Strategic Responses to Three Kinds of Uncertainty: Product Line Simplicity at the Hollywood Film Studios

1999 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Miller ◽  
Jamal Shamsie

This paper explores the impact of Milliken’s (1987) three kinds of uncertainty on product line simplicity--specifically on the range of product variations a firm offers. Environmental state uncertainty represents an inability to forecast industry or market events; it results in part from the demand and competitive volatility facing aU firms equally in an industry. Organizational effect uncertainty represents an inability to predict the effect of any given environmental state or event on one’s own firm; it results in part from a lack of skills, knowledge and resources that couM help managers understand or influence market reactions. Finally, decision response uncertainty represents an inability to predict the consequences of a specific decision. It derives from the ignorance and risks perceived in making individual decisions. The thesis of this research is that whereas environmental state uncertainty will give rise to product variations, paradoxically, organization effect and decision response uncertainty will discourage such variations. These ideas are explored and largely supported in a study of the film genres of the major Hollywood film studios between the years 1936 and 1965.

2019 ◽  
pp. 343-404
Author(s):  
Isser Woloch

This chapter looks at the challenges faced by progressives in veterans organizations, the labor movement, national politics, and the 1948 presidential election in the U.S. The impact of domestic communism and anti-communism commands a prominent place here. The anti-communist affidavit required of union officials by the Taft–Hartley law of 1947 was an early warning sign of the tidal wave of anti-communism starting to wash over American political culture. No matter how the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) acted, dealing with communist influence in its unions would divide the federation. However, the problem of communism in American public life went far beyond the confines of organized labor. It erupted most visibly in the Hollywood film studios and the broadcasting industry. Conflict within the American Veterans Committee (AVC) makes for an especially illuminating case study. The chapter then considers the fate of Harry Truman's “Fair Deal” program during his second term.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Hurley ◽  
Brian W. Mayhew

SUMMARY We insert an automated high-quality (HQ) auditor into established experimental audit markets to test the impact of high-quality competition on other auditors' supply of and managers' demand for audit quality. Theory predicts that managers will demand high levels of audit quality to avoid investors' price-protecting behavior. This demand should result in the HQ auditor dominating the market and increase other auditors' audit quality provision to compete with the HQ auditor. However, we find that the HQ auditor does not dominate the market—despite holding audit costs constant and investors placing a premium on HQ auditor reports. We also find that adding an HQ auditor results in other auditors lowering audit quality. Additional analyses indicate some managers demand lower audit quality to avoid negative audit reports, consistent with loss aversion as a potential explanation. Our findings indicate a need to develop a more comprehensive theory of the demand for auditing. Data Availability: The laboratory market data used in this study are available from the authors upon request.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Araceli Hernández González

PurposeThis study aims to provide evidence of market reactions to organizations' inclusion of people with disabilities. Cases from financial journals in 1989–2014 were used to analyze the impact of actions taken by organizations to include or discriminate people with disabilities in terms of the companies' stock prices.Design/methodology/approachThis research is conducted as an event study where the disclosure of information on an organization's actions toward people with disabilities is expected to impact the organization's stock price. The window of the event was set as (−1, +1) days. Stock prices were analyzed to detect abnormal returns during this period.FindingsResults support the hypotheses that investors value inclusion and reject discrimination. Furthermore, the impact of negative actions is immediate, whereas the impact of positive actions requires at least an additional day to influence the firm's stock price. Some differences among the categories were found; for instance, employment and customer events were significantly more important to a firm's stock price than philanthropic actions. It was observed that philanthropic events produce negative abnormal returns on average.Originality/valueThe event study methodology provides a different perspective to practices in organizations regarding people with disabilities. Moreover, the findings in this research advance the literature by highlighting that organizations should consider policies and practices that include people with disabilities.


Author(s):  
Ignacio Sepulveda ◽  
Jennifer S. Haase ◽  
Philip L.-F. Liu ◽  
Mircea Grigoriu ◽  
Brook Tozer ◽  
...  

We describe the uncertainties of altimetry-predicted bathymetry models and then quantify the impact of this uncertainty in tsunami hazard assessments. The study consists of three stages. First, we study the statistics of errors of altimetry-predicted bathymetry models. Second, we employ these statistics to propose a random field model for errors anywhere. Third, we use bathymetry samples to conduct a Monte Carlo simulation and describe the tsunami response uncertainty. We found that bathymetry uncertainties have a greater impact in shallow areas. We also noted that tsunami leading waves are less affected by uncertainties.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/zzL_XWWAQ7o


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-79
Author(s):  
Wojciech Kaczmarczyk

Abstract Research purpose: Seven of 10 companies that have won the Polish Forbes edition Merge & Acquisition 2018 Ranking are listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange. The aim of the conducted research was to test if the biggest acquisitions have an impact on stocks value and is it possible for typical investor to create extra profit by using knowledge of acquisition based on public information. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using data from Warsaw Stock Exchange (quotations), typical measures such as rate of return, standard deviation (risk), correlation and transaction volume changes were calculated. Each of the case results obtained for the company was compared with the result for stock market indexes: WIG (Warszawski Indeks Giełdowy – main WSE index), WIG20 (WSE sub-index of the 20 largest companies), mWIG40 (WSE sub-index of 40 medium companies) and sWIG80 (WSE sub-index of 80 small companies). In addition, the outcomes were confronted with public news (from WSE Electronic System for Information Transfer). Findings: Conducted research has shown that generally successful finalisation of acquisition results in changes of stock prices behaviour. Unfortunately, observed reactions were not the same. Acquisitions induced both increases and decreases in stock prices; there was also no rule in case of risk change. Generally, acquisitions and merges had rather good influence in banking sector (which is still concentrating), but there was no common reaction in other sectors. Originality/Value/Practical Implications: The results will be useful for investors acting on Warsaw Stock Exchange, especially for individual investor who are not able to carry out detailed analyses. The research provides results including possible pre-effects and after-effects of making big acquisition by a large company. The negative market reactions were also shown.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Zia ur Rehman ◽  
Asad Khan ◽  
Rafique Ahmed Khuhro ◽  
Abdul Ghafoor Khan

The objective of the study is to measure product diversification’s impact on insurance firm’s financial performance in Pakistan. Analysis are carried out to examine how ownership structure, capitalization, group membership, firm size, diversification across business lines, industry concentration affects firm’s financial performance. Data from 2009-2019 is collected to measure the impact of diversification (entropy) on the risk- adjusted returns. Findings of the study reveal that business line diversification has strong positive effect on firm performance (for both ROA and ROE) which means that diversified firms perform better than non-diversified firms. For managers these findings are useful as they propose the need for diversification, capitalization, increase in size and group affiliation to enhance firm profitability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Sławomir Palicki ◽  
Stoyan Stoyanov ◽  
Ivo Kostov ◽  
Tsvetelina Atanasova ◽  
Patrycjusz Ostrowski

The article explores the issue of the function of shopping centres, in particular the analysis of the impact of their presence on society and the local development of cities and regions. Regarding the empirical aspect, the examples of Poznań (Poland) and Varna (Bulgaria) will be presented. As a result of similar socio‑economic conditions and joining the European Union at almost the same moment, all comparative studies reflecting preferences and market reactions seem both viable and interesting. In addition, the two cities chosen for the studies occupy a similar place in the hierarchy of the settlement network in their countries. They are large, well‑developed centres that attract the attention of investors from various segments of the real estate market. The research is part of the modelling of preferences of shopping centre customers areas, which in particular supports the investment decisions of developers operating in the analysed real estate market, and at the same time permits a diagnosis of social satisfaction. A derivative of the research is also the reconstruction of the effects of the functioning of large‑scale shopping malls in two Central‑Eastern European countries.


Author(s):  
C. Y. Cyrus Chu

One of the most striking features of the topics analyzed in the previous chapters is the breadth and depth of the economics involved in the analysis of population dynamics. The conventional perception that “demographic movements were largely exogenous to the economic system, and were to be left to sociologists and other non-economists” (Samuelson, 1976, p. 243) may be based on a conventional understanding of demography itself. Once we realize that modern individual fertility decisions may be affected by many economic variables, we can understand why demographic movements may be correlated with various economic indexes of the society. Once we shift our focus from the size and growth rate of the population to its economic characteristics, we realize that there is an abundance of topics for research and analysis. Moreover, once we perceive that the characteristic composition of the population is usually an aggregate result of various decisions by individuals, we find that our analysis is not confined to fertility-related economic variables. Thus, we are able to use the general framework to study the income distribution (chapters 4, 5), the attitude composition (chapter 8), the occupation structure (chapter 9), and the aggregate savings and pensions (chapters 11,12) of the population. The methodology adopted in this book is quite consistent: I emphasize the impact of individual decisions on the aggregate dynamics of demographic characteristics. As far as the steady state or dynamic fluctuations are concerned, the theory of stochastic processes is the basic tool necessary for the analysis. Other than the possible technical difficulty, there is nothing conceptually difficult in the modeling. But very often, the aggregate variables in question may feed back and influence individual decisions. In chapters 8 and 9, we see how the aggregate custom or occupational composition in the previous period affects individual decisions in the current period. These are in fact special cases and are easily dealt with. For many other economic variables, the micro-macro interaction involved is rather complex. There are several variables that may affect and also be affected by individual decisions.


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