Manufacturers use resale price maintenance (RPM) for a variety of reasons. In a conventional market setting, when factory price is fixed, profit is maximized by ensuring the lowest possible retail price. The higher retail price ensured by RPM mean a lower quantity sold, since demand is downward sloping. The explanations of RPM remain controversial after many scholars¡¦ investigations. Pro-competitive arguments view RPM as a marketing practice that ensures an efficient distribution system. Anticompetitive arguments contend that manufacturers use RPM to maintain cartel prices and reduce competition among retailers. Understanding the incentives to adopt RPM is critical both for marketing scholars and for antitrust policymakers because RPM, which is employed over the wide variety of products, is the most important vertical restraints, in terms of both the frequency of use and the number of legal cases generated. In Taiwan, the applicability of RPM is limited by Fair Trade Law. Fair Trade Commission considers that RPM is per se illegal as a vertical restraint against competition The explanation for RPM often cited is the special services argument, which indicates the discounter will draw customers from the retailers that provide full services when RPM is not employed. However, in practices, RPM is used in a much wider variety of products than the special services argument would predict. In this research, we examine the RPM property from the risk perspectives and determine how the incentives for using RPM are affected by the changes of economic variables. We find that the imposition of RPM is appropriate in the circumstances where retail price variance is high, sales quantities variance is low and the correlation between two variables is positive. In addition, we find that RPM can be a substitute or complement for advertising, as is found in the existing literature. Our model clearly exhibits the relationship between advertising and RPM, which are both important marketing strategies. We also find that RPM can reduce consumers¡¦ incentive to delay purchases. As the demand price elasticity increases, RPM is more strictly employed by manufactures who want to eliminate purchase delay caused by frequent markdowns. We also perform empirical tests to show that the motivation behind RPM is to reduce the negative externality of frequent markdowns on consumers¡¦ purchase delay.

La tesis doctoral se compone de cuatro partes perfectamente diferenciadas y a su vez totalmente conexionadas. La primera parte analiza las vías de expansión de las cadenas hoteleras, su concentración y movilidad así como los factores que han propiciado que los contratos de franquicia se hayan convertido en la estrategia de crecimiento preferida por parte de las cadenas hoteleras con mayor número de habitaciones del mundo.La segunda parte se centra en analizar como afecta a las rentabilidades que obtienen las cadenas hoteleras la utilización de las distintas estrategias de crecimiento.En la tercera parte de la tesis doctoral valoramos a los activos hoteleros no sólo por la rentabilidad que ofrecen sino también por las distintas opciones que tiene un establecimiento hotelero a la hora de elegir su estrategia de crecimiento actual y los cambios que en un futuro puede realizar en dicha estrategia de crecimiento.Finalmente, en la cuarta parte tratan de determinarse cuáles son los factores clave que influyen en el proceso de decisión utilizado por las cadenas hoteleras de Baleares a la hora de elegir su estrategia de crecimiento para llevar a cabo su expansión en la región del Caribe y el golfo de México.

本文的研究主題為利用實質選擇權的觀念，來協助手機ODM廠商計算並評估各種專案的投資效益，或採取適當的方法提高投資效益。 實質選擇權很適合用來分析具有高度不確定性的計畫的投資價值。一般的廠商自行做研發，是新產品研發的實質選擇權買方。但ODM廠商是幫客戶做研發，產品開發專案的決定權通常在客戶手上，ODM廠商變成新產品研發的實質選擇權賣方。所以要計算ODM廠商的研發專案的投資效益，會和傳統的方法不太一樣。 本文設計出一種分析方式，將ODM廠商提供的”設計與製造的整合服務”中間隱含新產品研發的選擇權賣權的成本估計出來。這些成本，會導致整個ODM的研發計畫的投資價值下降，尤其當產品風險高的時候更嚴重。研究結果發現風險愈高的產品越不適宜由ODM廠商來開發。風險較低的成熟產品則非常適合交給ODM廠商來開發。 另外本文利用這種分析方法，比較各種型式的手機專案的預期投資價值與機會成本，以提供管理者在比較與選擇不同專案時參考。也利用這種方法來分析手機ODM廠針對智慧型手機研發上的各種策略對投資價值的影響，以提供管理者在排定策略優先次序時參考。 / The Real Options approach has recently been growing in popularity in the valuation of R&D projects. It can help to evaluate the chances and risks of R&D investment by reflecting the values of of timing and operational flexibility. In most cases, these investments can be treated as “buying Real R&D Options”. However, the R&D projects of ODM (original design manufactor) companies are quite different. They “sell Real R&D Options” to their Brand-Name customers. To sell Options will increase the risks, so it’s definitely not free. This research utilizes the Real Options concept to evaluate the cost of these Real Options sold by Mobile Phone ODM companies to their customers. With this information, ODM companies can have a reasonable finaicial analysis before they sign the contacts based on market risks and opportunities. Futhermore, in this study we design a method to compare different types of projects based on the Real Options analysis. Companies can prioritize projects based on the results of the analysis. We also propose several approachs to increase the value of these R&D investments by reducing the cost of the Real R&D Options they sold.

This study consisted of two distinct research phases, performed within the context of the South African Council for Science and Industrial Research (and its current and potential research alliances). The purpose of the study was to develop a decision making model that would enable strategists at publicly financed research and development organisations to analyse and predict governance mode decisions, as well as select optimal governance mode structures (ranging from quasi-market structures, such as once-off contracts, to quasi-hierarchy structures, such as research joint ventures) for research alliances. During the qualitative first phase, the study aimed to identify impact domains within South Africa’s new Bayh-Dole-like Intellectual Property Rights legislative framework that consists of the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, as well as the Technology Innovation Agency Act, which could potentially influence research alliances (based on the Transactional Cost Economics, Resource-based View and Real Options Approach perspectives) with publicly financed research and development organisations. This was followed by the quantitative second phase, which attempted to verify the validity of a value-mediated governance mode model that included the highest ranked impact domains identified during the first phase as formative indicators for the perceived Intellectual Property Rights regime strength uncertainty factor. A qualitative online survey amongst senior managers at the Council for Science and Industrial Research, followed by Theme Extraction combined with Constant Comparative Method analysis, as well as a weighted frequency analysis, constituted the research methodology employed during the first phase’s identification and ranking of impact domains within the South African legislative framework. This phase demonstrated that the highest ranked impact domains (primarily driven by the Transactional Cost Economics perspective) included the choice of Intellectual Property Rights ownership, state walk-in rights on undeclared Intellectual Property, and benefit-sharing policies for the creators of Intellectual Property. The second phase consisted of a quantitative online survey, distributed amongst current and potential research alliance partners of the Council for Science and Industrial Research, followed by Structural Equation Modelling of a value-mediated governance model that included, amongst others, the perceived Intellectual Property Rights regime strength as an uncertainty factor. This phase revealed not only that the impact domains identified during the first phase could be used as formative indicators of the perceived Intellectual Property Rights regime strength, but also that stronger perceived regimes are positively related to the preference for quasi-hierarchy research alliance governance modes. Furthermore, it established that the expected value of a research alliance, which was shown to be positively influenced by the strength of the perceived Intellectual Property Rights regime, acted as a mediating factor on the relationship between the perceived Intellectual Property Rights regime strength and the preferred research alliance governance mode. Keywords: Bayh-Dole, Formative Indicators, Intellectual Property Rights, Research Alliances, Real Options Approach, Resource-based View, Quasi-Market Governance Modes, Quasi- Hierarchy Governance Modes, Structural Equation Modelling, Transactional Cost Economics, Value-mediated Governance Model. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted