166 research outputs found
Customer enquiry management and product customization: an empirical multi-case study analysis in the Italian capital goods sector
No full textPurpose – The customer enquiry management (CEM) process is of strategic importance in engineer-to-order contexts but existing literature does not adequately describe how firms support delivery date setting and order acceptance decisions in practice. This paper seeks to explore how and why the CEM process varies between companies in the capital goods sector, thereby taking a contingency theory approach. Design/methodology/approach – Multi-case study research involving 18 Italian capital goods manufacturers in four industrial sectors. Face-to-face interviews with senior representatives have been conducted. Companies have been grouped into five clusters, based on similarities in their CEM decision-making modes, to aid analysis. Findings – Three contingency factors were found to be particularly relevant in determining CEM modes: degree of product customization, flexibility of the production system, and uncertainty of the context. These factors affect the choice of specific CEM decision-making modes. However, a high level of cross-functional coordination and formalization of the process were found to constitute best practices whatever the contingency factors. Research limitations/implications – The research focuses on companies belonging to the Italian capital goods sector – findings may differ in other countries and sectors. Practical implications – The results indicate that all firms, including small and medium-sized companies, should implement high levels of cross-functional coordination and formalization in their CEM practices, in order to improve their performance. For other aspects of the CEM process, including supplier and subcontractor monitoring, the company context will indicate whether these aspects are required, according to a need of matching the approach to CEM with specific sets of contingency factors. Originality/value – This paper provides a rare insight into the CEM processes found in practice
Interchain effects in the ultrafast photophysics of a semiconducting polymer: THz time-domain spectroscopy of thin films and isolated chains in solution
No full textEuan Hendry, Mattijs Koeberg, Juleon M. Schins, H. K. Nienhuys, V. Sundström, L. D. A. Siebbeles, and Mischa Bonn, Physical Review B, Vol. 71, article 125201 (2005). Copyright © 2005 by the American Physical Society.We compare the generation and decay dynamics of charges and excitons in a model polymer semiconductor (MEH-PPV) in solution and drop-cast thin films, by recording the sub-ps transient complex conductivity using THz time-domain spectroscopy. The results show that the quantum efficiency of charge generation is two orders of magnitude smaller in solution (~10–5) than in the solid film (~10–3). The proximity of neighboring chains in the films apparently facilitates (hot) exciton dissociation, presumably by allowing the electron and hole to separate on different polymer strands. For both samples, photoexcitation leads to the predominant formation of bound charge pairs (excitons) that can be detected through their polarizability. Surprisingly, the polarizability per absorbed photon is a factor of 3 larger in solution than in the film, suggesting that interchain interactions in the film do not result in a substantial delocalization of the exciton wave function
Customer enquiry management in global supply chains : a comparative multi-case study analysis
No full textThe Customer Enquiry Management (CEM) process is of strategic importance to non-Make-To-Stock companies but few empirical studies have explored the CEM practices adopted by firms in practice. A study on the Italian capital goods sector by Zorzini, Hendry, Stevenson, and Pozzetti (2008) provides the most comprehensive contingency-based framework to date. This paper builds on Zorzini et al. (2008) by conducting multi-case study research with seven global capital goods companies managing CEM in the UK. The evidence suggests that both high levels of coordination and formalization of the CEM process are linked to improved performance. In particular, cross-functional coordination and formalization impact jointly on the performance of companies characterized by a large-sized control problem. Two moderating factors are also identified: the proportion of slightly/highly customized orders and the availability of integrated information systems. Analysis of the impact of supply chain coordination and other globalization factors on CEM shows that CEM practices are: directly influenced by the complexity of the supply chain configuration; and, indirectly influenced by the types of relationships with supply chain partners. Two sources of complexity that result from operating in a global context are also identified: coordinating the activities of sales structures distributed around the world; and, managing global customers with different languages and cultures. In terms of managerial implications, the results indicate that coordination with partners along the supply chain is needed at the customer enquiry stage and constraints linked to global customers should be considered when structuring CEM
A model for net migration between the Portuguese regions. Another perspective
No full textWe built a model identifying the determinants that affect the mobility of labor. The empirical part of the work will be performed for the NUTS III of Portugal, from 1991 and 2001. At this level of spatial disaggregation (and in this period) the basic equipment (amenities), particularly in terms of availability of housing, are the main determinants of migration (1)(Martinho 2011).net migration; Portuguese regions; cross-section estimations
Analysis of spatial effects in vine and olive crops across Portuguese regions
No full textThe consideration of spatial effects at a regional level is becoming increasingly frequent and the work of Anselin (1988), among others, has contributed to this. This study analyses, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects in the NUTs III vine and olive crops of mainland Portugal, in 1999 (the last data available), considering the Verdoorn relationship as a base of study. To analyse the data, by using Moran I statistics, and estimation results, considering the spatial lag and spatial error component, it is stated that there are positive spatial autocorrelation (variables of each of the regions develop in a similar manner to each of the neighbouring regions), above all in vine.spatial econometrics; vine and olive crops; Portuguese regions
Analysis of spatial effects in vine crop across Portuguese regions
No full textThe consideration of spatial effects at a regional level is becoming increasingly frequent and the work of Anselin (1988), among others, has contributed to this. This study analyses, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects in the NUTs III vine crop of mainland Portugal, in 1999 (the last data available), considering the Verdoorn relationship as a base of study. To analyse the data, by using Moran I statistics, and estimation results, considering the spatial lag and spatial error component, it is stated that there are positive spatial autocorrelation (variables of each of the regions develop in a similar manner to each of the neighbouring regions), in the vine crop.spatial econometrics; vine crop; Portuguese regions
A spatial model based on the endogenous growth theory for Portugal. Another approach
No full textWe built a model analyzing, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects in the conditional product convergence in the parishes’ economies of mainland Portugal between 1991 and 2001 (the last year with data available for this spatial disaggregation level). Taking into account the estimation results, it is stated that there are not indications of convergence (the population is in the littoral of Portugal) and it can be seen that spatial spillover effects, spatial lag (capturing spatial autocorrelation through a spatially lagged dependent variable) and spatial error (capturing spatial autocorrelation through a spatially lagged error term) condition the convergence of product of Portuguese parishes in the period under consideration.endogenous growth theory; spatial econometrics; Portuguese context
Application of keynesian theory and new economic geography in Portugal. Differences and similarities
No full textWith this work we try to analyse the agglomeration process in the Portuguese regions, using the New Economic Geography models. In these models the base idea is that where has increasing returns to scale in the manufactured industry and low transport costs, there is agglomeration. This work aims to test, also, the Verdoorn Law, with the alternative specifications of (1)Kaldor (1966), for the 28 NUTS III Portuguese in the period 1995 to 1999. It is intended to test, yet in this work, the alternative interpretation of (2)Rowthorn (1975) about the Verdoorn's Law for the same regions and periods. With this study we want, also, to test the Verdoorn´s Law at a regional and a sectoral levels (NUTs II) for the period 1995-1999. The importance of some additional variables in the original specification of Verdoorn´s Law is yet tested, such as, trade flows, capital accumulation and labour concentration. This study analyses, also, through cross-section estimation methods, the influence of spatial effects in productivity in the NUTs III economic sectors of mainland Portugal from 1995 to 1999, considering the Verdoorn relationship.new economic geography; Verdoorn law; spatial autocorrelation; Portuguese regions
Retrieving the susceptibility from time-resolved terahertz experiments
No full textCopyright © 2007 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Journal of Chemical Physics 127 (2007) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?JCPSA6/127/094308/1We present an analytical expression for the observed signal in time- and phase-resolved pump-probe studies, with particular emphasis on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. Maxwell's equations are solved for the response of damped, harmonic oscillators to a driving probe field in the perturbative regime. Our analytical expressions agree with the one previously reported in the literature [Nemec et al., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 104503 (2005)] in the Drude limit; however, they differ in the case of a vibrational resonanc
Computationally-intensive Econometrics using a Distributed Matrix-programming Language
No full textThis paper reviews the need for powerful facilities in econometrics, focusing on concrete problems which arise in financial economics and in macroeconomics. We argue that the profession is being held back by the lack of easy to use generic software which is able to exploit the availability of cheap clusters of distributed computers. Our response is to extend, in a number of directions, the well known matrix-programming interpreted language Ox developed by the first author. We note three possible levels of extensions: (i) Ox with parallelization explicit in the Ox code; (ii) Ox with a parallelized run-time library; (iii) Ox with a parallelized interpreter. This paper studies and implements the first case, emphasizing the need for deterministic computing in science. We give examples in the context of financial economics and time-series modelling.Distributed computing; Econometrics; High-performance computing; Matrix-programming language
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