This work deals with the term goodwill and its analysis of the legal system in the Czech Republic. Compares the relationship of "good reputation" and "goodwill". It also considers the relationship of goodwill and trademarks. It refers to the modern concept of goodwill in respect to trademarks. This work also introduced a system of passing off (unauthorized use of the sign) in UK law. In passing off goodwill is an important element in assessing whether the passing off occurred or not. It also examines the understanding of the goodwill in the Anglo-American legal system. It describes several theories of goodwill, according to legal-historical developments. It also discusses the possibility of transferability of goodwill.

Cette thèse étudie l’impact de la réputation des agences de notation sur la perception de leurs annonces par les investisseurs, ainsi que sur leur propre comportement à divulguer des informations précises et ponctuelles. Elle est constituée de quatre chapitres. Dans les premier et second chapitres, nous étudions comment la perception des investisseurs des notations des agences change suite à l’observation d’une erreur de notation. Les résultats montrent que les investisseurs réagissent peu ou pas aux changements d’annonce après avoir observé des notations erronées, ce qui suggère que la mauvaise performance des agences de notation affecte négativement leur réputation. Dans les troisième et quatrième chapitres, nous étudions les déterminants de la ponctualité et de la précision des annonces de notation financière. Il ressort que la réputation de l’agence de notation affecte la qualité des notations. En particulier, plus la réputation est élevée, et plus la note semble surévaluée et non-ponctuelle. / This thesis studies the impact of the reputation of rating agencies on investors’ perception of ratings, and on rating agencies ability to disclose accurate and timely information. It consists of four chapters. In the first and second chapters, we study changes in investors’ perception of rating agencies’ ratings following the observation of rating failures. The results show that investors either ignore or react less to ratings after such failures, which suggests that rating agencies poor performance affects negatively their reputation. In the third and fourth chapters, we study the determinants of ratings timeliness and accuracy disclosed by credit rating agencies. The results suggest that the reputation of the rating agency affects the quality of ratings. In particular, the higher the rating agency s reputation, the less accurate and timely the rating is.

This thesis examines the processes the American and Norwegian press go through when identifying (or not) private citizens who are suspected of or arrested for a crime. Four central principles are explored in detail and elaborated upon as they relate to the press and individuals in the criminal justice system: the public's right to know, the right to privacy, protection of reputation, and presumption of innocence. Three Norwegian newspaper editors and an independent consultant to the Norwegian Institute of Journalism elaborated on how identification of criminal suspects is determined in Norway. The Norwegian case study provides an alternative approach to identification. Both legal and ethics solutions are proposed as a way to help protect the privacy, reputation, and presumption of innocence of private individuals suspected of or arrested for a crime but without unconstitutionally intruding on press freedom.

Background: Family businesses are shaping the world’s economy through contributions to establishing jobs, creating wealth, and competitiveness, correspondingly being influenced by the quality of the business environment. Family business branding is useful to understand how to leverage their unique resources and create a competitive advantage, these being shaped by the context. The historical events and economic factors of Romania are influencing the decision of family firms to portray their family in their branding endeavours in order to become more competitive. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand the reasoning behind the Romanian family companies’ decision to promote their family aspect in their brand and how do family business identity, image, and reputation relate to the brand in the context of Romania. For guidance, two research questions were developed in order to gain valuable and significant insights for this thesis. Method: Ontology – Relativism; Epistemology – Social constructionism; Approach – Inductive; Design – Exploratory; Methodological choice – Qualitative; Time Horizon – Cross-sectional; Strategy – Case-study; Data collection – In-depth Interviews; Sampling – Non-probability Purposive Samples based on criteria (eleven respondents); Data Analysis – Content Analysis. Conclusion: From findings, it can be concluded that the context of Romania has a direct impact on family businesses and on how they are conducting their family brand promotion. Even though it is considered to have a positive impact, few Romanian family businesses actively market themselves as a family business. The predominant factors affecting the decisional processes, which are shaped by the contextual effects according to the three brand dimensions, have been comprised in a model of influential factors.

As plataformas de e-marketplace (EM) atuam como um ponto de encontro virtual, onde vendedores e compradores encontram-se e eventualmente fecham negócios. Em um EM, diversos vendedores competem entre si anunciando ao mesmo tempo produtos exatamente iguais por preços possivelmente diferentes. No entanto, não necessariamente o anúncio mais barato é o que realiza a venda. Dado que nos anúncios publicados nestas plataformas há um grande conjunto de elementos sob responsabilidade do operador do EM, iguais entre todos os anúncios, este trabalho busca colaborar com a compreensão dos fatores controláveis pelo vendedor que influenciam na geração de preço-prêmio em e-marketplaces. A partir da revisão de pesquisas anteriores sobre o tema, foi elaborado um modelo que considera que a geração do preço-prêmio é influenciada pelas características do vendedor (reputação, porte e localização), do anúncio (utilização de recursos multimídia, divulgação, opções de pagamento e entrega, serviço e histórico do anúncio) e do produto (condição e tipo). Para validar este modelo, foi desenvolvido um programa que ao longo de 56 dias coletou dados reais de vendas de três produtos diferentes (celulares iPhone, videogames Playstation 4 e tênis femininos da marca Osklen) no maior e-marketplace deste tipo no Brasil. Estes dados analisados e utilizados para a verificação de nove hipóteses. A reputação que o vendedor construiu ao longo das vendas anteriores mostrou-se como um importante fator de influencia. Vendedores com boa reputação conseguem vender com preços maiores, assim como vendedores com pior reputação são penalizados nos valores de suas vendas. O porte dos vendedores influencia positivamente até certo ponto. Existem vendedores de grande porte que, possivelmente se beneficiando dos ganhos de escala, praticam preços menores. A localização do vendedor é relevante no preço da venda e esta relevância varia de acordo com o produto. Também há diferença na influência de acordo com o produto para a utilização de recursos multimídia e para o envio da nota fiscal junto ao produto. Pagar por um pouco mais de exposição que os padrão oferecido pela plataforma gratuitamente permitiu a realização de vendas com preços maiores, mas o efeito oposto foi observado quando pagou-se pela máxima exposição possível. Também venderam por valores mais altos os anúncios mais antigos e os que ofereceram frete gratuito. / E-Marketplace (EM) platforms are virtual meeting points where sellers and buyers can meet and eventually close a deal. In an EM, various sellers compete against each other offering similar products with different prices. The cheapest offer is not necessarily the one that make the sale. As listings published in an EM have a great number of elements controlled by the platform operator, hence equal to all listings. This work aims to understand the factors controllable by the seller that can influence premium price generation in EMs. Based on the existing literature a model is proposed, in which premium price is influenced by seller characteristics (reputation, size and location), listing characteristics (multimedia resources, exposure, payment and shipping methods, service and ad history) and product (item condition and type). To validate this model a software was developed to collect real data from the largest retail EM in Brazil. During 56 days sales of three products (iPhone smartphones, Playstation 4 videogame consoles and Osklen female tennis shoes) were watched and stored in a database. This data was analyzed and used for verification of nine hypotheses. Reputation acquired by a seller with his previous sales was found as an important element influencing the sale price. Sellers with good reputation were able to sell its items by a higher price and sellers with bad reputation had to sell it cheaper. Seller size exerted positive influence to some extent. Big retailers selling in the EM may be able to sell for a smaller price and make profit thanks to the economies of scale. Seller localization is also relevant. The intensity of this relevance varies by product. It was also noticed difference according to the product for the use of multimedia resources and to if the seller says it will provide a tax invoice attached for the sale. Paying to the EM operator for some additional exposure also made it possible for the seller to achieve prices, but the effect was the opposite when the seller paid for the maximum exposure possible. Old listings and listings that offered free shipping also reached higher prices.

This study investigated the effects of crisis communication messaging strategies on the relationship between an organization and its key publics. This study found that none of the strategies tested had a significant impact on the relationship between an organization and its publics, however some strategies consistently influenced a relationship more than others.

<p> </p><p>Millions of dollars change hands daily through online auction markets. Online trading communities like eBay and Amazon.com are emerging as increasingly important factors of the economy. Various Reputation systems are important components in such electronic markets. Existing evidence suggests that there are a number of problems with such systems. This paper presents an empirical exploration of reputation systems. Two studies of Tradera’s discussion forums are reported. The result of the first, pilot study suggests that both sellers and buyers are worried about getting a retaliatory negative feedback if they leave a negative feedback for an unsatisfactory transaction from their trading parties. Retaliation from the non-paying bidders seems to be the most severe threat and trouble for sellers. A set of negative feedbacks were then gathered from Tradera and data were manually analyzed in order to verify the results from the preliminary study. The results from the second study confirmed the result of the pilot study. A general evaluation of Tradera’s current reputation system is made based on the results of the second study. This paper aims to make a contribution to the literature on online reputation system by developing a typology of seller complaints about Tradera buyers and providing a tentative definition of retaliatory negative feedback based on the findings of both studies. Proposed solutions to the problems of non-payment and feedback retaliation are also presented.</p><p> </p>

Due to rising unemployment levels, researchers have begun to investigate how corporations handle layoffs and how they could manage them better in the future. Public relations practitioners can use this type of research to help organizations learn how to best maintain their images, reputations and productivity amid mass layoffs. When an organization conducts mass layoffs, its actions become both a current event and a public issue that is frequently discussed in newspaper articles. In order for downsizing organizations to be aware of the public?s perceptions of their layoff procedures, they should be aware of how the news media represents them. This study used a content analysis of different newspaper articles to determine how three downsizing organizations (General Motors, Caterpillar, and Boeing) were portrayed in the midst of mass layoffs. This study examined a sample of newspaper articles from two nationally-distributed daily newspapers (The New York Times and The Washington Post). It also included articles from daily newspaper that were located in the cities where the layoffs took place (The Detroit News, The Chicago Tribune, and The Seattle Times). The findings did not show that the newspapers? articles about the layoffs tended to be more prominent in the regional publications than in the national publications. While the articles were often prominently placed in the newspapers, the layoffs were not typically the primary focus of the articles. The reporters frequently included details of the layoffs, such as the number of layoff victims, in their articles. They also frequently included attributions of blame for the layoff decisions. The articles, however, rarely discussed socially responsible actions made on behalf of the downsizing companies.

Nowadays, we can get the wireless devices easily, such as cell phone, PDA, etc. It can make the life convenient. The P2P network which has been constructed by the wireless devices does not need the central server. They can communicate by themselves. Not only have protected in the privacy, but also add the convenience. The reason is that the devices are portable, we can get the newest information. Some P2P software focuses on the sharing. They can share files with other peer. The file can separate into several modes. The software will share these nodes. Every peer shares his own node, and it will speed up the rate of sharing. There are some selfish peers in this environment, and they will not want to share their own node. Moreover, some of them share the incorrect file. The software will solve this kind of problem by some mechanism. And it set some incentive mechanism to make the sharing to go on. Because the wireless devices are portable, we can use these devices for exchanging immediate information. Sharing the files is similar to the exchanging. Both of the users trust each other. They can exchange automatically. So, our research has designed a reputation based mechanism for exchanging. The users can evaluate each other to exchanging the information automatically. By this mechanism, the user in our system will exchange continuously. We can reach our purpose which makes the user in our environment can exchange automatically.

In the field of multiagent systems, trust and reputation systems are intended to assist agents in finding trustworthy partners with whom to interact. Earlier work of ours identified in theory a number of security vulnerabilities in trust and reputation systems, weaknesses that might be exploited by malicious agents to bypass the protections offered by such systems. In this work, we begin by developing the TREET testbed, a simulation platform that allows for extensive evaluation and flexible experimentation with trust and reputation technologies. We use this testbed to experimentally validate the practicality and gravity of attacks against vulnerabilities. Of particular interest are attacks that are collusive in nature: groups of agents (coalitions) working together to improve their expected rewards. But the issue of coalitions is not unique to trust and reputation; rather, it cuts across a range of fields in multiagent systems and beyond. In some scenarios, coalitions may be unwanted or forbidden; in others they may be benign or even desirable. In this document, we propose a method for detecting coalitions and identifying coalition members, a capability that is likely to be valuable in many of the diverse fields where coalitions may be of interest. Our method makes use of clustering in benefit space (a high-dimensional space reflecting how agents benefit others in the system) in order to identify groups of agents who benefit similar sets of agents. A statistical technique is then used to identify which clusters contain coalitions. Experimentation using the TREET platform verifies the effectiveness of this approach. A series of enhancements to our method are also introduced, which improve the accuracy and robustness of the algorithm. To demonstrate how this broadly-applicable tool can be used to address domain-specific problems, we focus again on trust and reputation systems. We show how, by incorporating our work into one such system (the existing Beta Reputation System), we can provide resistance to collusion. We conclude with a detailed discussion of the value of our work for a wide range of environments, including a variety of multiagent systems and real-world settings.