Intertemporal Product Management with Strategic Consumers: The Value of Defective Product Returns

Author(s):  
Narendra Singh ◽  
Karthik Ramachandran ◽  
Ravi Subramanian

Problem definition: An increased incidence of quality issues, resulting in defective product returns (DPRs), is a concern for firms bringing innovative products to market. Although a firm can recover value from DPRs through refurbishing, consumers are known to act strategically in anticipation of the future availability of refurbished units. We study a firm’s strategy for offering a new product and refurbished DPRs to strategic consumers across time. Academic/practical relevance: Aided by emerging shopping tools, an increasing number of consumers consider buying refurbished versions of products rather than their new counterparts. A novel contribution of our work is the recognition of the refurbishing of DPRs as a possible solution to the time inconsistency problem that arises when a firm offers products to strategic consumers across time. We characterize how the product line decisions and profit of the firm are influenced by the defect rate, the perceived quality of refurbished DPRs, and consumers’ hassle cost of returns. Methodology: We develop a two-period game-theoretic model to characterize the firm offering the new product and refurbished DPRs to strategic consumers across time. Results: The refurbishing of DPRs helps the firm implicitly commit to limiting the quantity of the new product offered in the future, allowing the firm to charge a premium for the new product today. As a result, firm profit may even increase with the defect rate. These results persist across various model extensions. Managerial implications: Whereas the firm’s profit is the highest when there are no defects, opportunities to achieve marginal reductions in defect rates may not be worth the investment and may even be counterproductive. Also, efforts toward enhancing the perceived quality of the refurbished product or decreasing the hassle cost for consumers may better serve the firm than efforts toward marginally improving defect rates.

Author(s):  
C. Gizem Korpeoglu ◽  
Ersin Körpeoğlu ◽  
Sıdıka Tunç

Problem definition: We study the contest duration and the award scheme of an innovation contest where an organizer elicits solutions to an innovation-related problem from a group of agents. Academic/practical relevance: Our interviews with practitioners at crowdsourcing platforms have revealed that the duration of a contest is an important operational decision. Yet, the theoretical literature has long overlooked this decision. Also, the literature fails to adequately explain why giving multiple unequal awards is so common in crowdsourcing platforms. We aim to fill these gaps between the theory and practice. We generate insights that seem consistent with both practice and empirical evidence. Methodology: We use a game-theoretic model where the organizer decides on the contest duration and the award scheme while each agent decides on her participation and determines her effort over the contest duration by considering potential changes in her productivity over time. The quality of an agent’s solution improves with her effort, but it is also subject to an output uncertainty. Results: We show that the optimal contest duration increases as the relative impact of the agent uncertainty on her output increases, and it decreases if the agent productivity increases over time. We characterize an optimal award scheme and show that giving multiple (almost always) unequal awards is optimal when the organizer’s urgency in obtaining solutions is below a certain threshold. We also show that this threshold is larger when the agent productivity increases over time. Finally, consistent with empirical findings, we show that there is a positive correlation between the optimal contest duration and the optimal total award. Managerial implications: Our results suggest that the optimal contest duration increases with the novelty or sophistication of solutions that the organizer seeks, and it decreases when the organizer can offer support tools that can increase the agent productivity over time. These insights and their drivers seem consistent with practice. Our findings also suggest that giving multiple unequal awards is advisable for an organizer who has low urgency in obtaining solutions. Finally, giving multiple awards goes hand in hand with offering support tools that increase the agent productivity over time. These results help explain why many contests on crowdsourcing platforms give multiple unequal awards.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 52-58
Author(s):  
E.P. Meleshkina ◽  
◽  
S.N. Kolomiets ◽  
A.S. Cheskidova ◽  
◽  
...  

Objectively and reliably determined indicators of rheological properties of the dough were identified using the alveograph device to create a system of classifications of wheat and flour from it for the intended purpose in the future. The analysis of the relationship of standardized quality indicators, as well as newly developed indicators for identifying them, differentiating the quality of wheat flour for the intended purpose, i.e. for finished products. To do this, we use mathematical statistics methods.


2020 ◽  
pp. 92-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. I. Bakhtigaraeva ◽  
A. A. Stavinskaya

The article considers the role of trust in the economy, the mechanisms of its accumulation and the possibility of using it as one of the growth factors in the future. The advantages and disadvantages of measuring the level of generalized trust using two alternative questions — about trusting people in general and trusting strangers — are analyzed. The results of the analysis of dynamics of the level of generalized trust among Russian youth, obtained within the study of the Institute for National Projects in 10 regions of Russia, are presented. It is shown that there are no significant changes in trust in people in general during the study at university. At the same time, the level of trust in strangers falls, which can negatively affect the level of trust in the country as a whole, and as a result have negative effects on the development of the economy in the future. Possible causes of the observed trends and the role of universities are discussed. Also the question about the connection between the level of education and generalized trust in countries with different quality of the institutional environment is raised.


1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 232-241
Author(s):  
Марина Лапіна

Статтю присвячено проблемам професійного навчання соціальних працівників, зокрема розглянуто психолого-педагогічні аспекти процесу підготовки висококваліфікованих фахівців. Зазначено що в професійній психології та педагогіці набуває поширення компетентнісний підхід до сучасної освіти. Акцентовано увагу на особистісно-орієнтованому та психолого-акмеологічному напрямках професійної освіти та навчання. Особистісні якості фахівця розглядаються як метапрофесійні компетенції, що забезпечують якість праці майбутнього соціального працівника. На основі аналізу специфіки підготовки фахівців соціономічних професій окреслено загальні напрями формування професійних компетенцій соціальних працівників: пріоритет професійно-особистісного розвитку для досягнення високого рівня професіоналізму фахівця; формування психологічної, особистісної та рефлексивної компетентності; практична зорієнтованість процесу навчання. Розглянуто методи та технології активного формування психологічної та особистісної компетентності фахівця в процесі професійного навчання, а саме методика контекстного (знаково-контекстного) навчання та психолого-акмеологічні методи та процедури професійного розвитку. Стверджується, що включення до навчального процесу інноваційних, заснованих на взаємодії педагога та учня, психолого-педагогічних технологій активного навчання має формувати особистісні зони розвитку майбутніх фахівців, удосконалювати способи та засоби професійного становлення, що значно підвищує якість професійного навчання соціальних працівників. The article deals with the problems of vocational training of social workers. They are particularly considered with psychological and pedagogical aspects of training highly qualified specialists. It specifies that competence-based approach to modern education gets spreading in the professional psychology and pedagogy. The article is accented on personality-oriented and psycho-akmeological directions existing in the psychology of professional education and training. Personal qualities of the professional are considered as metaprofessional competences which ensure the future social worker’s quality of work. The general directions of formation professional competence of social workers are identified on the base of the analyses of the specific professional training socionomic professions: priority of vocational and personality development for achievement a high level of professionalism; formation of the psychological, personal and reflective competence; practical orientation of the learning process. The methods and technologies of active formation of psychological and personality’s competence of the specialist during the vocational training are reviewed in the article, specifically the method and technique of signed-contextual learning and psycho-akmeological methods and procedures of professional development. It is alleged that the inclusion in the educational process of preparation innovational, psychological and pedagogical techniques of active learning, based on the interaction between the teacher and the student, should generated personal’s development zones of the future professionals, refine the methods and means of the professional development that significantly improves the quality of social worker’s professional training.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 235-245
Author(s):  
Ikhwandi Arifin

This paper discusses the importance of the students ‘character building in the level of primary school/Islamic elementary school to face the globalization and information era. Education is the process of determining the nation’s character. Good or bad character of the nation in the future will be determined by the present quality of education. Building the character through Tahfidzul Quran learning approach is expected to be the main foundation to improve the degree and prestige of learners as the asset of the nation. This study aimed to describe the process of Tahfidzul Quran learning which included planning, organizing, doing action and monitoring the important role of learning itself to build the learners’ character, especially in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Istiqomah Sambas Purbalingga.


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