Customer loyalty as a concept is a critical strategic option in today’s competitive environment. It is no surprise therefore that managers and researchers have increased their study and understanding of the concept as a strategic marketing imperative over the past decades to capture market share and improve profitability. Indeed the theoretical perspective is that competitive pricing as well as company image and reputation contribute to customer satisfaction and that service quality along a number of pathways drives customer loyalty and profitability thus: service quality--> customer satisfaction--> customer loyalty --> market share --> profitability. A few empirical studies have found these linkages to be true. However these factors differ in importance based on the cultural setting. We investigate (1) whether these relationships exist and (2) which of these factor(s) is/are important in motivating consumer loyalty from the perspectives of retail banking customers in Ghana. The study draws on customer behaviour and attitude premised on the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF models originated by Parasuraman et al., (1988), Cronin and Taylor (1992), and Brady and Cronin (2001) respectively as well as other researches based on the literature on customer satisfaction and loyalty. We used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches in our study and have drawn from both primary and secondary sources of data. We made use of a 7 point likert scale to develop indexes for the main constructs measured in this study and applied correlation, chi square (χ2) and regression analyses to evaluate the hypothesised relationships. Further we qualitatively analysed aspects of the data hinging on explanatory aspects of our research. The results among other things reveal that whilst service quality (especially empathy and reliability) and bank image and reputation are important instigators of customer satisfaction and loyalty, competitive pricing showed a weak linear relationship with customer satisfaction and loyalty (r < 0.5). On the other hand, increased market share was found to influence banks’ profitability. Finally we discuss the management implications of the study in terms of customer retention and profitability strategies for the banks in Ghana. We emphasise that management strategies that are service quality conscious, use person-organisation fit approaches to recruitment and effectively communicate strategies could help institutionalise a culture that is customer relation centred, help banks survive the competition, retain their customers and in the long run increase their profitability.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the export performance of Turkish manufacturing industries in the East-Asian countries between the years 1992-2002. SITC (Rev.3), three digit data were used in calculations and three methodologies were applied in order to discover promising sectors of the Turkish exports. Constant Market Share Analysis was used to explain the causes of the change in the market shares of the exports of Turkey from one period to another. Revealed comparative advantage indices were calculated to determine sectors in which Turkey had comparative advantage. Grubel-Lloyd Index was used to determine the rate of intraindustry trade. Results signal important changes in the export structure of Turkey.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a competitividade das exportações brasileiras de manga e de uva no mercado internacional no período de 1989 a 2005. Para tanto, utilizou-se o modelo de Constant Market Share (CMS) e o modelo de Vantagem Comparativa Revelada (VCR) para evidenciar os principais fatores responsáveis pela rápida expansão das exportações nacionais para esses dois produtos, além de realizar uma análise comparativa entre as duas culturas selecionadas. O primeiro modelo busca analisar as causas de variação da quantidade (ou valor) exportada de um produto pelo país em questão em relação ao tempo, gerando três dimensões explicativas para a variação das exportações: o efeito dimensão, o efeito distribuição e o efeito competitividade. O efeito dimensão mostra como o crescimento das exportações mundiais afetou o crescimento das exportações do país analisado. O efeito distribuição refere-se às exportações para países de maior ou menor dinamismo. Por resíduo, descontando-se os demais efeitos temos o termo competitividade.Para a geração dos resultados foi necessária a sub-divisão do período de análise em três grupos trienais: 1989/1990/1991, 1994/1995/1996 e 2003/2004/2005.O modelo de Vantagem Comparativa Revelada parte do pressuposto de que o país em questão tende a se especializar nas exportações de produtos que ofereçam vantagens competitivas. Para tanto, o indicador deve apresentar um valor superior a 1 para os produtos competitivos, evidenciando que a participação do produto em questão na pauta do país analisado é superior à participação do país no mercado global geral. Diferentemente do CMS, os indicadores de Vantagem Comparativa Revelada (VCR) nas exportações de um produto podem ser calculados com freqüência anual. O resultado do modelo de Constant Market Share para manga, referente ao primeiro sub-período de análise, mostra que o significativo aumento das exportações brasileiras de manga foi fortemente influenciado pelo crescimento do mercado mundial, seguido pelo efeito competitividade e destino das exportações. Para o segundo subperíodo, o efeito de maior significância foi a competitividade, seguido pelo efeito crescimento do mercado mundial e destino das exportações. Para a uva, o resultado referente ao primeiro sub-período de análise mostra que o significativo aumento das exportações brasileiras dessa fruta foi fortemente influenciado pelo efeito destino das exportações, seguido pelo efeito competitividade e crescimento do mercado mundial. Para o segundo sub-período, os resultados apontam a competitividade como principal fator responsável pelo aumento das exportações brasileiras, seguido pelo efeito crescimento do mercado mundial. O efeito destino das exportações apresentou valor negativo. Para o caso da manga, foram observados altos valores para o indicador de Vantagem Comparativa Revelada, especialmente para o período após 1993. Diferentemente dos resultados apresentados para a manga, as exportações de uva revelam vantagem comparativa apenas no final do período analisado (depois de 2002). / This paper has the main purpose of analyzing competitiveness of Brazilian exports of mangoes and grapes in the international market between 1989 and 2005. Constant Market Share and Revealed Comparative Advantage were used to obtain the main factors that could explain the fast growth of Brazilian exports of the chosen fruits, doing a comparative analysis between these fruits. The first model tries to analyze the reasons of variation in the quantity (or value) of a product exported by the current country related to the time, generating three dimensions: the effect dimension, the effect distribution and the effect competitiveness. The effect dimension shows how the growth of the world exports affected the growth of the current country\'s exports. The effect distribution relates to exports to countries of bigger or smaller dynamism. As a result, discounting the other effects we have the term competitiveness. To generate the results it was necessary to have the sub-division of the analyzed period into three triennial groups: 1989/1990/1991, 1994/1995/1996 and 2003/2004/2005.The Revealed Comparative Advantage model considers that a country tends to specialize itself in exporting products that offer competitive advantages. Thus, the indicator must submit a value higher than 1 for competitive products, showing that the product participation in a country is superior to the country participation in the global market. Different from Constant Market Share (CMS), Revealed Comparative Advantage indicators of exports can be calculated with annual frequency. The Constant Market Share model result for mangoes, referring to the first sub-period analysis shows that the significant increase in Brazilian exports of mangoes was strongly influenced by the growth of the world market, followed by the competitiveness effect, and the destination of exports. For the second sub-period, the most significant effect was the competitiveness, followed by the growth of the world market and the destination of exports. Considering grapes, the result referring to the first sub-period analysis shows that the significant increase in Brazilian grapes exports was strongly influenced by the effect \"exports destination\", followed by the effect competitiveness and the world market\'s growth. For the second sub-period, the results indicate competitiveness as the main factor responsible for the increase of the Brazilian exports, followed by the growth of the world market. The effect \"exports destination\" showed a negative value. For the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) model, the mango case results showed a high revealed comparative advantage, especially after 1993. The grapes´ results show a comparative advantage only at the end of the period, when, from 2002 on there was a trend of grape consolidation as a competitive product in the international market, though on a distant level from mangoes.

Desde 2004, noticia-se na imprensa especializada um grande dinamismo do mercado de capitais brasileiro. Em 2005, foram realizadas nove ofertas pÃblicas iniciais â IPO, que movimentaram cerca de R$ 5 bilhÃes. Em 2006, foram 26 novas emissÃes, quando as empresas estreantes captaram cerca de R$ 15 bilhÃes. Em 2007, o nÃmero de IPOs foi recorde, chegando a 64 novas empresas (captaÃÃo de mais de R$ 55 bilhÃes), considerado um marco na histÃria do mercado de capitais brasileiro. Nesse contexto, este estudo analisou o comportamento das aÃÃes relativas Ãs ofertas pÃblicas iniciais de aÃÃes ocorridas no Brasil no perÃodo de 01.01.05 a 31.07.07, com o objetivo de apurar indÃcios de ocorrÃncia das seguintes anomalias relacionadas aos IPOs: subprecificaÃÃo (underpricing), alta volatilidade das aÃÃes, baixa performance das emissÃes no longo prazo e performance vinculada ao desempenho geral do setor de atividade das empresas emissoras. O estudo obteve os seguintes resultados: considerando o retorno mÃdio das aÃÃes no primeiro dia de negociaÃÃo (12,34%), ante a variaÃÃo do CDI e do Ibovespa de apenas 0,07% e 0,46%, respectivamente, conclui-se que existem evidÃncias de underpricing nas emissÃes analisadas; 83% das aÃÃes apresentaram volatilidade superior à do Ibovespa, o que poderia explicar os retornos elevados no primeiro dia de negociaÃÃo, ou seja, o retorno inicial elevado à uma recompensa ao risco aceito pelos investidores; a maioria das aÃÃes seguiu a mesma tendÃncia de desempenho do setor, sugerindo que as empresas abrem o capital em momentos de auge no desempenho do setor ao qual pertencem; as aÃÃes apresentaram baixa performance no longo prazo, indicando que os emissores tendem a aproveitar os perÃodos de grande volume de emissÃes, quando as aÃÃes estÃo sobrevalorizadas. Dessa forma, os retornos iniciais sÃo elevados e no longo prazo hà um movimento de mercado no sentido de posicionar os papÃis no seu real valor. / Since 2004, it has been noticed through the specialized media a great excitement in the Brazilian stock market. Nine (greatest amount since 1986) Initial Public Offers (IPO) were carried out along 2005 generating about R$ 5 billion. In 2006, 26 new offers were carried out and the beginning companies made around R$ 15 billion. In 2007, the number of IPOâs achieved a record of 64 new companies (more than R$ 55 billion), a landmark in the history of the Brazilian stock market. The enthusiasm of investors towards the initial offers reached a level where the stock markets decided to sell their own stocks. Natural people forgot their fear of the risk for a while trying to increase their income considering the decline of ordinary funds. BM&Fâs IPO, for instance, had 275 thousand natural people among the investors. Concerning all this excitement and some notorious cases of success and others of low performance of beginning companies in the stock market, the following work analyses the return of investments made in initial public offers of stocks in Brazil carried out between 2005/01/01 and 2007/07/31. Besides a comparative study of the return of the stocks with the CDI tax variation and the Ibovespa, it was a done an analyses of the behavior of investments according to the market section and a study of the profitability of long term funds. Among 81 companies, only 30 had positive results, which demonstrate a low performance considering the initial enthusiasm and the excessive increase of values. The profitability of stocks was only superior to the CDI and Ibovespa variation in a shot term frame and the papers seemed to be more volatile than the market average. It was also noticed that the return of investments is attached to the performance of each market section and the profitability of funds was not superior in a long term frame.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Ao longo dos anos, o turismo internacional vem crescendo rapidamente ao ponto de ser considerado a maior indÃstria do mundo, com contribuiÃÃes significativas na economia e no desenvolvimento de pequenos paÃses. Cabo Verde à um pequeno Estado insular, composto por dez ilhas, especializado na indÃstria do turismo, com forte Ãnfase na demanda turistica internacional. Considerando que o turismo internacional tem grande participaÃÃo no produto interno bruto e no setor de serviÃos de Cabo Verde, à essencial que o paÃs continue a atrair e reter turistas para apoiar o desenvolvimento da economia e do paÃs. Para isso, à necessÃrio saber o que influencia a demanda turÃstica internacional no paÃs. Destarte, o objetivo da pesquisa à analisar o potencial do mercado turÃstico internacional de Cabo Verde, com destaque para a capacidade de atraÃÃo da demanda internacional e a anÃlise da competitividade turÃstica das ilhas que compÃem o arquipÃlago. Trata-se de uma pesquisa analÃtica, com enfoque quantitativo, utilizando dados secundÃrios fornecidos pelo Instituto Nacional de EstatÃstica de Cabo Verde e pelo Banco Central de Cabo Verde. Os dados foram analisados no software estatÃstico Eviews7Â, por meio de um modelo economÃtrico autorregressivo. Calcularam-se ainda Ãndices de preferÃncia e de saturaÃÃo turÃstica das ilhas de Cabo Verde, assim como suas quotas de mercado. Os resultados mostraram que a demanda turÃstica internacional por Cabo Verde à influenciada positivamente pela oferta hoteleira, pelo fluxo turÃstico passado e pela taxa de cÃmbio. Os Ãndices de preferÃncia turÃstica indicam que as ilhas do Sal e da Boavista sÃo as que mais atraem turistas em Cabo Verde, mas tambÃm apresentam problemas de saturaÃÃo turÃstica, o que pode culminar em danos sociais e ambientais. Conclui-se que Cabo Verde reflete problemas de saturaÃÃo turÃstica, o que mostra a necessidade de planejamento integrado e detalhado no sentido de minimizar problemas sociais e ambientais, bem como direcionar investimentos para ilhas preteridas, inovando para tornÃ-las atrativas de modo que possam contribuir para o desenvolvimento e a formulaÃÃo de estratÃgias que promovam o turismo sustentÃvel no paÃs.

Российская Федерация является одним из ведущих мировых производителей стали. Металлургическое производство в России выросло на 2,6%, занимала четвертое место млн т пропустив вперед Китай, Японию, Индию, опередила США по сравнению с 2019 годом. Цель магистерской диссертации состоит в поиске направлений повышения конкурентоспособности промышленного на внешнем рынке, на примере ПАО «Трубная Металлургическая Компания». В частности была проведена оценка финансово-экономической деятельности и анализ международная конкурентоспособность. Анализ финансово-экономической деятельности ПАО «ТМК» позволил выявить в контексте повышения конкурентоспособности сильные и слабые стороны предприятия. К сильным сторонам можно отнести: соответствие показателей ликвидности нормативным значениям, т. е. предприятие в состоянии в срок рассчитываться по краткосрочным обязательствам; хорошая финансовая устойчивость; рентабельность продукции. К слабым сторонам можно отнести: значительную зависимость от кредиторов по причине недостатка собственного капитала; отрицательную динамику изменения собственного капитала, при том, что активы существенно увеличились. Выявлены основные факторы, оказывающие влияние на деятельность компании в сравнении с основными конкурентами Tenaris LLC и Evraz, далее выделены проблемы и очерчены контуры их решения в контексте повышения конкурентоспособности компании. Для дальнейшего развития компании и повышения ее конкурентоспособности на российском и зарубежном рынках необходимо решения таких ключевых проблем, как: необходимость повышения степени доступа к внешним рынкам и производственной гибкости предприятия. Одним из направлений повышения конкурентоспособности для ПАО «ТМК» и повышения доступности внешних рынков может стать объединение усилий с одной из компаний-конкурентов. Другим направлением повышающее конкурентоспособность, является наращивание коммуникационной активности на внешнем рынке за счет улучшения интернет-магазина TMK eTrade. / The Russian Federation is one of the world's leading steel producers. Metallurgical production in Russia grew by 2.6%, ranked fourth in million tons, leaving China, Japan, India ahead, ahead of the United States compared to 2019. The purpose of the master's thesis is to find ways to increase the competitiveness of industrial in the foreign market, as exemplified by PJSC "Pipe Metallurgical Company". In particular, an assessment of financial and economic activities and an analysis of international competitiveness were carried out. Analysis of the financial and economic activities of PJSC "TMK" made it possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise in the context of increasing competitiveness. The strengths include: compliance of liquidity indicators with standard values, ie, the company is able to settle on time for short-term liabilities; good financial stability; profitability of products. Weaknesses include: significant dependence on creditors due to lack of equity capital; negative dynamics of changes in equity capital, despite the fact that assets have increased significantly. The main factors influencing the company's activities in comparison with the main competitors Tenaris LLC and Evraz are identified, the problems are further highlighted and the contours of their solution in the context of increasing the company's competitiveness are outlined. For the further development of the company and increasing its competitiveness in the Russian and foreign markets, it is necessary to solve such key problems as: the need to increase the degree of access to foreign markets and the production flexibility of the enterprise. One of the ways to increase competitiveness for PJSC TMK and increase the accessibility of foreign markets may be joining efforts with one of the competing companies. Another area of increasing competitiveness is increasing communication activity in the foreign market by improving the TMK eTrade online store.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / This study analyses the effects of generic medicine competition on the market share growth and pricing of originator brand medicine in the South African private pharmaceutical market. The study is based on five years (2005 to 2011) of IMS Health market share data for 39 originator brand drugs that have been exposed to competition from generic substitutes from 2001. The results show that, for all the drug molecules included in the study pooled together, the price of an originator brand medicine relative to the weighted average price of its generics has a significant negative impact on the change of its market share. Results for the molecules pooled according to anatomical classes, as well as each molecule separately, show that in four out of the nine classes represented in the study and nine out of the 39 molecules the relative price of the originator brand medicine had a significant negative impact on its change in market share. The manufacturers and marketers of generic medicines would be well advised to offer their medicines at significantly discounted prices compared to the originator brands, as the results suggest that the market penetration of the generic product may depend heavily on the price the generics are offered at. Investigations into the prices of the originator brands in relation with the number of generic equivalents in the market show that the number of generics available in a specific market has a significant positive impact on the relative price of originators, thereby making originators relatively more expensive compared with their generic competitors, while at the same time the results show that the absolute price of the originator brand medicines declines as the number of generic equivalents in the market increases. This indicates that, from a policy perspective, reducing the barriers to entry for generic medicine once originator patents expire may have a significant role to play in reducing the cost of pharmaceutical drugs in the South African market.

Diese Dissertation setzt sich aus fünf Forschungspapieren zusammen. Jedes Kapitel enthält ein Papier. Das erste Kapitel untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen der Größe des Kundenstamms einer Firma und ihrem Gewinn in einem Markt mit Wechselkosten. Entgegen unserer Intuition wird gezeigt, dass Firmen nicht immer von einer Vergrößerung ihres Kundenstamms profitieren, weil diese die Intensität des Wettbewerbs beeinflusst. Kapitel 2 führt eine ähnliche Untersuchung durch, aber für einen Markt, in dem die Konsumenten unvollständig über die Standorte der Anbieter informiert sind. Es zeigt sich auch hier, dass eine Firma nicht immer von einem großen Kundenstamm profitiert. Die zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen unterscheiden sich jedoch deutlich von denen in Kapitel 1. Kapitel 3 ist eine Erweiterung des Modells mit unvollständiger Konsumenteninformation hin zu einer vollständig dynamischen Version. Im Zentrum der Analyse stehen nun die dynamischen Eigenschaften des Modells. Unter den Annahmen über die graduelle Verbreitung von Information auf der Konsumentenseite entsteht Trägheit in den Marktanteilen der Firmen. Dynamik entsteht im Modell ausschließlich aufgrund der Verwendung von gemischten Preisstrategien. Kapitel 4 analysiert Wettbewerb in einem vertikal differenzierten Markt. Hier gibt es keine Trägheit auf der Nachfrageseite. Das Hauptergebnis der Analyse ist, dass Wohlfahrtsverluste, die im Duopol aus ineffizienter Qualitätswahl resultieren, in Märkten mit drei oder mehr Wettbewerbern fast vollständig verschwinden. Dieses überraschende Ergebnis resultiert aus einem Regimewechsel in der Art des Wettbewerbs, der beim Übergang vom Duopol zum Markt mit drei Wettbewerbern auftritt. Kapitel 5 ist eine Erweiterung von Kapitel 4. Während in Kapitel 4 ein quadratischer Zusammenhang zwischen Kosten bzw. Zahlungsbereitschaft und Qualität angenommen wurde, wird die Analyse nun für eine allgemeinere nicht-lineare Abhängigkeit durchgeführt. Es werden grundlegende Einsichten über das Funktionieren von vertikal differenzierten Märkten vermittelt. So zeigt sich, dass der allgemein postulierte Vorteil der Firma mit der höheren Produktqualität nicht allgemeingültig ist. Ob dieser besteht, hängt von der Art der strategischen Interaktion ab. / This dissertation consists of five independent research papers. Each chapter represents one paper. The first chapter analyzes the shape of the relation between the size of a firm’s customer base and profit in a market with consumer switching costs. Contrary to common wisdom, it is shown that a firm is not automatically better off with a larger customer base, as the size of its customer base affects the intensity of price competition. Chapter 2 performs a similar exercise, but for a market where consumers are not fully informed about the locations of the different suppliers. Once more, it is shown that firms do not always benefit from an increase in the size of their customer base. However, the underlying mechanisms are rather different than in the model with switching costs. Chapter 3 is an extension of the model introduced in chapter 2 to a fully dynamic game. The focus of chapter 3 is on the dynamics in a market with incomplete consumer information. Under the assumptions about the gradual diffusion of information among consumers, there is inertia in the market shares. Dynamics are generated solely by the firms’ usage of mixed pricing strategies. Chapter 4 analyzes competition in a vertically differentiated market. There is no inertia on the demand side. The main result of the analysis is, that welfare losses that stem from an inefficient choice of qualities in the duopoly case, disappear almost completely as soon as three or more competitors are in the market. This surprising result is related to a regime change in the nature of competition that occurs at the transition from duopoly to triopoly. Chapter 5 is an extension of chapter 4. Whereas the model introduced in chapter 4 was based on a quadratic relation between costs or willingness-to-pay and quality, the analysis is now extended to a more general non-linear dependency. The analysis provides fundamental insights into the functioning of vertically differentiated markets. Interestingly, the well-known high-quality advantage is not a robust feature of these markets. Whether it is obtained, depends on the nature of strategic interaction between the firms.

The primary goal of this paper is to critically examine five of the top nine US fast food chains to look at their history and to determine what factors have lead to their massive success. The companies that will be analyzed include: McDonald's, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Domino's Pizza, and Subway. Similarities and differences of these companies are compared and contrasted throughout the paper and clearly demonstrate how each company has managed to capture and maintain major market share in their respective food categories. Areas that are examined range from product quality to to business models to consumer psychology. A review of these companies reveals that there are specific success factors for each, and one overarching factor for all. Specific factors include, but are not limited to marketing technique, organizational structure and overall business concept. The one factor that seems critical to all is entering the market with an innovative and unique concept.

This thesis comprises three papers examining the impact of competitive pricing or competition on participants in energy markets. The scope of each paper is narrow but focused, dealing with one particular aspect of competition in each market under study. It is hoped that results from these three studies could provide valuable policy lessons to public policy makers in their task to create or maintain competition in different energy markets, so as to improve efficiencies in these markets. The first and second papers examine the load shifting behavior of industrial customers in Ontario under real time pricing (RTP). Using Hourly Ontario Energy Price (HOEP) data from 2005 to 2008 and industry-level consumption data from all industrial customers directly connected to the transmission grid, the first paper adopts a Generalized Leontief specification to obtain elasticities of substitution estimates for various industry groups, while the second paper adopts a specification derived from standard consumer theory to obtain price elasticity estimates. The findings of both papers confirm that in some industries, industrial customers who are direct participants of the wholesale market tend to shift consumption from peak to off-peak periods in order to take advantage of lower off-peak prices. Furthermore, in the first paper, a demand model is estimated and there is evidence that the marginal effect of hourly load on hourly price during peak periods is larger than the marginal effect during off-peak periods. An important policy implication from the results of these papers is that while RTP is currently limited to industrial customers, it does have positive spillover effects on all consumers. The third paper uses a unique panel dataset of all retail gasoline stations across five Canadian cities from late-2006 to mid-2007 to examine the effect of local competition on market shares and sales of individual stations. The base empirical specification includes explanatory variables representing the number of same brand stations and the number of different brand stations within a 3km radius to identify brand affiliation effect. It is found that the number of local competitors is negatively correlated with market share and sales. More interestingly, a same brand competitor has a larger marginal impact on market share and sales than a competitor of a different brand. These findings suggest that additional local competition leads to cannibalization of market share among existing stations, rather than create new demand. Another implication is that relying only on the number of different brands operating within a geographic market could understate the competition intensity in the local market.