Marketing

The main goal of this paper is to increase the knowledge of the behavior of strategic groups through time. Given that, the dynamic evolution of a sample of Spanish insurance institutions during the 2000-2005 period has been analyzed. This paper concretely studies: the methodology of identification of generic strategies within the sector, the application of a two-step process for identifying strategic groups and the temporal evolution of strategies and groups. The results of this research indicate that the temporal analysis of both strategies and groups increases the knowledge of the strategic behavior of a sector.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of diversification mode (acquisition versus greenfield) through foreign direct investment considering various theories, such as those of mergers and acquisitions, transaction costs, the learning organisation, the institutional context of the company and the cultural environment of the host country, and to analyse the determinants of entry mode combining diversification mode with ownership structure decision (greenfield wholly-owned subsidiaries, greenfield joint ventures, full acquisition and partial acquisition) and proposing various research hypotheses. The methodology used estimates various binomial and multinomial logit models, over a sample of 141 Spanish manufacturing companies between 1998 and 2000, finding that entry mode into a foreign country through direct investment is mainly explained by related diversification, international and local experience, advertising intensity, cultural distance, company size and ownership structure.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of diversification mode (acquisition versus greenfield) through foreign direct investment considering various theories, such as those of mergers and acquisitions, transaction costs, the learning organisation, the institutional context of the company and the cultural environment of the host country, and to analyse the determinants of entry mode combining diversification mode with ownership structure decision (greenfield wholly-owned subsidiaries, greenfield joint ventures, full acquisition and partial acquisition) and proposing various research hypotheses. The methodology used estimates various binomial and multinomial logit models, over a sample of 141 Spanish manufacturing companies between 1998 and 2000, finding that entry mode into a foreign country through direct investment is mainly explained by related diversification, international and local experience, advertising intensity, cultural distance, company size and ownership structure.

This study analyzes the degree of competition through individual actions and reactions. Empirical support for this analysis has derived mainly from structural econometric models describing the nature of competition. This analysis extends the existing literature by empirically considering a direct measurement of competition through the analysis of the competitive actions and responses, and describing how firms compete within and between strategic groups. We estimate the firms' conduct in the Spanish deposits market with 146 firms and 18,888 observations. This is a specially compelling context for the banking industry, in which a deregulation process gives rise to the adoption of aggressive strategies seeking to increase the market shares of deposit accounts; thus, producing a turbulent situation of increasing rivalry. Our results offer a deeper understanding of the firms' competitive behavior, since we identify different patterns of actions and reactions depending upon the strategic group the firm belongs to.

Prior literature on foreign direct investment examines single-stage decision making processes based on, either the ownership structure (full vs. partial ownership), the diversification mode (Greenfield vs. acquisition), or the simultaneity of both of them (with four independent alternatives as a result of combining the ownership structure and diversification mode decisions simultaneously). This study proposes that ownership structure and diversification mode are nested and non independent decisions. However, the sequential order of the two decisions, ownership structure and diversification mode, is unknown. Thus, the current study tests the single-stage process used by previous researchers versus the two different hierarchical two-stage processes (ownership structure choice precedes diversification mode choice; and diversification mode choice precedes ownership structure choice). The empirical findings support the existence of a two-stage choice process where ownership structure choice precedes diversification mode choice. The main implication of these findings is that, given the human limited analytical capability, a hierarchical choice process can be useful to handle the information overload and the complexity inherent to the foreign direct investment choices.

The objective of this study is to examine the rivalry within and between strategic groups in a given industry. Current literature on the topic suggests that the empirical evidence presented, so far, might well be biased by systematic errors in the measuring of rivalry. As a novelty, the method we propose uses two different approaches to measuring rivalry: an indirect

Our study examines how, in a given industry, rivalry functions within strategic groups defined according to the size of their member firms and how this rivalry affects performance. We hypothesize that, owing to several forms of group-level effects including market power, efficiency, differentiation, and multimarket contact, strategic groups that comprise smaller firms will exhibit both increased rivalry and decreased performance compared with strategic groups that comprise larger firms. We test our hypotheses by estimating the effect of group-level strategic interactions (i.e., conjectural variations) on firm performance. Ultimately, our analysis of empirical data on loans in the Spanish banking industry demonstrates that increased rivalry and decreased performance indeed characterizes firms belonging to a strategic group that comprises smaller firms.

This study analyzes the degree of competition through individual actions and reactions. Empirical support for this analysis has derived mainly from structural econometric models describing the nature of competition. This analysis extends the existing literature by empirically considering a direct measurement of competition through the analysis of the competitive actions and responses, and describing how firms compete within and between strategic groups. We estimate the firms' conduct in the Spanish deposits market with 146 firms and 18,888 observations. This is a specially compelling context for the banking industry, in which a deregulation process gives rise to the adoption of aggressive strategies seeking to increase the market shares of deposit accounts; thus, producing a turbulent situation of increasing rivalry. Our results offer a deeper understanding of the firms' competitive behavior, since we identify different patterns of actions and reactions depending upon the strategic group the firm belongs to.

The aim of this study is to examine the determining factors of a firm's performance, as a direct consequence of its diversification strategy in its expansion into foreign markets, considering certain factors like the market, the product and the company itself. As a novelty, the methodology employed uses the event-study to estimate the excess of returns generated by its shares

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en proponer un modelo de competencia oligopolísticacon diferenciación de producto vía calidad de servicio en el mercado de créditos bancarios, elcual permite detectar el patrón de conducta competitiva del output (variaciones conjeturales anivel de cantidades de créditos vendidos) para todas y cada una de las entidades financierasrespecto de cada uno de los grupos estratégicos definidos por tamaño. Este modelo deinteracciones competitivas es contrastado con 100 entidades del mercado español de créditosbancarios entre 1992 y 1994, período temporal que marca la culminación de un proceso dedesregulación e integración europea del sistema bancario español y que incide directamente enla competencia en términos de cantidades de créditos vendidos. Los resultados obtenidosevidencian que el grupo de entidades de mayor tamaño tiene una actitud agresiva ante unaumento del output de los grupos de entidades pequeñas y medianas. Además, se detecta unaconducta ag...

El propósito de este trabajo es analizar, por un lado, los determinantes del modo de diversificación de la inversión directa en el exterior (IDE) considerando diversas aproximaciones teóricas y, por otro lado, los determinantes de la IDE combinando el modo de diversificación con la estructura de la propiedad empresarial. La metodología aplicada estima diversos modelos logit sobre 141 empresas españolas manufactureras entre 1998 y 2000, detectando que el modo de entrada mediante IDE viene explicada por la diversificación relacionada, la experiencia internacional y local de la empresa, la intensidad publicitaria, el tamaño y estructura de la propiedad de la empresa, la distancia cultural, así como por el desarrollo del país de destino.

We characterize the situation in the Spanish banking industry through the identification of strategic groups. We use a 13-year dataset for the period 1992-2004 and a sophisticated statistical model to identify these strategic groups. The primary contribution of this empirical study is to model the evolution of these strategic groups using a time inhomogeneous hidden Markov model (HMM) in which the time variable transition matrix captures institutions' group switching behavior. We consider a mixture model is the data generating process. Two strategic groups are identified. These groups are primarily characterized by size and other strategic variables. The probability of remaining in a group is generally high: 87.28% for SG1 and 61.84% for SG2. The probability of switching groups is low: 12.72% probability of switching from SG1 to SG2 and 38.16% probability of switching from SG2 to SG1. Banks in SG1 seem more stable over time; they have low levels of switching behavior and well-defined long-term behavior. Banks in SG2 seem to evolve in terms of group membership.

This paper investigates the main determinants of academic performance in the degree in Business Administration at the University of Alicante. Characteristics and attitudes of students are compared with their academic performance rates and with their opinion on the causes of poor performance. The results bring us to the level of incidence of the various variables involved in academic outcomes, highlighting the strong influence of prior learning of students and factors related with effort and motivation.