Drawing association rules between purchases and in-store behavior:an extension of the market basket analysis

Shopping behavior is often exclusively studied through consumer purchases, since they are an easily measurable ouput. Still, the observation of in-store physical behavior (paths, moves and actions) is crucial, as is the quantification of its impact on purchases. Using an innovative PDA tool to precisely record and time stamp consumer’s moves and gestures, we extend the classical Market Basket Analysis (MBA) by integrating this new kind of information. We draw associations not only from purchases but also from in-store consumer moves and actions. We compare results of our new method with classical MBA results and show a significant improvement.

Drawing association rules between purchases and in-store behaviour:an extension of the market basket analysis

Shopping behavior is often exclusively studied through consumer purchases, since they are an easily measurable ouput. Still, the observation of in-store physical behavior (path, moves and actions) is crucial, as is the quantification of its impact on purchases. Using an innovative PDA tool to precisely record and time stamp consumers' moves and actions, we extend the classical Market Basket Analysis (MBA) by integrating this new information: associations between product categories are measured not only from purchases but also from consumer physical behavior. We compare results of our new method with classical MBA results and show a significant improvement.

Does ownership structure of emerging-market firms affect their outward FDI? The case of the Indian automotive and pharmaceutical sectors

This paper examines the impact of ownership structures of emerging-market firms, which are shaped by local institutions, on the decision of these firms to undertake outward FDI. Our results suggest that family firms and firms with concentrated ownerships (both ubiquitous in emerging markets) are less likely to invest overseas, and that strategic equity holding by foreign investors facilitates outward FDI. We conclude that organisational forms such as family firms, which are optimal outcomes of institutions prevailing in emerging markets, may be suboptimal in a changing business environment in which outward FDI is necessary for access to resources and markets.

Organizational change and development:a case study in the Indian electricity market

Five principles for accommodating cultural nuances

Density forecasts of crude-oil prices using option-implied and ARCH-type models

The predictive accuracy of competing crude-oil price forecast densities is investigated for the 1994–2006 period. Moving beyond standard ARCH type models that rely exclusively on past returns, we examine the benefits of utilizing the forward-looking information that is embedded in the prices of derivative contracts. Risk-neutral densities, obtained from panels of crude-oil option prices, are adjusted to reflect real-world risks using either a parametric or a non-parametric calibration approach. The relative performance of the models is evaluated for the entire support of the density, as well as for regions and intervals that are of special interest for the economic agent. We find that non-parametric adjustments of risk-neutral density forecasts perform significantly better than their parametric counterparts. Goodness-of-fit tests and out-of-sample likelihood comparisons favor forecast densities obtained by option prices and non-parametric calibration methods over those constructed using historical returns and simulated ARCH processes. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 31:727–754, 2011

The impact of external market factors on operational practices and performance of companies

The links between operational practices and performance are well studied in the literature, both theoretically and empirically. However, mostly internal factors are inspected more closely as the basis of operational performance, even if the impact of external, environmental factors is often emphasized. Our research fills a part of this existing gap in the literature. We examine how two environmental factors, market dynamism and competition impact the use of some operational practices (such as quality improvement, product development, automation, etc.) and the resulting operations and business performance. The method of path analysis is used. Data were acquired through an international survey (IMSS – International Manufacturing Strategy Survey), which was executed in 2005, in 23 participating countries in so called "innovative" industries (ISIC 28-35) with a sample of 711 firms. Results show that both market dynamism and competition have large impact on business performance, but the indirect effects, through operations practices are rather weak compared to direct ones. The most influential practices are from the area of process and control, and quality management.

A kreativitás megítélése a munkaerőpiacon (Creativity from view of job market)

A cikk két, felsőoktatásban dolgozó oktató és kutató törekvése arra, hogy feltérképezze a frissen végzett egyetemi hallgatókkal szemben, a munkaerőpiac oldaláról érkező kreativitással kapcsolatos elvárásokat. Az alapötlet egy EU-kreativitáskutatásból nőtt ki, melyben magyar középiskolai tanárok is közreműködtek. A szerzők kutatásukba beépítettek egy válaszokat tartalmazó adatbázist (337 fő). Ezt követően generáltak egy másik mintát, amely az egyetemi hallgatókat fedte le (292 fő). A lánc harmadik elemeként on-line formában és személyes lekérdezéssel 112 HR-szakember véleményét kérdezték meg a kreativitás fontosságával, mérhetőségével, az ötletet adó EU-projekt kreativitással kapcsolatos állításaival és a kreativitás definíciójával kapcsolatban. Cikkük a válaszok kvantitatív feldolgozásának eredményeit ismerteti. ______ The paper is the product of a professor’s and a researcher’s (both working in higher education) aim to determine the expectations of the job market as regards creativity in fresh graduates. The idea for this came from an EU creativity study which had included Hungarian high school teachers. The authors have integrated the database (337 persons) of these teachers’ answers into the study. They also generated a second sample that covered university students (292 persons). As a third element, the authors assessed the opinion of 112 HR managers online and in person as regards the importance and measurability of creativity, as well as their views on the statements pertaining to and definition of creativity as given in the EU creativity project. The paper presents the results of the quantitative analysis of the responses.

Kereslet-előrejelzés sporadikus keresletű termékekre: Egy gyógyszer-nagykereskedelmi vállalat esettanulmánya (Forecasting of Sporadic Products - A Case Study of a Pharmaceutical Wholesaler Company)

A vállalatok jelentős része szembesül azzal, hogy termékei jelentős része iránt viszonylag kevés alkalommal jelentkezik kereslet. Ebből következik, hogy az ilyen termékekre a klasszikus előrejelzési módszerek, mint pl. a mozgó átlag számítása, vagy az exponenciális simítás nem alkalmazható. Azon termékeket, amelyek iránt viszonylag ritkán jelenik meg kereslet, sporadikus keresletű termékeknek nevezzük. A megkülönböztetés a sporadikus és nem sporadikus termékek között sokszor csak hüvelykujj szabály alapján állapítható meg, de erre vonatkozóan a szakirodalomban találunk iránymutatást. A nemzetközi szakirodalomban már megjelentek olyan új kereslet-előrejelzési módszerek, melyeket kimondottan az ilyen, sporadikus kereslettel rendelkező termékek estében javasoltak. Cikkünk célja, hogy ezeket a szakirodalmi ajánlásokat egy konkrét hazai vállalat valós adatain esettanulmány jelleggel tesztelje. A nemzetközi szakirodalomban is ritkán publikálnak tudományos dolgozatokat, amelyek ezt a témakört valós alkalmazási környezetben tárgyalják; ismereteink szerint magyar nyelven erről tudományos dolgozat pedig még nem született. Elméleti bevezetőnk után egy gyógyszer-nagykereskedelmi vállalatnál valós adatait használva vizsgáljuk a kérdéskört. Sor kerül a vállalat termékportfóliójának a kereslet-előrejelzés szempontjából történő tipizálására, majd sporadikus keresletű termékek keresletének előrejelzésére és ennek során a szakirodalomban az alkalmazandó módszerekre vonatkozó ajánlások vizsgálatára. _____ Significant numbers of companies have the problem that demand for their products are sporadic in nature. Demand of such products is not continual in time; its demand is diffused, is random with large proportion of zero values in the analyzed time series. The sporadic character of a demand pattern actually means that available information on the demand of previous selling periods is leaky resulting in lower quality of data available. In these cases traditional forecasting techniques do not result in reliable forecast. Special forecasting algorithms have been developed during the last decade dealing with this problem. The paper introduces these techniques and offers suggestions for application. It also presents the case study of a Hungarian pharmaceutical wholesaler company. Based on real data we develop a topology of the company's product portfolio, carry out forecasts using different techniques including those developed for products with sporadic demand and also analyze the quality of these forecasts.

A felsőoktatási képzések munkaerő-piaci szempontból (Higher education programs from point of view of labor market)

A munkaerő-piaci követelményeknek megfelelően kialakított képzések versenyképesebbek a társaiknál. A napjainkban is zajló magyar felsőoktatási reform központi elemét alkotja a képzések ennek megfelelően történő átalakítása. Mindez létjogosultságot ad egy olyan rendszernek, amely a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem gazdaságinformatikus BSc-képzésének kompetenciaelemeit kívánja vizsgálni az állásajánlatokban megnyilvánuló munkaerő-piaci igények tükrében. Az ontológiaalapú módszertan egy egységes fogalmi kört biztosít a munkaerőpiac eltérő szemléletű oldalán kifejlesztett modellek egységesítésére és összehasonlítására. ____ Tendencies can be observed on international and domestic levels that call for restructuring of higher education according to the needs of labor market. This paper presents an information system that can investigate the compliance of education programs and current labor market needs. Competences serve as a basis for this compliance checking, which is built on ontologybased approach. Having examined the distribution of roles (developer, operator etc.) appeared in IT job offers in time and space, a prototype of this system will be showed, related to Business Informatics degree program at Corvinus University of Budapest.

The impact of perceived corporate environmental performance on the behavior of capital market decision makers : analysis of food industry companies

Environmental protectionism and sustainable development has been gaining increased attention among governments, investors and consumers alike. As a result, firms are facing growing pressure from the various stakeholders to improve their environmental performance. This study is focusing on the food industry, which in recent years has been a subject of increased scrutiny due to their role in resource consumption, waste generation and unsustainable production practices. Our research is aiming to examine how the financial community evaluates the environmental stewardship of food industry companies as proxied by market reactions in response to environmental news. Are all company related environmental news items evaluated equally, and which financial and non-financial firm-specific attributes can influence market responses? Have there been changes in reactions on the stock exchange in the past two decades?

A study of stock market linkages between the US and frontier countries

My dissertation investigates the financial linkages and transmission of economic shocks between the US and the smallest emerging markets (frontier markets). The first chapter sets up an empirical model that examines the impact of US market returns and conditional volatility on the returns and conditional volatilities of twenty-one frontier markets. The model is estimated via maximum likelihood; utilizes the GARCH model of errors, and is applied to daily country data from the MSCI Barra. We find limited, but statistically significant exposure of Frontier markets to shocks from the US. Our results suggest that it is not the lagged US market returns that have impact; rather it is the expected US market returns that influence frontier market returns The second chapter sets up an empirical time-varying parameter (TVP) model to explore the time-variation in the impact of mean US returns on mean Frontier market returns. The model utilizes the Kalman filter algorithm as well as the GARCH model of errors and is applied to daily country data from the MSCI Barra. The TVP model detects statistically significant time-variation in the impact of US returns and low, but statistically and quantitatively important impact of US market conditional volatility. The third chapter studies the risk-return relationship in twenty Frontier country stock markets by setting up an international version of the intertemporal capital asset pricing model. The systematic risk in this model comes from covariance of Frontier market stock index returns with world returns. Both the systematic risk and risk premium are time-varying in our model. We also incorporate own country variances as additional determinants of Frontier country returns. Our results suggest statistically significant impact of both world and own country risk in explaining Frontier country returns. Time-variation in the world risk premium is also found to be statistically significant for most Frontier market returns. However, own country risk is found to be quantitatively more important.

An Analysis of Stock Market Performance:The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Three Top Performing Lodging Firma: 1982-1988

In their dialogue - An Analysis of Stock Market Performance: The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Three Top Performing Lodging Firms 1982 – 1988 - by N. H. Ringstrom, Professor and Elisa S. Moncarz, Associate Professor, School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, Professors Ringstrom and Moncarz state at the outset: “An interesting comparison can be made between the Dow Jones lndustrial Average and the three top performing, publicly held lodging firms which had $100 million or more in annual lodging revenues. The authors provide that analytical comparison with Prime Motor Inns Inc., the Marriott Corporation, and Hilton Hotels Corporation.” “Based on a criterion of size, only those with $100 million in annual lodging revenues or more resulted in the inclusion of the following six major hotel firms: Prime Motor Inns, Inc., Marriott Corporation, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Ramada Inc., Holiday Corporation and La Quinta Motor Inns, Inc.,” say Professors Ringstrom and Moncarz in framing this discussion with its underpinnings in the years 1982 to 1988. The article looks at each company’s fiscal and Dow Jones performance for the years in question, and presents a detailed analysis of said performance. Graphic analysis is included. It helps to have a fairly vigorous knowledge of stock market and fiscal examination criteria to digest this material. The Ringstrom and Moncarz analysis of Prime Motor Inns Incorporated occupies the first 7 pages of this article in and of itself. Marriot Corporation also occupies a prominent position in this discussion. “Marriott, a giant in the hospitality industry, is huge and continuing to grow. Its 1987 sales were more than $6.5 billion, and its employees numbered over 200,000 individuals, which place Marriott among the 10 largest private employers in the country,” Ringstrom and Moncarz parse Marriott’s influence as a significant financial player. “The firm has a fantastic history of growth over the past 60 years, starting in May 1927 with a nine-seat A & W Root Beer stand in Washington, D.C.,” offer the authors in initialing Marriot’s portion of the discussion with a brief history lesson. The Marriot firm was officially incorporated as Hot Shoppes Inc. in 1929. As the thesis statement for the discussion suggests the performance of these huge, hospitality giants is compared and contrasted directly to the Dow Jones Industrial Average performance. Reasons and empirical data are offered by the authors to explain the distinctions. It would be difficult to explain those distinctions without delving deeply into corporate financial history and the authors willingly do so in an effort to help you understand the growth, as well as some of the setbacks of these hospitality based juggernauts. Ringstrom and Moncarz conclude the article with an extensive overview and analysis of the Hilton Hotels Corporation performance for the period outlined. It may well be the most fiscally dynamic of the firms presented for your perusal. “It is interesting to note that Hilton Hotels Corporation maintained a very strong financial position with relatively little debt during the years 1982-1988…the highest among all companies in the study,” the authors paint.

Loss of electricity and refrigerated foods: avoiding the danger zone

Recent events such as Winter Storm [Hurricane] Sandy and Hurricane Katrina have demonstrated that local food supplies must last as long as possible. Current recommendations are to dispose of all refrigerated food four hours after the power is lost. The purpose of this study was to determine if it is possible to safely hold food longer than four hours without power. The results indicate that the food can be held for up to six hours if the door is not opened. If ice is added to the refrigerator, then it will take the food approximately 10 hours to reach 5°C (41°F).

The Politico-Economics of Electricity Planning in Developing Countries : A Case Study of Ghana

The first author would like to thank the University of Aberdeen and the Henderson Economics Research Fund for funding his PhD studies in the period 2011-2014 which formed the basis for the research presented in this paper.