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Flexible Models for Complex Data with Applications
No full textProbability distributions are the building blocks of statistical modeling and inference. It is therefore of the utmost importance to know which distribution to use in what circumstances, as wrong choices will inevitably entail a biased analysis. In this article, we focus on circumstances involving complex data and describe the most popular flexible models for these settings. We focus on the following complex data: multivariate skew and heavy-tailed data, circular data, toroidal data, and cylindrical data. We illustrate the strength of flexible models on the basis of concrete examples and discuss major applications and challenges
Global market integration, efficiency orientation, and drivers of foreign subsidiary divestments
No full textDifferences in global market integration across industries have important repercussions for MNC strategy and the drivers of manufacturing subsidiary divestment decisions. Global industry integration and the associated competitive pressures lead MNCs to adopt cost efficiency strategies for their subsidiary networks, and subsidiary divestment decisions are strongly driven by labor cost considerations. In non-integrated industries, host country demand conditions are the prime driver of divestments. These patterns are the most salient for MNCs that have aligned their strategy with the global industry environment. Analysis of the divestment hazards of 3827 Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in 57 countries provides support for these conjectures
Alternatives for Telco Data Network: The Value of Spatial and Referral Networks for Churn Detection
No full textThe value of communication network has received significant attention in the literature on churn prediction, while little is known about the potential business value of alternative networks. This knowledge would help telephone companies to make timely strategic decisions in our evolving economic environment where traditional communication technologies are declining. This study assesses to which extent two alternative networks might (1) structurally substitute this network and (2) complement this network for churn prediction within telephone companies
Practical application of reference class forecasting for cost and time estimations: Identifying the properties of similarity
No full textMany project managers underestimate that todays projects are subject to various risks, which might lead to enormous cost overruns and project delays. In the domain of project forecasting, Reference Class Forecasting has been introduced as a method to bypass human judgement by applying an uplift that is based on the forecast errors of similar historical projects. In this research study, we aim to identify the possible drivers of project similarity based on interviews with 76 project managers. Also, we evaluate the performance of Reference Class Forecasting as a project forecasting technique from both a cost and time perspective. Based on an empirical study of 52 real projects, the accuracy of Reference Class Forecasting is successfully demonstrated by implementing a method that considers both the intra- and inter-accuracy of reference classes. The accuracy increases when more project properties are considered, however, a higher number of project properties decreases the size of the reference classes and thus reduces the reliability of the results
Acquisitions: A curse or blessing for direct competitors? The impact of target ownership structure
No full textThis study examines the impact of horizontal acquisition announcements on the value of direct competitors of the combined entity. We argue that the ownership structure of the target drives competitor wealth effects. First, the stronger disciplining force of the market for corporate control for public firms compared to private firms will lead to higher competitive pressure post-acquisition when a public firm is acquired, leading to more negative valuation effects of direct competitors. Second, acquisitions of subsidiary targets, compared to stand-alone targets, are expected to lead to stronger asset utilization improvements in the target, leading to more negative competitor returns. A unique hand-collected sample of 1038 direct competitors of 228 horizontal acquisitions in Europe empirically supports these hypotheses. Alternative explanations, such as information asymmetry or empire-building, are rejected
Understanding and conceptualizing B2B customer experience
No full textPractitioners increasingly recognize the impact of delivering better customer experiences in B2B markets. However, and despite the significance of CX in B2C marketing, there is a lack of understanding of CX and its management (CX(M)) in B2B marketing. Given its growing importance in B2B markets, it is key to develop a conceptual foundation for characterizing CX in these markets. Based on an extensive literature search, we select 44 papers that provide additional insight in B2B CX(M). Nevertheless, a conceptual study on B2B CX is still lacking. We integrate the CX(M) literature and the B2B marketing literature to theoretically adapt a recent and holistic CX framework, extending and deepening its components, and illustrate it by means of preliminary case study insight. This B2B CX framework can help scholars and practitioners to better understand and manage CX in B2B markets
Barco ClickShare: Introducing the next-generation meeting experience
No full textBarco - a global technology leader in industrial visualization solutions - pioneered the category of wireless presentation systems for business meetings with its launch of ClickShare in 2012. Barco ClickShare rendered cables in the meeting room redundant, enabling meeting participants to share their laptop, tablet or smartphone screens wirelessly on the meeting room display. Over time, the Barco ClickShare product portfolio had evolved to 5 models, each targeted at a different type of meeting room - from huddle to board room. After 7 years of stellar growth, ClickShare was at a pivotal point: It had to sustain its momentum and double the number of units sold in three years' time, while driving meeting technology innovation and spearheading the next generation digital meeting experience. The case is situated at the beginning of 2020 and describes how the first two generations of Barco ClickShare products were brought to market, resulting in an installed base of 750,000 units across the world, with a presence in over 40% of the Fortune 1000 companies. In the case, three key executives of Barco's Meeting Experience business unit appraise how ClickShare evolved in terms of product design, market definition, value proposition, pricing, distribution, and communication, and discuss the competition. Given the changing market conditions and competitive dynamics, the executives set out to further digitize the product line, which raised two important strategic issues: What should the next-generation ClickShare experience be and how to bring the digitized product line to market
Strategic decision making in entrepreneurial firms: A coalitional view
No full textWhen entrepreneurs are asked about their ventures’ estimated chances of growth and survival, they typically tend to be much more optimistic than what statistics would suggest. Both theory and empirical evidence support this view of entrepreneurs being unduly positive about their future venture prospects. Entrepreneurs create forecasts for making a wide variety of decisions such as sales and financing decisions. Errors or positive biases in these forecasts have been shown to substantially decrease venture performance. Far less attention, however, has been spent on how such errors affect important external stakeholders. In this project we focus on one particularly relevant stakeholder for entrepreneurial ventures, being their venture capital (VC) investors. VCs are one of the earliest resource providers to entrepreneurial ventures. Moreover, entrepreneurs’ forecasts about the future venture performance are what VCs rely on to inform their decisionmaking, both prior to and after the investment has been made. Given the importance of forecasts and the accuracy therein to VCs, this project will examine (1) when entrepreneurs provide more positively biased forecasts to their VCs and (2) how VCs react to positive bias in VC-backed ventures
Flexing your workforce. Four different strategies of workforce flexibility
No full textThe COVID-19 crisis has redefined the way we work. It has accelerated the existing trend towards flexible work and turned many opponents of virtual work into supporters. This crisis has also shown that even roles previously considered as unsuited for flexible work can be adapted and shaped in unprecedented ways. The trend towards workforce flexibility is not new. Prior to the pandemic, pressures of digitisation and globalisation stimulated companies around the globe to develop strategies to build a flexible workforce. For example, early 2020, the Finnish Parliament passed the Working Hours Act, which facilitated flexible working-time arrangements and improved employee opportunities to combine their work and personal life. Specifically, the act specifies that the employer defines the work tasks, aims, and overall schedule, but the employee can then select time and location. This has forced organisations in Finland to rethink work and fundamentally changed jobs that were once thought impossible to make flexible. The required flexibility brought on by the pandemic has accelerated these efforts and shown that investing in workforce flexibility is not a luxury. Rather, it is a key strategic priority that can yield some important benefits. In addition to improving employee engagement, flexibility can improve productivity and profitability. Moreover, organisations that offer greater flexibility can tap into a broader talent pool of workers that were previously harder to reach (including caregivers, disabled, etc), which fosters diversity and inclusion. Obviously, workforce flexibility is about much more than telework. It also goes far beyond allowing or mandating flexibility in times of a pandemic. Flexibility also includes employee choice in terms of when and how work is done, in addition to where it is done from. It can even be about the type of contract that you offer to people
