In the current context of globalization, firms have concentrated their efforts on the development of international brands. As a result, international brand portfolios have been restructured, and many successful local brands have been eliminated. This article's objective is to improve the understanding of local brand differences and competitive advantages relative to international brands. To achieve this, the authors reanalyzed the Young & Rubicam database Brand Asset Valuator and examined more than 744 brands across the four largest countries in Europe: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy. The authors discuss the managerial implications of the findings for international marketers as they develop their ideal international brand portfolios.

Executive Insights: Real Differences Between Local and International Brands: Strategic Implications for International Marketers

Retail Management–A Strategic Approach

We have Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs) that are responsible for the training and education of NHS staff, both clinical and non-clinical, within their area. Our LETBs, which are committees of HEE, are made up of representatives from local providers of NHS services and cover the whole of England. Regional People Boards, established in 2020, currently incorporate the statutory elements of the LETBs to ensure compliance with the Care Act.

How we Work

Each year, Syngenta Seeds, Inc. produces over 50 seed-corn hybrids and the following year markets over 100 hybrids under the NK brand name. The fact that growing seed corn is a biological process dependent upon local weather and insect conditions during the growing season complicates production planning. In addition, customers' experiences with a particular hybrid during a given year strongly influence demand for that hybrid during the next year. To help mitigate some of these yield and demand uncertainties, Syngenta (and other seed companies as well) take advantage of a second growing season for seed corn in South America, which occurs after many of the yield uncertainties and some of the demand uncertainties have been resolved or reduced. To better manage this production-planning process, Syngenta and the University of Iowa developed and implemented a second-chance production-planning model. A trial of the model showed that using it to plan 2000 production would have increased margins by approximately $5 million. Today, Syngenta uses this model to plan production for those varieties that account for 80 percent of total sales volume.

Special Issue: 2002 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences: Managing the Seed-Corn Supply Chain at Syngenta.

Recent research challenges the idea that greater choice is always desirable, showing that larger assortments can increase choice deferral and switching. The current research demonstrates that even when consumers make a purchase, the same item may generate lower satisfaction when chosen from a larger rather than a smaller assortment. The authors explain this effect in terms of an expectation-disconfirmation mechanism. When assortments are small, consumers have low expectations about their ability to match their preferences. As assortment sizes increase, so do consumers' expectations of the degree of preference match they can achieve. Subsequently, consumers may experience greater negative expectation disconfirmation or less positive expectation disconfirmation when a chosen item comes from a larger rather than a smaller set. Either less positive or more negative disconfirmation leads to lower choice satisfaction. The results from three studies support this expectation-based process and establish t...

Great Expectations?! Assortment Size, Expectations and Satisfaction

The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly analyse the concept of
 multichannel strategy, focussing on retail, to enable the academic community
 and marketers to better understand its advantages and disadvantages. This
 paper presents a comprehensive literature review and financial data analysis.
 The authors have analysed the financial data of 88 retail companies in the
 2007 to 2014 period, and have proven that the importance of multichannel
 strategy has grown with the emergence of e-commerce. The main hypothesis is
 that the multichannel concept dominates modern marketing channels because it
 is widely accepted and provides superior financial performance. Multichannel
 retailing is definitely a winning concept, if adequately implemented.
 However, wrongly implemented it can negatively influence business
 performance.

/pdf/multichannel-strategy-the-dominant-approach-in-modern-hk0534xo2x.pdf

Multichannel strategy - the dominant approach in modern retailing

Retail and retail development have become increasingly important in the economies of a number of countries in recent years.  Given that retail chains are in direct contact with consumers, food retail control is important for both consumers and retailers. Additionally, food control is an important business segment of all companies involved in the food distribution chain, from food production, processing, storage, and sales to end consumers. On the one hand, the right to healthy and safe products is one of the basic consumer rights. On the other hand, retail chains tend to deliver healthy and safe products to consumers, using the principle of efficiency and positive business performance. In line with the above, i.e. food retailers’ challenge to satisfy consumer demands for healthy and safe products, but also to achieve positive business performance, the aim of this paper is to analyse the importance of food control for retail development, with particular reference to the market of the Republic of Serbia. For this purpose, empirical research is carried out on a sample of 169 food retailers. Using the available financial data, as well as data obtained from field research, the paper tests hypothesis on the impact of food control, as measured by the percentage allocation for the introduction of food safety standards, on food retail performance. The ANFIS method is used, and the results show positive impact of food control on food retail development in the Republic of Serbia.

/pdf/the-importance-of-food-control-for-retail-development-4t97tren4d.pdf

The Importance of Food Control for Retail Development – Evidence Using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System Approach

Notable business operations internationalization and changes in marketing channels have affected the position of domestic suppliers and domestic brands. This is especially characteristic for the developing countriesâ€™ markets, primarily with respect to consumerâ€™s goods markets, where, as a rule, marketing channels are more developed and brand is more prominent as a means of competitive advantage. Under competitive pressure, many companies have started to implement modern marketing approach in their business operations in order to adequately respond to the perceived tendencies.

/pdf/using-marketing-approach-to-respond-to-internationalization-1058f2ach0.pdf

Using Marketing Approach to Respond to Internationalization Challenges and Changes in Marketing Channels

Emergence of smartphones with strong wireless networking capabilities has set the field for foundation of a various mobile commerce services. The improving access to wireless communication technologies is bringing mobile commerce to the focus of marketers and retailers as a new marketing and retail channel in the context of multichannel retailing. Research studies deal with the level of adoption and factors influencing adoption of mobile commerce within various groups of consumers in different markets. However, there is a scarcity of research studies explaining level of mobile commerce adoption in Central and Eastern Europe. The main goals of the paper are to explain the level of adoption in three countries in this region and to describe patterns of usage of smartphones and mobile applications as shopping tools within the population of young consumers in those markets. This paper, based on secondary data, explains the state of the art of smartphone usage in Poland, Croatia and Serbia. Furthermore, based on a primary quantitative survey on student population, the paper brings valuable data on smartphone and mobile application among young customers in mentioned markets. The primary research was conducted on more than 450 examinees in Poland, Croatia and Serbia and in this paper basic descriptive statistical analysis was conducted in order to discuss types of activities and some basics characteristics of young consumers regarding mobile commerce in general .

A General Overview of Usage of Smartphones and Mobile Applications by Young Consumers in Poland, Croatia and Serbia

Although food with nutritive and health claims in the Western Balkan countries has been present in this region for more than a decade, it has remained rather understudied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the importance of products with nutritive and health claims in the Western Balkans, using qualitative research techniques. In the study, the prices and margins of the subject product group, distribution channels, demand perception and incentives as well as barriers for the future development of the functional food market were analyzed. The study included five categories of products with nutritive and health claims, while the technique of the in-depth interviews was adopted. The total of 29 producers and 26 retailers form all the six countries of the region participated in the research. Even though the studied categories recorded a sales growth in the previous period, a significant increase is expected in the medium and long term, along with the growth of the living standard - given that products with nutritive and health claims are more expensive than regular ones. The results imply that it is necessary that the level of education regarding the role of food in health preservation should be raised; and that a change in bad eating habits should be influenced. The development of functional food markets also requires a government support and an appropriate legislation.

/pdf/markets-of-food-with-nutritive-and-health-claim-producers-33l8ik4elf.pdf

Dragan Stojković

Papers

Multichannel strategy - the dominant approach in modern retailing

The Importance of Food Control for Retail Development – Evidence Using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System Approach

Using Marketing Approach to Respond to Internationalization Challenges and Changes in Marketing Channels

A General Overview of Usage of Smartphones and Mobile Applications by Young Consumers in Poland, Croatia and Serbia

Markets of food with nutritive and health claim: Producers' and retailers' perspectives