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Thesis. 1977. B.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / B.S.

by Kwok Yiu Keung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-109). / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.i / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / LISTS OF FIGURES --- p.vii / LISTS OF TABLES --- p.viii / Chapter Chapter 1: --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.3 / Need for and Relevance of Research on Proposed Topic --- p.3 / Significance of this Research --- p.3 / Different Views of Sales Performance --- p.4 / Situation Approach --- p.5 / Attitudinal Approach --- p.6 / Modeled Instruction Approach --- p.7 / Antecedents and Consequences of Salesperson's Sales Performance --- p.8 / Antecedents of Sales Performance --- p.9 / Consequences of Sales Performance --- p.13 / Antecedents and Consequences of Sales Performance --- p.23 / Summary --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- THE PROPOSED MODEL AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESES --- p.27 / A Model of Sales Performance of Salesperson --- p.27 / Conceptualization and Hypotheses --- p.30 / Summary --- p.38 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.39 / Measurement Scales --- p.39 / Data Collection --- p.41 / Reliability --- p.43 / Analysis of the Model --- p.45 / Structural Equation Modeling --- p.45 / The Measurement Model --- p.45 / Model Notations --- p.49 / Summary --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- RESULTS FROM THE ANALYSIS --- p.51 / Scale Analysis --- p.51 / Reliability --- p.56 / Structural Equation Modeling --- p.57 / Full Model Evaluation --- p.57 / Reduced Model Evaluation --- p.59 / Summary --- p.65 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.66 / Major Findings --- p.66 / Sales Performance and Its Antecedents --- p.66 / Sales Performance and Its Consequences --- p.68 / Contributions of the Research --- p.69 / Conceptual Contribution --- p.69 / Managerial Contribution --- p.69 / Limitations --- p.75 / Directions for Future Research --- p.75 / Extension of the Conceptual Model --- p.75 / Sample Quality --- p.76 / Methodology and Measurement --- p.77 / APPENDIX 1: Cross Cultural Translation --- p.78 / APPENDIX 2: English and Chinese Versions of Questionnaire --- p.86 / APPENDIX 3: Companies Participated in the Survey --- p.100 / APPENDIX 4: Description of Sample --- p.101 / REFERENCES --- p.102

The profitability of a manufacturer could be largely affected by underlying uncertainties embedded in the fast-changing business environment. Random factors, such as input material price at the procurement end or output product price and demand at the sales end, might produce significant risks. Effective financial hedging therefore needs to be taken to mitigate these risk exposures. Although it is common to use commodity futures to control the risks at either end separately, little has been done on the hedging of these risk exposures in an integrated manner. Therefore, this study aims to develop a planning approach that performs financial hedging on both the procurement risk and the sales risk in a joint manner. This planning approach is based on a framework that has a risk-averse commodity processor that procures input commodity and sells output commodity in the spot market, while hedging the procurement risk and sales risk through trading futures contracts in the commodity markets. Both the input and output commodities futures are used for the hedging. A both-end-hedging model is developed to quantitatively evaluate the approach. The evaluation is based on an objective function that considers both profit maximisation and risk mitigation. Decisions on spot procurement, input futures hedging position, and output futures hedging position are optimised simultaneously. As the input commodity is the main production material for the output commodity, positive correlation between the input material price and the output product price is considered. The customer demand is considered negatively correlated with the output product price. An ethanol plant using corn as the main input material is employed as an example to implement the proposed model. The model is represented as a stochastic program, and the Gibson-Schwartz two-factor model is employed to describe the stochastic commodity prices. Historical commodity price data are used to estimate the parameters for the two-factor model with state-space form and Kalman filter. By generating various scenarios representing evolving prices and the random customer demand, the stochastic program could be solved using linear programming algorithms under its deterministic equivalent. Numerical experiments are carried out to demonstrate the benefit that could be gained from applying the both-end-hedging approach proposed in this study. Comparing with traditional no-hedging model or single-end-hedging models, the improvement obtained from the proposed model is found to be significant. The effectiveness of the model is further tested in various price trend and price correlation, demand elasticity and volatility, and risk attitude of the decision maker. It is found that the proposed approach is robust in these various circumstances, and the approach is especially effective when the price trend is uncertain and when the decision maker has a strong risk-averse attitude. / published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2004. / Title from thesis evaluation sheet; title page is lacking. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-49).

Conhecer o que o cliente valoriza em um serviço ou produto é importante para o crescimento de uma organização e pode representar uma vantagem competitiva determinante. Sob essa perspectiva, este trabalho tem o objetivo de mensurar os fatores que os clientes de serviços percebem como valor ao escolher uma corretora de seguros e, adjacente a este, criar uma proposta de estratégias de vendas para este objetivo. Para tanto, o referencial teórico deste estudo descreve o setor de serviços e o comportamento do cliente, valor e estratégia. O método de pesquisa apresenta as características desta pesquisa, enquanto o método de trabalho apresenta a coleta dos dados, que foi realizada por meio de questionário; a análise dos dados, que foi realizada por meio do software SPSS; e a proposta de estratégias de vendas criada por meio da metodologia 5W2H. Como resultados deste estudo, na coleta de dados obteve-se um total de 94 respostas, o que representa 21,32% dos clientes da corretora; o resultado final da análise dos dados é o modelo de regressão múltipla, que mostra a equação que representa o valor percebido pelos clientes da corretora e que é utilizado na estratégia de vendas como referência para a tomada de decisão. Pelo modelo de regressão descobriu-se que a variável que mais impacta na percepção de valor dos clientes é o valor emocional. O plano de estratégias de vendas apresenta 10 ações que foram descritas a fim de melhorar os fatores que mais impactam no valor percebido pelos clientes. Os resultados obtidos com esta pesquisa foram de grande valia para a corretora, visto que agora a empresa tem dados conclusivos que podem nortear suas futuras ações e próximos passos. Sugere-se para trabalhos futuros realizar a pesquisa segmentando os tipos de clientes e os segmentos de seguros / Submitted by cmquadros@ucs.br (cmquadros@ucs.br) on 2018-03-05T17:53:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Gabriela Cervieri Balbinot.pdf: 1644604 bytes, checksum: 8de7b368760d9884f98aaba7e580919d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-05T17:53:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Gabriela Cervieri Balbinot.pdf: 1644604 bytes, checksum: 8de7b368760d9884f98aaba7e580919d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-05 / Knowing what the customer values in a service or product is important for the growth of an organization and can represent a determining competitive advantage. From this perspective, this research aims to measure the factors that service customers perceive as value when choosing an insurance company and, adjacent to it, to create a proposal of sales strategies. Therefore, the literature review of this study describes the service sector and customer behavior, value and strategy. The research method presents the characteristics of this research, while the work method presents the data collection, which was performed through a survey questionnaire; the data analysis, was performed using SPSS software; and the proposal of sales strategies created through the 5W2H methodology. As a result of this research, a total of 94 responses were collected, representing 21.32% of the company clients; the final result of the data analysis is the multiple regression model, which shows the equation that represents the value perceived by the company customers and which is used in the sales strategy as a reference for decision-making. It was found though the regression model that the variable that most impacts clients perception of value is the emotional value. The sales strategies plan presents 10 actions that have been described to improve the factors that most impact the perceived value of the customers. The results obtained with this research are of great value to the insurance company, since now the company has conclusive data that can guide its future actions and next steps. It is suggested for future studies to perform the survey questionnaire segmenting the types of clients and the segments of insurance

M.Com. (Sales Management) / This study emphasizes that the sales effort is linked to the sales opportunities in the most profitable way. To make this possible, the sales potential of a sales area must first be analysed scientifically. Only then can the allocation of sales personnel to a sales area be made in the best possible way. The consumer, rather than the sales area, is the starting-point. In other words, the emphasis is on the satisfaction of needs in the sales area. The role of sales potential and forecasting in sales quota allotment is also analysed, since these contribute to the most effective allocation of sales personnel to the sales area. Optimum allocation of sales personnel to the sales area takes place, based on information from the sales area (market needs).

Avusa Publishing (East Cape) (APEC) publishes several of the oldest and best known newspaper products in the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Province Herald is currently the oldest daily morning newspaper in South Africa and the average daily circulation of the paper is 25 000. Its main distribution is in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan area, as well as the area up to the Garden Route and as far East as Port Alfred. APEC also publishes the Weekend Post. According to the financial statements and circulation and advertisement figures of the company, the revenue generated by the company has not increased, but stayed stagnant. In addition to this, the daily circulation of the flagship publication, The Herald, has decreased from 29 000 in 2005 to 24 000 in 2008. As the company only generates revenue from two sources, namely advertising sales and the sale of newspapers, the above mentioned situation negatively affects the financial wellbeing of the company. The management dilemma that needed to be researched was how APEC's circulation and advertising income could be increased. The primary objective of this study was therefore to improve APEC's sales success by investigating the determinants of such sales success. More specifically, the study investigated the influence of determinants such as newsworthiness, value proposition, brand awareness, customer service, customer loyalty, credibility and new media on sales success, as measured by increased circulation and advertising revenue. Convenience sampling was used to select 287 employees working for the company. A mail survey was conducted among these 287 employees, but only 114 usable questionnaires were returned (a response rate of 40 percent). The empirical results revealed that brand awareness, customer loyalty and the use of new media technologies exerted a significantly positive influence on the sales success of APEC. The results further showed that newsworthiness, editorial credibility, value proposition and customer service exerted no significant influence on the APEC’s sales success. Despite the latter findings, the results revealed that there was a high level of trust and loyalty in the editorial content of APEC, as well as the perception of good value for money among both readers and advertisers. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed and areas of future research are recommended.

Conhecer o que o cliente valoriza em um serviço ou produto é importante para o crescimento de uma organização e pode representar uma vantagem competitiva determinante. Sob essa perspectiva, este trabalho tem o objetivo de mensurar os fatores que os clientes de serviços percebem como valor ao escolher uma corretora de seguros e, adjacente a este, criar uma proposta de estratégias de vendas para este objetivo. Para tanto, o referencial teórico deste estudo descreve o setor de serviços e o comportamento do cliente, valor e estratégia. O método de pesquisa apresenta as características desta pesquisa, enquanto o método de trabalho apresenta a coleta dos dados, que foi realizada por meio de questionário; a análise dos dados, que foi realizada por meio do software SPSS; e a proposta de estratégias de vendas criada por meio da metodologia 5W2H. Como resultados deste estudo, na coleta de dados obteve-se um total de 94 respostas, o que representa 21,32% dos clientes da corretora; o resultado final da análise dos dados é o modelo de regressão múltipla, que mostra a equação que representa o valor percebido pelos clientes da corretora e que é utilizado na estratégia de vendas como referência para a tomada de decisão. Pelo modelo de regressão descobriu-se que a variável que mais impacta na percepção de valor dos clientes é o valor emocional. O plano de estratégias de vendas apresenta 10 ações que foram descritas a fim de melhorar os fatores que mais impactam no valor percebido pelos clientes. Os resultados obtidos com esta pesquisa foram de grande valia para a corretora, visto que agora a empresa tem dados conclusivos que podem nortear suas futuras ações e próximos passos. Sugere-se para trabalhos futuros realizar a pesquisa segmentando os tipos de clientes e os segmentos de seguros / Knowing what the customer values in a service or product is important for the growth of an organization and can represent a determining competitive advantage. From this perspective, this research aims to measure the factors that service customers perceive as value when choosing an insurance company and, adjacent to it, to create a proposal of sales strategies. Therefore, the literature review of this study describes the service sector and customer behavior, value and strategy. The research method presents the characteristics of this research, while the work method presents the data collection, which was performed through a survey questionnaire; the data analysis, was performed using SPSS software; and the proposal of sales strategies created through the 5W2H methodology. As a result of this research, a total of 94 responses were collected, representing 21.32% of the company clients; the final result of the data analysis is the multiple regression model, which shows the equation that represents the value perceived by the company customers and which is used in the sales strategy as a reference for decision-making. It was found though the regression model that the variable that most impacts clients perception of value is the emotional value. The sales strategies plan presents 10 actions that have been described to improve the factors that most impact the perceived value of the customers. The results obtained with this research are of great value to the insurance company, since now the company has conclusive data that can guide its future actions and next steps. It is suggested for future studies to perform the survey questionnaire segmenting the types of clients and the segments of insurance

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