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The authors provide a general framework of behavior under asymmetric information and develop indices of diligence, objectivity and quality by an analyst and analyst firm about a studied firm, and relate them to the accuracy of its forecasts. The authors test the associations of these indices with time.

The test of Public Information versus Non-Public Information Models provides the index of diligence, which equals one minus the p-value of the Hausman Specification Test of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) versus Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS). The test of Objectivity versus Non-Objectivity Models provides the index of objectivity, which equals the p-value of the Wald Test of zero coefficients versus non-zero coefficients in 2SLS regression of the earnings forecast residual. The exponent of the negative of the standard deviation of the residuals of the analyst forecast regression equation provides the index of analytical quality. Each index asymptotically equals the Bayesian ex post probability, by the analyst and analyst firm about the studied firm, of the relevant behavior.

The authors find that ex post accuracy is a statistically and economically significant increasing function of the product of the indices of diligence, objectivity and quality by the analyst and analyst firm about the studied firm, which asymptotically equals the Bayesian ex post joint probability of diligence, objectivity and quality. The authors find that diligence, objectivity, quality and accuracy did not improve with time.

There has been no previous work done on the systematic and objective characterization and joint analysis of diligence, objectivity and quality of analyst forecasts by an analyst and analyst firm for a studied firm, and their relation with accuracy. This paper puts together the frontiers of various disciplines.

Achieving high level of customer satisfaction (CS) involves spending marketing resources in terms of money, managerial time, and focus. Consistent with the return on quality framework this paper aims to look at both the costs and benefits of a satisfaction program.

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of a beverage distributor. Two satisfaction surveys were conducted before and after the launch of the program. Profitability was calculated using activity based costing (ABC) principles. The link between changes in satisfaction and changes in profitability was analyzed.

It was found that as a result of the launch of satisfaction program CS increased significantly, but the weighted least square analysis of the relationship between CS and customer profitability (CP) shows that it does not necessarily result in higher customer profits. CS is found to be positively related to sales volume and gross profits at the customer level. However, a net profit measure of CP, derived after careful allocation of costs based on activities, shows a much more complex and non‐linear pattern of relationship.

The paper shows that there are several valuable lessons to be drawn from the study. First, the cost of increasing satisfaction could be substantial. A positive relationship between satisfaction and profitability, posited by most of the customer satisfaction literature, could reach its limit much sooner than generally believed. Second, allocating costs based on activities in serving the customers, and not merely on revenues is important since doing so results in a different and more complete profitability profile of customers, as is described in the sample. Finally, the complexities and non‐linearities in the CS‐CP link documented in this study imply that satisfaction improvement efforts (and dollars) should be directed towards larger customers and customers who are already relatively highly satisfied.

The subject area is strategy and business.

The case can be used for MBA students. This is equally effective in short courses meant for low-to-mid-level working executives. The case is suited for classes in strategy, general marketing, media management and family business courses.

Dainik Jagran – a vernacular daily – is the most read newspaper in India. Under the banner of Jagran Prakashan Ltd.; which is one of the leading media houses in India, the success of Dainik Jagran has been an outcome of the strategic marketing decisions taken by its founder and his successors in the post-independence era. With extensive circulation, it created a large readership base and took bold decisions to launch multi editions to its daily through a series of acquisitions, mergers and consolidations from 1975 to 2010, enabling it to step into product diversification. Readership surveys, investments in technology, advertising, regular branding events and smart phone applications are a few tools that helped. While the group has diversified into other industries, there is an underlying anxiety about the future prospects of its newspaper business. With the onslaught of online news dailies, will Dainik Jagran be able to expand and maintain its readership base using its previous business and marketing strategies? Or is it time to change strategies for businesses in the newspaper and allied media industry in India?

The study has the following outcomes: application of value chain concept in businesses serving two-sided markets; application of environmental analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis and related strategy concepts; and learning to critically approach and develop a sustainable growth strategy framework for a successful family-run newspaper business in India.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

After fifteen years of use by U.S. Federal government agencies, purchase cards are still caught in a debate between the drive to improve governmental efficiency and the need to prudently manage and control spending of taxpayer resources. This paper gives decision makers facts by which to evaluate the purchase card experience to date by providing a brief history of legislative actions related to purchase cards, analyzing patterns of purchase card spending by Federal government agencies, estimating the potential size of the purchase card program, and identifying the costs and benefits of shifting low-value transactions to the purchase card. The paper concludes with recommendations for government action.

The case primarily focused on a real-life problem and shows that existing operations management tools can be used to solve a complex problem. Through this case, the participants will learn the application of the factor loading method and aggregate planning.

This case revolves around the Modi Agro Pvt. Ltd, a mango procurement and distribution business established in 1994 by Mr Dhanush Modi in Mumbai, India. Mr Mahendra Modi, son of the company owner, observed that the different seasons of cultivation and varied customer demands lead to changing workforce requirements during the procurement process. In addition, the production quality, variety, available resources, procurement location and cost play a significant role in establishing a long-term relationship with the customers. This case highlights the problem faced by Mahendra in determining an appropriate location among all available options for mango procurement and the optimal workforce for each month to meet the varying customers’ demands.

The case can be used as teaching material for participants of the course Service Operations Management, Operations Management, Decision Analysis and Quantitative Techniques

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design of a hybrid tether using probabilistic approach considering inherent random variation in the stress developed and the strength it has. The variation in strength is mostly because of variation in diameter of the tether and the properties of the material along the length of the tether. As a result, classical design approach for the tether may not serve the purpose. For this purpose, a reliability-based design of hybrid tether is discussed in this paper.

A literature review was carried out on the design of tether and its operational reliability. It has been shown that the classical design approach does not serve the purpose, as the strategic operation has to be reliable enough, often requiring a measure of reliability required. A reliability-based approach has been presented to achieve the optimum design of a hybrid tether.

The optimization problem was carried out for different values of the safety factor to investigate the effect on the optimal design of tether. An analysis is carried out to show that one should not target a very high value of reliability or factor of safety, as it causes the self-weight of the tether to increase tremendously and its cost significantly.

The present work has been carried out considering the limited data and can further be extended to determine more accurate reliability measures by considering more number of sample test data. The measured data is collected from limited required trials for demo; do not represent the exact population data.

Lab strength test and flight trials were conducted to acquire data for the present analysis. In field use, it was noticed that the tether degraded from top portion attached toward the balloon end because of maximum exposure and repeated usage.

Internal control mechanisms are fundamental to organizational governance; particularly, to the agency relationship associated with decentralization of decision rights. Management accounting and organizational literatures provide conflicting predictions on the association between decentralization and internal controls, with some research arguing that internal controls be tightened to mitigate the risks associated with greater decentralization of decision rights while other work avers that tighter internal controls defeat the purposes of decentralization. In this chapter, we argue that managers choose these two organizational design variables jointly. Capitalizing on a unique database of control practices in the purchasing and payment process within the procurement function, this chapter examines the relationship between control tightness – a critical characteristic of internal controls – and decentralization. Using a simultaneous equation model, the study finds that decentralization and internal control design are endogenously determined. Tight control is negatively associated with the level of decentralization, while decentralization has a positive effect on the tightness of control. These results reconcile the apparently contradictory results relating these two variables. The chapter also finds that decentralization and tight control mechanisms operate both independently and synergistically to improve performance.

The practices and arrangements within a family can create grounds for violence. Although we agree that family processes are important, we think that these explanations downplay the structure of families (nuclear, extended) and thereby the ways in which gender relations are organized. In this paper, domestic violence is explored as an intra-family dynamic that extends beyond the intimate partner relationship and which seeps into court rulings of cases of such violence.

Using archival data from 164 Supreme Court case decisions on domestic violence in India for the period 1995–2011, we examine both the patterns of conviction and the complexities of gender relations within the family by systematically coding the Court’s rulings.

Analysis of court rulings show that mothers-in-law were convicted in 14% cases and the husband was convicted in 41% cases. We call attention to the collective nature of the domestic violence crime in India where mothers-in-law were seldom convicted alone (3% of cases) but were more likely to be convicted along with other members of the family. Two dominant themes we discuss are the gendered nature of familial relations beyond the intimate partner relationship and the pervasiveness of such gendered relationships from the natal home to the marital family making victims of domestic violence isolated and “homeless.”

Future research may benefit from using data in addition to the judgments to consider caste and class differences in the rulings. An intersectionality perspective may add to the understanding of the interpretation of the laws by the courts.

Insights from this paper have important policy implications. As discussed in the paper, the unintended support for violence from the natal family is an indication of their powerlessness and therefore further victimization through the law will not help. It is critical that natal families re-frame their powerlessness which is often derived from their status as families with daughters. Considering that most women in India turn to their natal families first for support when they face violence in their marriages, policy must enable such families to act and utilize the law.

By examining court rulings on cases of domestic violence in India we focus on the power exerted by some women particularly within extended families which is central to understanding gender relations within institutions. These relations are legitimized by the courts in the ways they interpret the law and rule on cases.

The purpose of this paper is to examine plastic and virtual purchasing card use by US Government agencies, with particular focus on how successful implementation might inform governmental entities of potential improvements in the cost, quality and time associated with the digitization of their procure-to-pay processes. Specifically, the paper will: analyze the evolution of card-based payments by US Government agencies, compare the value stream of plastic and virtual cards to governmental entities, analyze the value of card use as a significant and sustainable contributor to greater governmental efficiency and examine the opportunity in the portability of successful card technology implementation strategy.

The authors examined data published by the US federal government relating to agency budgets and commercial card use and combining it with industry performance metrics, projected potential savings and efficiencies for the government and its agencies.

The US Government acknowledges significant administrative cost savings and cash rebates based on its spending on commercial cards. An analysis of US Government spending indicates that changing patterns of card spending are primarily driven by activities of one agency – the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Through the incorporation of advances in card technology, escalation of transaction amounts and leveraging card spending data transparency, the VA has continued to increase its use of and benefit from card technology, while other agencies have languished. By replication of VA strategy, the US Government at large has the potential for billions in card-related savings.

The study implies that a large swathe of governmental agencies, after having adopted new technology (e.g. purchasing cards), are hesitant to use the new technology, a problem that afflicts most implementation efforts. Countermeasures to offset agency resistance to change should be considered and deployed.

Taxpayers demand much of government. The burden of governmental failure to exploit the benefits of innovation (such as card technology) falls on the shoulders of taxpayers. When the government cannot exploit technologies that are commonly used in the private sector, the failure lowers citizen respect for the capability of government employees and the ability of government writ large to solve problems.

Governmental failure to exploit the benefits of technology dispirits the citizenry, yielding a desire for change that may be disproportionate to the problem at hand.

The study combines General Services Administration, US Treasury and market data points to make a unique assessment of the benefits derived through 20 years of governmental commercial card use.