Showing papers on "Quality (business) published in 1983"

Premiums for High Quality Products as Returns to Reputations

Abstract: This paper derives an equilibrium price-quality schedule for markets in which buyers cannot observe product quality prior to purchase. In such markets there is an incentive for sellers to reduce quality and take short-run gains before buyers catch on. In order to forestall such quality cutting, the price-quality schedule involves high quality items selling at a premium above their cost. This premium also serves the function of compensating sellers for their investment in reputation. The effects of improved consumer information and of a minimum quality standard on the equilibrium price-quality schedule are studied. In general, optimal quality standards exclude from the market items some consumers would like to buy.

Measuring manufacturing performance: a new challenge for managerial accounting research

Abstract: Problems with the performance of U.S. manufacturing firms have become obvious in recent years. Japanese and Western European manufacturers are able to produce higher quality goods with fewer workers and lower inventory levels than comparable U.S. firms. The ability of foreign firms to become more efficient producers has gone largely unnoticed in the education and research programs of many U.S. business schools. A much greater commitment to understanding the factors critical to the success of manufacturing firms is needed. While an understanding of the determinants for successful manufacturing performance will require contributions from many disciplines, accounting can play a critical role in this effort. Accounting researchers can attempt to develop non-financial measures of manufacturing performance, such as productivity, quality, and inventory costs. Measures of product leadership, manufacturing flexibility, and delivery performance could be developed for firms bringing new products to the marketplace. Expanded performance measures are also necessary for capital budgeting procedures and to monitor production using the new technology of flexible manufacturing systems. A particular challenge is to de-emphasize the current focus of senior managers on simple, aggregate, short-term financial measures and to develop indicators that are more consistent with long-term competitiveness and profitability.

A Longitudinal Test of the Investment Model: The Impact on Job Satisfaction, Job Commitment, and Turnover of Variations in Rewards, Costs, Alternatives, and Investments

Abstract: A longitudinal study of moderately professionalized technical workers was conducted to test a vanety of investment model (Farrell & Rusbult, 1981) predictions concerning the determinants of job satisfaction, job commitment, and turnover In general, greater job satisfaction resulted from high job rewards and low job costs, whereas strong job commitment was produced by high rewards, low costs, poor alternative quality, and large investment size Whereas the impact of job rewards on satisfaction and commitment remained relatively constant, job costs seemed to exert an increasingly powerful influence over time Investment size, too, was shown to exert greater impact on job commitment with the passage of time Just prior to their leaving, the job commitment of employees who left was best predicted by a combination of rewards, costs, and alternatives Employees who stayed and those who left were shown to differ from one another with regard to changes over time in each investment model factor—those who left expenenced greater decline in rewards, increase in costs, increase in alternative quality, and decrease in investment size than did those who stayed Turnover appeared to be mediated by a decline over time in degree of job commitment

Product Quality, Cost Position and Business Performance: A Test of Some Key Hypotheses:

Abstract: This study uses a causal modelling methodology to examine competing methodological and theoretical hypotheses concerning the effects of product quality on direct costs and business unit return on i...

Prices as Signals of Product Quality

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the provision of quality in markets in which consumers have only imperfect information. The analysis focuses on a market for a product that can be produced at different quality levels. All consumers prefer higher to lower quality, but they may differ in their willingness to pay for quality. Producers can produce any quality they like, but higher qualities are more costly to produce. The information in this market is imperfect in the sense that the exact quality chosen by a firm is known only to the firm itself; some information about the quality of a firm's product will, however, reach its potential customers, even if they do not make any special effort to acquire it. Within the framework suggested here, two conclusions are drawn. First, prices may serve as signals which exactly differentiate the available quality levels. That is, there exists a fulfilledexpectations equilibrium at which each price signals a unique quality level. Second, the pricesignals are not arbitrary. Each price-signal exceeds the marginal cost of producing the quality it signals. Such a mark-up depends on the nature of the product-specific information received by consumers—the poorer the information, the higher the mark-up.

Consumer Attitudes towards Products of Foreign Origin: Do They Vary Across Product Classes?

Abstract: Although a substantial body of literature exists on the country-of-origin bias, the issue of whether or not such perceptions are uniform across product classes has not been resolved. This study examines how quality perceptions of consumers vary across four product classes: electronic items, food products, fashion merchandise, and household goods. Responses obtained from a sample of Nova Scotian consumers suggest that quality perceptions tend to be product-specific. Quality perceptions vary also for the 25 countries studied. A number of policy implications are also offered in the paper.

The Economics of Price Discrimination

Abstract: List of figures and tables Preface Preliminaries Part I. Space: 1. Business practices 2. The isolated firm 3. A group of firms 4. Welfare implications Part II. Time: 5. Business practices 6. Storable commodities 7. New commodities 8. Nonstorable commodities Part III. Income Differences: 9. Business practices 10. Two-part tariffs and quantity-dependent prices 11. Multiproduct pricing 12. Imperfect information Part IV. Quality Differences: 13. Business practices 14. Product selection 15. Quality uncertainty Notes References Index.

Subjective and Objective Measures of Police Service Delivery

Abstract: In the past decade, we have witnessed a confluence of two previously independent modes of research in the area of urban service delivery. The first mode of analysis involves measuring service delivery performance characteristics using data from official archives of public agencies. Sometimes called "objective" measures, these indicators are used to document such performance criteria as effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of policy inputs, outputs, and impacts. The second mode involves measuring a sample of citizens' and clients' attitudes about service delivery through some form of survey research. Citizens or clients are asked to evaluate the quality and / or quantity of a given service in general, or with respect to some specific aspect of the service. Most such research employing "subjective" indicators of service delivery has focused on effectiveness. More recently, policy analysts have begun to raise questions about the extent to which the two analytical modes produce consistent or contradictory results. What variables account for variance in citizens' subjective evaluations of urban services in their neighborhoods? To what extent do citizens' subjective evaluations reflect objective service conditions in their neighborhoods? Answers to these questions are particularly important, since presumably one of the main purposes of citizen satisfaction surveys is to provide information for city officials to use in making decisions about service delivery. This paper addresses these and similar questions, and presents a variety of tests of the empirical relationship between objective and subjective measures of police service delivery. First, as a background to this study, some of the relevant findings of previous research are summarized. Second, the methodology, hypotheses, and data employed in this study are described in detail. Third, we present the results of our analysis and compare our findings with those of previous studies. Finally, we draw some conclusions about the two modes of analysis.

Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity

Abstract: (1983). Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity. Journal of Quality Technology: Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 149-153.

Optimal Pricing of Experience Goods

Abstract: A monopolist's optimal price path over time is examined for situations in which consumers initially misestimate product quality and learn about it by using the good. Information about the product is bundled with the product itself. Two very different cases are studied. In the optimistic case, consumers initially overestimate quality, and the optimal way to milk a reputation is via a declining price path followed by a jump up to a terminal price. There are no long-run effects due to initial misperceptions. In the pessimistic case, consumers underestimate quality, and the optimal way to build a reputation is to use a low introductory price followed by a higher regular price. In this case, initial misperceptions adversely affect welfare in both the short and long run.

Reputation and product quality

Abstract: This article considers the role that reputation plays in assuring product quality in markets where consumers can only imperfectly judge product quality even after consumption. Three conclusions are derived. First, high quality firms have more customers because they have fewer dissatisfied customers who leave and word-of-mouth advertising results in more arrivals. Second, higher fixed costs can result in a higher equilibrium level of quality. Third, the particular form that word-of-mouth advertising takes can have significant effects on the market outcome. Recommendations consisting of a report of whether the consumer intends to patronize the same firm again generate an externality that is absent when actual estimates of quality are communicated.

Diagnosing organizational decision making through responsibility charting.

Abstract: Decision making within many organizations is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to manage. This article describes a technique called "Responsibility Charting" which can be used as a basis for understanding and improving decision making, and for enhancing the quality of communication within an organization. The authors present a case study to illustrate the types of analyses possible with this technique.

Quality, Price, Advertising, and Published Quality Ratings

Abstract: Economic literature contains several sometimes contradictory hypotheses concerning the relationships among quality, price, and advertising. We investigate the impact of published quality ratings on these relationships and find that quality and advertising are much more likely to be positively related in the presence of quality ratings.

Depth of processing and the quality of learning outcomes

Abstract: Problems associated with earlier research on the relationship between depth of processing and quality of learning outcomes are first discussed. Then I present an interview study with 60 second year tertiary students which supports the hypothesis that depth of processing is related to the quality of learning outcomes.

4 – a theory and methodology of inductive learning

Abstract: The presented theory views inductive learning as a heuristic search through a space of symbolic descriptions, generated by an application of various inference rules to the initial observational statements. The inference rules include generalization rules, which perform generalizing transformations on descriptions, and conventional truth-preserving deductive rules. The application of the inference rules to descriptions is constrained by problem background knowledge, and guided by criteria evaluating the “quality” of generated inductive assertions. Based on this theory, a general methodology for learning structural descriptions from examples, called Star, is described and illustrated by a problem from the area of conceptual data analysis.

Effect of Different Atmospheres on Postharvest Decay and Quality of Fresh Strawberries

Abstract: El-Kazzaz, M. K., Sommer, N. F., and Fortlage, R. J. 1983. Effect of different atmospheres on postharvest decay and quality of fresh strawberries. Phytopathology 73: 282-285. Effects of different atmospheres, ie, air + ethylene (C2H4) at 20 11/ L; air + added to either air or CA, resulted in more decay development than in other 15% CO2; air + 10% carbon monoxide (CO); a controlled atmosphere (CA) atmospheres, indicating that C2H4 might enhance disease development or of 2.3%02+5%CO2; CA +C 2 H4 (20,4l/ L); and CA + 10% CO in addition fungal growth. Off-flavors were detected after treatment with air + 15% to control (air), on the postharvest decay of strawberry fruits caused by CO 2. Carbon monoxide added to CA during storage of strawberries at Botrytis cinerea were studied with Aiko, G-3, and G-4 cultivars at 0.6 and 0.6-3.3 C for up to three weeks may provide better results than the current 3.3 C for 21 days. Air + 15%CO 2 and CA + 10% CO were the most effective practice of using high CO2. atmospheres in suppressing fruit rot. Presence of 20 1l of C2H4 per liter, Strawberries (Fragaria chiloensis Duchesne var. ananassa on decay control and quality of harvested strawberry fruits, ie, Bailey) are highly perishable and suffer relatively high postharvest determine whether CO can be used as a substitute for elevated CO 2 losses due to gray mold rot caused by Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Fr. to avoid possible CO 2 injury; 2) compare the effects of C 2 H4 and its (6,11,17,18,23). Although elevated CO 2 atmospheres can be mimic, CO, on disease development and quality of the strawberry; detrimental to many commodities, including strawberries, they and 3) determine whether the postharvest life of strawberries could have been used commercially to prevent decay during transit of be extended to 21 days, a period possibly permitting transoceanic strawberries (12). Tissue discoloration and off-flavors (8,20,25) marine transport. result if critical limits of concentration or period of exposure are exceeded. MATERIALS AND METHODS Dangers from excessive CO 2 can be reduced if artificial atmospheres are provided; these usually contain 2-4% 02 and Fruits. Strawberry cultivars Aiko, G-3, and G-4 were obtained 5-10% CO 2 with the remainder N2. The gas mixture is termed a from Watsonville, CA. These fruits were forced-air cooled to near controlled atmosphere (CA) if it is periodically or constantly 0 C within a few hours of harvest, then transported to Davis in an adjusted to compensate for changes caused by fruit respiration, or a insulated container within 3 hr. After the berries were held modified atmosphere if no adjustments are made. overnight at 0 C, they were sorted to eliminate defects. Matched El-Goorani and Sommer (8) studied the effect of CO added to air samples of 20 fruits (about 450 g) per replicate were selected, and and to CA (2.3% 02 \" 5% CO 2) on Botrytis rot of strawberries and three replicates per treatment were used in all experiments. found that 9% CO + CA reduced the rate of rot development by Fungal spore preparation and inoculation of fruits. Fungal 80-90%. They attributed the development of a slight off-flavor to cultures of B. cinerea used in this study were provided by the second low 02 and elevated CO 2 and not to added CO. The biological author. Cultures were routinely stored at about 4 C on potato effects of C2 H4 , such as hastening the ripening of climacteric fruits, dextrose agar slants. Pathogenicity of the fungus was verified by has been reported to be mimicked by CO (9,14). In contrast, the fruit inoculation before use in this study. Spores were produced on nonclimacteric fruits, such as strawberries, produce very small V-8 juice agar in 300-ml Erlenmeyer flasks at about 21-24 C. amounts of C2H4 and exhibit less dramatic changes in their color Seven-day-old cultures were flooded with 20 ml of Tween-80 and composition after harvest (19,21). Siriphanich (21) reported solution (1 drop of Tween-80 in 100 ml of distilled water), and the that strawberry quality was not influenced by exposure to resulting conidial suspension was filtered through two layers of exogenous C2H4 at 1, 10, or 100 ppm at 2.2 or 5 C for up to 14 days. sterile cheesecloth. Conidia were washed twice by centrifugation He concluded that no advantage would be derived from removal of and discarding of the supernatant, which was replaced by fresh C2H4 from around strawberry fruits during postharvest handling. Tween-80 solution. A concentration of 1 X 106 conidia per milliliter The effect of C 2H 4 on fungal growth or disease development is was established by relating absorption at 490 nm in a B & L still unclear. A retarding effect of C2H4 on disease development has Spectronic 20 colorimeter to a concentration curve previously been reported on sweet potatoes infected by Ceratocystisfimbriata established with a hemacytometer for a similar spore suspension. (24) and on McIntosh apples infected by Gloeosporium album (16). Fruits were wound-inoculated (approximately 0.05 ml per wound) On the other hand, C2H4 has been reported to stimulate disease using a needle (2 mm long) previously dipped in the B. cinerea development or spore germination of certain postharvest fungi suspension. The effect of atmospheres on mycelial infection and (1,2,3,7,15). \"nesting\" was determined in one test by surrounding a diseased The objectives of this study were to 1) compare the effect of berry that was almost completely covered with mycelium of B. elevated CO2 atmospheres vs the effects of CO added to air or CA cinerea with 20 sound G-3 berries in a basket. Test fruits were placed in a 11.5-L glass jar through which The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This atmospheres were metered at a rate of 160 ml/ min using the article must therefore be hereby marked \"advertisement\" in accordance with 18 U.S.C.1t hcapillary flow meters described by Claypool and Keefer (5). 1734 solely to indicate this fact.cailrflwmtrdecbdbyCypoan Keer() Atmospheres were air (20.8% 02,0.03% CO2), air + C 2H 4 (20,tl//L),

Perception of quality in demand for the theatre.

Abstract: In this paper some of the problems and prospects in studying the role of quality in demand for the theatre have been discussed. A set of criteria for evaluating quality judgments in the performing arts has been proposed, and in a limited way some of these criteria have been used in estimating demand and utility functions. Although results are tentative and qualified, they do confirm unambiguously the importance of qualitative variables in influencing both demand and supply decisions in the performing arts.

The Economics of Quality

Abstract: This paper develops a model of quality determination where the usual competitive equilibrium conditions hold. The explicit form of quality considered is the wait required to obtain the product. The analysis, however, is much more general, being valid for products that have a characteristic, z, such that (1) demand is a function of price and a measure defined on z, (2) costs are a function of output and the measure on z, and (3) z is a function of output and capacity. Expected profit-maximizing firms, in equilibrium, look like monopolistic competitors. Once constant quality is imposed, however, the perfect competitive results obtain.

Microcomputer Use in Schools: Developing a Research Agenda

Abstract: The impact of microcomputers on education is only beginning to be studied systematically. In this article Karen Sheingold, Janet Kane, and Mari Endreweit report on three case studies conducted to reveal how different school systems used microcomputers for instruction. They also develop an agenda for future research. Through interviews and observations, they investigated three geographically distinct school districts with diverse microcomputer applications at both elementary and secondary levels. Six trends emerged which raise important questions for future study: access to microcomputers; emergence of new roles in response to microcomputers; integration of microcomputers into elementary classrooms and curricula; quantity and quality of software; preparation of teachers for using microcomputers; and effects and outcomes of the instructional use of microcomputers.

Quality Assessment and Monitoring Retrospect and Prospect

Abstract: A commentary on the papers in the two special issues on Quality Assurance which shows how they contribute to some important conceptual, methodological, and policy issues. These issues pertain to the definition of quality; the distinction between quality assessment and program evaluation; the role of the market in regulating the quality of care; the role of more direct consumer participation in defining and assessing quality; professional responsibility for quality; the applicability of the structure-process-outcome paradigm to quality assessment; the format, methods of formulation, and validity of the criteria; probability sampling and purposive selection of the topics to be assessed; problems of scaling and measurement; the applicability of industrial control methods to quality monitoring; bringing about behavior change in response to the findings of quality monitoring; measuring the costs and benefits of quality assessment methods, including a consideration of their screening efficiency; and the relationship between quality monitoring and cost containment through competition or by other means.

Objective and subjective income adequacy: Their relationship to perceived life quality measures

Abstract: The study investigated the extent to which income adequacy was related to satisfaction with perceived overall life quality and two of the more economically based domains of life quality: satisfaction with family income and satisfaction with level of consumption. A representative national sample of 1046 adults was interviewed. Findings indicated that as income adequacy increased, whether objectively or subjectively measured, satisfaction with each of the three life quality measures also increased. Income adequacy explained more of the variance in the two economically based domains than in the more global area of overal life quality. Thus income adequacy was a contributor to life quality, but other domains of life experience were also important. Subjective adequacy explained more of the variation in each of the three life quality measures than did objective adequacy. While respondents differed significantly in the congruency in their subjective and objective adequacy levels, that difference explained very little of the variation in satisfaction with the three life quality measures.

Principles of bio-indication.

Abstract: The concept indication as used in this series of papers points to making visible what is not immediately perceptible. In this case the non-immediately visible is the quality of air, water, soil and the living world which surrounds us, in short: our environment the ecosystem on which also man depends. One can try to find indicators which tell us directly something about the quality, i.e. the usefulness, resp. harmfulness for a certain purpose. However, one might be content with the indication of environmental factors which are not the quality itself, but which decide the quality indirectly such as moisture content, composition of minerals and the like.

A Procedure for Assessing the Richness of Retellings.

Abstract: purposes. Hence, interest in evaluating the quality of retellings in the most appropriate manner has increased. This interest has centered on just what it is in a retelling that indicates high, average, or low reader comprehension. Clearly, retellings are as various as the readers making them. Stated simply, then, we asked two questions. What characteristics of a retelling distinguish different levels of understanding of the text? Which retellings are superiorthose in which the reader restates the passage content in accurate, precise detail or those in which the reader makes in-

Futures Contracts on Commodities with Multiple Varieties: An Analysis of Premiums and Discounts

Abstract: In casual conversation, people often speak of a commodity as if it occurs in a single, homogeneous form. A moment's reflection reveals, however, that classifications like "gold" and "wheat" are actually labels for commodity groups that include varieties with different characteristics. For example, gold can differ according to fineness and wheat can differ according to grade. Such quality variations in a commodity rarely present a problem for cash (or spot) market transactions, because buyers and sellers can bargain over price in light of the characteristics of particular lots. 1 The situation is quite different for a futures contract, where price must be negotiated without reference to the specific lot to be delivered. In this case buyers and sellers have an incentive to define carefully those characteristics which distinguish acceptable from unacceptable grades.2 In this paper we examine the structure of futures contracts on commodities with heterogeneous varieties. The structure of premiums and discounts allowed on different grades of a commodity is analyzed. We then identify penalty and equivalence systems for quality adjustments. We also explore the implications of the adjustment system for the risk exposure to hedgers using the futures contract. We find that there is no prima facie case for setting contract premiums and discounts equal to actual commercial premiums and discounts.

Postharvest Quality Maintenance of Fruits and Vegetables in Developing Countries

Abstract: Quality of fruits and vegetables is a combination of attributes or properties that give them value in terms of human food. Components of quality include appearance, texture, flavor, and nutritive value (Table 1). Growers and shippers are concerned that their commodities have good appearance and few visual defects. But to them a useful cultivar of a given commodity must score high on yield, disease resistance, ease of harvest, and shipping quality. Plant breeders have given these characteristics higher priority over flavor and nutritional quality. To receivers and market distributors, quality of appearance is most important; they are also keenly interested in firmness and long storage life. Traditionally, postharvest biology and technology research has concentrated on using appearance and texture as parameters for quality evaluation (28). Consumers see quality fruits as ones that look good, are firm, and offer good flavor and nutritive value. Although they buy on the basis of appearance and feel, their satisfaction is dependent upon good eating quality.

Frameworks for analyzing the effects of risk and environmental regulations on productivity

Abstract: Three separate effects of regulatory policies on enterprise decisions can be distinguished. First, increased regulatory penalties will diminish output and profits in static models or, equivalently, in multiperiod models in which investments are completely reversible, as is well known. Second, if investment commitments are irreversible, there will be an additional effect of a known schedule of changes in the regulatory policy, which will depress output even further. Finally, the addition of uncertainty with regard to regulatory policy produces a third effect resulting in expected opportunity losses for firms. Both output and quality investments will be depressed by regulatory policy lotteries. Regulations influence current enterprise decisions not only through their current level, but through their expected future level and the degree of uncertainty regarding these future regulatory policies. 9 references, 1 figure.