Distributors Of Products Research Articles

Credit Market Imperfections and Monetary Policy: Effects on the Optimality of Trade Credit Durations for Business Volumes

This study provides empirical evidence that trade credit durations implied by product distributors' business volumes (implied credit durations) generate business risk for trade credit providers. The study further demonstrates the existence of optimalcredit durations that minimize business risk induced by provision of trade credit facilities, and immunize trade credit providers to fluctuations in business volumes induced by either of credit market imperfections or monetary policy shocks. Empirical results demonstrate optimal credit durations provide better risk mitigation for both relatively small distributors and the trade credit provider in relation to implied credit durations. The favorability of optimal credit durations for relatively small distributors is shown to be achieved without imposition of non-optimal business risk on relatively large distributors.

Graduates construct their management careers from day one

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describes the management-development training program in operation at a UK trade distributor of plumbing and heating products and supplier of construction materials. Design/methodology/approach – Provides the reasons for the program, the form it takes and the results it has achieved. Includes interviews with people who have taken part in the program. Findings – Explains that trainees are exposed to every aspect of the business and culture from the start, by combining working in a branch with classroom training at the company’s management academy. Reveals that trainees are supported throughout the program by their placement manager, who helps in day-to-day activities; a coach from the senior-management team, who offers advice and guidance; and a mentor, many of whom have themselves been through similar schemes. Practical implications – Demonstrates how participants who are willing to roll up their sleeves, make decisions and use their initiative can expect to take on a management position within 12 months. Social implications – Highlights, in case-study interviews, the varied backgrounds of employees who have carved out successful careers with the company. Originality/value – Gives the inside story of a successful management-training program.

Marketing factors impacting imported wood products in Central America

Increasing environmental pressures against deforestation in Central America has increased harvesting restrictions and subsequently caused disruption in the supply of raw materials to primary and secondary industries. A conceptual model was developed based on literature review to describe perceptions of wood products distributors, retailers, and manufacturers regarding supplier and product attributes, retailer/manufacturer and supplier promotion strategies, potential importing barriers and company performance. After verifying internal reliability with Cronbach’s alpha, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to confirm the structure of proposed marketing constructs. Results supported only one of the proposed factors in the model, (i.e. supplier attribute). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the structure of the remaining factors. The strongest correlations were between product attributes and retailer/manufacturing marketing factors, and the second strongest correlation found was between product and supplier attributes factors. These correlations are critical to developing innovative marketing strategies to increase access to markets in Central America.

Analysing the formal and informal documentary film distribution markets in Colombia

Despite the global economic downturn, world feature film production increased by 27.8% between 2005 and 2009. EU production levels also continued to grow. At least 370 feature documentaries were produced in 2011. However, in the formal film distribution market documentaries drag a historic grievance about their theatrical distribution. A clear example of this are the 80 documentaries in competition at the Film Festival Documenta Madrid in 2010, of which only two or three had a theatrical release. This situation is particularly acute in some developing countries in Latin America, such as Colombia; where there is a catalogue, with a list of at least 3000 Colombian documentaries, mostly unseen, which were produced in the last 50 years. In fact, only one documentary film had a theatrical release there, in 2011. This situation informs a large debate in Colombia since the informal film distribution market, San Andresito, is thriving by providing an effective way of reaching the population, while the traditional legal structures lag behind. This article is concerned with a new alternative distribution proposal that allows the Colombian documentary film to meet its primary objective: reaching its audiences. Most data and examples given are related to fiction feature films, since the success of its distribution on DVD in the informal market in Colombia not only shows a wider distribution problem within which documentary is one part, but also becomes a good example to explore how this market may also work to distribute documentaries in the future. Moreover, the cooperation model and teamwork between Ecuadorian film authorities and the Ecuadorian Association of Traders and Distributors of Audio-visual Products and Related are key to exploring the alternatives of constructing a sustainable model in which both the formal and the informal film distribution networks could coexist to benefit the access of the Colombian audiences to documentary films.

How to choose mitigation measures for supply chain risks

Properly managing supply chain risks is at the top of many supply chain managers’ agendas. However, the process of selecting preventive measures to mitigate supply chain risks is often unstructured in practice. This is also reflected in academic literature, where selecting appropriate mitigation measures is performed via qualitative and rather informal approaches. In order to fill this gap in industrial practice and academic research, the purpose of this study is to provide a quantitative DSS to select mitigation measures for supply chain risks. The support system is theoretically grounded via a decision framework and is consistent with previous studies adopting the risk management process. The analytical tool is based on a stochastic integer linear programming approach, including supply chain managers’ judgements by way of utility functions and fuzzy-extended pairwise comparisons. In comparison with previous studies, the support system explicitly models the relationships between risks and their expected impact and considers the risk prioritisation step and the measures selection step jointly to enable risk profile reduction. The usefulness of the tool proposed is shown via the application of the support system to the case of the global sourcing process of Chicco–Artsana, a large manufacturer and distributor of baby care products.

Blood Glucose Meter Market: This World is Undergoing Drastic Changes

Blood Glucose Meter Market: This World is Undergoing Drastic Changes

Formation of accounts receivable of dairy products wholesale companies

The article studies the problems and peculiarities of formation of accounts receivable of dairy products wholesale companies. It determines the main features and peculiarities of the formation of the accounts receivables of dairy products wholesale companies. The article identifies the key moments that affect the formation of the accounts receivables and the debt relationships of the specified companies. There is an extension of manufacturers and distributors of dairy products and market consolidation. The concentration of major Ukrainian groups associated with the processing of milk and dairy products and the sale of dairy products has rapid pace. Foreign corporations in the domestic market affect the formation and management of accounts receivable. The companies are characterized by an increase of accounts receivables for goods as a result of fierce competition and a strategy of control of accounts receivable. There is a transformation of retail formats. Depending on the format of an outlet certain debt relationship between a wholesale company and a retail organization are created. It causes distortions of the development of certain industries. One of the features is the lack of regulations in economic and tax legislation to eliminate certain problematic moments in activity of retailers.

How can the sales of green products in the Brazilian supply chain be increased?

This paper investigates the elements that can generate an increase in industrial green product sales in Brazil. Multiple case studies were performed with five suppliers of green products, as well as two distributors for each supplier. Each supplier identified the distributor with the highest sales performance and the distributor with the lowest sales performance (in geographical areas with similar sales potential). While the findings suggest that technical specifications are mandatory for attracting and retaining the best distributors of green products, they also suggest that technical specifications cannot assure sales. Suppliers must provide not only advertising and financial and technical support to the distributors but also stable sales commissions (a problem in the Brazilian green market). Accordingly, suppliers must consider both the profits and the losses of their distributors to increase sales, and the cost of such support may be higher than the costs incurred for non-green products. However, without such support, sales will not increase. The best distributors have exclusive sales teams that explore the technical, financial and advertising support provided by the supplier, allowing these sales teams to outperform non-exclusive sales teams. Our findings fill some of the gaps indicated in the literature such as how sustainability can be better implemented in supply chains and how sales and profits of green products can be increased. Furthermore, a definition of a marketing strategy that can help to optimize the sales costs of green products, which range from 5% to 18%, and that can be applied by suppliers is presented herein.

An exploratory analysis of B2B price changes

This study is a step toward understanding price changes and the outcome of pricing processes in an environment where sales people have pricing authority. We explore the effect of observable and quantifiable factors on business-to-business price changes using a large data set from a grocery products distributor. We study the relationship between price changes and cost-, customer-, sales people- and product-related factors as well as centralized pricing recommendations provided to sales people. We gauge the importance of each factor for each stage by building a series of statistical models. We then determine the model with least number of variables and highest explanatory power. We show that price changes occur infrequently but, when they occur, they exhibit asymmetry.

International market expansion of “Jintan Nude” in Thailand

Subject area International marketing, new product development, international business expansion, small business management. Study level/applicability This case is intended for senior undergraduate or graduate MBA students taking a course in international business, international marketing, or small business management. Case overview Thai Jintan Company Limited (Thai Jintan) is a medium-sized importer, distributor, and marketer of premium confectionery and health care products in Thailand with the exclusive distribution arrangements of Morishita Jintan Company Limited (Morishita), one of Japan's oldest companies and a leader in the Japanese probiotic and confectionery industry. The case takes place in August 2009, approximately 18 months after Thai Jintan implemented its market launch of Morishita's technologically advanced breath and belly mint under the brand name of Jintan Nude. With a limited promotional budget of 8 million baht (€161,128) coupled with Thailand's regulatory environment for the marketing of food and drugs, Thai Jintan, a newcomer to the breath mint market, was faced with having to devise a resourceful marketing and promotional campaign. Thai Jintan management was confronted with assessing its past marketing plan and deciding on what to do to achieve its ambitious goal of capturing a 20 percent market share of the growing mint/menthol candy confectionery segment in Thailand. Expected learning outcomes After reading and discussing the case, students should have a better understanding of the following: the challenges faced by small businesses and new entrants; learning to apply different frameworks such as PEST or PESTEL, SWOT, and/or Five Forces to scan and assess a competitive environment; familiarizing themselves with different channels members’ roles in a distribution system; learning to evaluate a company's current marketing strategies and to recommend strategies to improve its segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies and to design a new marketing mix for a new product launch in an overseas market; and learning how to effectively allocate a marketing budget. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available.

Romanian Consumer Lifestyle and Attitude towards Bio Products Purchase

The “bio” trend widely spread at international level it is just starting to develop in Romania. In order to better understand the implication of “bio” phenomena it is important to shape the consumer buying behaviour. Therefore, a more thorough understanding of the consumers’ lifestyle and attitudes with respect to “bio” products is an imperative for producers and distributors of such products. In a university level survey, based on an on-line questionnaire among students it was intended to correlate the students’ knowledge and attitude towards “bio” products in connection to their lifestyle. According to the research results the bio products are perceived as being healthier, with increase protection of the environment, tastier and with a hi gher content and quality of nutrients. Still, the concept of “bio” product could not be well defined by the consumers. In relation to lifestyle, activities, interests and opinions were pursuit with interesting conclusions. Students with medium and higher revenues are more likely to constantly read the entire product label. Persons with higher education are most suscepti ble of buying at least for trying the bio products. Women are more likely to buy bio products due to their opinions related to culture, future and s ocial problems, as well as their interest concerning work, family and alimentation.

Characterization of Microorganisms Isolated from Counterfeit Toothpaste

The appearance of potentially counterfeit "Colgate" toothpaste on the American market prompted a criminal investigation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including the collection of c. 60,000 tubes of toothpaste from retail outlets and product distributors. Microbiological testing was performed based on the FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual, which determined the presence and number of bacteria present in the products. Bacteria were isolated from each "Colgate" variety; up to 2 × 10(6) cfu/g were isolated from some of the product units. Using conventional microscopic and biochemical bacterial identification methods, most of the bacteria isolated from these samples were Gram-negative rods of several genera, including Pseudomonas, Serratia, and Klebsiella. Most of the organisms isolated represent opportunistic pathogens, and therefore, counterfeit "Colgate" toothpaste containing high levels of bacteria pose a human health hazard.

An outbreak of salmonella chester infection in Canada: rare serotype, uncommon exposure, and unusual population demographic facilitate rapid identification of food vehicle.

Salmonella Chester infection has rarely been reported in the literature. In 2010, 33 case patients were reported in 2 months in four Canadian provinces. We conducted an outbreak investigation in collaboration with public health agencies, food safety specialists, regulatory agencies, grocery store chains, and the product distributor. We used case patient interviews, customer loyalty cards, and microbiological testing of clinical and food samples to identify nationally distributed head cheese as the food vehicle responsible for the outbreak. The rare serotype, a limited affected demographic group, and an uncommon exposure led to the rapid identification of the source. Control measures were implemented within 9 days of notification of the outbreak.

The Stubai Co-Operative: Using Local Roots for Global Competitiveness

The Stubai Co-operative, founded in 1897 by several craftsmen and steel manufacturing companies located in the Tyrolean Stubai Valley, has developed in one of the most successful distributors of small steel products in the high quality segment on a global scale. The proposed case study will discuss the reasons for this remarkable success, given that the comparably small Stubai Co-operative is able to challenge big players in the iron manufacturing industry, mainly from the US and the Far East. The Co-operative combines long-lasting local industrial traditions with a process of advanced professionalization and internationalization. Stubai’s success significantly depends on its legal status as a co-operative, as it provides the optimal framework for the successful collaboration of its members. Through the consistent uniformity of its presence, Stubai was able to establish itself in the international steel manufacturing sector as a brand combining the well-known quality of its products with its locality, the Stubai Valley. In a remarkable use of marketing synergies, the logo of the brand was offered (in a slightly changed version) to the tourism office of the Stubai Valley, thus linking the tourism marketing with the marketing of the Co-operative. The historical foundations are another facet of the Co-operative’s grounding in the Stubai Valley. The roots reach back to the 14th Century, when the iron production and the iron manufacturing started in the valley. The founding process of the Co-operative is to be seen as an answer to a severe crisis of the market of iron products at that time – where the Co-operative offered better opportunities for the existing small manufacturers – and political interests of the socio-conservatives, who, successfully, tried to prevent the involvement of a socialist workers movement in the region. Since then, the number of co-operative members has not been significantly modified. The right of membership exclusively belongs to metal processing companies from the valley. To guarantee the necessary pipeline of a specialized, highly skilled workforce, the co-operative also has enabled the foundation of a College for Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Technique in Fulpmes, the main place of business. A key to success is the diversity and quality offered by the member companies, which all are specialized on their own products. So, the marketing of a wide range of products under one brand becomes possible. By solely concentrating on local production, the information channels are short, what enables quick responses to new market demands. Furthermore, the Co-operative offers its mainly small sized members the opportunity to bring their products to the world market. At present, the Co-operative records a steady growth. Nevertheless, any substantial growth of the Co-operative is strongly limited by its strict focus on local membership. Therefore, its activities on a global scale are limited to being a niche player. Given the size of its main international competitors and the huge potential of simple economics of scale, this will remain a significant challenge to the Co-operative in the long run.

Audio-Visual Materials in Classics

Audio-Visual Materials in Classics Janice F. Siegel I. Archaeology 354 II. Ancient World Civilizations 355 III. Classical Civilization: General; Classical Mythology; Classical Philosophy; Classical Theater 359 IV. Greek Civilization: General; Greek Art and Architecture 370 V. Greek Literature (in translation): General; Epic Poetry; Greek Drama 384 VI. Greek Language Instruction (including texts in Greek): Dramatic Performances; Music; Grammar, Vocabulary, and Poetics; Materials Keyed to Specific Greek Textbooks 389 VII. Roman Civilization: General; Roman Art and Architecture; Etruscans; Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae; Roman Culture in Other Lands 392 VIII. Latin Literature (in English): General; The Poets; Roman Drama 413 IX. Latin Language Instruction: Texts (in Latin); Dramatic Performances; Music; Grammar, Vocabulary, and Poetics; Materials Keyed to Specific Latin Textbooks 415 X. The Classical Legacy: In Our Language Today; In Our Culture; In Shakespeare 427 XI. Classical Tradition 432 This survey revises that of Spring 2010 (CW 103.3) and includes the most up-to-date information available at press time. As always, products new to this year’s survey are marked with “>”. Items specific to Greece or Rome may be found in their respective categories. The “Ancient World Civilizations” and “Classical Civilization” categories also feature programs that concern ancient Greece and/or Rome, but in a larger context. “Classical Legacy” features programs focusing on the modern influence of all things Greek and Roman. “Classical Tradition” lists modern adaptations of classical works (dramatic or artistic treatments of ancient works may be found in the category of the original work under the sub-categories “dramatic performances” or “cinematic treatments”). Every effort has been made to distinguish items with similar names. Multiple distributors are listed for each product whenever possible to ensure continued access, since any product may be discontinued by any distributor at any time. The Digital Revolution continues! DVDs have all but replaced VHS tapes but many distributors now even offer video streaming (with free previews) as an alternative to DVDs. And advances in audio engineering have allowed producers to make available for inexpensive download whole recordings and even individual tracks of longer recordings, both old and new. Now enthusiasts can download a favorite ode from Sophocles’ Antigone (in the original Greek), a speech by Cicero (in Latin), or even a language lesson for less than the price of a cup of coffee. (Most distributors of such products offer audio previews, so visit their Web sites for a listen). Entire [End Page 351] books are as downloadable as songs nowadays, and electronic book readers are popping up all over. Even consumers without personal computer devices can choose the “playaway” format, a pre-loaded, battery-operated, digital audiobook (a generally more expensive yet feature-filled option available through several distributors). In fact, almost any book published nowadays comes in e-reader or otherwise-downloadable format, and it is simply impossible to include every title in this survey. Databases once distributed on CD-ROM now offer on-line subscriptions. Slide companies have either gone out of business altogether, digitally converted their inventory, or (like museum stores) chosen to make their products available through image brokers such as www.davisartimages.com or www.saskia.com. Readers are encouraged to visit these sites and others like them if they are unable to find individual images or sets previously listed in this survey as distributed by independent companies. Some producers (History Channel, for example) have now reis-sued in DVD format many videos that were previously discontinued because of their obsolete VHS format. Many of these programs also continue to be made available by educational materials clearinghouses introduced in our last survey (companies such as School Media Associates) in both VHS and DVD formats. Although many individual programs are thus once again available, consumers are encouraged to check if a particular program is available as part of a larger DVD set, which often offers a better value if the other programs in the set are also of interest. (Sometimes, the price of a new DVD set is less than the price of the original single VHS program). Never before have more titles in Classics been available, with more innovative distribution methods, from a more varied array of vendors. Because this short print survey can only be...

Legal Aspects of Personalized Health Monitoring

Personal health monitoring (PHM) can be defined as comprising all technical systems, processing, collecting, and storing of data linked to a person. PHM involves several legal issues that are described in this article. This article analyses firstly the short-term actions that are needed at the European level to allow personal health monitoring in respect of the interests and rights of patients such as the need to have more harmonized medical liability rules at the EU level. Introducing PHM implies also legal action at the EU level on the long run. These long-term actions are related to e.g., the way in which hospitals are organized in their relation with healthcare professionals and with other hospitals or healthcare actors. The paper will finally analyse also how health monitoring projects may change the traditional (non-) relationship between patients and pharmaceutical/medical device industry. Today, the producers and distributors of medicinal products have no specific contact with patients. This situation may change when applying telemonitoring projects and may require to new legal rules.

Incidence of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin in Two Types of Mexican Fresh Cheeses

Handcrafted fresh cheeses are popular among consumers in Mexico. However, unsafe raw materials and inadequate food safety practices during cheese manufacture and preservation make them a potential public health risk. The incidence of Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and staphylococcal enterotoxin was analyzed in two types of fresh cheese (panela and adobera) commonly marketed in Mexico. A total of 200 samples, 100 panela and 100 adobera, were acquired from 100 wholesale milk product distributors who supply small retailers in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco State, Mexico. Pathogens were identified using culture and immunoassay (miniVidas) methods. The presence of staphylococcal enterotoxin was determined by an immunoassay method. Of the 200 analyzed samples, 92 were positive for at least one of the pathogens. The incidence in the panela samples was 56%: 34% Salmonella, 16% E. coli O157:H7, and 6% L. monocytogenes. In the adobera samples, incidence was 36%: 20% Salmonella, 4% E. coli O157:H7, and 12% L. monocytogenes. Staphylococcal enterotoxin was not detected in any of the 200 samples. Choice of technique had no effect on detection of pathogen incidence, although the immunoassay method identified more Salmonella serotypes than the culture method. Handcrafted panela and adobera fresh cheeses in Mexico frequently contain pathogenic bacteria and therefore pose a public health risk.

Breakthrough analytics for business acceleration

On 6–7 October 2011, the seventh annual Revenue Management and Price Optimization Conference was held at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This article summarizes key discussions that emerged from the conference and highlights the experiences of three companies portrayed in keynote addresses given by Scott Deaver, executive vice president of Strategy for Avis Budget Group; Greg Cross, senior vice president of Revenue Management for Hyatt Hotels Corporation; and Michael Diamond, senior vice president of Marketing for Time Warner Cable Inc. The article also describes a unique revenue management collaboration between an office product distributor and its independent dealers that was presented by Wilbur Reid, director of Strategic Pricing at SP Richards Company.

Corporate social responsibility implementation

PurposeCorporate social responsibility (CSR)‐based strategies have become important concepts in dealing with firms' stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the processes of stakeholder legitimacy and interest detection, namely ethical considerations and community obligations, to promote CSR as an intangible strategic asset.Design/methodology/approachThe two relatively large service‐based firms (contrasting not‐for‐profit with for‐profit) that were selected for study were Pittsburgh‐based, namely the largest single employer of the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh (The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)) and WESCO, a distributor of electrical construction products and electrical and industrial maintenance products and the largest domestic provider of integrated supply services.FindingsIt was found that the management teams at UPMC and WESCO approach CSR‐based strategies and its initiative from completely different perspectives. UPMC functions a not‐for‐profit organization while WESCO is a for‐profit entity. They also approach CSR differently as a result from its geographically based service and product offerings, UPMC being more local/regional and WESCO going for global markets. These differences promote differences in the groups and types of CSR that each company is currently engaged in promoting.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates that both not‐for‐profit and for‐profit entities have a reason to be socially responsible, whether they are local or global firms. The overarching fact is that consumers expect firms to be conscience of the social concerns of the community in which they operate and socially responsible to the various stakeholder groups they serve.

The Involvement of Tourist Products Consumers

The behaviour of tourist products consumers represents a major preoccupation of the marketing specialists. The main variable that determines the choice of tourist destinations is motivation. The involvement emphasizes the difference of interest and motivation, that the potential consumer manifests. The marketing practitioners must take into account the causes and consequences of involvement in order to create the marketing mix. The article presents a case study, which was achieved during the period 06/01/.2010-09/01/2010. The material subject to study is a sample of 200 consumers, representing the customers of three tourism agencies, with the headquarters in Romania, N-E region. The research method consists in evaluating the involvement level regarding different categories of tourist products, based on the scores obtained by ranking the elements that define the involvement profiles and is achieved starting from the model of the authors Kapferer and Laurent. The results obtained reflect the preoccupation for measuring the profound elements of consumers’ involvement and using this information for adjusting the marketing strategies of the tourist products distributors.