170,092 research outputs found
Do service firms benefit from diversification? The moderating effect of competitive intensity and firm size
No full textDespite much ado about the effectiveness of ‘product’ diversification, there is very limited knowledge about the impact of ‘service’ diversification on firm performance. By taking a resource-based perspective, this study explores the service diversificationperformance relationship. Results show a consistent inverse U-shaped relationship
between service diversification and firm performance, with the slope positive at low and moderate levels of service diversification but negative at high levels of service diversification. Moreover, results show that competitive intensity negatively moderates the relationship between service diversification and performance, while the moderating
effect of firm’s size is not significant. Hypotheses are tested with data on 52 Italian facility management firms over the 2000-2009 time period
Competitive dynamics in the mobile phone industry
No full textThe intersection between the competitive dynamics literature and the literature on technology and innovation management is an important area of research. Previous literature has focused on understanding the different types of innovations and how firms use these to improve their product performance. However, we are still way off from a comprehensive understanding of the competitive dynamics triggered by such decisions. This book offers various
insights into the competitive dynamics of technology intensive industries, using the mobile phone industry as a reference setting of analysis. In particular, it explores which kind of competitive moves and countermoves have been taken by mobile phone vendors such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and Apple, as well as emerging rivals from developing countries, to defend their competitive position over the industry life cycle, and which factors have driven these actions. The book is divided into two parts. The first part offers a general perspective on the competitive dynamics literature. The second part consists of chapters on more specific issues related to the dynamics of competitive strategy in technology intensive industries, and in the mobile phone industry in particular
The relationship between internationalisation and firm performance in the global automotive industry: who benefits? Who not?
No full textThis article explores the effect of internationalisation on automakers financial performance. Data on 42 automakers from 13 countries, over the 2002-2008 time period, shows that the relationship between internationalisation and automakers performance is non-linear, with the slope positive at low levels of internationalisation, negative at moderate levels of internationalisation, and positive at high levels of internationalisation. Based on these findings, implications and directions for future research are provided. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
A resource-based perspective on the relationship between service diversification and firm performance: Evidence from Italian facility management firms
No full textIn this article, a theoretical framework to study the effect of service diversification on firm financial performance is demonstrated. Data on 48 Italian facility management firms from between 2000 and 2009 show a consistent inverse U-shaped relationship between service diversification and firm performance, with the slope positive at low and moderate levels of service diversification but negative at high levels of service diversification. Further, the results show that firm experience in the service industry and firm affiliation to a consortium positively moderate the relationship between service diversification and performance. The results of this study provide evidence of the importance of service diversification strategies for gaining a competitive advantage. © 2012 Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) Press Technika
Accurate and reliable segmentation of the optic disc in digital fundus images
No full textWe describe a complete pipeline for the detection and accurate automatic segmentation of the optic disc in digital fundus images. This procedure provides separation of vascular information and accurate inpainting of vessel-removed images, symmetry-based optic disc localization, and fitting of incrementally complex contour models at increasing resolutions using information related to inpainted images and vessel masks. Validation experiments, performed on a large dataset of images of healthy and pathological eyes, annotated by experts and partially graded with a quality label, demonstrate the good performances of the proposed approach. The method is able to detect the optic disc and trace its contours better than the other systems presented in the literature and tested on the same data. The average error in the obtained contour masks is reasonably close to the interoperator errors and suitable for practical applications. The optic disc segmentation pipeline is currently integrated in a complete software suite for the semiautomatic quantification of retinal vessel properties from fundus camera images (VAMPIRE).Copyright 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited
Will rivals enter or wait outside when faced with litigation risk? Patent litigation in complex product industries and international market entry
No full textA spiral of patent infringement litigation among rival firms is a phenomenon often observed in complex product industries, where products comprise numerous separately patentable elements. Theoretically grounded in the awareness–motivation–capability framework of competitive dynamics, this article contributes to the literature on patent strategy and international market entry by looking at how, in a complex product industry, the intensity of patent litigation in a country affects a firm’s decision to enter that country. Our results show that the intensity of patent litigation in a country is a deterrent for potential entrants and has a negative effect on a firm’s likelihood of entering that country. We also show that a firm’s previous experience with patent litigation (awareness component), the share of a firm’s current patent applications in a target country (motivation component), and the size of a firm’s patent stock (capability component) moderate the relationship between a country’s patent litigation intensity and a firm’s likelihood of entering that country. We thus shed light on the joint effect of macro- and micro-level patent-related variables on a firm’s market entry decisions. We test our hypotheses with a comprehensive panel of patenting and entry strategies of 84 mobile phone vendors and their patent litigation battles in 45 countries, from 2003 to 2015
Entry Mode Degree of Control, Firm Performance and Host Country Institutional Development: A Meta-Analysis
No full textAmong studies on performance outcomes of entry mode choices disagreement fueled by ambiguous research findings is apparent as regards whether the best per- formers are those firms that enter foreign countries with high or low entry mode degree of control. To solve this dilemma and test new hypotheses, the relationship between entry mode degree of control and firm performance is examined by meta- analyzing 133 studies (740,114 observations) covering entry mode choices from 1980 to 2010. We find that (a) overall high-control entry modes lead to higher per- formance, and (b) adopting high-control entry modes is particularly important for firms entering developing countries
Conformity or Nonconformity in Multinationality? Performance Implications for the Italian Ceramic Tile Manufacturers
No full textTo date international management studies have found mixed results on the relationship between multinationality and performance. We address the multinationality–performance relationship by exploring the concept of conformity in multinationality, which expresses the extent to which a firm’s multinationality resembles the multinationality of its peers at a particular point in time. Our results show that, ceteris paribus, the best performing firms are those with high levels of conformity in multinationality to the strategic group peers as well as those with high levels of conformity to the market leader. Hypotheses are tested with data on the conformity in multinationality of 61 Italian ceramic tile manufacturers in the 2005–2009 time period
Edge detection on polynomial texture maps
No full textIn this paper we propose a simple method to extract edges from Polynomial Texture Maps (PTM) or other kinds of Reflection Transformation Image (RTI) files. It is based on the idea of following 2D lines where the variation of corresponding 3D normals computed from the PTM coefficients is maximal. Normals are estimated using a photometric stereo approach, derivatives along image axes directions are computed in a multiscale framework providing normal discontinuity and orientation maps and lines are finally extracted using non-maxima suppression and hysteresis thresholds as in Canny's algorithm. In this way it is possible to discover automatically potential structure of interest (inscriptions, small reliefs) on Cultural Heritage artifacts of interest without the necessity of interactively recreating images using different light directions. Experimental results obtained on test data and new PTMs acquired in an archaeological site in the Holy Land with a simple low-end camera, show that the method provides potentially useful results
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