTS BASED ON EMPLOYER BRANDING - A CASE STUDY OF VOLKSWAGEN

As China's economy enters a new normal and manufacturing enterprises transform, it has become an irreversible long-term trend for manufacturing industries featuring "cost leadership" to move to second and third-tier cities in China, where manufacturing costs are lower. In a competitive market environment where the demographic dividend is gradually disappearing and the talent competitionis intensifying, how to deal with the challenge of talent attraction in the manufacturing industry, explore new ideas to solve the talent competition challenge, help enterprises attract and motivate and retain talents, and research and construction of employer brand has become an important issue in the practice of enterprise human resource management nowadays. It is also the basis for effective talent attraction and recruitment.
 Based on the research and analysis of the literature on employer brands and factors, this paper selects popular companies in China as research objects and conducts interviews with a group of employees in different cities.
 The results of the study show that there is a difference in the perception of employer brand attractiveness factors between employees in third-tier cities and employees in first-tier cities in Shanghai This difference is also due to the difference in certain characteristics and demands of the employee group At the same time, the employer brand of a company comes from its main body, i.e., employees and the market The employer brand is derived from the feedback of the employees and the market on the unique value and attractiveness of the company, so it is necessary to start from the perspective of employee identification and avoid local perception.

Stochastic programming approach for optimal day-ahead market bidding curves of a microgrid

The deregulation of electricity markets has driven the need to optimise market bidding strategies, e.g. when and how much electricity to buy or sell, in order to gain an economic advantage in a competitive market environment. The present work aims to determine optimal day-ahead market bidding curves for a microgrid comprised of a battery, power generator, photovoltaic (PV) system and an electricity load from a commercial building. Existing day-ahead market bidding models heuristically fix price values for each allowed bidding curve point prior to the optimisation problem or relax limitations set by market rules on the number of price–quantity points per curve. In contrast, this work integrates the optimal selection of prices for the construction of day-ahead market bidding curves into the optimisation of the energy system schedule; aiming to further enhance the bidding curve accuracy while remaining feasible under present market rules. The examined optimisation problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model, embedded in a two-stage stochastic programming approach. Uncertainty is considered in the electricity price and the PV power. First stage decisions are day-ahead market bidding curves, while the overall objective is to minimise the expected operational cost of the microgrid. The bidding strategy derived is then examined through Monte Carlo simulations by comparing it against a deterministic approach and two alternative stochastic bidding approaches from literature.

Influencing factors of customer loyalty in mobile payment: A consumption value perspective and the role of alternative attractiveness

The rapid development of mobile payment has attracted many competitors and made customer retention a crucial issue for mobile payment service providers. This study examines the influencing factors of mobile payment loyalty from a multi-dimensional value perspective by extending and integrating the Cognitive-Affective-Behaviour (C-A-B) model and the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV). We also incorporate alternative attractiveness as a moderating variable to reveal the potential influence of the competitive market environment. This study collected 427 questionnaires from mobile payment users in China. The empirical study results show that customers’ loyalty is determined by satisfaction, and satisfaction is influenced by functional, emotional, epistemic, and monetary value. The findings also demonstrate that satisfaction has mediated the consumption values and loyalty relationship, and alternative attractiveness has weakened the influence of satisfaction on loyalty. This study shifts the focus in mobile payment research from adoption to the post-adoption stage and establishes a new research model by integrating two fundamental theories in explaining customer behaviour. Our study could guide mobile payment providers to cultivate customer satisfaction and loyalty by determining the values that are worth investing in their marketing strategies and help them notice and neutralise the weakening effect of competitor attractiveness.

Research on the Innovation Trend of Modern Enterprise Management in the Context of Digital Economy

Digital economy plays a crucial role in the development process of national economy in China. With the general trend of economic globalization and under China's positive business environment, enterprises come to face increasingly fierce competition and challenges in both the international and domestic markets. In order to achieve rapid and steady development, enterprises need to make good use of the advantage of digital economy, strengthen enterprise innovation management and enhance their market competitiveness. Taking the transformation of manufacturing enterprises as an example, this paper analyzes the challenges faced by enterprises in the digital era of enterprise management, analyzes the causes to them and proposes countermeasures, so as to promote the management innovation of enterprises in the context of digital economy and help them survive and develop in the competitive market environment.

Digital Capability and Business Model Innovation by Big Data Technology: The Mediating Role of Resource Reconfiguration

Under the background of digital economy era, manufacturing enterprises are faced with complex and changeable economic environment, competitive market environment and policy environment for transformation and upgrading. In order to adapt to environmental development, maintain competitive advantages and achieve new value creation goals, it is necessary to cultivate and build appropriate digital capabilities, including digital opportunity identification and digital resource coordination. This paper takes resource reconstruction as a subdivision perspective, takes manufacturing enterprises as the research object, and takes enterprise innovation practice as the explained variable, and discusses the path mechanism of capability-resource-innovation. Therefore, this paper proposes a research hypothesis around the relationship among enterprise digital capability, resource reconstruction and business model innovation, constructs a theoretical model among the three, and applies the hierarchical regression analysis method to conduct an empirical study on the data of 210 enterprises obtained through questionnaire survey, and tests these hypotheses. The results show that digital opportunity identification ability and digital resource collaboration ability have significant positive impact on business model innovation. Resource restructuring also has a positive effect on business model innovation; Enterprise digital opportunity identification ability and digital resource collaboration ability positively influence resource restructuring. In addition, resource restructuring plays an intermediary role between digital capability and business model innovation.

A Study on the Evolution of Competition in China’s Auto Market Considering Market Capacity Constraints and a Game Payoff Matrix: Based on the Dual Credit Policy

The dual credit policy is currently the main starting point for China to achieve the green and sustainable development of the auto market. However, the policy’s impact on future market development remains unclear. It is necessary to consider the market capacity constraints and the market competition environment. By researching the impact of the dual credit policy on the micro-decision-making of automakers and the long-term evolution of the macro-auto market, the effect of the dual credit policy on the Chinese auto industry is obtained. This paper considers the market capacity constraint, combines the competitive relationship and game payment matrix between NEV makers and CFV makers, constructs a game model of the competition density between NEVs and CFVs, simulates the development and evolution of China’s auto market size, and analyzes the effect of the quantitative parameters of the dual credit policy on the auto market. The results show that: (1) the increase in NEV makers’ sale of credits will stimulate their production incentives, and the increase in conventional fuel vehicle (CFV) makers’ cost of purchasing credits will reduce their production incentives; (2) tightened fuel consumption standards for CFVs has an enhanced stimulating effect on the increase in the market share of NEVs, which can effectively reduce the market share of CFVs; (3) the price of credits facilitates the growth of the NEV market share, but credit prices that are too high do not stimulate the growth of the NEV market share to a significant degree; (4) the increase in the proportion of credits required for NEVs and the increase in the price of credits together help to reduce the market share of CFVs and increase the market share of NEVs.

Sicherstellung der Arzneimittelversorgung durch den pharmazeutischen Großhandel

The analysis of competition policy shows that the full-service pharmaceutical wholesale trade operates in an extremely competitive market environment. In particular, this competition focuses on the parameter of price and sometimes takes on ruinous features. Due to specific market conditions on the supply and demand side (so-called market failure), pharmaceutical wholesalers cannot effectively free themselves from this competitive dilemma on their own. As a result, the companies could foreseeably no longer be able to ensure the viability of their business operations in the way required by the statutory mandate to ensure and provide supply. In this respect, there is a high public interest in shaping the economic framework conditions in such a way that functional competition can develop. In this way, efficient and sustainable structures can ultimately be guaranteed to ensure a nationwide supply of medicines via and through the full-service pharmaceutical wholesale trade. A need for action in health and economic policy can therefore be derived directly from the analysis carried out.