Sales Reports Research Articles

Revisiting internal market orientation: a note

Purpose – This paper seeks to further the understanding of the domain of the IMO construct in a developing country, as suggested by Lings and Greenley. It seeks to build on their proposed construct and provide empirical evidence of its impact in the context of the Indian banking industry. Design/methodology/approach – The behavioral dimensions of the construct are confirmed in a manner consistent with established market orientation (external) construct. The paper validates scale pertaining to the wants and needs of bank employees for effective intelligence generation and dissemination as well as for effective response implementation. Findings – The authors find a positive significant relationship between internal market orientation and staff attitude and perceived customer satisfaction. Further, the impact of staff attitude on employee job satisfaction is also significant. Research limitations/implications – Internal market orientation, with the passage of time, may not be as prevalent and exhaustive as it is now because the nature of the marketing environment is extremely dynamic. So, there is a need to make changes as time evolves so that this scale remains focused with a high level of reliability and validity. Practical implications – To generate internal market intelligence, bank management should not only rely on internal customer surveys, but also the intelligence obtained through a variety of formal and informal means, such as meetings and discussion with internal customers; analysis of sales reports and worldwide customer databases; and formal market research, such as employees ' attitude surveys and sales response in a test market. Originality/value – The present research would be of value to managers across the world for identifying key requirements of internal customers, which need to be evaluated consistently from time to time, for different strategic actions.

Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War by Christian McWhirter (review)

Reviewed by: Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War by Christian McWhirter Elizabeth Whittenburg Ozment (bio) Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War. By Christian McWhirter. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Pp. 336. Cloth, $39.95.) Civil War music scholars often describe a need to rescue war-era music from obscurity. Christian McWhirter continues this tradition in Battle Hymns by calling for dialogue between historians and musicologists to improve the documentation of nineteenth-century American music. McWhirter describes his primary goal as constructing a social history of Civil War–era music. Two theories in his introduction frame his approach. First, popularity correlates to historical significance. Second, published period documentation best demonstrates music’s resonance with audiences. McWhirter makes bold claims about the power and prevalence of music, which unlike other nineteenth-century media is described as a universal language that was performed and consumed by Americans of all classes. Evidence from newspapers, diaries, letters, and sheet music leads McWhirter to conclude that music surpassed other forms of written and [End Page 434] oral communication in shaping American perceptions about the war. The author does not consider music’s social power unique to this period, but stresses that the mid-nineteenth century was America’s most musical era, and the Civil War was America’s first musical war. Battle Hymns’s thorough bibliography blends historical and musicological sources. McWhirter constructs a detailed narrative about increased music consumerism while skillfully supporting his claims with references to newspapers, manuscripts, and sheet music. According to McWhirter, Civil War music was a memorable and accessible media form and a cultural tool that disseminated political ideas during a time when Americans preferred music to speeches or newspapers. Civil War Americans needed to process war-spawned social disorder, and songs such as “The Bonnie Blue Flag” shaped regional responses to the war. Music functioned differently in civilian and military spheres, but white anxieties about racial difference were expressed through a shared enthusiasm for the music of blackface minstrels. After the war, commemorative songs reflected psychological needs to justify the war. As time passed, Americans refashioned songs to align with war memories. A great achievement of Battle Hymns is its synthesis of data from previous studies. The book is dense yet easily accessible to a wide audience, and in the midst of the sesquicentennial it should attract considerable attention. Although McWhirter documents a substantive Civil War song history, the book leaves some questions unanswered. Somewhat surprising is the author’s heavy reliance on centennial-era sources, which may have led him to characterize popular music as simple, homogenous, and universally intelligible. For instance, McWhirter frequently cites Willard A. Heaps and Porter W. Heaps’s The Singing Sixties (1960) as the best Civil War music source, even though his bibliography attests to the depth and breadth of more recent research (Eric Lott, Eileen Southern, Nicholas Tawa, Richard Crawford, Mark Smith, Steven Cornelius). McWhirter might have critiqued the cultural conditions from which centennial-era research emerged or balanced those references with more contemporary scholarship. McWhirter’s decision to rely on published, commercially available compositions with lyrics that were consumed by white audiences allows him to claim that music steered Civil War discourse, but the argument relies on a narrow definition of what counts as “music.” Specialists will quibble, too, with the author’s blurring “genre” with “theme” when he claims that the most popular music genres were “patriotic” and “sentimental”; both terms describe subcategories of American popular song. The terms “music” and “song” are used interchangeably, too, which unfortunately led McWhirter [End Page 435] to exclude other music forms, music produced and performed by ethnic and racial minorities, and music with nontextual characteristics. This exclusion is reinforced by McWhirter’s decision to measure the popularity of period songs by comparing sales reports to repeated mention of song titles in newspapers and other texts. These choices may have resulted in an oversimplification of national aesthetics. In his last three chapters, McWhirter relies on more recent scholarship, and the results are more critical and gripping. In chapter 8, “Veterans, Memorialists, and the King: The Revival and Legacy of Civil...

Sistem Informasi Pembelian, Persediaan, dan Penjualan untuk Apotek

This study aims to create a system that can simplify common operational activities of pharmacy such as purchasing, inventory, and sales. The system is expected to improve manual processes of purchasing, inventory, and sales into a computerized ones. In addition, this system also provides convenience, accuracy, and speed for owner or management to access reports of purchase, inventory, and sales in real-time. The research methods used are literature studies, field studies, and the methods of analysis and design of object-oriented information system design language UML (Unified Modeling Language). Tthe result of this research is an information system of purchasing, inventory, and sales of medicines that may help pharmacies to get information quickly and accurately, and to help pharmacy operations to run more effectively and efficiently.

Junk Food in Schools and Childhood Obesity.

Despite limited empirical evidence, there is growing concern that junk food availability in schools has contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic. In this paper, we estimate the effects of junk food availability on BMI, obesity, and related outcomes among a national sample of fifth-graders. Unlike previous studies, we address the endogeneity of the school food environment by controlling for children's BMI at school entry and estimating instrumental variables regressions that leverage variation in the school's grade span. Our main finding is that junk food availability does not significantly increase BMI or obesity among this fifth grade cohort despite the increased likelihood of in-school junk food purchases. The results are robust to alternate measures of junk food availability including school administrator reports of sales during school hours, school administrator reports of competitive food outlets, and children's reports of junk food availability. Moreover, the absence of any effects on overall food consumption and physical activity further support the null findings for BMI and obesity.

Big Red, Ltd.

This case addresses two frequently heard questions in real-world business settings: Why are sales going down? and What decisions must we make to reverse the sales decline? These questions were directed to Dr. Felix Wilder, a professor of Marketing, by the senior management of Big Red, Ltd., headquartered in Waco, Texas, after sales reports indicated a significant decline in year-over-year sales in the Louisville, Kentucky, market region. This region represented one of Big Reds most important market areas for soft drinks outside of its home base in Texas. Members of Big Reds senior management team were unable to identify the specific factors that had contributed to the sales decline. As a result, they commissioned Dr. Wilder to conduct an extensive marketing research project to determine the factors contributing to the erosion in sales. Dr. Wilder proposed a multifaceted exploratory research project that involved an extensive review of industry and trade literature, in-depth interviews with grocery store and super center store managers, an in-store consumer survey of Big Red customers, and a consumer focus group. The research design focused on the marketing mix variables, environmental factors, the target market, and changing consumer purchase behavior and lifestyle issues as possible sources contributing to the sales erosion. The results of Dr. Wilders investigation conflicted with Big Red managements preliminary hypotheses and revealed unexpected factors that may have contributed to the downward drift in sales. Based on the research, Dr. Wilder presented management with various alternative courses of action to correct the sales decline.

EUROPE’S INDUSTRY GATHERS STRENGTH

FIRST-HALF SALES and earnings reports from leading European chemical companies held some negative signs but generally revealed an industry that is successfully combating economic headwinds. First-quarter results for European chemical producers seemed to point to an industry ready to turn down. By the end of the second quarter, however, the picture had improved. European companies are following the lead of their U.S. competitors, which also performed well in the second quarter, with the notable exception of U.S. leader Dow Chemical (C&EN, July 28, page 15). In fact, going into the second half, BASF Chairman Jurgen Hambrecht said demand for his company’s products “remains strong, and the summer lull does not seem to be very pronounced.” Moreover, companies seem to be finding success in passing along their rising raw material costs to customers—and improving profitability in the process. This success is apparent in first-half profit margins, which improved from the first half of 2007 for ...

Untruthful probabilistic demand forecasts in vendor‐managed revenue‐sharing contracts: Coordinating the chain

AbstractVendor‐managed revenue‐sharing arrangements are common in the newspaper and other industries. Under such arrangements, the supplier decides on the level of inventory while the retailer effectively operates under consignment, sharing the sales revenue with his supplier. We consider the case where the supplier is unable to predict demand, and must base her decisions on the retailer‐supplied probabilistic forecast for demand. We show that the retailer's best choice of a distribution to report to his supplier will not be the true demand distribution, but instead will be a degenerate distribution that surprisingly induces the supplier to provide the system‐optimal inventory quantity. (To maintain credibility, the retailer's reports of daily sales must then be consistent with his supplied forecast.) This result is robust under nonlinear production costs and nonlinear revenue‐sharing. However, if the retailer does not know the supplier's production cost, the forecast “improves” and could even be truthful. That, however, causes the supplier's order quantity to be suboptimal for the overall system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2007

Decide monitoring strategies before setting targes

Results-oriented approaches not only make good sense for organizations pursuing accountability; such approaches are essential. Yet results-oriented approaches raise problems for the global health community for a number of reasons. First, a commitment to results may be less binding than a commitment to actions, because the latter requires those making the commitment to take action whether or not the results are achieved.1 Second, countries that commit to results-based approaches may have limited knowledge of the actions that are needed to achieve the results. Third, if results are not achieved, managers in the public sector or in international agencies are rarely held accountable, unlike managers in the private sector. Although these are not new observations, during the past decade greater emphasis has been placed on quantifiable targets. This has led to a proliferation of indicators and other ways of measuring of whether or not targets are reached. Consumers would not trust companies whose sales reports are based on managers’ opinions, or on sales of other products. Such reports should be based on sales data of the product in question, and on whether these increase or decrease over a given period of time. In other words, results-based commitments require a relevant baseline indicator and should directly measure subsequent changes in this. However, quantifiable targets are not necessarily easily measurable on a regular basis. Data availability is the key in monitoring progress towards targets such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This fact is overlooked by many statistics users because the numbers continue to be published annually and the users assume they represent meaningful data. The MDG indicators show this is not always the case. There is a stark contrast between the data available on under-five mortality, the indicator for MDG 4, and maternal mortality ratios, against which MDG 5 is monitored. Under-five mortality rates are derived from civil registration systems, censuses and household surveys. In most countries, there are data points available over time, and these are analysed to obtain the best current estimate. Measuring maternal mortality ratios has been a greater challenge because, compared with deaths among children, maternal deaths are rare events. In countries without a complete civil registration system and medical certification, large-scale household surveys or censuses using verbal autopsy techniques provide estimates of the ratio, since facility-based statistics are inherently biased. Even then, much uncertainty remains. As a consequence, the global maternal mortality ratio estimate is published only every five years, and in 2000, 40% of countries’ estimates were based on figures predicted by regression.2 Thus reliable assessment of maternal mortality trends is limited. For monitoring, it is important to distinguish between corrected and predicted statistics.3 Corrected statistics use adjustments made for known biases. Predicted statistics use a set of assumptions about the association between other factors and the quantity of interest, such as maternal mortality, to fill gaps in the data over time or space (from one population with data to another with limited or no data). Predicted statistics are useful for planning, decision-making, advocacy for funds and research and development investments when corrected statistics are not available. But they are not suitable for monitoring progress on what works and what does not.3 Unfortunately, the MDG monitoring process relies heavily on predicted statistics. The same applies to monitoring progress in major disease interventions. For example, the assessment of a recent change in measles mortality from vaccination is mostly based on statistics predicted from a set of covariates such as the number of live births, vaccine coverage, vaccine effectiveness and case-fatality ratios.4 It is understandable that estimating causes of death over time is a difficult task. However, that is no reason for us to avoid measuring it when we can also measure the quantity of interest directly;5 otherwise the global health community would continue to monitor progress on a spreadsheet with limited empirical basis. This is simply not acceptable. This mismatch was created partly by the demand for more timely statistics (i.e. on an annual basis) from their users and partly by a lack of data and effective measurement strategies among statistics producers. Users must be realistic, as annual data on representative cause-specific mortality are difficult to obtain without complete civil registration or sample registration systems. If such data are needed, the global health community must seek indicators that are valid, reliable and comparable, and must invest in data collection (e.g. adjusting facility-based data by using other representative data sources). Regardless of new disease-specific initiatives or the broader WHO Strategic Objectives, the key is to focus on a small set of relevant indicators for which well-defined strategies for monitoring progress are available. Only by doing so will the global health community be able to show what works and what fails. ■

Negotiating "Tax Peace": Best Practices in Tribal Fuel Taxation Agreements

Tribal fuel sales to tribal members are exempt from state fuel taxes under the current interpretation of federal law; the exemption can make it difficult for states to track tribal fuel sales because they typically track fuel upon taxation. FHWA has an interest because state fuel sales reports serve as a baseline for federal apportionments, and incomplete reporting could introduce bias. In addition to reporting concerns, states are under public pressure to ensure that tribal fuel retailers do not gain competitive advantage by selling fuel without the tax applied. Tribes, for their part, carefully guard their sovereignty on this issue, although many tribes still lack statutes governing tribal fuel taxation. This study investigated agreements on reporting and taxation between states and tribes, including recent legal cases, and developed a typology of agreement types. Researchers obtained input from tribal and state representatives in 12 states, most of whom reported resolution of fuel tax issues through on...

Negotiating “Tax Peace”

Tribal fuel sales to tribal members are exempt from state fuel taxes under the current interpretation of federal law; the exemption can make it difficult for states to track tribal fuel sales because they typically track fuel upon taxation. FHWA has an interest because state fuel sales reports serve as a baseline for federal apportionments, and incomplete reporting could introduce bias. In addition to reporting concerns, states are under public pressure to ensure that tribal fuel retailers do not gain competitive advantage by selling fuel without the tax applied. Tribes, for their part, carefully guard their sovereignty on this issue, although many tribes still lack statutes governing tribal fuel taxation. This study investigated agreements on reporting and taxation between states and tribes, including recent legal cases, and developed a typology of agreement types. Researchers obtained input from tribal and state representatives in 12 states, most of whom reported resolution of fuel tax issues through one of three types of agreements. Under the most common type of agreement, tribes purchase fuel within the state's taxation system and receive refunds of the estimated revenue from tribal member purchases. Under the second most common type of agreement, tribes assess a fuel tax directly on distributors and report sales to the state. In general, tribes and states were positive about the agreements, saying they had contributed to increased cooperation between states and tribes, supported economic development on tribal lands by providing a revenue source for tribes, and created an equal taxation environment for the state.

Substantiation of a lower estimate for the bunker inventory: Comment on “Updated emissions from ocean shipping” by James J. Corbett and Horst W. Koehler

Substantiation of a lower estimate for the bunker inventory: Comment on “Updated emissions from ocean shipping” by James J. Corbett and Horst W. Koehler

GOAL SETTING AS A MOTIVATOR OF UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR.

We explored the role of goal setting in motivating unethical behavior in a laboratory experiment. We found that people with unmet goals were more likely to engage in unethical behavior than people attempting to do their best. This relationship held for goals both with and without economic incentives. We also found that the relationship between goal setting and unethical behavior was particularly strong when people fell just short of reaching their goals. A substantial literature has documented the benefits of setting goals. In general, people exert more effort and work more persistently to attain difficult goals than they do when they attempt to attain less difficult goals or to “do their best” (Locke & Latham, 1990). This relationship is so strong that goal setting has become an important part of motivation theory and management education (Ambrose & Kulik, 1999). In fact, Locke and Latham (1990) contended that goal setting might be the most effective managerial tool available. In several organizational settings, however, the use of goal setting has been associated with “cooked books” and false sales reports (e.g., Degeorge, Patel, & Zeckhauser, 1999; Jensen, 2001). In this work, we identify an important, unintended consequence of setting goals. Our results demonstrate that, in addition to motivating constructive effort, goal setting motivates unethical behavior when people fall short of their goals. We argue that while goal setting can be used constructively, it must also be used cautiously.

Television Tipovers as a Significant Source of Pediatric Head Injury

Objective: To highlight the rising number and nature of pediatric head injuries secondary to falling television sets and correlate this with the increasing number of home TVs sold per year. Methods: National statistics for the past 10 years for the number of head traumas from falling television sets in children less than the age of 18 were obtained from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Statistics for the number of TV sales were obtained from the Consumer Electronic US Sales Report for the same time period. A retrospective chart review overlapping the same period of time was performed at our local institution. Results: National statistics show a steady rise in the number of pediatric head injuries, from 31 in 1992 to 117 in 2001. The number of TVs sold by year increased from 20,384,000 to 23,776,000 in a 10-year period from 1990 to 2000. Six of the 7 patients in our series (average age 22 months, range 18–36 months) suffered a skull fracture; 2 of those 6 were basilar skull fractures. The average length of hospital stay was 5 days (range 1–13 days). Conclusion: The number of pediatric head injuries from falling televisions has been steadily increasing. A similar, yet more modest rise in the number of televisions manufactured and sold per year has also been noted. From our series, the most common type of pediatric head injury sustained from falling television sets was skull fracture, seen mostly in children less than 2 years of age.

A consignment system where suppliers cannot verify retailer's sales reports

Newspapers are often sold through stores via consignment arrangements, which involve vendor (publisher) managed inventory and revenue sharing. Since retailers are not required to actually return unsold copies, it is said that some of them occasionally under-report sales. That hurts the publisher on the short run and could also interfere with his rational stocking decisions as these are based, to some extent, on previous sales reports. We construct a discounted dynamic framework for the retailer's optimal reporting as a function of the publisher's delivery–response function to these reports, and a similar average-cost model. It turns out the optimal report does not depend on actual sales. We then show that the publisher's resulting delivery response function is the same as it would be in an integrated system. Thus the retailer's untruthful behavior actually causes the system to behave optimally. Had the retailer been verifiably truthful, the system would not be coordinated.

Impact of increased syringe access: preliminary findings on injection drug user syringe source, disposal, and pharmacy sales in Harlem, New York.

To evaluate the New York State Expanded Syringe Access Demonstration Program (ESAP) through injection drug user (IDU) surveys, discarded needles and syringes studies, and pharmacy sales and experiences surveys. Pre-post comparison. In Harlem, New York City, risk surveys among street-recruited IDUs, needle/syringe street counts on 27 systematically sampled city blocks, and Harlem pharmacist reports of sales and experiences. Number and types of IDU syringe sources, block mean counts of discarded needles and syringes, level of pharmacy nonprescription syringe sales (NPSS), and pharmacists' experiences. Comparing 209 pre-ESAP with 396 post-ESAP IDUs, pharmacies as a primary syringe source increased: 3.4% to 5.3% (P < .001, and ever pharmacy use increased: 4.9% to 12.5% (P < .001), respectively. Compared with pre-ESAP IDUs, post-ESAP IDUs tended to be younger and more often black. Harlem pharmacy participation in ESAP increased considerably from March 1, 2001, to March 1, 2002, 49% to 79%, respectively. Among three Harlem pharmacies, there was a modest increase in NPSS; pharmacists reported no problems, and no discarded needles and syringes were observed in pharmacy areas. In the three pharmacies, the proportion of syringe sales that were NPSS was 46% (110 to 240 NPSS/month), 3% (25 to 90 NPSS/month), and 0%. The mean ratios of needles/syringes to background trash have not increased in Harlem since ESAP began. To date, no evidence of harmful effects discarded needles/syringes, pharmacy altercations) resulting from ESAP were observed. While NPSS have increased in Harlem, pharmacy use among IDUs remains low. In Harlem, efforts are underway to increase ESAP awareness and reduce socioenvironmental barriers to ESAP.

Business plans to game plans: a practical system for turning strategies into action

PART I. CREATE YOUR VISION. 1. Moving From Vision to Action. Inventing Your Company. Living the Vision. An Ongoing Process. Tools for Moving from Vision to Action. Creating Your Vision. Crafting a Mission Statement. Analyzing Your Strengths, Weaknesses. Opportunities, and Threats. Defining Corporate Goals. Action Plans: Turning Vision into Action. Visually Representing Your Plans. PART II. SET HIGH STANDARDS. 2. Creating a Budget Everyone Can Use and Understand. The Budget Sets Priorities. Know When to Stop. Plan for Debt. Follow the Money. Control Expenses. Plan for Cash. Budget for the Big Items. Plan for Profits. Set Financial Controls. Revenue Forecasts. Profits Determine Survival. Tools for Creating a Budget Everyone Can Use. Revenue Budget. Average Selling Price Per Product. Unit Sales by Product. Dollar Sales Projections by Product. Dollar Sales Projections by Month. Expense Budgeting. The Budget Notebook. Payroll Projections. Income Statement Projections. Break-Even Analysis. 3. Understanding the Numbers. Flying Blind. Traditional Financial Statements. Cash Flow is Critical. Following what matters. Sharing Financial Information with Employees. Tools for Understanding the Numbers. Year-at-a-Glance Income Statement. Year-at-a-Glance Balance Sheet. Year-at-a-Glance Financial Analysis. Budget Variance Report. Same Month Last Year Variance Report. Analysis of Cash Position. Key Financial Indicators. Financial Report to Employees. PART III. BUILD LONG-TERM GROWTH. 4. Mastering the Art of the Sale. Sales and Profitability. Customer Focus. Who Are Your Customers? Quality Sales. The Right Person for the Job. Customer Service Professionals. Sales Management. Communicating Sales Data to Employees. Tools for Mastering the Art of the Sale. Dollar Sales Month-to-Month. Product Sales by Customer. Top-Selling Products. Sales by Salesperson. Customer Service Key Indicators. Customer Service Survey. Sales Report to Employees. 5. Achieving Quality and Quantity. Setting the Right Standards. Adding New Value. What Your Inventory Tells You. Supplier Concerns. Tools for Achieving Quality and Quantity. Unit Output by Product. Units Shipped. Average Days to Ship. Returns Analysis. Backlog of Orders. Inventory Control Report. Business Partner (Supplier) Survey. 6. Growing Profitably with Marketing and Product Development. Research Your Market. Customer Marketing Data. Marketing Activities. Product Development. Sources of Innovation. Assessing Costs and Risks. Minimizing Risk. Marketing Goals. Tools for Marketing and Product Development. Assessment of Competition. Product Sales by marketing Method. Product Development Checklist. PART IV. LEAD WITH COURAGE. 7. Driving Employees to Peak Performance. Set the Standards for Your Employees. Invest in People. Effective Communication. Compensate Fairly and Well. Make Time to Manage. Human Resource Administration. Avoiding Lawsuits. Tools for Managing and Motivating Employees. Performance Reviews. Team Feedback. Management Skills Feedback. Employee Ranking System. Human Resource Key Indicators. 8. Leading Your Business for maximum Results. Personal Characteristics of CEOs. Facing the Toughest Questions. Look to the Long Term-the Very Long Term. Finding the Important Details and Focus on Them. Leading during Time of Growth. Managing Slumps. You Can't Do it Alone. Getting Outside Help. Hiring Quality Consulting Help. Boards of Directors and Advisors. Starting Over: The Annual Game-Planning Process. Tools for Leading Your Business. Employee Opinion Survey. Company Performance Review. Appendix One. The 50 Critical Management Questions to Running a Successful Business. Appendix Two. Top 50 Practical Business Books. Index.

A Procedure for Modelling Gas Gathering Systems

Abstract It is not uncommon to hear gas producers complain that the success they had finding gas with the drill bit never seems to be fully translated to sales. Often they will use historical references such as, "sales volumes are expected to increase by only 70﹪, 50﹪, or even 20﹪ of the total gas volume added by new wells into the gathering system." In severe cases, new high pressure wells can cause older wells, especially those with liquid production problems, to shutdown. Operators quickly learn to avoid this situation by choking the new wells. In many situations, this is the best they can do, but it raises a big flag for anyone monitoring daily field logs. Inevitably, the question is asked, "Why are these wells choked?" Unfortunately, the operator can only say thatthis is what he has to do to avoid killing other wells, whereas, thosemonitoring the field's production cannot reconcile why all the new gas added to the system doesn't show up in the sales reports. This is a classic case of the confusion that often exists between office and field personnel. It is also a case that could be simulated using a gas gathering system model. A model could be used to demonstrate why new wells may need to be choked but more importantly, it can be used to test ideas for optimizing system production rates. FIGURE 1: Back pressure plot. Available in Full Paper. A gas gathering system model can be an important tool for testing the impact of various ideas proposed for optimizing a gathering system. The relationship, as shown, between deliverability (lower pressure to increase production) and the gathering system (increase pressure to increase capacity) is non-linear and opposing. This relationship can lead to the counter-intuitive situation where additional compression is installed to lower well back-pressures with the expectation of increased production, but the lower pipeline operating pressures reduce pipeline capacity and so the well back-pressures are only reduced minimally or worse, increased! Modelling offers the opportunity to test many ideas, virtually, before making expensive capital expenditures to lay pipeline or install compression that may not increase gas volumes appreciably. Consequently, proposals can be put to the test and can be quantified in terms of incremental gas rates and incremental recovery of reserves. When attempting to build a model to replicate an existing gathering system's behaviour, it is extremely important to first "tune" the model. Tuning requires that, at a minimum, a systematic approach be used to match pipeline pressure losses, each well's deliverability relationship and each compressor's capacity relationship to current operating conditions. The five most common mistakes made after building a model arenot tune the model,assume all the data is representative of true conditions,assume that all pressure losses are frictional pipeline losses,not confirm that well deliverability relationships match current operating conditions, anduse compressor design curves without confirming their validity with current operating conditions.

Impact of Increased Legal Access to Needles and Syringes on Community Pharmacies?? Needle and Syringe Sales???Connecticut, 1992???1993

In May 1992, the Connecticut legislature passed new laws aimed at increasing injecting drug users' (IDUs) access to sterile needles and syringes (syringes); as of July 1992, pharmacists were permitted to sell and individuals were permitted to possess up to 10 syringes without medical prescriptions (nonprescription syringes). We evaluated the impact of the new laws by conducting (1) prospective surveillance of syringe sales and policies at selected community pharmacies (pharmacies) and (2) a telephone survey of pharmacy managers' reports of syringe sales and policies at a statewide stratified random sample of pharmacies. Our data provide direct evidence that most, but not all, Connecticut pharmacies sold nonprescription syringes when permitted to do so by the new laws. For example, using the telephone survey data, we estimate that during November, 1993, 83% [95% CI: 77-89%] of all Connecticut pharmacies sold nonprescription syringes and 56,000 [95% CI: 44,000-68,000] nonprescription syringes were sold, during November 1993. Our data provide indirect evidence that IDUs were purchasing nonprescription syringes at pharmacies. For example, in five Hartford pharmacies located in neighborhoods where injection drug use was prevalent, the total number of nonprescription syringes sold per month increased significantly from 460 in July 1992 to 2,482 in June 1993 (p = 0.0001). The data suggest that the new laws increased IDUs' access to sterile syringes in Connecticut.

Information Sharing through Sales Report

This paper studies information sharing through sales reports in Cournot and Bertrand duopolies with common demand uncertainty. Without sales reports, firms choose quantities or prices strategically to manipulate the rivals' perception about the market. Sales reports eliminate firms' incentives to do so and keep them only maximizing the current profits. If firms make independent sales report decisions, no sales report is the unique subgame perfect equilibrium. However in a Cournot (Bertrand) industry firms are better off with sales reports when goods are substitutes (complements). Further, sales reports decrease (increase) consumer surplus and social welfare in a Cournot (Bertrand) industry. The results sharply contrast those from the previous information sharing models where firms exchange signals about the future demand. Copyright 1994 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

USDA Export Sales Report: Is It News?

This article seeks to determine whether the U.S. Export Sales report provides new information to the market. Event study methodology is used to evaluate the movement of futures prices on days around the release of the report. Recognizing that the variance of futures prices changes through time, GARCH models are used in evaluating the price movements. The results reveal that the information provided in the report is anticipated by traders. Little evidence was found to suggest that the report provides new information to the market.