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Background & Aims: Compared to the past, the competition in today's markets is wider and more diverse, and many companies are trying to provide the conditions for their growth and development by developing appropriate competitive strategies. One of these strategies is paying more attention to customers' feelings. (1). Also, in today's competitive market, the most important issue of shopping centers is the different tastes of customers, which is considered one of the important discussions of organizations. Despite the known information about shopping centers, these centers usually have the same products and goods. For example, many shopping centers have placed places as entertainment, reception and conversation centers for friends and customers. Also, some other shopping centers attract customers by placing a variety of products in shop windows and decorating them. In order to bring the best shopping experience to customers, shopping malls must offer unique and different products and services to customers compared to other stores. (2). Nowadays, the good location of shopping centers does not guarantee the success of these centers anymore. The lack of differentiation in providing goods and services to customers is currently a problem in these centers. Shopping centers often offer similar goods and services to customers. However, some of them have added a wide range of amenities to their stores to gain the satisfaction and loyalty of their customers. (3). Today, customer satisfaction is a key factor for the success of organizations. Researchers state that satisfaction is related to the evaluation of products and services and purchase values. These researchers have stated that the evaluation of products in terms of hedonic values leads to a positive effect and the feeling of positive consumption leads to the customer's intention to buy again. (4); Considering that hedonic shopping values affect the mental perceptions and perceptions of customers. (5) Also, due to the reopening of large shopping centers in Iran and stores that offer all the goods needed by the customer in one place, this issue arises that hedonic and materialistic shopping values, according to the different tastes of customers, To what extent can it lead to the intention to repurchase the customers of these shopping centers? Therefore, in this research, based on the background of previous researches and the conceptual model, the effect of hedonism on consumer guilt and consumer shame, the effect of diversification on consumer guilt and consumer shame, the effect of materialism on consumer's feelings Let's examine consumer guilt and consumer shame, consumer guilt and consumer shame on repurchase intention. In the world of shopping and consumption, impulse buying has a lot to do with inappropriate individual behavior and preferences, the negative consequences of which include personal and financial issues, post-purchase satisfaction, social reactions, and above all, individual self-esteem, but sometimes impulse buying is a behavior. It is considered normal and even with positive consequences. Instant shopping is a complex but enjoyable phenomenon. Because a person does not care about the consequences of his actions in the future. Of course, it should be mentioned that just having the feeling of buying a gift does not necessarily lead to action, but various variables can affect the relationship between buying a gift and action. This behavior is an experience, but an experience that happens very quickly. Instant buying can be likened to stealing goods rather than choosing goods, and from an individual point of view, it is more unconscious than conscious. In fact, buyers who experience impulse purchases do not give in to any stimulus or demand. There are various factors that may inform the consumer of his need and at the same time inform him what will be the result of the immediate purchase and the feeling related to it. Factors such as financial situation, time, way of looking at issues and social status and maybe even immediate purchase can be effective in creating the need and evaluating it and speed of purchase. (6) Psychologists believe that people's desire for instant purchases is different and can occur with different notions of hedonism, diversification and materialism. (7,8) Also, shopping for pleasure is always more personal and internal than value based on utility and is often the result of play and entertainment. (9) Consumers can fantasize about owning a product. Also, they may feel arousal after a pleasurable shopping experience. In this case, hedonic shopping consumes emotions such as happiness, jealousy, fear, passion, and pleasure, and these emotions and feelings are phenomena related to motivation and stimuli. (10) In addition, Hirschman and Holbrook state that emotional arousal can be the main motivation of consumers in some product categories such as books, food, games and sportswear and can lead to pleasurable purchases. Just as pleasure-seeking buyers have different motivations, these consumers also have different expectations from their purchases. Babin, Darden, and Griffin state that shopping means more than just having a product, and retailers must focus on the more pleasurable aspects of shopping in order to be successful; Because the pleasant experience of customers plays an important role in gaining a competitive advantage. Despite the fact that retailers try to differentiate themselves from competitors by providing a pleasant experience for the customer; However, limited studies have been done in the academic space on reasons and hedonic motives in the activity of consumer buying activities. (11) Methods: The present study examines the effect of pleasure on consumer guilt and shame, the effect of diversify on consumer guilt and shame, the effect of materialism on consumer guilt and shame, as well as consumer guilt and shame on repurchase intention. The current research is applied in terms of its purpose and is considered a survey in terms of the method of data collection. A questionnaire was used to collect information. For this purpose, among 384 customers of shopping malls in Tehran, the hypotheses were tested by stratified random method according to the volume of distribution and through structural equation modeling. The items are taken from the research of Babin et al. (1994); Lee et al. (2009); Richins and Dawson (1992); Dedeoğlu and Kazançoğlu (2012), Maclnnis and Patrick (2006) and Diallo (2012) were localized with the opinion of professors and experts. To check the validity of the content of the questionnaire, 12 copies of the questionnaire were given to the professors of business administration and the content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated for each of the items, and the value obtained was acceptable for all the items of the questionnaire. Results: According to the research findings, pleasure, diversify and materialism have a positive effect on consumers' feelings of guilt and shame. Also, pleasure, diversify and materialism are effective on repurchase intention. On the other hand, consumer guilt and shame have a negative effect on repurchase intention. Conclusion: Considering that the effect of pleasure, diversify and materialism on guilt and shame was confirmed, shopping center managers should try to take measures to manage and reduce the guilt and shame of consumers after shopping, so that they can buy again in the goods. Purchased, because if these centers do not pay psychological attention to consumers, they may lose a significant part of their buyers. Because considering the importance of postpurchase disonance of consumers such as feelings of guilt and shame in repeat purchases, companies should be aware of the importance of post-purchase anomalies in consumers at all stages of service provision and provide solutions. Because training programs and trainings with products will work more consciously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions in the healthcare system today involve an important new set of actors: evaluative health platforms (EHPs). These platforms are not neutral intermediaries, but active moderators of how patients express opinions, choose providers, and consume health-related information. This paper adds to our understanding of the varied and evolving commercial interests of EHPs and the implications these have for patient voice. We analyze 71 platforms in the USA, UK, and Germany and identify five ideal types: subscribers, analyzers, advertisers, regulators, and scammers. Each platform type enacts a unique competitive strategy through an evaluative infrastructure which constrains but also generates possibilities for patient voice. Based on our typology, we develop three contributions. First, we nuance universalizing claims about the consequences of platform capitalism by specifying the diverse strategies underpinning competition between EHPs in different countries, and showing how each strategy leads evaluative infrastructures to develop in ways that impact patient voice. Second, we show how patients can navigate the challenges of a complex EHP space by exercising their ability to choose between platforms. Finally, we outline the conditions platforms need to fulfil to become empowering. Overall, this study highlights the varied and complex relationship between platform business models and user voice, which exists not only in healthcare, but also in many other fields. • Typology of evaluative health platforms (EHPs) in the US, the UK, and Germany. • EHP business models and content moderation techniques vary considerably. • EHPs have a wide range of implications for patient voice. • More transparency and competition can help platforms increase patient empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

France has a single-payer health insurance system that has the authority to impose pharmaceutical price reductions but relies on decentralized market negotiations between hospitals and manufacturers to establish prices for injected and infused biologies. Hospitals rely on biosimilars--less expensive but therapeutically equivalent variants of biologic medications--to stimulate competition. Price reductions negotiated by hospitals subsequently are adopted by the health insurance system, driving hospitals to negotiate a new round of discounts. This article measures 2004-20 trends in prices, price reductions, utilization, and market shares for three prominent biologies--Remicade, Enbrel, and Humira--and their eleven competing biosimilars. Biosimilar launches are associated with a sequence of price reductions for the reference biologic, for other biologies that treat similar conditions, and for all related biosimilars. The French experience provides lessons for the US in its efforts to use competition from biosimilars to drive price reductions and savings from biologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food environments are influenced by food industries (packaged food and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers; supermarkets and quick service restaurants). An important source of this influence is the significant market power held by a limited number of food companies. Market structure analysis, as part of a broader market power research agenda, has received limited attention from the public health community. The aim of this study was to analyse similarities and differences in market structure across countries and industries in the European Single Market. Methods: The companies with the largest market share at the national level for each industry were identified from Euromonitor sales data in 2017/18. The market structure was assessed by the following metrics: the number of global brand owners with ≥1% market share per country, the number of companies unique for one European Single Market member state, the most sold packaged food and non-alcoholic beverage categories, the number of quick-service restaurants and supermarkets per 1000 inhabitants and market concentration by means of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and the four firm concentration ratio (CR4). CR4-values > 40% and HHI-values > 2000 indicate concentrated markets with limited competition. Results: The leading packaged food and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers and the most sold food and beverage product categories were similar across countries in Europe. The observed levels of concentration were however different. Average CR4-values ranged from 21 to 72% among packaged food product markets and 60 to 76% for non-alcoholic beverage product markets. Average CR4-values for quick service restaurants and supermarkets were 50 and 60%, respectively. Across European countries the same leading quick-service restaurants were identified, while this was not the case for supermarkets. Conclusions: This study forms an important basis to understand key aspects of market structure of the European food industry, observing clear differences between food industries and European Single Market member states. This has potential implications for the implementation of food environment policies at different levels of jurisdiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and development (R&D) investments are a key issue for companies. In an increasingly competitive economy, R&D can be a source of competitive advantage. Therefore, a profuse research line on the reasons that can motivate firms for R&D investment has emerged. Theoretical frameworks include the resource-based theory, the creative destruction model, the domestic competitive pressure model, and the exposure to international competition model, among others. However, the culture of the country is not widely used as an explanatory variable. Therefore, in this article we will test the extent to which R&D intensity in European countries may be explained by cultural dimensions. Our study included observations from 6,919 firm-year data from 1,517 firms in a sample of 13 European countries. The results support the idea that culture influences R&D intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is uncertain whether consolidation in health care markets affects the quality of care provided and health outcomes.Objectives: To examine whether changes in market competition resulting from acquisitions by two large national for-profit dialysis chains were associated with patient mortality.Methods: We identified patients initiating in-center hemodialysis between 2001 and 2009 from a registry of patients with end-stage renal disease in the United States. We considered two scenarios when evaluating consolidation from dialysis facility acquisitions: one in which we considered only those patients receiving dialysis in markets that became substantially more concentrated to have been affected by consolidation, and the other in which all patients living in hospital service areas where a facility was acquired were potentially affected. We used a difference-in-differences study design to examine the associations between market consolidation and changes in mortality rates.Results: When we considered the 12,065 patients living in areas that became substantially more consolidated to have been affected by consolidation, we found a nominally significant (8%; 95% confidence interval 0%-17%) increase in likelihood of death after consolidation. Nevertheless, when we considered all 186,158 patients living in areas where an acquisition occurred to have been affected by consolidation, there was no observable effect of market consolidation on mortality.Conclusions: Decreased market competition may have led to increased mortality among a relatively small subset of patients initiating in-center hemodialysis in areas that became substantially more concentrated after two large dialysis acquisitions, but not for most of the patients living in affected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From politics to sports to business, people are quick to categorize those at a competitive disadvantage as "underdogs." Moreover, there is ample anecdotal support that most people do not hesitate to align themselves with underdogs, a phenomenon called "the underdog effect." This study examines the moderation effect of product type (hedonic product vs. functional product) between brand stories and consumer brand identification using a mobile phone as the manipulated product. The moderation effect is tested with data collected from 287 participants in Wuhan, China. Results show that product type plays a significant moderating role. Specifically, consumers have higher brand identification if a functional product uses "top‐dog" brand stories or if a hedonic product uses underdog brand stories. The implications, limitations, and future studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pricing of stents is being questioned by healthcare stakeholders due to large differences in price of its product types and its variation across different markets. The stent pricing literature published during 1997-2017 were reviewed besides inputs from industry experts to identify initial key pricing drivers. Interpretive structural modeling was used to build priority for checking the price rise in emerging markets like India. Lack of regulation besides other drivers like R&D cost and price of substitute was found to be important drivers of high prices. The findings would help policy makers to take steps to make stent pricing affordable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpretive nutrition labels provide simplified nutrient-specific text and/or symbols on the front of pre-packaged foods, to encourage and enable consumers to make healthier choices. This type of labelling has been proposed as part of a comprehensive policy response to the global epidemic of non-communicable diseases. However, regulation of nutrition labelling falls under the remit of not just the health sector but also trade. Specific Trade Concerns have been raised at the World Trade Organization's Technical Barriers to Trade Committee regarding interpretive nutrition labelling initiatives in Thailand, Chile, Indonesia, Peru and Ecuador. This paper presents an analysis of the discussions of these concerns. Although nutrition labelling was identified as a legitimate policy objective, queries were raised regarding the justification of the specific labelling measures proposed, and the scientific evidence for effectiveness of such measures. Concerns were also raised regarding the consistency of the measures with international standards. Drawing on policy learning theory, we identified four lessons for public health policy makers, including: strategic framing of nutrition labelling policy objectives; pro-active policy engagement between trade and health to identify potential trade issues; identifying ways to minimize potential 'practical' trade concerns; and engagement with the Codex Alimentarius Commission to develop international guidance on interpretative labelling. This analysis indicates that while there is potential for trade sector concerns to stifle innovation in nutrition labelling policy, care in how interpretive nutrition labelling measures are crafted in light of trade commitments can minimize such a risk and help ensure that trade policy is coherent with nutrition action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the effects of hospital and insurer markets concentration on transaction prices for inpatient hospital services.Data Sources: Measures of hospital and insurer markets concentration derived from American Hospital Association and HealthLeaders-InterStudy data are linked to 2005-2008 inpatient administrative data from Truven Health MarketScan Databases.Study Design: Uses a reduced-form price equation, controlling for cost and demand shifters and accounting for possible endogeneity of market concentration using instrumental variables (IV) technique.Principal Findings: The findings suggest that greater hospital concentration raises prices, whereas greater insurer concentration depresses prices. A hypothetical merger between two of five equally sized hospitals is estimated to increase hospital prices by about 9 percent (p < .001). A similar merger of insurers would depress prices by about 15.3 percent (p < .001). Over the 2003-2008 periods, the estimates imply that hospital consolidation likely raised prices by about 2.6 percent, while insurer consolidation depressed prices by about 10.8 percent. Additional analysis using longer panel data and applying hospital fixed effects confirms the impact of hospital concentration on prices.Conclusion: The findings provide support for strong antitrust enforcement to curb rising hospital service prices and health care costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1970s, market restructuring has shifted many workers into workplaces heavily reliant on sales to outside corporate buyers. These outside buyers wield substantial power over working conditions among their suppliers. During the same period, wage growth for middle-income workers stagnated. By extending organizational theories of wage-setting to incorporate interactions between organizations, I predict that wage stagnation resulted in part from production workers’ heightened exposure to buyer power. Panel data on publicly traded companies shows that dependence on large buyers lowers suppliers’ wages and accounts for 10 percent of wage stagnation in nonfinancial firms since the 1970s. These results are robust to a series of supplementary measures of buyer power; instrumental variable analysis using mergers between buyers; corrections for selection and missing data; and controls for individual worker characteristics like education and occupation. The results show how product market restructuring and new forms of economic segmentation affect workers’ wages. The spread of unequal bargaining relations between corporate buyers and their suppliers has slowed wage growth for workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is designed to help educators demonstrate the advantages of free trade. It mentions that the article examines benefits, costs, opportunities, and challenges accompanying international trade, and how they impact the U.S. competitiveness, investment, and economic leadership with respect to overall growth and prosperity. It states that the article is designed to help educators demonstrate the advantages of free trade.

This paper studies the environmental and social trade-offs of remanufacturing for product+service firms under competition. We use an analytical model and a behavioral study that together incorporate demand cannibalization from multiple customer segments across the competing firms’ product lines. We measure firms’ profits, consumer surpluses, environmental impacts, and environmental costs along the products lifecycles in the resultant equilibria with and without remanufacturing. We show that competition intensifies the tension between increased profit and worsened environmental impact from market expansions caused by remanufacturing identified by prior research in the case of monopoly. However, bringing in the social dimension leads to an overall positive assessment: remanufacturing creates additional consumer surplus, which compensates for the cost of the environmental impact. In other words, we found strong support that remanufacturing is beneficial for the society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Capitalist economies depend on private business investment, and all governments in similar states compete to induce businesses to invest through various policy interventions. In so doing, they compete with other governments to retain current investors and to encourage new ones from elsewhere. The implications for policy-making and, by extension, citizens, are huge. The pressure on governments to capture new investment has an impact on taxation policies, workplace regulations, legal protections, public infrastructure and social policies. However, not all governments compete for investment in the same way at the same time, and not all businesses are attracted by the same inducements offered by states, highlighting the possibility that public policies shape investment strategies, just as investment strategies also shape public policies. It is its development of relatively unique and aggressive strategies to capture new investment that places the UK in a vulnerable position post-Brexit. It has successfully attracted mobile corporations to its shores, in part because it has offered a particularly favourable gateway into Europe for foreign capital. This raises questions about how the country will seek to compete for capital investment in future. This paper examines these questions with reference to both theoretical and empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although broadband Internet infrastructure is acknowledged as a key ingredient to competitiveness, an unfortunate aspect of current work is the dominant focus on households. Given the need for more research on the multidimensional relationship between broadband and businesses, or the broadband-business nexus, this study estimates econometric models to evaluate the impact of early broadband availability on future levels of business activity. Model results suggest regions with an early advantage in broadband provision had more business growth than other regions. Model results also highlight long-lasting spatial effects on business activity stemming from broadband spillovers from core hubs to neighboring areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global tobacco industry, from the 1960s to mid 1990s, saw consolidation and eventual domination by a small number of transnational tobacco companies (TTC). This paper draws together comparative analysis of five case studies in the special issue on ‘The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance.’ The cases suggest that tobacco industry globalisation is undergoing a new phase, beginning in the late 1990s, with the adoption of global business strategies by five Asian companies. The strategies were prompted foremost by external factors, notably market liberalisation, competition from TTCs and declining domestic markets. State protection and promotion enabled the industries in Japan, South Korea and China to rationalise their operations ahead of foreign market expansion. The TTM and TTL will likely remain domestic or perhaps regional companies, JTI and KT&G have achieved TTC status, and the CNTC is poised to dwarf all existing companies. This global expansion of Asian tobacco companies will increase competition which, in turn, will intensify marketing, exert downward price pressures along the global value chain, and encourage product innovation. Global tobacco control requires fuller understanding of these emerging changes and the regulatory challenges posed by ongoing globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is the international division of Japan Tobacco Incorporated, and the world’s third largest transnational tobacco company. Founded in 1999, JTI’s rapid growth has been the result of a global business strategy that potentially serves as a model for other Asian tobacco companies. This paper analyses Japan Tobacco Incorporated’s global expansion since the 1980s in response to market opening, foreign competition, and declining share of a contracting domestic market. Key features of its global strategy include the on-going central role and investment by the Japanese government, and an expansion agenda based on mergers and acquisitions. The paper also discusses the challenges this global business strategy poses for global tobacco control and public health. This paper is part of the special issue ‘The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Until the late 1980s, the former South Korean tobacco monopoly KT&G was focused on the protected domestic market. The opening of the market to foreign competition, under pressure from the U.S. Trade Representative, led to a steady erosion of market share over the next 10 years. Drawing on company documents and industry sources, this paper examines the adaptation of KT&G to the globalization of the South Korean tobacco industry since the 1990s. It is argued that KT&G has shifted from a domestic monopoly to an outward-looking, globally oriented business in response to the influx of transnational tobacco companies. Like other high-income countries, South Korea has also seen a decline in smoking prevalence as stronger tobacco control measures have been adopted. Faced with a shrinking domestic market, KT&G initially focused on exporting Korean-manufactured cigarettes. Since the mid-2000s, a broader global business strategy has been adopted including the building of overseas manufacturing facilities, establishing strategic partnerships and acquiring foreign companies. Trends in KT&G sales suggest an aspiring transnational tobacco company poised to become a major player in the global tobacco market. This article is part of the special issue ‘The emergence of Asian tobacco companies: Implications for global health governance’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Companies need to use information from multiple sources to improve their competitiveness. Since its beginnings in the 1950s, the European Union has developed a number of instruments for this purpose. This article gives an overview of the information resources that are most important for businesses and that originate from institutions and other bodies of the European Union. It is divided into five parts: European agencies; resources of the Directorate-General (DG) for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs; resources provided by other European Commission DGs & services; Points of Single Contact (PSCs) of the EUGO Network; and other support networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses research regarding rural grocery storeowners' perceptions of their communities, their business practices, and factors that influence their sustainability and the ability to support healthy food choices in Nebraska as of 2016. According to the article, storeowners reported on strategies that they employ to remain competitive by focusing on customer service and product quality. The public health aspects of obesity in America are examined, along with small U.S. stores.

Innovations currently represent a tool of maintaining the going concern of a business entity and its competitiveness. However, effects of innovations are not infinite and if an innovation should constantly preserve a life of business entity, it has to be a continual chain of innovations, i.e. continual process. Effective live of a single innovation is limited while the limitation is derived especially from industry. The paper provides the results of research on innovations effects in the financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic. Objective of this paper is to determine the length and intensity of the effects of technical innovations in company's financial performance. The economic effect of innovations has been measured at application of company's gross production power while the Deviation Analysis has been applied for three years' time series. Subsequently the Survival Analysis has been applied. The analyses are elaborated for three statistical samples of SMEs constructed in accordance to the industry. The results obtained show significant differences in innovations' survival within these three samples of enterprises then. The results are quite specific for the industries, and are confronted and discussed with the results of authors' former research on the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive bureaucracy, administration, and frequent legislative changes belong among the common factors that discourage people from entering the world of business. The main objective of this paper is to introduce scientific evidence that gender is one of the factors with a significant impact on the management of a company's administrative activities and on the perception of such administrative burdens as bureaucracy and, often, tax and legislative changes as one of the barriers to young entrepreneurs in the Slovak business environment. On the basis of the research data that was obtained, we wish to confirm that gender has a statistically significant impact on the amount of time spent fulfilling the administrative and bureaucratic requirements among young entrepreneurs in Slovakia. We consider the findings of the research on administrative burdens to be important because of the assumption that excessive bureaucracy could have a negative impact on the competitiveness of every economy. The paper uses data from research carried out in Slovakia in cooperation with the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Slovakia. Verification or rejection of alternative working hypothesis was realized through the statistical method of Pearson's chi-square test. Our results bring the following findings: young men and women consider different areas of the bureaucracy to be excessive; female entrepreneurs spend more time watching the changes in legislation affecting the business environment, and females spend almost twice as much time on administrative activities related to business in comparison to their male counterparts. These findings are confirmed by the statistical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-economic development of a region depends on the number of prosperous and profitable businesses. Local authorities provide proper development potential and facilitate the establishment and operation of business entities by creating business-friendly environment. The Polish and EU regions achieving high rates of efficiency are characterized by the fact that they "combine", both in formal and informal way, all socio-economic entities in a region in order to gain mutual benefits. Clusters are examples of such networks. Competitive capabilities of autonomous business entities, institutions and research centres in regions with high unemployment, small investments and capital are significantly reduced. The only effective way is to combine their potentials in order to obtain a cumulative advantage over the competition. One such region is Warmia-Masuria Province, which is seeking its chance for development in cluster initiatives. The present article is an attempt to answer the question: What benefits has the Warmia-Masuria region obtained after free years of cluster initiatives?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of the Thai tobacco market, following action brought by the US Trade Representative under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, is seen as a key case study of the tensions between trade and health policy. Interpretations of the dispute cast it, either as an example of how trade agreements undermine national policy-making, or how governments can adopt effective public health protections compliant with international trade rules. As a UK-based company, British American Tobacco has been regarded as peripheral to this dispute. This paper argues that its close monitoring of the illegal trade during this period, the role of smuggling in the company's global business strategy, and its management of the relative supply and pricing of legal and illegal products after market opening provide a fuller understanding of the interests and roles of transnational tobacco companies and the government in this dispute. The findings have important policy implications, notably the role of effective governance in countries facing pressure to open their tobacco sectors, need to better understand corporate-level activities within an increasingly globalised tobacco industry, and need to address the intertwined legal and illegal trade in implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Innovations, innovation potential and innovation transfer are very actual topics in many fields of people's activities. This problematic intersects very broad spectrum of disciplines, from regional development crossing economy to much specified business management and engineering. In the geographical studies this theme appears most often in the connection to social economic situation, internal or external potential and regional development on different hierarchical levels. This paper summarizes the results of research (questionnaires and interviews), which was carried out in the same time on both sides of the border (in the Usti region and in the Central Saxony1). It was held under the cross border project 'Innovation potential as a factor of increasing of the competitiveness of the Czech-Saxon borderland' (INPOK). Target respondents were on both sides the same: subjects from practices (companies), research and development institutions (high schools, universities, research institutes), then the public administration (above all the municipalities) and the regional actors (for example the economic chambers). We have focuses on analyzing the general framework conditions of the Czech-Saxon borderland, its strengths and weaknesses in the connection with active cross border cooperation above all between the research and practice field with the stress on the innovation behaviour in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This reflection paper aims to summarize some of the technology trends that companies can use in their business processes to increase productivity and improve the competitiveness of the sector and country. It is based mainly on an official documentation study of both national and international authorized entities. First, some characteristics of the ICT and its influence in companies over the last years are shown; and finally, the conceptualization and benefits that Internet, Telework, e-Learning and Cloud computing represent today to companies in the productive sector are analyzed. It is concluded that ICT, and trends based on them, can make simpler and more agile processes in companies, and also, strengthen their skills to face increasingly demanding markets, whenever globalization and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) call to companies from all sectors to be more effective and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) represents a milestone in U.S. health care policy. The ACA moves the American health care system away, in important respects, from market-driven health care, including imposing new regulations on health insurers. Yet the ACA also relies, in other respects, on market forces to achieve its aims, including its embrace of health plan competition and high-deductible insurance. This article explores how the ACA balances liberal aspirations and market principles, and the implications for health reform implementation and the future of U.S. health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The telecommunications sector has experienced significant changes over the past few years. The advent and rise of new applications and services, together with a competitive market, has led to a complex scenario in which quality of service plays a major role. Under this condition, novel QoS regulation and standardization initiatives are required. During the last few years new terms and concepts, such as quality of experience or QoS perceived, have been included in the updated and new QoS-related standards as to better integrate the user?s point of view, as opposed to only network performance parameters. The influence of the user?s satisfaction on the quality of business has also been given increased attention in the regulation and standardization bodies recently. The result is a loose collection of metrics and models that are not standardized and do not integrate all aspects of quality. Such integration is necessary to assure the successful development of this sector. This paper presents a new and integrated QoS model (QoXphere) that is spherical, adaptive, and multi-layered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processes of the competition, interaction, cooperation and the convergence between the public and business sectors in the context of globalization, as well as in the context of the processes of European integration and knowledge based society and knowledge economy creation are analyzed in this theoretical article. It is noted, that purposeful search of the solutions of the problems of effective interaction, cooperation, partnership and convergence between business and public sectors organizations, especially-in the context of contemporary processes and challenges of globalization, could be defined as an particularly important area of the theoretical and practical research on public governance and business and public management. The main attention in the article is paid to two areas of the research: a) interaction between the national states and the subjects of international business in the contemporary global political, social and economic spaces; b) the processes of networking in the contemporary conditions of globalization and of the creation of knowledge based society and knowledge economy. It is shown, that these two areas of the research cover the main problems, typical for the processes of the competition, interaction, cooperation and the convergence between the public and business sectors in the contemporary situation. The main phenomena of the interaction between the states and the subjects of international business in the context of globalization are characterized in the article in detail. It is shown, that the rapid development of international networks and their activities in recent years may be interpreted as natural transformation of the existing economy into the new type of economy, which may be referred to as international network based economy, or, simply, 'networks' economy. The perspective ways and priorities of the further scientific research on the processes of interaction, cooperation, partnership and convergence between business and public sectors, as well as of the scientific research on networking in the context of the processes of globalization and knowledge based society and knowledge economy creation, are described in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Changes in the social care sector over the past 20 years have effected a fundamental shift in commissioning and delivery relationships, creating new markets for social housing services. This paper aims to examine how far existing theories around competitive advantage in markets are compatible with the new public management (NPM) approach to the market, or whether there is a need for a new approach to business planning for agencies that addresses the particular characteristics of this specific quasi-market. Design/methodology/approach - This paper draws upon original research developed through a single holistic case study of a UK social housing service, using qualitative research methods including document analysis, interviews, secondary data, observations and facilitated meetings. Findings - Existing business theory and models around competitive advantage do not suit this "contrived" NPM market. A new framework or model will be needed for analysis and business planning in this new environment. Originality/value - This paper adds to existing knowledge by critiquing current business models, and positing a potential development to existing contingency theory: the external drivers model The study has resulted in a number of outputs including an outline of a toolkit to assist in using the model. The model requires further research to establish its generalisability to other organisations and other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing studies on the role of business in global governance conceive of business as one group acting vis-à-vis the state or NGOs. This article highlights that conflictswithinthe business community can be an important factor to explain policy outcomes. Drawing on the ‘business conflict school’ literature from International Relations, studies on the politics of markets developed in Economic Sociology, and work on corporate political strategy undertaken in Management Studies, it develops the concept of the governance-competitiveness nexus to theorize how economic competition translates into political competition. The article demonstrates how such an analytical angle can add to our understanding of the global governance of intellectual property rights for pharmaceuticals. It helps explain the motives of different actors to become politically involved at specific points in time and the policy goals they promoted. Thus, the concepts of business conflict and governance-competitiveness nexus help explain the agenda setting process on global pharmaceutical IP governance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on the factors to consider when setting up and running a travel clinic in a primary care setting. It presents a background of trips abroad by British citizens every year and the introduction of formal training and qualifications in travel medicine in Great Britain in 1995. The factors to consider include nurse competencies and training, publicity, payment, and staff.

The Trade Practices Act 1965 was widely criticised as being weak and unproductive. It was a significantly watered-down version of the original Bill overseen by Garfield Barwick. Although the final form of the Act was perceived as ineffective at the time, it is now viewed as an important step towards a national competition policy and a precursor to the opening up of the Australian economy. This paper outlines the economic, political and social background to the introduction of the legislation. We specify some of the factors that explain why its creation caused controversy and its importance in initiating change in Australians' attitudes towards collusive behaviour and economic protectionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]