¡§The Financial Institution Merger Act¡¨ and ¡§Financial Holding Company Act¡¨ were legislated in 2000 and 2001 in Taiwan. Based on those Acts, there are 14 financial holding companies established till now . Except for Waterland Financial Holdings, the other 13 financial holding companies include banking industry business. It is obvious that the performance of bank does influence the performance of financial holding company. Bank joins in financial holding company hoping to provide ¡§one-stop shopping¡¨ diverse financial commodities to consumers through joint-marketing, sharing resources and equipment, and hoping to gain ¡§Cross Selling¡¨, ¡§Cost Savings¡¨ and ¡¨Capital Efficiency¡¨ performance¡]3C performance¡^. It expects to pursue broadly business scope and gain more profits through this business model. The research uses Mann-Whitney test of non-parametric statistics to examine the performance of the banking subsidiary of financial holding company in order to understand whether banks can gain expected efficiency after joining in financial holding company. The empirical results are listed as follow¡G First, the ¡§cross-selling¡¨ performance of the banks after joining in financial companies is better than those before joining in financial companies. While there are no significant differentials in ¡§cost-saving¡¨ and ¡§capital-efficiency¡¨ performance. Second, the ¡§profit ability¡¨ performance of the banks after joining in financial companies is better than those before joining in financial companies. Third, there are no significant differentials in growth ability between the banks after joining in financial companies and those before joining in financial companies. Fourth, the cross-selling performance and profit ability of the individual banks such as the Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, The International Commercial Bank of China, Cathay United Bank, Taipei Fubon Bank and E.Sun Bank after joining in financial companies is better than those before joining in financial companies. Fifth, the performance of ¡§cost-saving¡¨; ¡§profit ability¡¨; ¡§growth ability¡¨ and ¡§asset quality¡¨ of the banks affiliated to the financial holding companies is better than those not affiliated to the financial holding companies. Sixth, the overall performance of the banks affiliated to the financial holding companies is better than those not affiliated to the financial holding companies. But not all of the banks affiliated to the financial holding companies after joining in financial companies perform better than before. So the banks not affiliated to the financial holding companies can grasp their own niches and enforce core business. They can develop better than before even though their scale not big enough.

Experience economy reinforces not only the correlation intensity between enterprise and its customers, but also the differentiations with competitors. Above all, it enhances value and price, and frees itself from price competition. The operation model and product / service are getting similar in the industry of direct selling, so consciousness of crisis urges those companies to keep close relationship with distributors. Except for reward system, the direct selling companies will seek for intensifying distributor¡¦s willingness and capabilities throughout training and marketing in the ¡§Meeting Place¡¨. The ¡§Meeting Place¡¨ can be regarded as the base where the potential distributors are nurtured. Hence, ¡§participating in every meeting¡¨ has become a key successful factor for direct selling. This study adopts the method of qualitative research to study how the various experiential theories apply to direct selling. It attempts to define and to confer the above-stated terms based on authors¡¦ practical participation experience and analyzes the triple role, consumer-seller-operator; a distributor plays in the mean time. The conclusions of this study are summarized as follows: ¤@Experiential theories are broadly used in the industry of direct selling, but they lack of systematic planning and thinking. ¤@Experiential theories can fit the triple role of different stages. ¤@A model of the activities in the ¡§Meeting Place¡¨ is built as reference of future application for scholars and direct selling operators.

Due to the competition in the market and the challenge of the products of the other brands in the different sales channels, the traditional marketing strategy has gradually lost the attraction of customers and develop accordingly many new methods of marketing. Among them , the experiential marketing has been to attach broadly importance to discuss by industries in these days, such as Starbucks coffee shop. The experiential marketing switches the emphasis on the functionality and effectiveness to creations of the consumption process among perception, emotion, cerebration, action and relations. And so the best way for corporations is to develop the methods of marketing with being moved to customers at the moment. The major consumers of direct selling industry in Taiwan is women, so the objective of this study is Mary Kay Cosmetics Inc which is focus on female consumers. And based on the strategic experiential module evolved by Schmitt.To apply the five dimensions of sense, feel, think, act, relate to research the acceptance of consumers for the marketing ways and to explore whether these dimensions affect consumer¡¦s behavior with the combination of literature review, in depth interviews and content analysis as well. Findings suggest that these five dimensions affect the consumer¡¦s behavior and the impact of feel plays the most important roll of all. And the marketing of act and relates are important because of involving in interpersonal relationship and community operation. Mary Kay and the other companies in direct selling industry what are focus on the sales channel of distributors may refer to this model to induce the consumption of consumers.

Investment and wealth management are more important to customers than before. Bankers make the most of the market of wealth management. Relationship marketing plays an important role in this kind of situation. Relationship marketing is also the key factor of bankers¡¦ differentiation. According to literatures, this paper is to study the effect of ¡§the attributes of investor¡Bthe attributes of consultant¡Brelational selling behavior and corporate image¡¨ on the relationship quality. Refer to the paper of Morgan and Hunt (1994), the Key Mediating Variables Model describe that ¡§commitment and trust¡¨ are the key factors of success in the relationship marketing. So this paper adopts the concept of Key Mediating Variables Model, and uses ¡§commitment and trust¡¨ to discover the relationship quality between customers and consultants. This paper also discovers the effect of relationship quality on the customer satisfaction. Study Discovery: The customers¡¦ amount of investment and risk preference are not found to affect relationship quality significant effects. The expertise of the consultant has significant and positive effects on the relationship quality. Contact frequency and disclosure have significant and positive effects on the relationship quality. Corporate image is not found to affect relationship quality significant effects. Relationship quality has significant and positive effects on the customer satisfaction.

This thesis was concerned with the branch of Consumer Marketing known as Consumer Perception Reasoning, and focused on the reasoning behind the Country-of-Origin Effect and image framing on product selling and promotion effectiveness. The well-established research comprising Country-of-Origin was reviewed to establish a rapport for further research exploring reasons that shape existing consumer attitude. With regard to reasoning, different social, political and cultural variables were explored. It was hypothesized that that the majority of Canadians, separated by ethnic origin, are partial to the same reasoning motivating their appeal toward East Asian country-of-origin effects, and therefore, can be categorized into different ethnocentric buying groups. The primary rationale citied was consumer ethnocentrism between the participants and the images; country-of-origin was the basis of this research. An experimental design was performed, making use of real world political and economical issues present in mass media to form a post exposure questionnaire. Overall, the two-way interaction between perception reasoning and cultural values was upheld, albeit with interesting and notable secondary results. Although Western values did shape the majority of consumer opinion, there was a significant lack in country-of-origin knowledge and experience that caused inaccurate perception motivation. This lack created a greater dislike toward the Taiwanese COO tag resulting from image transferability from the Chinese tag. As well, consumer gender played a significant part in shaping perception motivation toward each of the real-time variables. This was the first study to explicitly the Country-of-Origin Effect to a cross-variable framework, thereby offering significant theoretical contributions to the consumer marketing literature.

<p>Background:</p><p>Hedge funds have its origin in 1949 when Alfred W Jones constructed a fund that used a new technique where he took long positions and hedged them with short positions. This fund got a large publicity when it was proved that it had outperformed any other fund by 87 percent during a ten year period. Though, it was not until the early 1990’s hedge funds became popular for the general public. The goal for hedge funds in general is to yield an absolute return and there are many different strategies for reaching this goal. This has lead to the following three research questions:</p><p>Have Hedge funds been able to reach its goal for an absolute return in both bullish and bearish times?</p><p>Which strategy has shown the best performance in markets on the rise and in declining markets and is it possible to place the different strategies in order of precedence?</p><p>Is it possible to come up with a guideline for investing in hedge funds on the Swedish market?</p><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose with this thesis is to study the returns on a large number of hedge funds in the American fund market based upon their investment strategy, both when the market is gaining and when it is declining.</p><p>Method:</p><p>In this thesis we have investigated twelve different strategies in the American market. By using secondary data from HFRI’s hedge fund database we have conducted a quantitative research by calculating key statistics for the strategies. We have also plotted performance diagrams were the strategies are compared with S&P 500. To be able to answer our research questions we constructed a table containing a summary of the risk and return for the strategies in bullish and bearish market times.</p><p>Results:</p><p>Our research showed that there were two strategies that were capable of delivering an absolute return for the entire period. However, when looking deeper into the yearly returns we found that there were another eight strategies that presented a negative return for just one out of the total eleven years. To conclude the research we have placed the strategies in order of precedence that works as a guideline for investing in the Swedish market in bull and bear markets.</p>

Background: Hedge funds have its origin in 1949 when Alfred W Jones constructed a fund that used a new technique where he took long positions and hedged them with short positions. This fund got a large publicity when it was proved that it had outperformed any other fund by 87 percent during a ten year period. Though, it was not until the early 1990’s hedge funds became popular for the general public. The goal for hedge funds in general is to yield an absolute return and there are many different strategies for reaching this goal. This has lead to the following three research questions: Have Hedge funds been able to reach its goal for an absolute return in both bullish and bearish times? Which strategy has shown the best performance in markets on the rise and in declining markets and is it possible to place the different strategies in order of precedence? Is it possible to come up with a guideline for investing in hedge funds on the Swedish market? Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to study the returns on a large number of hedge funds in the American fund market based upon their investment strategy, both when the market is gaining and when it is declining. Method: In this thesis we have investigated twelve different strategies in the American market. By using secondary data from HFRI’s hedge fund database we have conducted a quantitative research by calculating key statistics for the strategies. We have also plotted performance diagrams were the strategies are compared with S&amp;P 500. To be able to answer our research questions we constructed a table containing a summary of the risk and return for the strategies in bullish and bearish market times. Results: Our research showed that there were two strategies that were capable of delivering an absolute return for the entire period. However, when looking deeper into the yearly returns we found that there were another eight strategies that presented a negative return for just one out of the total eleven years. To conclude the research we have placed the strategies in order of precedence that works as a guideline for investing in the Swedish market in bull and bear markets.

This study is one of the first studies to fully address the relationship that business-to-business buyers have with both the selling firm and salesperson within an integrated model. Finding from this survey research support 14 of the 26 original hypotheses and the 2 additional linkages using structural equation modeling. This study finds that the relationship customers have with the selling firm is a stronger predictor of continuance than the relationship that the buyer has with the salesperson. While this relationship is stronger between the buyer and the selling firm, findings suggest that the salesperson can have a direct negative impact on the relationship if conflict is present. Overall, this study provides a framework for future research on the topic of business-to-business buyer-selling firm and buyer-salesperson relationships.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama UAB „Metalo prekyba“ konkurencinė aplinka Šiaulių mieste. Darbe išanalizuota konkurencijos samprata bei apibendrinti įmonių konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai, apžvelgtos bendros tendencijos, būdingos visai metalo ir jo gaminių gamybos pramonei Lietuvoje, įvertintos šios pramonės šakos perspektyvos bei galimybės. Praktinėje dalyje identifikuoti UAB „Metalo prekyba“ konkurentai Šiaulių mieste, atliktas jų profiliavimas bei išanalizuoti privalumai ir trūkumai. Remiantis vartotojų apklausa, nustatyti veiksniai, turintys didžiausią įtaką jų apsisprendimui, kurioje juoduoju metalu prekiaujančioje įmonėje Šiaulių mieste įsigyti reikiamos produkcijos. Pagal šiuos veiksnius bei atliktą konkurentų analizę nustatytos išskirtinės UAB „Metalo prekyba“ kompetencijos, įvertintos priežastys, dėl ko dalis vartotojų renkasi konkurentų įmones, bei pateiktos rekomendacijos UAB „Metalo prekyba“ konkurencinės pozicijos stiprinimui. / In the master’s final paper it was analysed competitive setting of JSC “Metalo prekyba” in Siauliai City. In the paper it was analysed concept of rivalry, summarized factors, predetermining competitive ability, reviewed general trends characteristic to the all metal and metalwork industry in Lithuania, assessed perspectives and opportunities of this industry. In the practical part it was identified rivals of JSC “Metalo prekyba” in Siauliai City, made their profile, analysed their advantages and disadvantages. Basing upon customer’s questioning, it was found out the factors most strongly influencing their determination about the company to select for purchase of ferrous metals in Siauliai City. Using these factors and analysis of the rivals, it was found out exceptional competences of JSC “Metalo prekyba” and the reasons, why the customers select other companies; then it was offered the recommendations for JSC “Metalo prekyba” to strengthen its competitive position.

Background: Today’s market is constantly going through changes. Customers havenew tendencies and preferences towards the products they buy. It is a customer centeredbusiness culture and companies must follow it if they want to stay in the market.Therefore communication is more personalized and tries to exchange as muchinformation with customer as possible. This enhances customer relationship anddevelops more customized products. The development of customer intimacy is requiredin order to have a broader understanding on customer needs. In that way firms are moreable to meet customer preferences with the products they provide.Purpose: The aim of this study is to describe sales strategies of additional products toexisting customers in the B2B Swedish market. Further this study will identifycommunication tools when contacting customers.Research Questions:RQ1: What sales strategies can Electrolux Laundry Systems implement for additionalproducts?RQ2: How can Electrolux Laundry Systems use communication when offering newproducts?RQ3: How could communication affect the customers?RQ4: How could managers and employees perceive the sales perspectives of ElectroluxLaundry Systems?Method: The chosen method was in depth interviews. In these interviews theresearchers asked open-ended questions via face to face and via telephone and recordedthe respondents answers. The observations were carried through interviews with ninecustomers of Electrolux Laundry Systems. Scandic Hotel Värnamo, VärnamoMunicipality, Ekdahls Länghem, Ljungbybostäder, Ljungby Hospital, ElderlyHomecare Ljungby, Tekniska Förvaltningen and Ljungby Municipality.Results: The research demonstrated that the company analyzed uses customer focussales strategies and direct marketing communications as the main tools to maintain andnurture a strong relationship with customers. Also important factors have beenhighlighted that explain the essence of the study, such as the use of communication andsales efforts to establish close relationships to later on cross-sell additional products in amore suitable way according to customer’s explicit needs.