Search

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish a reference model that will allow us to understand the factors that influence the omnichannel management of an organization in a business-to-business (B2B) context. Design/methodology/approach In building the model, a partial least squares structural equation modeling approach was followed. More than 1,000 executives with a C-level profile (chief executive officer, chief marketing officer or chief digital officer), from manufacturers and wholesalers, in various industries worldwide were contacted. The final sample consisted of 124 C-level executives in multinational B2B companies from 35 countries worldwide. Findings The principal finding is that optimal omnichannel management must involve a customer-centric proposition forming the basis for individualized marketing that tailors the company’s portfolio of solutions to suit each client. To ensure this, customer knowledge at each touchpoint is essential. The results show that the main predictor of B2B omnichannel management is sales and marketing, even above channels. The principal conclusions are that the model shows that good omnichannel performance is measured by the performance of the industrial buyer. Loyalty and experience are primary measures of this customer’s performance. Originality/value Research into omnichannel management in the B2B field is scarce, especially concerning the creation of models for decision-making.

This paper presents an agent based model of firm location designed to explore the effect of regional policies on the spatial pattern of business activity. New firms are created each period taking into account the sector profitability and entry barriers. Firms choose their location and then they decide sequentially whether change their size or cease their activity accordingly to the profit maximization principle and the limited information they have. Their costs depend not only on the production level and the price of the productive factors but also on the land price. The characteristics of the territory where the firms are located are not static but rather evolve depending on the public policies, demographic variables and the firm localization patterns. The presented model shows endogenous rules of firm localization as well as the effects in the medium and long term of public policies.

El análisis de la incidencia de las economías de aglomeración en la localización empresarial constituye uno de los temas centrales de la Economía Regional. Sin embargo, a pesar de los amplios y sólidos desarrollos teóricos en este campo, los resultados empíricos muestran una preocupante falta de robustez. En este trabajo se analiza una de las posibles causas: el problema de las unidades de área modificables (MAUP). Para ello, tras una revisión de los aspectos económicos y estadísticos ligados al fenómeno, se estima la influencia de las economías de aglomeración en la localización de las empresas en España para cinco divisiones distintas del territorio que incluyen divisiones inframunicipales. Los resultados obtenidos indican que las estimaciones son muy sensibles a la definición de las áreas de análisis por lo que no pueden ser dejadas de lado en la contrastación de hipótesis. Finalmente, se propone una metodología para reducir los inconvenientes derivados del MAUP y aprovechar las posibles ventajas., The analysis of the impact of agglomeration economies on firm location is one of the main issues on Regional Economics. However, despite of the broad and solid theoretical developments in this area, empirical findings show a worrying lack of robustness. This paper examines one possible cause: The Modifiable ArealUnit Problem (MAUP). To that end, it is estimated the influence of agglomeration economies on the firm location in Spain for five different divisions of the territory. The results indicate that the estimates are very sensitive to the definition of areas of analysis which cannot be neglected to contrast the hypotheses. Finally, it proposes a methodology to reduce the drawbacks of MAUP and exploit his potential benefits.

The analysis of the impact of agglomeration economies on firm location is one of the main issues on Regional Economics. However, despite of the broad and solid theoretical developments in this area, empirical findings show a worrying lack of robustness. This paper examines one possible cause: The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). To that end, it is estimated the influence of agglomeration economies on the firm location in Spain for five different divisions of the territory. The results indicate that the estimates are very sensitive to the definition of areas of analysis which cannot be neglected to contrast the hypotheses. Finally, it proposes a methodology to reduce the drawbacks of MAUP and exploit his potential benefits.

The research on women entrepreneurship has mainly studied these topics: i) the characteristics and motivations (Brush and Hisrich, 1991; Pablo-Martí et al., 2014), ii) the strategic choice (Verheul et al., 2008), iii) the role of leadership (Schwartz, 1976; Justo et al. 2006)), iv) the entry barriers (Brush and Gatewood, 2008), mainly access to funding (Klapper and Parker, 2010), and v) the performance and achieved results (Coleman and Robb, 2009; Díaz and Jiménez, 2010; Crespo-Espert et al., 2012). These topics have been well studied. However, further research on this field is required. The long period of crisis from 2007 on has changed some of the findings related to these issues. This is especially significant in the most affected economies such as those of the southern countries of the EU. In these countries the severity of the crisis has had significant consequences for the productive sector (destruction of companies, high unemployment, credit restrictions) and on public finances under severe uncertainty (sovereign debt crisis, banking crisis). This is generating major changes in productive activity and business competitiveness, which is associated with the deleveraging of companies, as well as the varying prevalence of smaller companies (SMEs) in the economies. In this context, it may be hypothesized that the progress and results of activities led by women entrepreneurs had significant changes between the period before the crisis and the current stage of uncertain recovery. In this paper we analysed the dynamics and evolution of entrepreneurial activity of women in Spain in the period 2003-2013. It includes a stage of strong expansion and other recessive. Also, the research focuses on the differences found in two of the topics listed above: a) the obstacles in accessing to funding and b) the results of businesses women-owned compared to those of male-owned businesses. We made use of the SABI database. It includes information from the commercial registers. It has over one million companies with employees that represent most of the Spanish companies. The samples for this study differentiate whether the company is owned by a man or a woman. These samples are representative for company sizes, sectors and regions. Thus the results that adopt a regional approach can be segmented for a better understanding of the different types of women's businesses. The variables of the study are some financial indicators: credit ratio, debt ratio, productivity, EBITDA over assets, EBITDA over turnover, economic profitability and financial profitability. We employ various dummies to control for differences in size, sector and location of firms. The results allow understanding the different behaviour of women entrepreneurs and its reasons. They can also serve to develop new entrepreneurship policies related to gender in economic recovery.

La investigación se ha llevado a cabo en SERVILAB – Instituto Universitario de Análisis Económico y Social de la Universidad de Alcalá, creado en colaboración con la Cámara Oficial de Comercio e Industria de Madrid y financiado por la Fundación BBVA, 333 p., Aunque en los últimos años han proliferado los estudios sobre las nuevas tecnologías y la sociedad de la información, la gran mayoría de ellos se centran en el estudio de su penetración en el tejido productivo y en su impacto sobre el crecimiento económico, la productividad y la competitividad del sector empresarial. Por el contrario, son muy escasos los análisis enfocados hacia los individuos y las familias, e incluso, hasta fechas muy recientes, la información estadística existente sobre estos últimos era asimismo muy escasa y fragmentada. Con objeto de intentar cubrir en parte esta laguna, la investigación que ahora se presenta se planteó como meta aportar algunas respuestas a un amplio conjunto de cuestiones sobre los cambios que la sociedad de la información están produciendo en las familias y hacia dónde cabe esperar que nos conduzcan en un futuro

La utilización de sistemas fundados en ABM (Agent-based Models) para modelizar la realidad socio-económica permite realizar predicciones y simulaciones basadas en los atributos y el comportamiento de cada uno de los agentes individuales. El sistema MOSIPS implementará un entorno multiagente a partir de datos de multitud de fuentes públicas y abiertas, datos que construirán el Data Warehouse a partir del cual se alimentará al Motor de Simulaciones y Predicciones (SFE). Mediante la utilización de tecnologías de visualización espacio-temporales se desarrollará un interfaz de usuario avanzado para facilitar la toma de decisiones. Además, con el fin de fomentar la participación activa de los ciudadanos en el diseño de las políticas públicas, se desarrollarán módulos que permitan la integración de MOSIPS en las redes sociales y la recogida de la retroalimentación que los usuarios proporcionen, The use of systems with ABM (Agent-based Models) foundations in order to modeling the real economy allows making useful forecast and simulations based on the attributes and behavior of each particular agent. The MOSIPS system implements the multiagent environments from multiple both open and specific data sources. These data will build the Data Warehouse and feed the Simulations and Predictions Engine (SFE). The spatio-temporal visualization technologies will be used in order to develop an advanced user interface to support the decision-making. Furthermore, to encourage active participation of citizens in the public policy design, a module will be developed to allow the MOSIPS integration with social networks and to gather the user feedback, Los resultados recogidos en este documento provienen del proyecto MOSIPS (Modeling and Simulation of the Impact of the Public Policies on SMEs), cofinanciado por el VII Programa Marco de Investigación de la Comisión Europea bajo el contrato 288833 y en el que participa un consorcio formado por los siguientes socios: ANOVA IT Consulting (España, coordinador), Instituto Universitario de Análisis Económico y Social de la Universidad de Alcalá (España), Research Studio Austria Forschungsgesellschaft (Austria), Universidad de Reading (Reino Unido), Opera 21 (Italia), Universidad de Konstanz (Alemania), European Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (Francia), Ayuntamiento de Madrid (España) y Comune di Verona (Italia)

At present, Spain faces one of the key moments in planning the future design of the infrastructure network. As a consequence of the critical role played by haulage in intra-European trade, the most important investments are those that guarantee that road haulage traffic can move freely at the borders. That is why it is necessary to make serious evaluations of the economic and social profitability of these investments. Normally the most significant social benefit of investment projects in transport infrastructure is time saving, which in turn changes traffic intensity. In this article we analyse the changes in the user excess caused by public investment in transport infrastructure planned by the Spanish government and which will be located on the border between Spain and France. In particular, we study the increase in network user surplus for HGV traffic in the Spanish and French border zones in the Pyrenees.

At present, Spain faces one of the key moments in planning the future design of the infrastructure network. As a consequence of the critical role played by haulage in intra-European trade, the most important investments are those that guarantee that road haulage traffic can move freely at the borders. That is why it is necessary to make serious evaluations of the economic and social profitability of these investments. Normally the most significant social benefit of investment projects in transport infrastructure is time saving, which in turn changes traffic intensity. In this article we analyse the changes in the user excess caused by public investment in transport infrastructure planned by the Spanish government and which will be located on the border between Spain and France. In particular, we study the increase in network user surplus for HGV traffic in the Spanish and French border zones in the Pyrenees.

La mayor parte del entramado productivo en una economía está formada por unidades en las que existe una íntima relación entre el emprendedor y su empresa. La performance de empresario y empresa debe ser medida a través de la información disponible. Para el caso del empresario, mediante encuestas de opinión que proporcionen el conocimiento de las conductas y motivaciones que le han llevado a la toma de decisiones. Para la empresa, una alternativa es mediante los indicadores económicos y financieros que se extraen de la información contable registrada. En este trabajo se han explotado ambas formas de obtención de información. De una parte, se han enviado 1,500 cuestionarios a otros tantos emprendedores seleccionados a partir de una base de datos que recoge una amplia muestra de empresas españolas (976,578) que depositan sus estados financieros anuales en el Registro Mercantil. La muestra de empresarios encuestados ha sido seleccionada aleatoriamente a partir de segmentar la población de empresas en tamaño y antigüedad. El primer criterio establece diferencias entre empresarios propietarios de microempresas, pequeñas, medianas y grandes. El segundo, entre iniciativas de menos de tres años, de tres a seis, de seis a diez, y de más de diez años. De otra parte, a partir de la población de empresas señalada se han seleccionado muestras de empresas ¿estadísticamente representativas- para los distintos tamaños y edades considerados, que supone un conjunto de 7,223 y 7,797 firmas, por tamaño y edad, respectivamente. Para ellas se ha obtenido series temporales (1997-2004) de la evolución de ratios representativas de su estructura económico-financiera, actividad y desempeño. Con ambas metodologías se extraen, entre otras, respuestas a cuestiones relevantes sobre los rasgos del empresario y las variables de la empresa que caracterizan los resultados y eficiencia de las que superviven a lo largo del período de maduración de la actividad emprendedora, y si están asociados estos rasgos y variables a la edad y tamaño de las empresas., The greater part of the productive fabric in an economy is formed by units in which there is an intimate relationship between the entrepreneur and his company. The performance of the entrepreneur and the company must be measured by available information. In the case of the entrepreneur, this measurement has been undertaken by using opinion surveys that provide information on the behaviour and motivation that have led them in their decision making. As for the company, one alternative is by means of the economic and financial indicators that are obtained from registered accounting information. In this paper, both forms of information gathering have been exploited. On the one hand, 1,500 questionnaires were sent to the same number of entrepreneurs selected from a data base that holds a broad sample of Spanish companies (976,578) that register their annual financial status in the Companies Registry. The sample of entrepreneurs surveyed was selected at random on the basis of dividing the company population into size and number of years in business. The first criterion establishes differences between businessmen that are owners of micro, small, medium, and large businesses. The second criterion distinguishes between initiatives that are less than three, between three and six, six and ten, and those more than ten years old. On the other hand, based on the abovementioned company population, statistically representative company samples for the different sizes and ages considered were selected, which means a set of 7,223 and 7,797 firms, by size and age, respectively. Time series (1997-2004) of the development of representative ratios of their financial-economic structure, activity and performance were obtained for these samples. By using both methodologies, answers are obtained to questions related with the characteristics of entrepreneurs and company variables that characterize the results and efficiency of those that survive the maturation period of the entrepreneurial activity, and, among others, to questions related to whether these characteristics and variables are associated with the age and size of the companies.

En este trabajo se analizan algunos de los cambios que el desarrollo de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones están produciendo en el comportamiento económico de las familias. Las TIC permiten a las familias gestionar más eficientemente sus recursos, al liberar tiempo y dinero para otros usos alternativos. Por otra parte, facilitan que las familias se desenvuelvan en un entorno más integrado y transparente desde el punto de vista informativo, lo que aumenta su capacidad de elección y de negociación. La interacción entre las familias y las TIC es doble: por una parte, los comportamientos sociales y las pautas de consumo se ven modificados por las nuevas posibilidades tecnológicas; pero, por otra, estas se ven también impulsadas por las necesidades de las familias. La penetración de Internet en los hogares españoles ha superado su fase inicial y se encuentra ya en una segunda etapa de consolidación., This paper analyses some aspects of the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the economic behaviour of the Spanish households. ICT allows them to manage more efficiently their resources, releasing time and money for other alternative uses. On the other hand, the ICT are also helping the development of the households in a much more integrated and clear environment from the information point of view, which increases their capacity of election and negotiation. The interaction between ICT and households has a double sense. On the one hand, the social behaviour and the consumption patterns of families are being modified by the new technological possibilities. On the other, these last are also pushed by the households demands and necessities. The diffusion of Internet in the Spanish homes has already surpassed its initial phase and it is actually at the second stage of consolidation.

El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido el análisis de la movilidad empresarial a lo largo de los diferentes sectores de la economía según la cnae-93 a un digito. Algunos de los hechos estilizados hallados se relacionan con; la relación inversa entre crecimiento empresarial y edad de la empresa, el incremento de la media del tamaño relativo en términos de ventas de las empresas entrantes en relación a las establecidas, a través de las diferentes industrias y las diferentes cohortes, la importancia del tamaño inicial en la actividad emprendedora, los efectos favorables de la economía en el crecimiento empresarial o la no concentración de la estructura de propiedad en relación a una mayor movilidad., The objective of this paper is to analyse business mobility within the different economic sectors, according to the Spanish National Classification of Economic Activities-93 (cnae-93) at one-digit level. Some stylised facts found are related to the following elements: The reverse relationship between business growth and business age; the increase of average relative size, within the different industries and cohorts, in terms of sales of new companies compared to those already established; the importance of initial size in enterprising activity; the favourable effects of economy in business growth; or the no concentration of property structure regarding a greater mobility.

Sin resumen