Frédéric Jallat

Disintermediation in question: New economy, new networks, new middlemen

T raditionally, disintermediation has been defined as a development that enables households to bypass banks and place their savings directly with other types of financial institutions. In the context of the Web, it has come to signify the disappearance of a wide variety of “middlemen,” or intermediaries, and the creation of an enhanced sales network in which customers deal directly with service providers. The result is supposed to be a “frictionless capitalism” that reduces both inefficiencies and costs. The first studies on e-commerce provided contradictory predictions about the impact it would have on intermediaries. Some suggested that the Internet would kill them off, while others concluded that their role would become more important than ever. Evans and Wurster (1997) pointed to a critical aspect of the e-business revolution: that the possibility of dissociating the physical flow of products and related information offers a wealth of new opportunities for reshuffling and reconfiguring the relationships among all the participants in the value chain-suppliers, distributors, retailers, customers. We contend that predictions of the imminent demise of intermediaries are premature, reflecting both a failure to analyze the variety and importance of intermediary functions and, more important, the lack of an overall strategic view assessing the costs of services intermediaries provide in the context of their perceived value to clients and customers. Understanding the impact of e-commerce on intermediaries requires an analysis of how the tasks and functions of traditional economic actors are being reformulated and rebuilt. Electronic retailing, or e-tailing, has been a frontier for the development of e-commerce. By examining traditional functions provided by intermediaries in sales transactions, we intend to demonstrate that current Internet trends go beyond disintermediation. Emerging new Internet players are being joined by entirely new types of intermediaries, leading to the radical restructuring of industrial and commercial networks.

Yield management, dynamic pricing and CRM in telecommunications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how yield management and dynamic pricing, which originated in the airline industry, are now diffusing in other service industries. The aim is to demonstrate that these techniques can be profitably applied to telecommunications and similar sectors and to examine the particular conditions of their implementation, development and efficiency.Design/methodology/approach – The main concepts of yield management, dynamic pricing and CRM are carefully scrutinized. Also discussed is the concept of natural demand curve that aims at reaching a better compromise between the capacity of a company and the demand in an environment where services cannot be sold in advance. In order to sustain the analysis and demonstrate its managerial implications, five case studies are presented that exemplify some aspects of yield management techniques in the telecommunication sector.Findings – Since the telecommunications are undergoing a process of increased competition and dynamic conve...

Cross‐country analysis of price levels and dispersion in online and offline environments: an empirical analysis in France and Germany

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to take into consideration the country effect in online and offline environments and compares price levels and dispersion online v. offline across the two largest Continental European markets, thus adding a new dimension in price comparisons and multichannel pricing strategies.Design/methodology/approach – Based on an empirical analysis of data collected in one product category (CDs), our findings for France and Germany show that price levels ‐including shipping costs – are always higher online than offline in each country and price dispersion is persistent across markets. Calculating mean prices for the two countries, ANOVA tests reveal significant differences among the two sets of data. Using standard deviation as the measurement for price dispersion, Levene statistics reveal a higher degree of online price dispersion than offline and statistically significant differences between the two sample countries.Findings – Even if our approach need to be extended to mor...

Exploring “deep” and “wide” stakeholder relations in service activity

Purpose – The aim of this article is to offer readers several useful paths of thought on a “deepened” and “widened” approach to the notion of interface, taking into account several types of stakeholder in the exchange.Design/methodology/approach – Three case studies are developed and organised around those two dimensions which seem essential in interface management.Findings – Since the very essence of service is linked to relations and exchanges, it seems important that the range of stakeholders directly or indirectly influencing service processes should be taken into consideration.Originality/value – Owing to the multiplicity and complexity of the ties that connect them to the service provider or to clients, the management of these groups is often difficult, involving internal and external cultural considerations. However, a well carried out analysis of these involved parties and ties constitutes a major source of innovation and differentiation on the market of intangibles.

A Cultural, Historical and Ideological Analysis of a Neglected Service Economy

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to look at the service economy in Russia. It is well-known that communist rule produced widespread disaffection from services, but the subject is probably more complex in Russia than in other East European countries. The reasons for this are not only historical and ideological, but also cultural and managerial. An analysis of the past situation is presented and discussed in comparison with capitalist countries. The research also presents an economic study and suggests ways to improve the quality of services in Russia today.

Traumatized Economies – and Marketing Paths to Recovery

Over the course of the past three decades we have witnessed a number of shocks that have profoundly traumatized a large number of economies and the consumers who often continue to struggle in them. Several trauma-producing events immediately come to mind: the demise of communism and ensuing “shock therapy”, war and genocide, tsunamis, earthquakes, global financial collapse, food shortage, festering religious and ethnic tensions, and the growing conflict between local traditions and burgeoning forces of globalization. One or more of these events has/have devastated many nations, traumatized economies, globally, regionally, nationally and locally, and have distressed billions of consumers.

Decomposition of Country of Origin Effect for Japanese Consumers

This research examines the country-of-origin (COO) effect in two studies using conjoint methodology. In the first study consumer evaluations of a products ( a pair of jeans ) in which country-of-manufacturer (COM) was the only country-of-origin component were examined. In the second study consumer evaluations of a products (a pair of sneakers) in which there were two components of COO—COM and country-of-design(COD)—were examined. Brand was used as an indicator of COD.

Marketing Research and Culture : Some European Insights

The subject that we are going to consider is a difficult one. Specialists that attempt to come to terms with the specifics of a European approach to marketing are generally faced with three problems: 1. The political, social and cultural context of the environment influences any marketing research because of the latters vocation and nature. One can easily understand that the diversity and complexity of the European continent leads us to speak of different approaches to marketing in Europe as opposed to a European marketing. 2. If one cannot speak of a unique and homogeneous European marketing, it is equally difficult to identify European schools of thought that have evolved in an independent way from the American school.

Innovation Management, Market Orientation and Performance in the Consumer Service Sector: An Empirical Research

The purpose of this study is to look at the management of innovation in consumer service firms and more precisely to define the possible relationships between the degree of refinement in innovation process, the marketing competence of the organization and the financial performance of a new service.

American and French Industrial Services Buying Behavior : An Experimental Study

The paper deals with the cultural dimension of business-to-business relationships in the buying behavior of industrial services. Based on a literature from the fields of industrial, services and international marketing, hypotheses were developed aiming at testing in an experimental study the convergence thesis of industrial services buying behavior in France and the United States in terms of importance given to product and service decision criteria in the stage of tender offer. Data were collected from 170 French and 192 American managers and analysed by ANOVA in a 2 X 2 factorial design (French vs. American national culture ; Buyer vs. Seller professional culture). As expected, results are consistent with a partial convergence thesis due to a convergence of product attributes evaluations between the two countries, but to some specifics of French service attributes evaluations.