HEC Paris

About: HEC Paris is a education organization based out in Jouy-en-Josas, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Investment (macroeconomics) & Market liquidity. The organization has 584 authors who have published 2756 publications receiving 104467 citations. The organization is also known as: Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales & HEC School of Management Paris.

Queueing networks and the topological design of supply chain systems

Abstract: Manufacturing firms are linking their internal processes to external suppliers and customers. The resulting supply chain is often a very large network of activities and resources. Modeling and optimization of such complex systems is a new area of research for which exact analytical results are obviously very difficult if not impossible. We develop a methodology based on analytical queueing networks coupled with nonlinear optimization to design supply chain topologies and evaluate various performance measures. The results obtained from small network configurations as well as from the case study discussed in the paper demonstrate that our approach is a very useful tool to analyze congestion problems and to evaluate the performance of the network topologies.

Use of multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis to study dietary behaviour: food consumption questionnaire in the SU.VI.MAX. cohort.

Abstract: Although the effects of individual foods or nutrients on the development of diseases and their risk factors have been investigated in many studies, little attention has been given to the effect of overall dietary patterns. The main objectives of this study were to identify dietary patterns and groups of subjects with similar food consumption habits, i.e. 'dietary profiles', using multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. A food frequency questionnaire was sent to a large population-based sample (2923 women and 2,180 men), recruited among the 'SUpplementation en VItamines et Mineraux AntioXydants' (SU.VI.MAX.) cohort participants in France. The food items were dichotomised in order to focus the study on the highest levels of consumption. Multiple correspondence analysis allows the construction of principal components, which optimally summarise the data, and enables the construction of graphical displays. An interesting property of these graphical displays is that associations between food items can be observed on various projection planes, each category of each food item being located at the centre of gravity of the subjects corresponding to this category. An ascending hierarchical classification was unsuccessfully tried in order to determine clusters from these principal components. Therefore, a 'dissection' of the cloud of points was performed according to the orientation of the axes, providing a readily interpretable eight-dietary profiles typology for each sex. This statistical approach allows identification of particular dietary patterns and dietary profiles, which might be more appropriate in studies of diet-disease associations than the single food or nutrient approach that has dominated past epidemiological research.

Label equity and the effectiveness of values-based labels: an experiment with two French Protected Geographic Indication labels

Abstract: The objective of this research is to explore the decision-making process of consumers when faced with food products that have values-based labels. An experimental methodology was used to test the impact of a label of origin guaranteed by the European Union, the Protected Geographic Indications (PGI) label. The reactions of French consumers to photographs of two food products were investigated with four different presentations: without a specific label, with a simple regional label, with both a regional label and the PGI label, and finally, with the previous two labels along with an explanation of the nature of the PGI label. It was found that the impact on overall quality and purchase intention emerged only when the relatively unrecognized PGI label was explained to consumers, thus highlighting the importance of building awareness of a values-based label. When it was explained, however, the values-based label was shown to operate as an effective market signal that generated both descriptive and inferential beliefs in relation to the products bearing the label. These beliefs in turn explained consumers’ perception of overall quality and influenced purchasing intention. By investigating the dimensions of label equity and by explaining the mechanism whereby values-based labels are perceived by consumers, this research offers firms a methodology for improving the commercial viability of values-based labelling schemes. Policymakers can also benefit from these insights to develop clearer understanding of how labels are actually interpreted by consumers. Finally, consumers – individually and collectively – will be better served by labelling schemes that incorporate an understanding of their perspective.

Creation and Implementation of a New Business Model: a Disarming Case Study

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to show through a case study the inherent diffi culties in creating and implementing a new business model in an existing firm. This research is based on a study of Valtis, a French security transportation firm whose CEO helped to introduce onto the market an innovative system based not on securing goods but on removing temptation: money is no longer carried in armored vehicles but is placed in secure containers, transported by unarmed men traveling in unmarked cars. The article shows that as well as demonstrating technological innovation, this is in fact a radically new business model. It also highlights the double loop learning needed to create it and also the difficulties encountered when two business models (the old and the new) coexist during and after the strategic experimentation phase. More generally, the article aims to show how the notion of the business model opens up the question of strategic regeneration.