Local Market Environment Research Articles

Ergonomics and health risk awareness of workers involved in manual material handling at Sabon Gari Market in Zaria, Nigeria

This study assessed the manual handling of materials in a local market environment and evaluated workers’ awareness of ergonomics and health risks. Of 315 workers surveyed, 308 responded. The findings revealed a high prevalence rate of 96.4% for injuries and musculoskeletal discomfort, attributed to a low ergonomics and health risk awareness rate of only 6.8%. Consequently, 75% of workers resorted to self-medication or drug abuse for relief. The study also explored barriers to using engineering equipment, finding that 26.3% of respondents cited cost as a barrier, while 51% believed that the introduction of engineering equipment would lead to job loss. This research is valuable for practitioners and researchers as it highlights the current state of ergonomics and health risk awareness among workers who handle heavy loads. The study also highlights the need for improved ergonomic practices and health risk awareness to reduce injury rates and promote safer work environments.

Adapting innovation capabilities in emerging economies: the role of learning and cultural and institutional distance in MNC subsidiaries in Korea

Purpose The rise of emerging economies in the innovation landscape has often been attributed to the positive spillovers of innovation capabilities from multinational corporations (MNCs). However, it is less certain that their innovative capabilities imported from the home country function effectively in the host country from the outset. This study examines the performance of the innovation capabilities of MNC subsidiaries in emerging economies over time by considering the gradual process of their learning about host countries.Design/methodology/approach We employed stochastic frontier analysis to measure innovation capabilities, our focal construct. For regression analysis, we applied the Mundlak estimator, a variant of the fixed-effects panel estimator, to a sample comprising subsidiaries of MNCs from technologically advanced nations operating in Korea between 2006 and 2016.Findings Our results indicate that the innovation capabilities of MNC subsidiaries initially underperform those of local firms but improve over time, eventually surpassing the capabilities of their local counterparts. Furthermore, our findings reveal that institutional distance amplifies the underperformance of the innovation capabilities of MNC subsidiaries.Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by extending both theoretical development and empirical measurement of innovation capabilities in cross-national settings. Additionally, it deepens our understanding of whether and how MNC subsidiaries adapt their innovation capabilities to the local market environment.

Growth Strategies for International Streaming Services: Netflix and Disney+

The purpose is to identify the features of strategic planning and formulate specific recommendations on the choice of growth strategies in developing and developed markets for international streaming services. Objectives: study of specific examples (cases) growth strategies in developed and emerging markets; identify key factors for the successful development of companies; study cases of adapting a product to the needs of the local market environment. Methodology: comparative analysis; analysis of financial indicators and benchmarking; synthesis of information obtained; inductive and deductive methods. Results. of the study showed that taking into account the needs of the audience in national markets is the key to the growth of the company and its subscriber base. When entering the market, companies use a pre-formed market development strategy as a starting point for expanding the number of users, after which they continue to strengthen their positions using market penetration, product development or diversification strategies, adapting the product to the needs and characteristics of the market environment. Conclusions. Partnerships have proven to be an important factor in developed and emerging markets, however, in the case of developed markets, this strategic step benefits in quantitative terms, and in the case of emerging markets, both in qualitative terms (localization of content) and in quantitative terms, the growth in the number of users. The findings and results of the study will be useful to existing streaming services, startups, venture investors and government agencies regulating this area.

InsurTech in the United States and Germany—What are the drivers behind the different business models?

AbstractComparing the InsurTech ecosystems of the United States and Germany (Europe), there are significant regional differences in the choice of business models. While many InsurTechs in the United States have opted for the business model of a fully licensed insurer, this business model is much less common in Europe. In Europe, many InsurTechs seem to shy away from applying for a license as an insurer and limit themselves to the business model of a broker or a managing general agent. This paper analyzes the factors that influence an InsurTech's choice of business model when deciding whether or not to apply for an insurance license. It examines the impact of different local market environments on these decisions, as well as the role that access to venture capital plays in business model decisions and how regulators and their actions influence the decision‐making process.

East Asia’s retail revolution: Diffusion of organized retailing and varieties of market development in Korea and Taiwan

Global diffusion of organized retailing over the last several decades brought extensive worldwide standardization of retail formats and technologies. Such development, however, has not led to the success of the same set of retailers but to varied prominence of core players across markets. Few studies comparatively analyse local market environments to assess this variation, and those that do rarely look beyond local policy measures or idiosyncratic consumer tastes. Presenting a sociological institutionalist alternative and comparing Korea’s and Taiwan’s paths to organized retail development, this article highlights how local business groups relied on network-hierarchy logics to coordinate and control new businesses amid MNC entry and global diffusion of retailing. The resulting dynamics of competition and cooperation illustrate the significance of institutionalized market environments for MNC performance. The study contributes to the comparative capitalism literature by highlighting institutionally embedded strategic behaviours of organizations as crucial contributors to continued national economic diversity amid heightening globalization.

Does Cross-Border Equity Trading Destabilize the Stock Market: Evidence from Chinese Stock Markets

This paper examines the effects of bi-directional cross-border equity flows on stock returns, volatility and valuation differential using the unique Stock Connect program in China as a natural experiment. Via Stock Connect, investors from Hong Kong (mainland China) can trade qualified stocks listed in Shanghai (Hong Kong). We find that southbound (northbound) investors net purchases predict returns of Hong Kong (Shanghai) stocks. However, southbound and northbound trades exhibit asymmetry in volatility-volume relationship; there is a positive (negative) relationship between lagged southbound (northbound) volume and volatility of connected stocks in Hong Kong (Shanghai). Southbound investors net purchase is positively related to lagged AH share price premium for dual-listed stocks and such trades reduces future valuation differential. Our study shows that stock market integration facilitates information sharing and narrow valuation differential across previously segmented markets. But the effects of stock market integration depend importantly on local market environments such as investor clienteles.

51 ASAS-EAAP Exchange Speaker Talk: Is genomic selection beneficial for the pig industry?

Abstract Genomic selection increases accuracy of prediction and, with that, genetic trend; also in pigs 50% extra trend is gradually becoming a conservative estimate. Theory and experience in other species shows that more is better: the more genotypes, and the more phenotypes, the higher the gain. The downside of this is that fewer and fewer breeding companies can bring up the resources to reach those numbers. Consolidation is the result and within companies the number of sire and dam lines is decreasing. On top of that the essence of current genomic selection is that the presence of existing or new rare alleles is ignored, with the risk of genetic variance. So fewer groups, fewer lines and breeds, and reducing genetic variance. The upside is more possibilities for more difficult traits. Challenge experiments can be more effectively used as training populations, as are crossbred animals for dissection. Costprice of genotyping is down to a level that it could be cost effective to genotype individual crossbred sows for precision production management. Increased genetic trend, combined with precision production and production sorting of boars can lead to very cost efficient uniform production directed to very specific markets. Genomic selection is beneficial for the pig industry to maintain its competitive position against other types of meat in the short to medium term. Developments for the (near) future are genome editing and interaction with other genotypes. The latter is linked to same species genotypes (pen mates), to pathogenic genotypes and to humans. Larger farms with larger groups of animals per age group and fewer and less experienced workers make autonomy of animals more important. Genomic models that estimate which animals do best for the net profit of the farm are needed, but difficult. In the end genomic selection is a powerful tool to create genetic trend and adapt pigs to local market environments. In the bigger picture of long term, worldwide sustainability there are some serious concerns.

COMPETITIVENESS ANALYSIS OF KAZAKHSTAN CONFECTIONARY SECTOR USING FINANCIAL DISCRIMINANT MODELS

Measuring competitiveness offers hundreds of analytical options. We have chosen to analyze and compare companies of confectionery sector in Kazakhstan. We opted to use bankruptcy and creditworthiness models and compare competitiveness through the financial situation of main competitors on that market. Companies analyzed comprise of two Ukrainian companies (Konti and Roshen), Russian companies (Nestlé Russian branch serving also Central Asian markets and KDV - Yaskino) and three local corporations Rakhat, Bayan Sulu and Konfety Karagandy. Models used for analysis are Altman z-score model, Taffler z-score model, IN99, IN01, IN05, and creditworthiness model. The IN models were created in the Czech Republic based on companies' data from the 1990s which was the period of higher inflation, small currency an big banking crisis, massive imports, developing competition and infrequent political turmoil. These models have comparably much greater benefits for analyzing companies in Kazakhstan because they are based on hundreds of companies in contrast to tens of companies on which Altman or Taffler based their famous and highly predictive models. We present an analysis of models in 2007 – 2016 period based on publicly accessible data. We show the IN models have valuable benefits for comparison compared with other older models and that they can disclose certain events or corporate situations in a clearer way than other Altman or Taffler z-score models and should be used in Kazakhstan and improved to suit better the local market environment.

Cultural Difference of Customer Equity Drivers on Customer Loyalty: A Cross-National Comparison between South Korea and United States

Purpose: Many advanced discount stores could not reach the certain growth level due to cultural differences and their marketing strategies that have failed to adopt in local market environment. The purpose of this study is to find the effects of customer equity drivers on customer loyalty and to examine cultural differences between South Korea and United States.Methodology/Approach: This study sets independent variables of value equity, brand equity and relationship equity from the customer equity model and tests to see how each equity driver affects customers' loyalty through gaining their trust and satisfaction in the discount store industry. We applied structural equation model to test the hypothesis. We conducted a survey on customers who had shopping experiences in discount stores and gathered data from United States and South Korea respectively.Findings: The results show that there are significant differences in the effects of customer drivers on customer loyalty via trust and satisfaction in large retail industries. While Satisfaction had some effects on building their loyalty in Korea, satisfaction had no effect in gaining customers’ loyalty in USA.Research Limitation/implication: The results of this study are highly relevant for managers who must make strategic marketing decisions for different cultures.Originality/Value of paper: This study is the first systematic cross-cultural examinations on how customer equity drivers in discount stores affect customer loyalty between USA and South Korea.

Chinese Construction Market for Foreign Construction Enterprises using SWOT

The remarkable growth of China's economy over the past several decades has obtained tremendous achievements. The construction industry play a leading role un this rapid economic expansion. And China's huge construction market gives it great economic influence around the world, it has attracting many enterprises to entry, although many enter barriers and market risks exist. However many construction enterprises have not doing well, especially foreign construction enterprises are not doing as well as we thought in the Chinese construction market. Although China's construction market has great development and become increasingly open, foreign investors and contractors now have much broader access to the Chinese construction market than before. But nonetheless, there are a wide range of practical problems that bring potential risks for them to invest in China. This paper aims to identify foreign construction enterprises' position by understanding the local market environment, and adopt he SWOT analysts Identifies the foreign construction enterprises' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the Chinese construction market, to Proposes appropriate Strengths-Opportunities (SO), Weaknesses-Opportunities (WO), Strengths-Threats (ST) and Weaknesses-Threats (WT) strategies to make the foreign construction enterprises movling forward.

An Extended Transaction Cost Model of Decision Rights Allocation in Franchising: The Moderating Role of Trust

This study develops and tests an extended transaction cost model to explain the structure of decision rights in franchising. Results show that the inclusion of trust in the transaction cost model supplements the transaction cost explanation of the allocation of decision rights in franchising. On the basis of the data from the German franchise sector, we found that environmental uncertainty has a negative effect on the allocation of decision rights to franchisees because the franchisor exercises more control over local outlet decisions when the local market environment is highly uncertain. Contrary to the traditional transaction cost view, we found that behavioral uncertainty has a positive effect on the allocation of decision rights to franchisees. This result implies that franchisors are more likely to delegate decision rights to franchisees when they encounter difficulties in measuring franchisees' performance and controlling their behavior. Finally, trust has a moderating effect on the relationship between transaction cost variables and franchisor's propensity to delegate decision rights to franchisees. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The focused ethnographic study ‘assessing the behavioral and local market environment for improving the diets of infants and young children 6 to 23 months old’ and its use in three countries

The concept of a focused ethnographic study (FES) emerged as a new methodology to answer specific sets of questions that are required by agencies, policymakers, programme planners or by project implementation teams in order to make decisions about future actions with respect to social, public health or nutrition interventions, and for public-private partnership activities. This paper describes the FES on complementary feeding that was commissioned by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and highlights findings from studies conducted in three very different country contexts (Ghana, South Africa and Afghanistan) burdened by high levels of malnutrition in older infants and young children (IYC). The findings are analysed from the perspective of decision-making for future interventions. In Ghana, a primary finding was that in urban areas the fortified, but not instant cereal, which was being proposed, would not be an appropriate intervention, given the complex balancing of time, costs and health concerns of caregivers. In both urban and rural South Africa, home fortification products such as micronutrient powders and small quantity, lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) are potentially feasible interventions, and would require thoughtful behaviour change communication programmes to support their adoption. Among the important results for future decision-making for interventions in Afghanistan are the findings that there is little cultural recognition of the concept of special foods for infants, and that within households food procurement for IYC are in the hands of men, whereas food preparation and feeding are women's responsibilities.

Market environment, assortment policy, and performance of small retailers

This study surveys small retail pharmacies to examine the relationship between managers’ perceptions of local market environments, their stated assortment policies, and their reported performance levels for a large product category. Managers report wider assortments when market diversity and market munificence are high. In turn, wider assortments have a positive effect on reported relative category sales and stock. In addition, market uncertainty has a direct negative effect on reported margins. This study controls for both store space as well as the potential direct performance effects of the local market environment faced by small retailers.

Networking and R&D in domestic and FDI plants in Spanish electronics clusters

To fully understand foreign affiliates' behaviour in regional agglomerations (hereafter RAs), we argue it would be useful to analyse the networking patterns of such affiliates in reference to domestic firms within the local market environment. Consequently, we examined 184 electronics plants, both domestic and foreign, in three Spanish RAs. The foreign direct investment (FDI) plants show patterns of cooperation similar to those of clustered domestic plants, involving joint R&D, outsourcing and other types of inter-firm collaboration. FDI plants are, in some respects, less embedded in RAs than are domestic plants. Domestic market-seeking FDIs, probably as a strategy to adapt products to the domestic market, tend to collaborate more with regional partners than do export-seeking FDIs. FDI plants consider within-group subcontracting relationships as more important than do domestic multiplant companies. Nevertheless, the former apparently integrate both intra-firm and inter-firm subcontracting in their strategy. On the other hand, R&D-intensive FDI plants tend to stay away from collaboration with other companies, probably to avoid involuntary spillovers of their knowledge.

Value‐based localization strategies of automobile subsidiaries in Thailand

PurposeTo analyse the scope of localization strategies and corresponding benefits of these strategies to subsidiaries of international companies in the automobile industry in Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have adopted the case research method to investigate localization strategies of subsidiaries of seven companies (Toyota, Hino, Honda, Isuzu, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, and Auto Alliance) as well as 14 of their dealers and suppliers in Thailand. The information was gathered by conducting in‐depth multiple interviews with 120 local and expatriate employees at various levels in the organizations; by referring to annual reports, policy documents and internal reports of these companies; and by observation during plant visits.FindingsContrary to the belief that international companies implement localization strategies to simply match the local market environment, it was found that these companies implement a wide range of localization strategies to achieve multiple benefits. The paper identifies nine areas of localization: localization of strategic decision making; building and exploiting the local knowledge pool; deployment of local human resources; localization of R&D; localization of products; use of local supplier networks; adaptations to manufacturing processes; local deployment of subsidiary profits; and localization of corporate image. These localization strategies are not just based on the principle of “cost‐based localization” but are based on “value‐based localization.” These strategies work in tandem and create value through a system of multiple benefits, such as managements' ability to comprehend and deal with uncertainty in the operating environment; make informed decisions to respond to challenges in developing efficient local assembly and marketing systems; cost reduction; higher degree of commitments by local employees; product customization and acceptance; and greater brand equity and image as a good corporate citizen.Practical implicationsBased on concrete illustrations of seven companies, this study identifies nine distinct areas for planning and implementing localization strategies and their corresponding benefits. The managers of subsidiaries can benefit by focusing their localization efforts in these areas to gain maximum advantage from host country context and then translate these advantages into a competitive international strategy.Originality/valueCEOs of subsidiaries in emerging markets can learn how to build and harness local advantages for global competitiveness by implementing a wide range of localization strategies.

Comparing the Effects of Housing Vouchers and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits on Neighborhood Integration and School Quality

This study compares the effects of housing vouchers and low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) on neighborhood integration and school quality in six metropolitan areas. The study shows that program performance varies according to government policy choices and the local market environment. New York and Boston are the only two areas where vouchers clearly do better than LIHTC, a result of LIHTC's targeting of distressed neighborhoods and the dispersion of vouchers. In Atlanta and Miami, LIHTC's emphasis on new construction has brought more assisted families to middle-income suburban neighborhoods. By contrast, the persistent racial segregation in Cleveland and a regionwide housing shortage in San Jose have diminished the economic and educational prospects for both programs.

Foreign exchange rate exposure and risk premium in international investments: Evidence from American depositary receipts

We examine how exchange rate changes affect the security returns and how economic and translation exposure components of exchange rate risk are priced across countries. Employing ADRs of four countries, we document four main findings. First, exchange rate changes are negatively related to underlying share returns of ADRs, but positively to ADR returns observed in the U.S. markets. Second, ADR returns are more closely related to local market returns than U.S. market returns, indicating that the local market environment plays a bigger role in determining ADR returns. Third, U.S. and local investors require different risk premiums for exchange rate risk present in ADR investments. Fourth, both the source (economic or translation exposure) and magnitude (high or low) of the exchange risk premium vary across countries. We obtain robust empirical findings for both country ADR portfolios and individual ADRs.

Knowledge Creation in Export Trading

In this research, we investigate how knowledge in the export trading industry is created. Prior research focuses on general businesses in local market environment. This research specifically focuses on export trading with overseas market needs. These needs require attention to different types of control and requirements beyond that of a local market. In this paper, Nonaka et al.'s theory of organizational knowledge creation is explored. We specifically examine the processes of knowledge creation through four modes of knowledge conversion. Empirical investigations in export trading organizations are conducted. We examine how export firms obtain new knowledge for innovations based on collective knowledge being used in export trading. The findings indicate that the knowledge management processes in export firms allow for the creation of new knowledge. The collective knowledge (from groups and individuals) forms a basis for innovations and competitive intelligence. This collective knowledge also creates foresight, insight and hindsight in the export trading context.

LOMARK: A Bidding Strategy

Current competitive bidding strategies and their deficiencies are reviewed. A new bidding strategy method (LOMARK) is presented for use by small to medium-sized contractors working in the local market environment. The method estimates an optimal markup by predicting the chances of winning future bids by treating the local market structure as a single system. Some advantages of the LOMARK method are that it: (1) Assumes implicit dependency between bids; (2) expands the data base for beating a given set of major competitors; (3) varies the percentage markup based on the probable known competitors; (4) is easy to understand; (5) does not require operation by digital computer; and (6) assumes a business strategy. Since LOMARK is not a sequential bidding model, it can not be used in deciding which jobs to bid in the future.

The E.P.R.G. Schema and Multinational Management: A Perspective of Employment Practices

In order to develop geocentric orientation, multinationalfirms must develop management and marketing tactics that can effectively deal with local market environments. These firms cannot allow themselves to optimize on an international scale. Local market decisions must be made in light of their effect upon the entire company.