Nowadays, the competitions in industry transfer from selling campaign tracing operational efficiency and producing oriented to marketing battle chasing after effect, developing strategy, touching end users, and satisfying their real needs. In accordance with corporate strategy, there are several ways for companies to choose. How to make a decision in such choices, especially in developing brand and channels. It depends on the product characteristics. Brand and channels, the traditional bargaining issue, this research tried to find what resources suppliers own, could increase their bargaining power, and what resources distributors own, could increase their bargaining power, finally, identify the spectacular resources in their bargaining process. In the process which roles end users play indeed? This research will find how could both of suppliers and distributors affect the bargaining conclusion through end users¡¦ preference and customs. This research selected consumer goods and hypermarkets to represent the relation between upstream and downstream.

This study constructs a analytical framework in which the Labor Union has full bargaining power and firms are heterogeneous to analyze the economic effect for adjustment of minimum wage ratio. There are two features in this model. First, every firm shows heterogeneity in productivity and survivors of the market are only those with good productivity. Second, the labor union has sufficient power to bargain wage ratio. The main findings of this study include: 1. Increase in the minimum wage ratio raises the survival threshold and labor wage ratio, but decreases the numbers of firms. 2. Increase in the minimum wage ratio does not necessarily result in decrease of labor demand.

Contracts and trust are two of the most important concepts impacting exchange relationships. Although there is a substantial amount of organizational literature scrutinizing contracts and trust as mechanisms of cooperation, very little of this scholarship has been empirical and, thus, our understanding is very limited. The two constructs have been cast as substitutes by some scholars and complements by others, but this body of research has largely ignored the potential for an interactive effect. One such effect has been postulated by select organizational scholars, entitled the “contract contrarian perspective” by this research, who tout that the introduction of written contracts has a negative effect on trust between the parties. The apex objective of this study was to examine how contracts affect the existence and development of trust between bargaining partners. This inquiry tested the contract contrarian perspective to determine if the introduction of a written contract into a negotiation damages trust or retards trust-building. In addition, this research offered an alternative explanation for the contract contrarian perspective and posited that any negative effect on trust that may occur during the contracting process might not be the result the introduction of a written contract but, rather, of the disparity in the parties’ relative bargaining power or the asymmetry of their legal sophistication. As trust is a complex construct, the present disquisition separated trust into two dependent variables: goodwill trust and competence trust. This allowed us to examine how the introduction of a contract affects different aspects of trust, thus, allowing for more precise indication of the effects. Consistent with the contract contrarian perspective, it was hypothesized that the introduction of a written contract into a negotiation would produce a negative effect on trust levels. It was also hypothesized that both bargaining power and legal sophistication would moderate the potential negative effect of introducing a contract into a negotiation. The study employed a vignette experimental design methodology and utilized a sample of 220 participants from a contracted data collection service and the data were analyzed with ANOVA and MANOVA. The results did not support the contract contrarian perspective’s claim and did not support the hypotheses regarding moderation; however, this study did find that both bargaining power and of legal sophistication had significant impacts on goodwill trust and competence trust.

This master's thesis deals with the concept of the weaker party in private law, especially in

Over the last few years, there has been tremendous growth in the diversity of products and services offered to customers across all industries. With this increased choice of products and services, the bargaining power of buyers is rising. The products and services offered by the different companies do not vary much, regardless of which companies are selling them. Customers are in the position where they can choose from an array of products and services from more than one company. This shift of power from company to customer forces companies to focus on customer retention and loyalty through improved customer experience. The dissertation introduces a framework for enhancing customer experience through improved business processes. The Enhanced Customer Experience Framework (ECEF) is developed by integrating various well known techniques into one comprehensive framework. As long as fifty years ago, researchers found it neccesary to design techniques that can assist companies in taking care of frustrated and unsatisfied customers. Many of these techniques had merit, and partly succeeded in increasing customer satisfaction. One of these techniques was developed in 1966 by Dr Yoji Akao, with the goal of integrating the voice of the customer into the technical design of products and services. Today this tool is known as Quality Function Deployment (QFD). QFD is used extensively in the ECEF to determine the relationship beween business processes and customer requirements, and to prioritise business processes from a customer perspective. Another technique or methodology is Business Process Reengineering (BPR), developed in 1990. The methodology of BPR – together with the steps associated with benchmarking –provides a useful process that may be followed when reengineering business processes to fit customer needs. The last technique that is integrated into the ECEF is simulation modelling, which can be used to test the impact of process improvements on customer experience. The ECEF consists of seven stages, with sequential activities taking place in every stage. The Framework developed in this dissertation is partially validated against empirical data obtained from the telecommunications industry. In South Africa the telecommunications industry is faced with the threat of new entrants as one of the largest competitive forces. In 2001 a third Telecommunications Company was introduced in South Africa and the market share that always belonged to only two companies was redistributed between three companies. For all three companies to be competitive, they had to invest in delivering quality service to customers. The ECEF may assist managers in enhancing the quality of their service delivery. By designing business processes to deliver products and services according to the needs of the customer, companies will be able to enjoy the strategic competitive advantage of customer loyalty. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Industrial and Systems Engineering / unrestricted

Le gaz naturel tient une place de plus en plus importante dans le bouquet énergétique de l'Union Européenne. Cependant, faute de ressources suffisantes sur son territoire, elle est fortement dépendante de ses importations pour satisfaire ses besoins gaziers. En parallèle, depuis 1998 l'UE cherche la création d'un marché gazier unique et libéralisé. L'objectif de cette thèse est de voir si la libéralisation du marché gazier européen ne constitue pas un risque pour le pouvoir de négociation des importateurs et plus largement pour la sécurité gazière de l'UE. Le premier chapitre propose un état des lieux du marché gazier européen. Il permet de constater l'état d'avancement du marché unique, la forte dépendance extérieure de l'UE et la faible diversification de ses approvisionnements. À partir de ces constats, le second chapitre propose un modèle issu de la théorie des jeux coopératifs permettant de mettre en évidence l'évolution du pouvoir de négociation des importateurs résultant du processus de libéralisation. Il montre alors que la libéralisation entraîne une détérioration du pouvoir de négociation des importateurs au profit des producteurs extérieurs à l'UE, au premier rang desquels la Russie. Par ailleurs, il montre également que la constitution d'une centrale d'achat européenne est en mesure de fournir un contre pouvoir permettant d'équilibrer les rapports de force entre l'amont et l'aval de la chaîne gazière. Le troisième chapitre s'intéresse à l'évolution du GNL à travers le monde et plus particulièrement sur le marché de l'UE. Le développement du GNL en Europe permet l'entrée de nouveaux opérateurs sur l'amont de la chaîne, ce qui renforce la concurrence entre les fournisseurs de l'UE au bénéfice du pouvoir de négociation des importateurs. Enfin, le dernier chapitre aborde les conséquences du développement du gaz de schiste aux Etats-Unis sur le marché gazier européen. Il montre ainsi que ce développement s'accompagne d'une incertitude sur le futur de la demande gazière de l'UE et d'une remise en cause des contrats d'approvisionnement de long terme. / Natural gas has a growing importance in the European Union energy. However, because of the lack of resources in its territory, the EU is highly dependent on imports to meet its gas needs. In parallel, since 1998 the EU seeks the creation of a single and liberalized natural gas market. The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether the gas market liberalization can create a risk for importers' bargaining power and more widely to the gas security of supply of the EU. The first chapter provides an overview of the European gas market. It deals with the implementation of the process of gas market liberalization, the external dependency of the EU and the weakness of gas supply diversity. Using findings from the previous chapter, the second one proposes a model from the cooperative game theory to analyze the effects of the EU natural gas market liberalization on importers' bargaining power. It shows that the liberalization weakens importers' bargaining power vis-à-vis external suppliers, where Russia is the leader. It also shows that the implementation of a European gas purchasing agency offers a counter-power to the EU that balances bargaining power. The third chapter focuses on the development of LNG in the world and more specifically in the EU market. The development of LNG in Europe allows the entry of new operators on the upstream and, thus, increases competition among the EU's suppliers for the benefit of importers' bargaining power. The last chapter analyzes the impact of US shale gas development on the EU gas market. Thus, it shows that development is accompanied by an uncertainty about the future gas demand in the EU and by a reconsideration of the EU's long-term contracts.

In 2010 the municipal elections took place in the Czech Republic. In this theses there are applied some of the knowledge from the area of the public choice theory and the game theory to the results of the pre-election surveys and results of the elections. Firstly the methods for allocating seats are applied on data from the surveys and election results. The power indices are calculated for all the proportion of allocation of mandates in order to qualify the bargaining power. The results of elections are analysed and compared with two previous periods and with the pre-election surveys. The bargaining power is confronted according to the indices with the results of post-elections negotiations.

In this thesis I investigate the process of international negotiation to resolve a serious dispute between Australia and East Timor over offshore oil and gas, which arose after East Timor’s transition to independence in 1999. The central aim is to uncover and analyse the dynamics of the negotiations, and to explain how outcomes were determined. The question of negotiated outcomes is of special significance given the extent to which East Timor was able to move Australia beyond its preferred outcome. In this case, the seemingly weaker party was able to overcome a more powerful bargaining opponent. My aim in writing this thesis is to explain why that was possible and how it was achieved.

<p>Background: In resent years, the number of alliances has increased rapidly. Through collaborating with other firms, companies hope to gain certain benefits that they cannot reach on their own. However, the division of power in strategic alliances can be asymmetric, endangering the achievement of goals and objectives in the alliance for the less influential party. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify success factors for companies with less influence and power than their collaboration partner/s in a strategic alliance. </p><p>Delimitation: This study concerns strategic alliances characterised by one party making an equity investment in the other party. The study is, furthermore, conducted from the perspective of the less influential party with relatively less power in the alliance. </p><p>Realisation: A case study was conducted based on six interviews and a questionnaire among employees at the mobile operator Swisscom Mobile. The company is involved in a strategic alliance with Vodafone and is part of the world leading Vodafone Group. </p><p>Results: The main findings of this thesis show that power asymmetry in an alliance originates from factors both on a dyadic level and on a network level and that these levels affect each other. Companies with a weaker power position must strive for counteracting the existing power asymmetry in order to secure their goals and objectives in the alliance. This study shows that this can be achieved through, for instance, partly having different goals than the partner/s, increasing the dependence of the partner/s on the own resources, absorbing information and know-how and learning from the partner/s, building trust in the relationship through personal contacts and safeguarding goals and objectives through a written contract and “economic hostage”.</p>

Background: In resent years, the number of alliances has increased rapidly. Through collaborating with other firms, companies hope to gain certain benefits that they cannot reach on their own. However, the division of power in strategic alliances can be asymmetric, endangering the achievement of goals and objectives in the alliance for the less influential party. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify success factors for companies with less influence and power than their collaboration partner/s in a strategic alliance. Delimitation: This study concerns strategic alliances characterised by one party making an equity investment in the other party. The study is, furthermore, conducted from the perspective of the less influential party with relatively less power in the alliance. Realisation: A case study was conducted based on six interviews and a questionnaire among employees at the mobile operator Swisscom Mobile. The company is involved in a strategic alliance with Vodafone and is part of the world leading Vodafone Group. Results: The main findings of this thesis show that power asymmetry in an alliance originates from factors both on a dyadic level and on a network level and that these levels affect each other. Companies with a weaker power position must strive for counteracting the existing power asymmetry in order to secure their goals and objectives in the alliance. This study shows that this can be achieved through, for instance, partly having different goals than the partner/s, increasing the dependence of the partner/s on the own resources, absorbing information and know-how and learning from the partner/s, building trust in the relationship through personal contacts and safeguarding goals and objectives through a written contract and “economic hostage”.