Lose Market Share Research Articles

Sustainable Origin Seal - Increasing the Brazilian Footwear Sector International Competitiveness

The Brazilian footwear sector is facing increasing global competition, having lost market share in the recent years. Considering the competitors positioning regarding quality and price, the sector has to create differentiated value through innovation, and sustainability seems the right path towards this goal. It is vital to push the sector towards more sustainable practices allied with greater quality and lower prices when possible. This paper presents a proposal of a system of sustainability indicators, the “Sustainable Origin Seal” created for adding value and increasing the companies’ competitive advantage in the worldwide market. The proposal presents 52 indicators classified into four dimensions (economic, environmental, social, cultural) and three categories (obligatory, very important, desirable). The Seal comprises five maturity levels. The indicators were defined based on a survey and on the alignment with other international initiatives. In addition, we developed a software for self-diagnose concerning the compliance with the Seal and for supporting the corresponding auditing process. A survey and a case study are presented. The main contributions of this work are the development of a system of indicators that fully meets the needs of the footwear industry in Brazil, besides presenting a method for developing similar systems for other sectors.

A Segmentation of Mall Shopping Motivations in the South African Gauteng Provincial Context

Consumer markets, globally, exhibit increasing diversity. Shopping malls that do not take cognisance of this diversity, along all appropriate dimensions, can lose market share to competitors that do. Despite extensive literature that is based on research done in other countries, absent from the South African literature is a current typology of market segmentation of mall consumers by mall shopping motivations. Using a sample of 224 mall consumers drawn from Gauteng, the economic hub of the country, k-means segmentation was used to test theory that relates different characteristics of consumers and their mall choices. On the basis of this analysis, a typology of shopping mall consumers is developed according to their preferences, or motivations, for mall shopping. Six different segments were found to be associated with different mall shopping preferences and other characteristics. These segments were classified as ‘Low Engagement Shoppers’; ‘Mean Oriented Shoppers’; ‘Brand Oriented Shoppers’; ‘Utilitarian Oriented Shoppers’ and ‘Ascetic Oriented Shoppers’. It is argued that knowledge of such typologies may be important in the South African context due to the increasing societal diversity that malls need to be able to take advantage of in an increasingly competitive environment. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n9p41

Comments: The Embargo at 40

Editor's column Forty years ago, the global oil market faced shortages, price shocks, and unanswered questions about security of supply. The global oil landscape is drastically different today, and many of the changes grew out of the events that occurred 4 decades ago. The most dramatic recent change is the growth in US production, revitalized by shale and tight oil output. The United States has drastically reduced its reliance on imported oil and is predicted to soon be the largest producer in the world, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia. US oil production has grown more than 50% in the past 5 years, and petroleum imports have fallen from a high of 60% in 2005 to 35% today, according to IHS CERA. That 35% figure is the same as in 1973, when the so-called Arab oil embargo jolted the US and other developed countries into realizing the significance of their dependence on oil supplies from the Middle East and the political and economic ramifications of that reliance. In addition to oil, US natural gas production has risen by a third since 2005, and shale gas now accounts for more than 40% of total gas output. Long thought a reliable future customer of natural gas, the US is now retrofitting import terminals into gas export facilities. The 1973 oil embargo—along with consumer governments’ reactive policies such as price controls—helped create gasoline shortages and political panic. It also spawned the encouragement of technological innovation and the opening of new frontiers for oil exploration and production. Developments in the North Sea, Alaska, deepwater US Gulf of Mexico and west Africa, and Canadian oil sands, as well as the growth of other non-OPEC production followed. Since 1973, OPEC production has remained relatively flat at 30 million BOPD, while non-OPEC production has doubled from 27 million BOPD. The crisis also led to increased consumption efficiency and research into alternative forms of energy. After the oil crisis, the leading consuming countries created the International Energy Agency to help guide the need to increase energy security and developed initiatives, such as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to guard against shortages and potential price spikes. While OPEC members and national oil companies (NOCs) have lost market share since that time, they still own the vast majority of the world’s reserves and are much less beholden to private international oil companies (IOCs). NOCs have become much more technically and financially savvy, calling the shots inside their countries and competing head to head outside their countries. NOCs no longer have to rely on large operators to develop their resources. They have the ability to manage projects and apply the latest technology, or can seek help from the large service companies, which are increasingly offering one-stop shop project expertise.

Infosys Limited: is it still the Indian IT bellwether?

Subject area Strategy. Study level/applicability MBA level. The case can be used primarily for the following courses: strategic management, competitive strategy. It can also be used for courses on: international business, international business environment, business marketing. Case overview Intense competition and a turbulent economic environment posed problems for Infosys, a leading information technology (IT) company in India. Infosys lost market share and its second position in the IT industry to Cognizant. An adverse economic environment affected its clients' IT spending and introduced severe price-based competition in the market. Infosys' business model operated on charging price premium from clients, and the company never compromised on its margins. The company was forced to revaluate, as outsourcing, the main revenue earner for Infosys was experiencing commoditization, and other players were willing to compromise on margins. The Indian IT industry had moved up the value chain and competitors were offering consulting services, where there was huge scope for differentiation. Infosys did not have the requisite resources to compete in this domain. Decline in share prices, negative investor sentiments, downward revision of revenue guidance targets, loss of large clients, higher attrition rates, and visa problems in the US market (Infosys earned more than 60 percent revenues from this market) added worries for the company. In response to these challenges, Infosys initiated Strategy 3.0, wherein the company planned to move up the value chain and offer consulting services and other high-end solutions to clients. This was a shift from its predominantly outsourcing-based revenue model. The company acquired Lodestone to hasten implementation of Strategy 3.0. Initial analysis, however, suggested that Infosys was merely aping Cognizant's well-established strategy. Infosys also needed to tackle perceptual issues regarding its competencies. Expected learning outcomes The instructor can use this case to facilitate the understanding of: the impact of an intensely competitive environment on a company's strategy, how changes in the competitive landscape and business environment can erode sources of competitive advantage for an incumbent, the impact of a client's business environment on the vendor's business, the concept of value chain and analyze how companies in an industry move up in the value chain, the concept of business model, and how environmental changes can impact a hitherto robust business model of a company, evolution of business model over a period of time with changes in the business environment, the internal conflict between ideals and values versus revenues and market share for a company, key resources and capabilities that shape the differential advantage for an IT company, designing and implementing strategic solutions, the evolution of the Indian IT industry. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

AN OLD PARTNERSHIP IN A NEW SETTING: ACP–EU RELATIONS FROM A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

AbstractGlobal economic, demographic and geopolitical as well as internal developments since the signature of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement in 2000 have had a profound impact on relations between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group. The paper analyses the process of adaptation in the areas of development cooperation and in the political and security context, reflected in two revisions in 2005 and 2010. It discusses the influence of the Lisbon Treaty on the objective of poverty reduction, and the role of EU values and security concerns. The negotiation of new trading arrangements compatible with the World Trade Organisation triggered a veritable storm in ACP–EU relations. The paper discusses factors, which proved to be major hurdles to the successful and timely conclusion of the Economic Partnership Agreements, as real trade between the two groups saw a reversal of the downward trend and the ACP recovered part of the previously lost market share of ACP goods in total EU imports. The exclusivity of the flagship partnership has started to crumble as the importance of new partners increased both on ACP and EU side. The author maintains that with the Cotonou Partnership Agreement's purpose defined as solely supporting the development of the ACP countries, it is not surprising that it does not count among the strategic partnerships from the EU perspective. Yet, it is too early to predict the future of the ACP–EU relationship beyond 2020, but both the EU and the ACP have an interest in starting off their discussions and negotiations on their future relationship on the right footing. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Deleveraging from Emerging Markets: The Case of Euro-Area Banks

This paper shows stylized facts on the rather large retrenchment of cross-border lending by Euro-area banks into emerging markets. The clearest case is Asia where Euro-area banks have massively lost market share. The reason, however, is not only related to their retrenching but also to the surge in lending from others banks, especially from Emerging Asia. As a second step, we investigate empirically the determinants of cross-border bank flows with a gravity model and differentiate across Euro-area, US and Asian banks. We find a number of home factors behind the retrenchment in lending. Two are common to all home countries analyzed, namely global risk aversion and trade which, respectively, discourage and foster banks’ overseas lending. Other factors, however, are specific of Euro-area banks, such as the higher cost of funding which is found to discourage lending while poor economic growth tends to foster it. The latter result would indicate that economic weakness of the last few years may have actually cushioned Euro-area banks’ deleveraging from emerging markets. All in all, Euroarea banks’ cross border lending appear to be more dependent on their cycle (both in terms of growth and external cost of funding) when compared with US and Asian banks.

What happens to a Radio Station's Share and Cumulative Audience When a New Radio Station Enters the Marketplace?

This paper considers the share order effect on existing radio stations’ market share and cumulative audience when a new radio station enters an existing market. The share order effect model (SOE) predicts that all brands will lose market share to a new entrant, in direct proportion to their size before the new entrant’s launch. The concept of proportional loses is also consistent with the empirical duplication analyses such as Ehrenberg’s (1959) Duplication of Purchase Law, as shown by the Dirichlet model (Goodhardt, Ehrenberg and Chatfield, 1981). However, the SOE model may not hold true in all situations, especially where some products could be considered more similar than others. Such an exception could apply to radio markets where many stations have similar formats, for example, rock, easy listening or classic hits. In New Zealand, commercial radio stations are now primarily owned by two media organisations – Radio Works and The Radio Network. These two organisations control the majority of the country’s 15 commercial networks. While some networks broadcast nationally, on a range of different frequencies, others broadcast in only four or five out of the over 25 marketplaces. However, over the past decade the two media organisations have extended their network coverage into almost all of the regional marketplaces. This paper examines how a newly launched radio station in one New Zealand commercial radio market impacted on the market share and cumulative audience of the existing stations. It tests the hypothesis that all radio stations will lose market share to a new entrant, in direct proportion to their size before the new entrant’s launch. The selected marketplace has a 10+ population of 360,000 with 20 commercial radio stations. The data used in this research comes from the Research International official radio audience surveys which were collected during both 2009 and 2010. The surveys in the marketplace were undertaken during the same time frame each year. The preliminary results support the hypothesis. The correlations between the actual market share and cumulative audience and the predicted market share and cumulative audience were 0.960 and 0.962 respectively, whilst the Mean Absolute Deviations were 3.21 and 4.85 respectively. While the mean absolute deviation (MAD) and the correlation show a good fit, consideration also needs to be given to the average market shares and cumulative audience. The averages were; market share 6.1 and cumulative audience 10.5 - reflecting the intense degree of competition. However, these low average market shares and cumulative audiences mean that the actual sample sizes for each station are also low.While it does not conclusively show that the SOE model holds true in radio markets, this research adds to our body of knowledge. It indicates that while other variables may also affect the overall market share and cumulative audience, a new station entering an existing market will largely draw its audience from the existing stations in proportion to their market share and cumulative audience.

China’s fare share? The growth of Chinese exports in world trade

The growth of Chinese exports in market share over the past two decades is a singular event in the history of world trade. Using data from 1995–2010, we document this growth in a variety of ways. We show that the expanded trade is pervasive. Virtually every country in the world has seen China claim a larger share of its import market. Then, we use Constant Market Share analysis to determine which country or countries have lost market share as China’s trade has grown. Contrary to much discussion in the popular press, we find strong evidence that other developing countries have not seen export shares fall as a result of China’s gains. Rather, our results suggest that China’s share growth has come largely at the expense of exporters based in developed countries, especially Japan and the United States.

Large-Scale Evaluations of Curricular Effectiveness

We use data from one of the few states where information on curriculum adoptions is available—Indiana—to empirically evaluate differences in performance across three elementary-mathematics curricula. The three curricula that we evaluate were popular nationally during the time of our study, and two of the three remain popular today. We find large differences in effectiveness between the curricula, most notably between the two that held the largest market shares in Indiana. Both are best characterized as traditional in pedagogy. We also show that the publisher of the least-effective curriculum did not lose market share in Indiana in the following adoption cycle; one explanation is that educational decision makers lack information about differences in curricular effectiveness.

Shortening Requirements Engineering: Dual Imperative Action Research Study

A computer parts company was losing market share because the systems development life cycle (SDLC) took too long. We reduce the requirements engineering (RE) phase of the SDLC while maintaining current levels of product quality and increasing the company competitiveness by reducing the product time-to-market. Action research, a practical and widely used method of inquiry, was used to solve the problem. There are five types of action research (canonical, dialogical, collaborative, dual imperative, and participatory), but dual imperative action research seemed most appropriate for our study. The problem solving approach used in the study combined joint application design (JAD), unified modeling language (UML), group decision support systems (GDSS), and computer aided software engineering (CASE). We successfully reduced the SDLC time from fourteen to four days, a productivity increase of 250%.

Is Delaware Losing its Cases?

Delaware's expert courts are seen as an integral part of the state's success in attracting incorporation by public companies. However, the benefit that Delaware companies derive from this expertise depends on whether corporate lawsuits against Delaware companies are brought before the Delaware courts. We report evidence that these suits are increasingly brought outside Delaware. We investigate changes in where suits are brought using four hand‐collected data sets capturing different types of suits: class action lawsuits filed in (1) large M&A and (2) leveraged buyout transactions over 1994–2010; (3) derivative suits alleging option backdating; and (4) cases against public company directors that generate one or more publicly available opinions between 1995 and 2009. We find a secular increase in litigation rates for all companies in large M&A transactions and for Delaware companies in LBO transactions. We also see trends toward (1) suits being filed outside Delaware in both large M&A and LBO transactions and in cases generating opinions; and (2) suits being filed both in Delaware and elsewhere in large M&A transactions. Overall, Delaware courts are losing market share in lawsuits, and Delaware companies are gaining lawsuits, often filed elsewhere. We find some evidence that the timing of specific Delaware court decisions that affect plaintiffs' firms coincides with the movement of cases out of Delaware. Our evidence suggests that serious as well as nuisance cases are leaving Delaware. The trends we report potentially present a challenge to Delaware's competitiveness in the market for incorporations.

Getting mobile right: start with who and why, not what and how

Mobile dominance is imminent. Getting mobile wrong means losing market share to disruptors; getting it right gives us an opportunity to rebuild relationships with our audience. It is the audience, therefore, that should direct mobile strategy. This means starting by researching the workflows and challenges of different segments, to understand how to add value (not just bells-and-whistles). We must prioritize mobile in our product development and innovation, freeing it from the ‘print + online’ paradigm so that it can fulfil different kinds of information needs and objectives. This article advocates a back-to-basics approach that puts audiences (not content, and not technology) at the centre of mobile strategy, and explores market segmentation and research, innovation, business models, development choices, and the wider organizational implications of getting mobile right.

Corporate Political Activity as Competitive Action

This research seeks to understand the relationship between a firm’s market and nonmarket strategy by examining whether firms respond to performance shortfalls in the market environment by engaging in greater levels of corporate political action in the nonmarket environment. Building on arguments from Austrian economics, we argue that corporate political activity represents a competitive action available to firms seeking to gain competitive advantage. Our findings suggest that firms are more likely to engage in nonmarket strategic behaviors when they experience market share erosion. That is, we find that firms are likely to engage in greater levels of federal lobbying and are more likely to promote internal lobbyists to levels of greater authority in years in which they lose market share. These findings, based on 27 years of data from large U.S. firms, contribute to research on corporate political activity and competitive dynamics.

Slow food versus fast food: A Zimbabwean case study of hotelier perspectives

Prior to the last three years, hotels dominated the tourist food market in the resort town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. However, in recent years, fast food restaurants have begun penetrating the resort. Facing the threat of losing market share, hoteliers have been panicking and hotels are waging a war against the new entrants. Victoria Falls has thus become, to a significant extent, a ‘slow food versus fast food’ battleground. This study adopts hermeneutic phenomenology to investigate how this plays out from the viewpoints of the decision makers in this battle, namely, hotel food and beverage managers. The underlying objective is to explore how the contemporary slow food–fast food contention is enacted in an African case study context.

A survey on measuring the effect of website on customer satisfaction

Article history: Received December 25, 2011 Received in Revised form March, 25, 2012 Accepted 24 April 2012 Available online April 28 2012 During the past few years, there has an increasing trend on using internet facilities to do different personal banking. People transfer money, pay their bills and even purchase shares of different companies using internet. There is also an increasing competition among banks and other financial institutions through providing new web based facilities. There is no doubt that a bank with no online banking can easily lose market share. The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate how a bank website can impact customer loyalty. The proposed study is implemented for one of governmental Iranian banks called Bank of Industry and Mine. The study distributes a questionnaire among 330 people who use the internet banking of this bank. We then analyze their feedback using structural equation system and all the hypothesis are confirmed. © 2012 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Who Collects Professional Fees for Neuroradiology Interpretation, Radiologists or Nonradiologists?

An increasing portion of imaging studies are performed by nonradiologists, especially for modalities with the highest relative value units. The aim of this study was to examine the trends in neuroradiologic interpretation among radiologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and other specialists within the Medicare population. The number of neuroradiologic studies interpreted by radiologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and other specialists in the inpatient, hospital outpatient, and private office settings was determined from the CMS Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary Master Files for 1996 to 2010. Studies billed through professional and global charges were aggregated. Utilization rates and utilization rate compound annual growth rates were computed by specialty and by imaging study. In 1996, radiologists interpreted 4,802,490 (93.7%) CMS neuroradiologic procedures, neurologists 77,312 (1.5%), neurosurgeons 9,825 (0.19%), and other specialists 234,423 (4.6%). In 2010, radiologists interpreted 11,476,376 (93.5%) procedures, neurologists 101,172 (0.8%), neurosurgeons 20,697 (0.17%), and other specialists 680,786 (5.5%). Neurology and neurosurgery lost market share at all sites. Radiology's share increased in the inpatient (from 94.8% to 98.7%) and hospital outpatient (from 95% to 98.7%) settings but decreased in the private office setting (from 88.2% to 73.1%). Lost market share was captured by the other CMS specialty categories, including independent diagnostic testing facilities and multidisciplinary groups, many of which included radiologists. There was marked growth (140%) in neuroradiologic studies between 1996 and 2010 in the Medicare patient population. Radiologists' share of the total neuroradiologic interpretations remained unchanged and constituted 93.5% in 2010. Radiology's market share has shown growth in the inpatient and hospital outpatient sectors but not the private office sector, where independent diagnostic testing facilities, multidisciplinary groups, and other specialists have seen increases.

The death of personal service: why retailers make consumers responsible for their own customer experience

This article examines the tension between efficiency and customer experience management in retailing. It concludes that one way forward is to give customers the tools to manage their own experience. To put it another way, in these industries, it is up to the customer to manage their own experience. In some industries, such as complex financial services, regulatory barriers prevent self-service, on the grounds that advisors know better than consumers what the latter need. However, these barriers will eventually collapse as consumers use improved information technology, including advising each other via social media, to identify products that they want, at the right price. Where customer service is concerned, suppliers will increase their focus on efficiency and margin, and seek the win-win of self-fulfilled customer experience with minimised human intervention from staff. Consumers will be provided with ever more sophisticated information and communications technology, particularly but not solely by suppliers who use a multi-channel approach. Younger consumers’ strong preferences for buying in their own way will eventually pervade most markets. Suppliers who fail to come to terms with this will lose market share to those who lead in applying information and communications technology to support self-service. Eventually, the self-fulfilled experience will be the norm, except in most difficult and risky purchases. Even here the role of human intervention will be minimised. Consumers will increasingly use their own technology, especially smart-phones, to identify the best offers, make comparisons between products and services, and receive offers from national and local suppliers. For more complex products and services or buying situations, expert third party diagnosis of customer needs will be replaced by self-diagnosis.

South Korea: ‘KT&G Sangsang Univ.’ employs education for marketing

Ever since Korea opened its market to the transnational tobacco companies in 1988, KT&G (Korea Tomorrow & Global), the now-privatised state tobacco monopoly, has steadily lost market share. Using aggressive...

Governance Heterogeneity and Performance at US Stock Exchanges: Evidence from Regulation NMS

Regulation NMS, announced in June 2005 by the SEC, was intended to generate competition with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The NYSE had for many decades maintained a near monopoly on the trading of securities initially listed on the exchange. Reg. NMS allowed trades on electronic communications networks (ECNs) without considering prices on the NYSE trading floor. With Reg. NMS in place, the NYSE immediately began losing market share and average bid-ask spreads for NYSE-listed shares increased, sometimes getting significantly closer to the average spreads for shares listed on the traditionally more volatile Nasdaq. What explains this outcome? The conventional wisdom predicts that consumers (here, investors) would benefit as the profits of a monopoly producer (here, dealers executing trades) declined, but evidence of wider spreads suggests the opposite. The literature relies on a standard model of a member-governed non-profit in which broker-dealers own the exchange. But that standard model fails to capture the actual heterogeneity in governance structure: the Nasdaq fits this model, but the NYSE does not. Thus, we consider an alternative to the standard model in which underwriters are owners, for which there is anecdotal evidence. However, a statistical test is possible because of the starkly different objective function that underwriters would have as compared with dealers; for underwriters, efficient trading is an input to their production function where for dealers, trading is the primary source of profits. Using panel data of Corwin-Schultz bid-ask spreads, we measure differences in market quality between the NYSE and Nasdaq, which the new regulation allows because NYSE-listed shares trade on multiple new venues after Reg. NMS but Nasdaq-listed shares do not trade on the NYSE. A difference-in-differences test finds that spreads for NYSE-listed shares increased after Reg. NMS issue to resemble more closely spreads for Nasdaq-listed shares.

Why are firms unlevered?

In this paper, we examine why firms have no debt in their capital structure. We reject the hypothesis that zero-leverage policies are driven by entrenched managers attempting to avoid the disciplinary pressures of debt. These firms do not have weaker internal or external governance mechanisms. The debt initiation decisions of these firms are not preceded by shocks to their entrenchment, such as takeover threats or the emergence of activist blockholders. Our evidence supports the hypothesis that these firms are financially constrained. Zero-debt firms are small, young, conserve cash from cash-flow, and are more likely to lease their assets. When they have access to a line of credit, they face stricter covenants and higher all-in costs than comparable control firms. They lose market share in economic downturns, consistent with the financial constraints explanation, but inconsistent with theories of predation which suggest that they may be voluntarily stockpiling debt capacity.