The theory of 'enforced maximisation' claims that whatever decision procedures individuals and firms adopt, maximisation of utility for individuals and profits for firms will be selected for by the forces of competition. Competition thus enforces maximisation. Evolutionary arguments are typically employed to support these claims, either individually or jointly. A behavioural economic theory may have three basic components: a theory of preferences, of beliefs, and of the behaviour of individuals in social institutions (particularly firms). To each of these the approach of enforced maximisation has been applied. Becker has argued that people have stable self-interested preferences as the result of selection along sociobiological lines; Muth has argued that individuals' beliefs can be assumed to be represented in a rational expectations fashion, because if they did not do so an arbitrage profit would result, and rational agents would therefore exploit it. Friedman has argued that firms' can be assumed to be profit maximisers because if they did not, analogous to natural selection, they would go out of business. This thesis argues that these claims are individually unsustainable, and in seme form jointly inconsistent. The demonstration uses a series of criteria for deciding between rival explanations. First, it is argued that the sociobiological account of preference formation is deeply problematic, particularly in its account of self-interest and altruism. Second, it is demonstrated that the selection-based argument for the rational expectations account of belief-formation fails. Third, it is shewn why profit maximisation is not necessarily enforced by the market. Finally, the selection for firm's profit maximisation behaviour relies on selection of utility maximising individual behaviour, and such a reliance may be inconsistent with the programme of the theory of 'enforced maximisation'.

No description available.

The study undertook an examination of the process, context and organisational factors that lead to an IS-driven sustainable competitive advantage. The research contributes theory-based conceptual synthesis and empirical evidence to an area that has transformed radically over the last fifteen years. The methodology adopted a pluralistic approach drawing upon both positivism and interpretist evidence. Care was taken to ensure that the primary research undertaken in Financial Services, Retailing and Manufacturing was subject to a variety of validating procedures and controls. The study identifled a role for the IS derived sustainability model and found that technology alone did not sustain a performance edge but that it needs to be combined with complementary resources to create an isolating mechanism. The work demonstrated that trade secrets, communication links to external organisations, innovative developments and accessing unique resources were the source of sustained competitive advantages. The findings also provided evidence that open culture and communications, workgroup consensus, top management support and possessing a highly flexible organisation were also important attributes of non ephemeral IS based advantages. A practical framework was proposed which allows an organisation to assess the potential of deriving IS based sustainable competitive advantage from analysing its resources and capabilities and discusses ways in which those resources and capabilities can be augmented.

Much attention has been paid to relationships between supplier and buyer finns, especially in the field of product development and in particular in the automotive industry. There has been a growing debate on the need to increase the responsibilities for suppliers and have a win-win relationship with them instead of an adversarial relationship. Research has been extensive, dealing with issues like location of suppliers, just in time, tiering of suppliers, etc., although little attention has been paid to the issue of specifications and contracts which are an important part of the product development process. The specification flow between the buyer and suppliers is necessary in order to obtain the product. Specifications could be validated' with the help of written contracts and thus can be seen as an important part of the contracts. The objective of the study is to understand the role of specifications and contracts in these companies and thus contribute to knowledge and the understanding of practitioners. One automotive OEM located in Europe was used for the case study. One aircraft OEM, also located in Europe, was used for supplementary data collection. In-depth interviews in five first-tier suppliers, and an open ended questionnaire survey (internal and external) have been used to provide complementary perspectives. The research2 is guided by a qualitative inductive approach and is aimed at developing ideas grounded in field observations. Strauss & Corbin's (1990) method for coding qualitative data has been followed in order to model the role of specifications and contracts. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with various managers in the OEMs and supplier companies, participant and direct observation, internal documents, and questionnaires. Specifications were identified to have a role in guiding outsourcing decisions, function as a means of communication, help decide the time of involvement of the suppliers, help differentiate suppliers, create visions for suppliers and help provide competitive advantage. Contracts were identified to have a role in reaching agreements for continuing supply and help assist in the validation of specifications.

This thesis analyses legislative and judicial responses to parallel importation, a practice that pits intellectual property rights against the freedom of trade. Parallel importation involves the sale of genuine products holding intellectual property rights which have been imported into a country without the authorization of the IP rightholder. This practice is opposed by those who claim that their rights are infringed. The author examines responses in Canada, the United States of America, and the European Union, and finds that they are not consistent. / The author questions the applicability of using intellectual property rights to stop parallel importation and whether such measures are necessary to protect intellectual property rights and consumer welfare. According to the author, it is more appropriate to address rightholder concerns contractually. Consumer welfare can be assured with a statutory requirement that products have sufficient labelling to prevent confusion as to their origin.

In this thesis we study the problem of how to effectively manage and operate a market that attracts trading agents to compete for resources in it. In order to attract more agents to the market, the market needs to have incentive policies. We are particularly interested in the research of the incentive matching policy. We propose a new matching policy with loyalty incentive features. In order to cooperate and improve its performance, we also propose a new accepting policy to work with the matching policy. We use the CAT platform as our test-bed. We describe all the policies and techniques used in the CAT competition in detail. In addition we carry out experiments which further support our proposal.

Transition dairy cows are vulnerable to negative consequences of depressed feed intake due to a transient state of negative energy balance that predisposes them to disease after calving. Competition has been identified as one factor that can decrease feeding activity in mid-lactation cows, but the effects of competition on the transition cow are less well understood. The objective of this study was to test the effect of a competition on the behaviour and feed intake of transition cows. Standing behaviour, feeding behaviour and dry matter intake (DMI) was monitored from 1 wk before to 2 wk after calving for 110 Holstein dairy cows. Social behaviour was recorded in the week before calving. Cows were assigned to a competitive (2:1 cows:bin) or non-competitive (1:1 cow:bin) treatment at the start of the study. Treatment groups were balanced for parity and baseline feeding data, resulting in 8 primiparous and 10 multiparous cows per treatment. Competition dramatically increased the number of agonistic behaviours between cows at the feeder. Primiparous cows showed no change in either feeding or standing behaviour when fed in a competitive environment; however, they increased their total meal duration and within-meal intervals in the wk -1 before and wk +1 after calving. In wk -1 before calving, competitively fed multiparous cows increased the frequency of visits to the feeder but consumed less feed at each visit, resulting in decreased daily DMI. Throughout the experiment, multiparous cows fed competitively spent less time eating at each visit and ate at a faster rate, particularly during the 2 wk after calving. Multiparous cows on the competitive treatment also increased the time they spent standing (without eating) compared to cows on the non-competitive treatment. Feeding rate was negatively correlated with social status in multiparous cows. In summary, the results of this study indicate that restricting access to the feeder increases agonistic behaviours regardless of parity, and cows of different parity and social status respond differently in terms of feeding and standing behaviour.

This dissertation analyzed data and the competitiveness model of the Taiwanese earthmoving equipment industry. Competitiveness in this industry is the most important factor impacting the struggle of businesses for existence. Thus, understanding factors affecting competitiveness is important for business decision-makers. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008.

Companies in today's global and competitive business environment have realised that it is crucial for them to enhance their relationship with important customers in order to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. Account management has therefore received increasing attention during the last decades. Nonetheless, it seems as if the information requirements in combination with account management have so far been neglected in this discussion. / The aim of the review of contemporary theory thus is to investigate which information requirements are essential for account management, including its underlying concepts of key account management, strategic account management and global account management, and may lead to a competitive advantage. Consequently, the core questions are what kind of information is required, and how such information should be structured in an information system for account management to achieve a competitive advantage. Additionally, the terms and definitions of various researchers with respect to key account management, strategic account management and global account management as well as their interrelationship are discussed in detail within this review of the contemporary theory. / Analyses have shown that multinational corporations have recognised that only a limited number of key customers are vitally important to achieve a competitive advantage in their businesses. Since this small number of customers is of such importance to the overall business performance, a successful business relationship with these customers is highly significant. In order to achieve a successful business relationship essential information about the individual customers has to be gathered. Information management and knowledge management are prerequisites for accumulating and using data concerning important customers. Specifying and obtaining the right information can be seen as a filter that sieves the information needed for account management from the vast amount of data available from knowledge management. Furthermore, this review of contemporary theory will argue that a specific information system is an indispensable tool involved in achieving a competitive advantage in account management. / Moreover, the review of literature has visualised that only a limited amount of material has been published about how to obtain and use the right information requirements effectively for account management. Therefore, it has to be investigated to which extent the combination between the specified information requirements and account management leads to a competitive advantage. Concluding, it can be said that further research is necessary in order to identify what kind of information is required for a comprehensive and unified account management information system. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007.

The aim of this study is to review the literature on the intangible resources as sources of sustainable competitive advantage in Malaysian private colleges/institutions From it forms the objective to measure the possession of sources of sustainable competitive advantage and its sustainability. This paper explores the theories of sustainable competitive advantage, resource-based view, strategic assets as well as reviewing the concept of capabilities differentials as intangible resources. Hall's (1993) four dimensions of capabilities differentials are selected as a conceptual model for identifying the strategic assets of a firm. The four dimensions are functional capabilities differentials, positional capabilities differential, cultural capabilities differentials and regulatory capabilities differentials. The attributes for each dimension are identified based on the education industry perspective. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005.