Personalization from Customer Data Aggregation Using List Price

When consumers’ inferences of their reservation values are subject to environmental noise, firms can use customer data aggregation to obtain superior knowledge. This facilitates personalized pricing but may also induce consumer suspicions of overpaying. To alleviate the suspicions and convince consumers of their value, the firm may design its personalization scheme to include a list price in addition to the personalized prices. We find that only a separating equilibrium with list pricing survives the intuitive criterion. Specifically, when consumers underestimate their value, it is essential to use a binding list price to inform the consumers about the market’s price ceiling. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the firm cannot abuse its informational advantage to steer consumers into overestimation, and price discrimination may strictly benefit the consumers who avoid overpaying. This paper was accepted by Dmitri Kuksov, marketing.

Expert power as a constituent of opinion leadership: a conceptual analysis

Introduction. Drawing on the typology of social power developed by French and Raven, this paper elaborates the relationships between information behaviour and power by examining how expert power appears in the characterisations of opinion leadership presented in the research literature. Method. Conceptual analysis focusing on the ways in which expert power are constitutive of the construct of opinion leadership. Analysis. The study draws on the conceptual analysis of forty-eight key studies on the above issue. Results. Expert power refers to the opinion leader’s ability to influence the thoughts, attitudes and behaviour of other people through information sharing, due to the possession of such knowledge and skills valued by others. Expert power originates from superior knowledge and skills acquired by means of active use of mass media in particular. Expert power is used in the process in which opinion leaders share their views in diverse contexts such as consumption and political discussion. The extent to which opinion leaders can use their expert power depends on their position in social networks. The findings highlight the need to rethink the traditional construct of opinion leadership because it increasingly occurs in the networked information environments characterised by growing volatility and scepticism towards authorities such as opinion leaders. Conclusion. Opinion leadership is a significant form of social influence put into effect through sharing personal views. Expert power is a key constituent of opinion leadership affecting the extent to which views shared by opinion leaders can influence the thoughts, attitudes and behaviour of opinion seekers.

Gruppe-ekspertise i pædagogik med henblik på omsorgsarbejde

ResumeArtiklen argumenterer for, at pædagogisk ekspertise kan tilskrives grupper og ikke kun individer. Hvordan skal vi helt fundamentalt forstå pædagogisk gruppe-ekspertise? Artiklen anlægger et pædagogisk-filosofisk perspektiv på dette spørgsmål. Med et fokus på pædagogisk omsorgsarbejde afklarer den, hvad de fundamentale forudsætninger er for gruppeekspertise. Første del undersøger minimumsbetingelserne for, hvad man kan kalde pædagogisk ekspertise. Idealet om pædagogisk ekspertise må forstås bredt, hvis vi skal fastholde det som et meningsfuldt forbillede for pædagogisk teori og praksis. Artiklen analyserer og kategoriserer væsentlige aspekter af ekspertise i en pædagogisk sammenhæng. Pædagogisk ekspertise må rumme en pluralisme af former for viden og kompetencer, både praktiske, teoretiske, før-refleksive og refleksive, samt adfærdsdispositioner, emotionel opmærksomhed og intellektuelle kapaciteter. Artiklens anden del undersøger de filosofiske betingelser for gruppe-ekspertise og drager nogle vigtige distinktioner. Det argumenteres således, at grupper kan have overlegen viden qua gruppe, som de enkelte medlemmer hver især ikke besidder, og denne viden kan under de rette betingelser udgøre ekspertise. For at anskueliggøre denne forståelse af gruppeekspertise illustrerer artiklen til slut idéen i en sammenhæng af pædagogisk omsorgsarbejde. Her eksemplificeres det, hvordan gruppe-ekspertise i pædagogisk omsorgsarbejde kan bestå af samspillet mellem konstitutive delelementer. Abstract Group expertise in pedagogy for care workThe article argues that pedagogical expertise can be attributed to groups and not just individuals. How should we fundamentally understand pedagogical group expertise? The article takes a pedagogical-philosophical perspective on this issue. With a focus on pedagogical care work, it clarifies the fundamental prerequisites for group expertise. The first part examines the minimum conditions for what can be called pedagogical expertise. If we are to maintain it as a meaningful ideal of pedagogical theory and practice, pedagogical expertise must be understood broadly. The article analyzes and categorizes significant aspects of expertise in a pedagogical context. Pedagogical expertise must accommodate a pluralism of knowledge forms and competencies. These include practical, theoretical, pre-reflexive and reflexive competencies, behavioral dispositions, emotional awareness, and intellectual capacities. The second part of the article examines the philosophical conditions of group expertise and draws some important distinctions. Groups can have superior knowledge, which the individual members do not possess individually, and this knowledge can, under the right conditions, constitute expertise. Finally, an example of how constitutive elements of group expertise in pedagogical care work can unfold illustrates the main idea of group expertise in a specific pedagogical care work context.

Variety-seeking, learning and performance

According to the variance hypothesis, variety-seeking or exploration is a critical condition for improving learning and performance over time. Extant computational learning models support this hypothesis by showing how individuals who are exposed to diverse knowledge sources are more likely to find superior solutions to a particular problem. Yet this research provides no precise guidelines about how broadly individuals should search. Our goal in this paper is to elucidate the conditions under which variety-seeking in organizations is beneficial. To this end, we developed a computational model in which individuals learn as they interact with other individuals, and update their knowledge as a result of this interaction. The model reveals how the type of learning environment (performance landscape) in which the learning dynamic unfolds determines when the benefits of variety-seeking outweigh the costs. Variety-seeking is performance-enhancing only when the knowledge of the chosen learning targets (i.e., individuals to learn from) provide useful information about the features of the performance landscape. The results further suggest that superior knowledge might be available locally, i.e., in the proximity of an individual’s current location. We also identify the point beyond which variety-seeking causes a sharp performance decline and show how this point depends on the type of landscape in which the learning dynamic unfolds and the degree of specialization of individual knowledge. The presence of this critical point explains why exploration becomes very costly. The implications of our findings for establishing the boundaries of exploration are discussed.

The Mystical Experience in Doris Lessing’s Early Fiction

In her later career, the British woman writer Doris Lessing (1919-2013) becomes interested in Sufism, which “believes itself to be the substance of that current which can develop man to a higher stage in his evolution”[^1]. This interest in Sufi philosophy provides a template for the protagonists’ reconstructive journey in Doris Lessing’s novels. In fact, the heroines transcend the limits of ego-centeredness and gain the kind of superior knowledge beyond immanence—“the limits of the matter, the body, sensibility, being worldliness.”[^2] This article therefore sheds light on this specific dimension and reveals how Martha Quest, the protagonist of _Children of Violence_, manages to escape her solipsistic world through spiritual assent and best incarnates the concept of awakening central to Sufism. No longer individualistic and self-centered, the heroine of Doris Lessing’s novel stands as a witness of and reflector upon the surrounding selves and their life conflicts.

Knowledge integration between technical change and strategy making

This paper looks at the different strategies that two of the tire industry’s most prominent players, Pirelli and Michelin, deployed to exploit a radical process innovation: robotized, modular manufacturing. This paper argues that Pirelli, originally the technological follower, could develop a more nuanced, complex and ultimately successful strategy thanks to its superior knowledge integration capabilities. Empirically, we examine the structural characteristics and evolution of inventors’ networks in the two companies to reveal their knowledge integration capabilities. We apply the cohesive blocking method developed by White and Harary (Sociol Methodol 31(1):305–359, 2001) to argue that Pirelli, while relying on comparable skills in terms of technical fields, leveraged a more connected, cohesive and structured skills than Michelin. On this basis, it could develop and deploy a more complex strategy that better fit the characteristics of the new process technology. Pirelli’s knowledge network structure enhanced its knowledge integration capabilities and allowed for a more efficient fit between technology and strategy.