The role of resources in achieving target competitive positions

Competitive positioning has become an essential component of modern marketing management. For a firm to target effective positions for its products and services, it needs to decide on the market segment (where it will compete) as well as the differential advantage it will emphasise (how it will compete). Until recently, empirical research on positioning has received little attention, while substantial insight has been gained with respect to the concept of competitive positioning. Furthermore, Hooley, Moller and Broderick have highlighted the lack of empirical studies relative to theoretical ones related to positioning in general and to the relationship between positioning and the different components of each competitive positioning that a firm might choose. This study focuses on product competitive positioning in over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals in the British market. It was found that certain resources underpin specific competitive positions.

State-of-the-art in product-service systems

A Product-Service System (PSS) is an integrated combination of products and services. This Western concept embraces a service-led competitive strategy, environmental sustainability, and the basis to differentiate from competitors who simply offer lower priced products. This paper aims to report the state-of-the-art of PSS research by presenting a clinical review of literature currently available on this topic. The literature is classified and the major outcomes of each study are addressed and analysed. On this basis, this paper defines the PSS concept, reports on its origin and features, gives examples of applications along with potential benefits and barriers to adoption, summarizes available tools and methodologies, and identifies future research challenges.

Product-service systems revisited

There is a growing interest around the potential value of service-led competitive strategies to UK based manufacturers. A Product Service-System (PSS) is one form of such a strategy and is based on integrated combination of products and services. This concept also embraces environmental sustainability. This paper aims to summarise the state-of-the-art of PSS research by presenting a review of literature currently available on this topic. The literature search is described and the major outcomes of the study are presented. On this basis, this paper defines the PSS concept, reports on its origin and features.

PSS as a service based strategy for western manufacturers

A product-service system (PSS) is a subtle blend of products and services that are offered as an integrated solution to customers. Much existing work on PSS has originated from Scandinavia and has been motivated by a sustainability agenda. Although valuable, this form has limited appeal to western manufacturers. However, by expanding the concepts of PSS to also embrace leading thinking on large scale complex service systems and informated products and services, it is possible to put forward the basis of a service business model that offers the means to differentiate from competitors who simply offer lower priced products. This paper aims to build this case. It reports the state-of-the-art of PSS, defines the concept, reports on its origin and features, discusses examples of applications, and finally proposes a research strategy for future work on this topic.

Servitization of manufacturing

The servicisation agenda is arguably one of the most important facing western manufacturers. In a world of severe international competition, it can be the basis of distinct competitive advantage, and a means to differentiate a company's products from goods produced in low cost economies. The concept of Product Service Systems (PSS) is, in particular, a special case of servicisation. With PSS, the market proposition is designed as a system that exploits synergies between products and services while, at the same time, seeks to reduce the economic and environmental costs of delivery. Although key to sustaining western manufacturing operations, major issues arise with design and management of engineering, manufacturing and supply chain activities for successful implementation of such a service-led competitive strategy. This session includes presentations which examine the opportunities and challenges associated with servicisation in more detail.

Putting supply chain learning theory into practice:lessons from an Irish case

The logistics service market is currently going through a fundamental transition. The development of closer relationships with customers and the continuous adaptation of products and services, represent potentially successful approaches to the development of improved competitive capability. To this end knowledge resources and learning processes increasingly represent key elements within the evolving framework of the 3PL business. This paper describes the case of NITL’s Foundation Certificate Programme (FCP) learning programme with specific reference to its use in addressing some of current shortcomings related to supply chain knowledge and skills in the Irish third party logistics (3PL) industry. The FCP rationale is based on the need to move from traditional approaches of supply chain organisation where the various links in the chain were measured and managed in isolation from each other and thus tended to operate at cross purposes, towards more integrated approaches.

Assessing the impact of management concerns in e-business requirements planning in manufacturing organizations

This paper describes the application of a model, initially developed for determining the e-business requirements of a manufacturing organization, to assess the impact of management concerns on the functions generated. The model has been tested on 13 case studies in small, medium and large organizations. This research shows that the incorporation of concerns for generating the requirements for e-business functions improves the results, because they expose issues that are of relevance to the decision making process relating to e-business. Running the model with both and without concerns, and then presenting the reasons for major variances, can expose the issues and enable them to be studied in detail at the individual function/ reason level. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2013.

Az on-line vásárlás vevői elfogadottsága Magyarországon (Adoption of on-line commerce in Hungary)

A hazai internethasználat terjedésével egyre népszerűbbek az on-line kereskedelmi modellek, egyre több cég kísérli meg, hogy terméket vagy szolgáltatást értékesítsen az interneten. Például az on-line könyvértékesítések és a diszkont légitársaságok jegyeladásai az e-kereskedelem kiugró ágazatai közé tartoznak – ez a hasonlóság adja a tanulmány alapját. Dinamikusan növekvő keresleti igények honorálják az internetes megjelenést, és fordítva: a fogyasztói e-felkészültséget gyakran a kínálati oldal indukálja. A szerzők kutatásukban a hazai internethasználat bemutatásával és fókuszcsoportos beszélgetések révén próbálják meg feltárni, hogy mi minden szükséges ahhoz, hogy valódi alternatívát jelentsen az on-line kereskedelem a vevők számára. Kísérletet tesznek a keresleti oldal átfogó bemutatására, hasonlóságokra és különbségekre fókuszálva, valamint szintén összevetik a kínálati oldal jellemző karaktereit, ezek egyezőségeit és eltéréseit vizsgálva. ______________ With the spreading of Hungarian internet usage online e-commerce models have become more and more popular, more and more companies start to sell products and services via the internet. For instance the on-line book sales and purchase of discount airline tickets belong to the leading branches of e-business and demonstrate that dynamically increasing demand generates supply. In this research first the authors introduces the basic data about internet usage in Hungary. Then, based on a series of focused group discussions they examine what the key customer requirements are to really consider e-commerce as a serious alternative for traditional shopping. They attempt to describe the demand side and juxtapose it with the characteristics of the supply side of Hungarian e-commerce.

Restaurant Service for the 90's

Much has been written about servicing the customer. In fact, every issue of Restaurants USA or Nation's Restaurant News offers an article designed to help restaurateurs more successfully service their customers. While the restaurant market has carefully zeroed in on the specific products and services customers require, no one has carefully addressed the heart of the issue. The authors discuss the "hospitality" in restaurant service.

Who Shook Big Mac?: Panera Bread Co.

The authors identify the firm-specific core competencies that Panera Bread has relied on to achieve a competitive advantage in its business domain. The study illustrates how the company scans the dynamically changing environments and tailors their products and services in accordance with these changes.

Antecedentes da intenção de uso de comentários de viagem on-line na escolha de um meio de hospedagem

The Internet is present in each step of a trip planning. The constant technological advances has made major changes in the tourism industry. This is noticeable by the growing number of people who share their travel experiences on the Internet. This study has aimed to analyze the factors that influence the use of the Online Travel Reviews (OTR) in choosing an accommodation. It was done an investigation into the comments available on the internet about information on touristic products and services, specifically about accommodations. The research proposed to understand the influencing factors of OTR, in the Brazilian context, through the Technology Acceptance Model, Motivational Theory, Similarity, and Trustworthiness. The methodology used was a descriptive-exploratory study, with a quantitative approach, and bibliographic research. The study used a Structural Equation Modeling technique called Partial Least Squares (PLS), to test and evaluate the proposed research model. Data collection was performed with 308 guests hosted in five hotels in Ponta Negra (Natal/RN), who have used the OTRs in choosing an accommodation. The research tested fifteen hypotheses, where nine were confirmed, and six were rejected. The results showed that guests have attitude and intention to use the OTRs to choose an accommodation.

A tematização do espaço público e a economia criativa local: estudo de caso a partir do "maior São João do mundo", em Campina Grande-PB

The thematization of public space in the ―Maior São João do Mundo‖ in Campina Grande - PB stimulates the economy and the local tourism from the transformation of a common public space in a setting that has the traditional June festivals based. To do so, contributes to promotion of existing creative sectors in the city and the design of a new city that is projected from the festivities of São João. In this research we propose to determine the influence of the thematization of public space in the local economy, particularly in creative sectors present in the ―Maior São João do Mundo‖ and assess their importance for the development of local creative economy. We chose the case study, from an ethnographic approach, using different research techniques such as participant observation, semi-structured interviews with open questions and the analysis of social representations of respondents. The methodology used is mixed because it involves qualitative and quantitative data. We could notice at the end of this research, the thematization of public space in the ―Maior São João do Mundo‖ is the main reference factor for the event, stimulating the local economy and changing the city's image in three levels: political, economic and social. Also realize that the thematization of public space is the key binding factor between the creative sectors as well as between them and the related activities. All these sectors serve as a link between the products and services, creating a harmonic whole that transforms the city's image, stimulates the economy, promotes social inclusion, cultural integration and keeps the ―Maior São João do Mundo‖ as a traditional event in the tourist calendar regional and national.

CRIATIVIDADE EM PUBLICIDADE E A QUESTÃO ÉTICA: um estudo da publicidade brasileira premiada

A questão ética deve pautar a atividade profissional do publicitário, por ser uma atividade de grande influência sobre a opinião pública, pois associa a imagem de empresas e suas marcas a uma postura de comprometimento com a sociedade na qual está inserida, transformando-as em empresas-modelo. Em nome da criatividade publicitária, muitas vezes, anúncios de produtos e serviços diversos contradizem uma propaganda socialmente responsável. A presente dissertação analisou a linguagem e o discurso da propaganda no que se refere à questão ética, observando-se até que ponto elas consideram ou não estas questões. Desta forma, apresentam-se como os elementos que compõem a mensagem podem deixar, explícita ou implicitamente, informações que poderiam comprometer a empresa caso a observação do público fosse mais crítica ou mais apurada. Para esta análise foram selecionados anúncios premiados no prêmio Profissionais do Ano , hoje um dos principais prêmios da propaganda brasileira instituído pela Rede Globo de Televisão, e o instrumento metodológico utilizado foi uma leitura subsidiada na análise do discurso. A grande maioria dos comerciais premiados neste Festival não fere princípios éticos. Foi selecionado apenas um corpus, em que se confrontou a temática criativa de cada comercial com o Código Brasileiro de Auto-regulamentação Publicitária (CONAR), verificando assim como estes comerciais,sob este olhar, podem ser considerados como incorretos no tocante à ética e à responsabilidade social.(AU)

Revisando el uso de grupos focalizados en la investigación social

Las reflexiones metodológicas sobre grupos focalizados (GF) de este artículo tienen como punto de partida una investigación con sectores medios del Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires. El estudio de referencia aborda los discursos y prácticas de cuidado de la salud en el escenario contemporáneo caracterizado por la diversificación de especialistas, la creciente cobertura mediática de recomendaciones sobre la vida sana y el bienestar, la implementación de políticas públicas de promoción de la salud, y el crecimiento de la industria de productos y servicios vinculados con la temática. El objetivo del artículo es reflexionar, a partir de nuestra experiencia de investigación, sobre dos aspectos que han recibido especial atención en la literatura metodológica más reciente: los criterios para componer los grupos y sus consecuencias para la dinámica de las conversaciones grupales, y las estrategias para dar cuenta de la interacción grupal en el análisis de los datos. En este último eje exploramos el potencial de los GF para observar el trabajo identitario vinculado con el cuidado de la salud. Enmarcamos nuestro estudio y las decisiones metodológicas tomadas en los debates actuales sobre la variedad de usos de los GF.

A Comunicação Interna: a eficácia dos meios de comunicação interna na Caixa Geral de Depósitos

No mundo actual, onde a concorrência cresce e a oferta de produtos aumenta, onde a globalização é palavra de ordem, torna-se essencial pensar a sobrevivência das empresas como estando dependentes da adopção de comportamentos transparentes diante dos públicos, sejam eles de dimensão interna e/ou externa. Reconhecer a importância de controlar os aspectos imprevisíveis a que as empresas estão sujeitas, permite às organizações um maior controlo na previsão dos problemas, como os corrigir antes que estes interfiram no seu sucesso, constituindo assim um ambiente previsível e favorável. A comunicação assume pois um papel primordial na visibilidade positiva de uma empresa. O cliente interno, neste trabalho, será visto como fornecedor de uma rede interna de prestação de serviços, responsável pela agregação de valor aos produtos e serviços oferecidos pela organização. Os clientes internos são também vistos como detentores de um propósito comum responsável tanto pela criação como pela continuidade da organização. Ao longo deste trabalho é descrita e focada a ligação especial que existe entre a comunicação empresarial, a comunicação interna e a estratégia do marketing interno evidenciando a importância destes para as organizações. O objectivo deste estudo é analisar a eficácia dos meios de comunicação interna na Caixa Geral de Depósitos, a partir da realização de 39 inquéritos administrados a colaboradores de uma Agência. Os resultados obtidos com este estudo deram ênfase à eficácia dos meios de comunicação interna utilizados na organização em estudo, concluindo que a comunicação deve ser veiculada de acordo com a utilidade das funções a desempenhar. / In today´s world where competition grows and the supply of products increases, where globalization is a slogan, it is essential to consider the survival of business as being dependent of the adoption of transparent behavior in public, in they internal or external dimensions. Recognizing the importance of controlling the unpredictable aspects that companies are subject, allows organizations greater control in forecast the problems, how to correct them before they interfere with their success, providing a predictable and favorable ambient. Communication assumes an essential role in a positive visibility of a company. The internal customer, this work will be seen as a provider of internal network services, responsible for adding value to products and services offered by the organization. Internal customers are also seen as having a common purpose as much responsible for creating the continuity of the organization. Throughout this work is focused and described the special bond that exists between corporate communication, internal communication and internal marketing strategy, highlighting their importance for the organizations. The aim of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of internal communication in the CGD, from conducting 39 surveys administered to employees of an Agency. The results of this study emphasized the effectiveness of internal communication in the organization used in the study, concluding that the communication should be conveyed according to the usefulness of the tasks.