Quota bonuses as localized sales bonuses

Managerial bonus schemes and their effects on firm strategies and market outcomes are extensively discussed in the literature. Though quota bonuses are not uncommon in practice, they have not been analysed so far. In this article we compare quota bonuses to profit-based evaluation and sales (quantity) bonuses. In a duopoly setting with independent demand shocks we find that under certain circumstances choosing quota bonuses is a dominant strategy. This may explain the widespread use of quota bonuses in situations where incentive problems are relevant.

Sales tax enforcement: An empirical analysis of compliance enforcement methodologies and pathologies

Most research on tax evasion has focused on the income tax. Sales tax evasion has been largely ignored and dismissed as immaterial. This paper explored the differences between income tax and sales tax evasion and demonstrated that sales tax enforcement is deserving of and requires the use of different tools to achieve compliance. Specifically, the major enforcement problem with sales tax is not evasion: it is theft perpetrated by companies that act as collection agents for the state. Companies engage in a principal-agent relationship with the state and many retain funds collected as an agent of the state for private use. As such, the act of sales tax theft bears more resemblance to embezzlement than to income tax evasion. It has long been assumed that the sales tax is nearly evasion free, and state revenue departments report voluntary compliance in a manner that perpetuates this myth. Current sales tax compliance enforcement methodologies are similar in form to income tax compliance enforcement methodologies and are based largely on trust. The primary focus is on delinquent filers with a very small percentage of businesses subject to audit. As a result, there is a very large group of noncompliant businesses who file on time and fly below the radar while stealing millions of taxpayer dollars. ^ The author utilized a variety of statistical methods with actual field data derived from operations of the Southern Region Criminal Investigations Unit of the Florida Department of Revenue to evaluate current and proposed sales tax compliance enforcement methodologies in a quasi-experimental, time series research design and to set forth a typology of sales tax evaders. This study showed that current estimates of voluntary compliance in sales tax systems are seriously and significantly overstated and that current enforcement methodologies are inadequate to identify the majority of violators and enforce compliance. Sales tax evasion is modeled using the theory of planned behavior and Cressey’s fraud triangle and it is demonstrated that proactive enforcement activities, characterized by substantial contact with non-delinquent taxpayers, results in superior ability to identify noncompliance and provides a structure through which noncompliant businesses can be rehabilitated.^

A Case Study in Crisis Management: Le Petit Gourmet Catering

The skills of crisis management are more and more valuable in the food service industry. How a manager handles a crisis can spell the difference between success and failure. Finding a good model for crisis management is difficult. The author offers a case study to introduce one such model.

Recreational Food Service is Big Business

In the analysis - Recreational Food Service Is Big Business - by Gary Horvath, President, Recreational Foodservice Division, Service America Corporation and Mickey Warner, Associate Professor School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, Horvath and Warner initially state: “Recreational food service is very different from routine food service management. The authors review the market and the management planning and challenges that create that difference.” Recreational food is loosely defined by the authors as food for special events. These can be one-time events, repeated events that are not on a fixed schedule [i.e. concerts], weekly events such as football-baseball-or basketball games, or other similar venues. Concessions are a large part of these fan based settings. “An anticipated 101,000 fans at a per capita spending of $5-6 [were expected]. A typical concessions menu of hot dogs, popcorn, soda, beer, snacks, novelty foods, candy, and tobacco products comprises this market segment,” say Horvath and Warner in reference to the Super-Bowl XXI football championship game, held in Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California, on January 25, 1987. Some of the article is based upon that event. These food service efforts focus on the individual fan, but do extend to the corporate-organizational level as well. Your authors will have you know that catering is definitely a part of this equation. The monies spent and earned are phenomenal. “Special events of this type attract numerous corporate catering opportunities for companies entertaining VIP guest lists,” the authors inform. “Hospitality tents usually consist of a pregame cocktail party and buffet and a post-game celebration with musical entertainment held in lavishly decorated tents erected at the site. In this case a total of 5,000 covers, at a price of $200 each, for 12-15 separate parties were anticipated.” Horvath and Warner also want you to know that novelties and souvenirs make up an essential part of this, the recreational food service market. “Novelties and souvenirs are a primary market and source of revenue for every stadium food service operator,” say Horvath and Warner. The term, “per capita spending is the measurement used by the industry to evaluate sales potential per attendee at an event,” say the authors. Of course, with the solid revenue figures involved as well as the number of people anticipated for such events, planning is crucial, say Horvath and Warner. Training of staff, purchasing and supply, money and banking, facility access, and equipment, are a few of the elements to be negotiated. Through both graphs and text, Horvath and Warner do provide a fairly detailed outline of what a six-step event plan consists of.

Sales Promotion in Hotels:A British Perspective

In their article - Sales Promotion In Hotels: A British Perspective - by Francis Buttle, Lecturer, Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Travel Administration, University of Massachusetts and Ini Akpabio, Property Manager, Trusthouse Forte, Britain, Buttle and Akpabio initially state: “Sales promotion in hotels is in its infancy. Other industries, particularly consumer goods manufacturing, have long recognized the contribution that sales promotion can make to the cost-effective achievement of marketing objectives. Sales promotion activities in hotels have remained largely uncharted. The authors define, identify and classify these hotel sales promotion activities to understand their function and form, and to highlight any scope for improvement.” The authors begin their discussion by attempting to define what the phrase sales promotion [SP] actually means. “The Institute of Sales Promotion regards sales promotions as “adding value, usually of a temporary nature, to a product or service in order to persuade the end user to purchase that particular brand as opposed to a competitive brand,” the authors offer. Williams, however, describes sales promotions more broadly as “short term tactical marketing tools which are used to achieve specific marketing objectives during a defined time period,” Buttle and Akpabio present with attribution. “The most significant difference between these two viewpoints is that Williams does not limit his definition to activities which are targeted at the consumer,” is their educated view. A lot of the discussion is centered on the differences in the collective marketing-promotional mix. “…it is not always easy to definitively categorize promotional activity,” Buttle and Akpabio say. “For example, in personal selling, a sales promotion such as a special bonus offer may be used to close the sale; an advertisement may be sales promotional in character in that it offers discounts.” Are promotion and marketing distinguishable as two separate entities? “…not only may there be conceptual confusion between components of the promotional mix, but there is sometimes a blurring of the boundaries between the elements of the marketing mix,” the authors suggest. “There are several reasons why SP is particularly suitable for use in hotels: seasonality, increasing competitiveness, asset characteristics, cost characteristics, increased use of channel intermediaries, new product launches, and deal proneness.” Buttle and Akpabio offer their insight on each of these segments. The authors also want you to know that SP customer applications are not the only game in town, SP trade applications are just as essential. Bonuses, enhanced commission rates, and vouchers are but a few examples of trade SP. The research for the article was compiled from several sources including, mail surveys, telephone surveys, personal interviews, trade magazines and newspapers; essentially in the U.K.

Effect of Smoke-Free Ordinances on Restaurant and Bar Sales

Peer-reviewed studies that have examined the effect of the enactment of smoke-free ordinances on restaurant and bar sales have uniformly found that the enactment of these ordinances does not decrease restaurant or bar sales, with most studies observing no effect on restaurant revenues.

A study to adapt various sales forecasting methods for use by military club managers

The purpose of this study is to adapt and combine the following methods of sales forecasting: Classical Time-Series Decomposition, Operationally Based Data and Judgmental Forecasting for use by military club managers.

Estudio del efecto de la reducción del contenido de sales nitrificantes en la calidad microbiológica y aroma de los embutidos crudos curados

Entre las diferentes técnicas que se utilizan para la conservación de la carne se encuentra el curado, método tradicional basado en el empleo de cloruro sódico conjuntamente con sales nitrificantes (nitratos y/o nitritos). Estos compuestos ejercen un importante papel como antimicrobianos y antioxidantes, y participan en la formación del color y aroma típicos de los productos curados. A pesar de todos estos efectos beneficiosos, las sales nitrificantes pueden ser precursoras de la formación de nitrosaminas, compuestos con actividad carcinogénica, teratogénica y mutagénica demostrada. Por este motivo, en los últimos años se ha planteado la posibilidad de reducir la presencia de nitratos y nitritos o incluso evitar su utilización en los productos cárnicos. Para ello es necesario llevar a cabo estudios rigurosos sobre el impacto real de la concentración de nitrificantes en estos productos, a fin de evaluar la posibilidad de disminuir las cantidades permitidas, sin que ello afecte a su seguridad y calidad sensorial. Teniendo en cuenta estos antecedentes, esta Tesis Doctoral se planteó como objetivo evaluar el efecto de la reducción de la concentración de nitrato y nitrito (hasta en un 50% de la cantidad máxima permitida actualmente) en la evolución de la microbiota habitual de los embutidos crudos curados y en el control de los principales microorganismos patógenos asociados a su consumo, así como en el perfil de compuestos volátiles responsables de su aroma...

Viabilidad tecnológica y biodisponibilidad de diferentes sales de calcio como ingredientes funcionales en productos cárnicos

La carne y los productos cárnicos son alimentos importantes de la dieta, ya que poseen compuestos de un elevado valor biológico como los aminoácidos, vitaminas, principalmente del grupo B y minerales como el hierro, zinc y fósforo. Sin embargo, durante los últimos años, se han relacionado con algunas enfermedades como las cardiovasculares y la obesidad. Este hecho ha contribuido a un descenso de su consumo y se han convertido en objetivo de científicos e industrias cárnicas para transformarlos en nuevos productos de acuerdo con las recomendaciones nutricionales. Por ello se han desarrollado productos cárnicos funcionales mediante el empleo de diferentes estrategias, como la incorporación de compuestos bioactivos beneficiosos para la salud. Entre ellos caben destacar diferentes tipos de fibra, polifenoles, ácidos grasos insaturados, probióticos, vitaminas o minerales. El calcio es uno de los minerales de mayor importancia en el organismo ya que es un componente estructural esencial en huesos y dientes y forma parte de diferentes procesos fisiológicos como la contracción muscular, la coagulación sanguínea, la trasmisión nerviosa y la permeabilidad celular. Su deficiencia se ha asociado con enfermedades como la osteoporosis y la hipertensión arterial. Por ello, las autoridades sanitarias recomiendan una ingesta diaria (IDR) de calcio de 1000 mg para adultos de una edad comprendida entre los 19 y 50 años (Institute of Medicine, 2010) o de 800 mg (Directiva 2008/100/CE), independientemente de la edad de los individuos...

The 6P's of sales resource management

This paper will explore a data-driven approach called Sales Resource Management (SRM) that can provide real insight into sales management. The DSMT (Diagnosis, Strategy, Metrics and Tools) framework can be used to solve field sales management challenges. This paper focus on the 6P's strategy of SRM and illustrates how to use them to solve the CAPS (Concentration, Attrition, Performance and Spend) challenges. © 2010 IEEE.

Sales resource management training:a guide to developing effective salespeople

This paper adopts a sales resource management (SRM) framework to provide guidance on how to develop effective salespeople via sales training. SRM can be used to identify the individual training needs based on the individual-based modelling data. The individual-based modelling data can also be used to evaluate the outcome of sales training. This paper also gives some suggestions on the forms of sales training which are most likely to develop effective salespeople. © 2010 IEEE.

Perpetuating sales: enabling incumbent survival of radical technological shifts

This paper examines an industry whose incumbents’ specialised complimentary assets were their operations management and distribution channels. This advantage was seriously undermined by the advent of digital distribution. Radical technological change theories dictate that if incumbents in an industry without specialised complimentary assets will be replaced by entrants. This did not happen, and extant theories of incumbent survival do not explain why the incumbents remained dominant in the industry. We propose that survival is due to the unique industry characteristic of perpetuating sales. This paper will explain what is a perpetuating sales model and why does it enable incumbent survival?

Optimal Capital Requirements in Financial Networks with Fire Sales

I explore and analyze a problem of finding the socially optimal capital requirements for financial institutions considering two distinct channels of contagion: direct exposures among the institutions, as represented by a network and fire sales externalities, which reflect the negative price impact of massive liquidation of assets.These two channels amplify shocks from individual financial institutions to the financial system as a whole and thus increase the risk of joint defaults amongst the interconnected financial institutions; this is often referred to as systemic risk. In the model, there is a trade-off between reducing systemic risk and raising the capital requirements of the financial institutions. The policymaker considers this trade-off and determines the optimal capital requirements for individual financial institutions. I provide a method for finding and analyzing the optimal capital requirements that can be applied to arbitrary network structures and arbitrary distributions of investment returns.

In particular, I first consider a network model consisting only of direct exposures and show that the optimal capital requirements can be found by solving a stochastic linear programming problem. I then extend the analysis to financial networks with default costs and show the optimal capital requirements can be found by solving a stochastic mixed integer programming problem. The computational complexity of this problem poses a challenge, and I develop an iterative algorithm that can be efficiently executed. I show that the iterative algorithm leads to solutions that are nearly optimal by comparing it with lower bounds based on a dual approach. I also show that the iterative algorithm converges to the optimal solution.

Finally, I incorporate fire sales externalities into the model. In particular, I am able to extend the analysis of systemic risk and the optimal capital requirements with a single illiquid asset to a model with multiple illiquid assets. The model with multiple illiquid assets incorporates liquidation rules used by the banks. I provide an optimization formulation whose solution provides the equilibrium payments for a given liquidation rule.

I further show that the socially optimal capital problem using the ``socially optimal liquidation" and prioritized liquidation rules can be formulated as a convex and convex mixed integer problem, respectively. Finally, I illustrate the results of the methodology on numerical examples and

discuss some implications for capital regulation policy and stress testing.

International Sales of UK Television Content: Change and Continuity in ‘the space in between’ Production and Consumption

Focusing on the UK, this article addresses key issues facing the international distribution industry arising from over-the-top digital distribution and the fragmentation of audiences and revenues. Building on the identification of these issues, it investigates the extent to which UK distribution has altered over a ten-year period, pinpointing continuities in the destination and type of sales alongside changes in the role and structure of the industry as UK-based distributors adapt to a changing UK broadcasting landscape and global production environment. At one level increasing US ownership of UK-based distributors and the arrival of OTT players like Netflix, highlight the tensions between the national orientations of UK broadcasters and the global aspirations of independent producers and distributors. At another level VOD has boosted international sales of UK drama. Although the full impact of SVOD on content and rights has yet to materialise, significant changes in the industry predate the arrival of SVOD.

Tianjin sales of land by auctions:Italian Colonialism in the early twentieth century China

s a signatory to the Boxer Protocol in 1901, Italy came into possession of the Tianjin concession, its only colonial possession in China. The Italian settlement was situated on the Hai River, and most of the land consisted of cemeteries and salt deposits. Italian administration of the settlement encountered many difficulties. Expropriation of land from the Chinese occupants was not easy, and it proved equally difficult to attract Italian investors. However despite the fact that Italian public opinion supported the abandonment of the concession, the Italian government was ultimately obliged to undertake a project for its urban development. Success in Tianjin became a national challenge for Italy, with the National Trust providing the necessary economic support. The history of the Italian settlement in Tianjin therefore sheds light on the politics of colonialism and on Italy's economic and political agendas at the turn of the twentieth century.