Vol. 1(7) October 2008
Brand Equity and Stakeholders’ Wealth
Uzma Shigufta Hena
In this article an attempt has been made to delineate
objectively the relationship between brand equity / brand value and stakeholders’
wealth. The concept of “brand equity” has also been evaluated through a perusal
of the relevant references on the subject – various viewpoints underlying this important
strategic notion have been elucidated. The constituents of “brand equity” viz. brand
awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality have also been
explained. The philosophy underlying the broadening of the ambit of the definition
of “corporate stakeholders” has also been touched upon. Finally, attributes that
contribute the accretion of stakeholders wealth commensurate with growth of brand
equity have also been discussed.
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Liberalization of Trade in Services Industry: Can
Malaysian Architectural Firms Compete?
Shaharudin Roselee S.*, Ahmad Syed Z. and Ali Ainon
Trade in services has begun to dominate the economies
of many nations. Indeed, the service sector is the fastest growing part of international
trade. The adoption of multi-lateral agreements will further liberalize the international
trade in services. Market liberalization allows the entry of foreign firms into
domestic markets. It puts pressure on domestic service provider to adapt to the
new competitive environment in order to successfully compete with in-coming foreign
service-providers. At the same time, liberalization also offers service firms increased
opportunities to exploit new markets abroad. This research is on Malaysian architectural
service sector. In looking to answer the research question “Liberalization of trade
in services: can Malaysian architectural firms compete?” this study looks at the
global marketplace, identifies challenges facing the architectural profession and
reveals firms’ characteristics necessary to compete in the new liberalized environment.
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20 years of Economic Reforms – Performance Evidence
of Pakistan Economy
Hakro Nawaz Ahmed
Econometric evidence is used to compare 20 years of macro
economic performance since the structural adjustment reforms initiated in Pakistan.
A number of approaches e.g. before-after approach, OLS and multiple regression approaches
are used to trace out the progress of reforms in major macro economic variables
such as trade, growth and poverty alleviation. Evidence hardly suggests improvement
in macroeconomic indicators; no significant evidence is found which suggests improvement
in trade, growth, subsequently poverty reduction since reforms introduced in 1988.
Policy implications derived out of empirical results further demonstrate that patterns
of growth slowed and poverty aggravated. The ‘vitality of reform approach- beneficial
for poverty alleviation' contradicts the empirical results; low level of expenditure
on education, health and social services, little substantiated the claim of increasing
levels of standards of living, hence reduction in poverty.
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End-User Computing (EUC) Satisfaction with Internet
Shopping
Miladian Hossein* and Babu Nagendra K.
Consumer satisfaction with Internet shopping has been
conceptualized in a variety of ways. In view of this, the purpose of this study
is to examine the research framework that integrates to end-user computing (EUC)
satisfaction. This framework explicitly considers information quality, system quality
and service quality as the key dimensions of consumer satisfaction with internet
shopping. This framework helped explain three basic issues: (1) What defines consumer
satisfaction with internet shopping, (2) how it is formed and (3) which attributes
are relatively important in its formation. We found that system quality has more
impact on the consumer satisfaction compared with the remaining research framework’s
dimensions.
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How does Relationship Involvement matter to Buyer-Seller
Partnership? Theoretical and Empirical Viewpoints
Fang Shyh-Rong and Lin Grace T.R.* Tang Jerry Y.H. and Wu Yu-Chi
A review of the current literature reveals a general
consensus on the importance and merits of “partnership posture” in seller-buyer
relationships. This study examines relationships between organiza-tions from the
viewpoint of “relationship involvement”. For the purposes of the study, Taiwan’s
top 1000 manufacturing companies were surveyed based on a tentative framework. It
is concluded that the degree of relationship involvement between the buyer and the
seller is closely linked. Moreover, in order to achieve the expected relationship
performance level, at least one of the related trade partners must be willing to
engage in high relationship involvement. Finally, the relationship performance that
results from one-sided high relationship involvement does not differ much from the
relationship performances. This research by implication draws a few managerial causes
as to why the above situations can happen?
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Learning from Group Assessment of MSc in Management
Students
Doherty Daniel
This paper describes an experiment in group assessment
conducted among full-time master students in management here at the University of
Bristol. This strategic management module is a ‘capstone’ module for the entire
Masters in Management degree, falling as it does last of all the modules.
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