José M. Ramírez-Hurtado

Constructing a Composite Indicator with Multiplicative Aggregation Under the Objective of Ranking Alternatives

Composite indicators (CIs), constructed on the basis of the ‘benefit of the doubt’ criterion, are characterized by endogenously determined vectors of weights. In this paper, a new procedure to construct CIs is proposed in an attempt to overcome the main weakness of this family of procedures: the determination of an individual weighting vector for each alternative, which makes comparisons between alternatives difficult and the existence of multiple ties. A new procedure is proposed which, while maintaining the essence of DEA-inspired procedures determines a common weighting vector to evaluate the complete set of alternatives and includes the discrimination between alternatives as an objective of the procedure.

Identifying the franchisee profiles franchisors prefer

This study identifies the franchisee profiles that franchisors prefer. Specifically, the goals of this study are: (1) to identify the characteristics that form the franchisee profile preferred by the franchisors operating in the Spanish market and (2) to contrast diverse hypotheses related to this profile. These hypotheses are related to the ideal franchisee, sector, financial level, number of franchisee units and age of franchisors. Criteria that franchisors look for in potential franchisees are ranked by importance. The value of the paper is significant as it provides a practical framework for franchisors for the selection process of franchisees when choosing from a group of potential franchisees. The franchisee profile was obtained using conjoint analysis, which is a decomposition methodology that is rarely used in this field.

Does the Foreign Market Entry Mode Choice Affect Export Performance? The Case of the Spanish Hotel Industry

Knowing the factors that affect the export performance has become one of the most recent research lines in the literature relative to business internationalisation. In this sense, several works based on the meta-analysis technique have come up in the two last decades in order to recapitulate the set of studies which have analysed such a topic. Taking these reviews as a starting point, we may establish that there is not a clear relationship between the entry mode and export performance variables. With a study on a sample of 122 Spanish hotels all over the world, we have the intention of analysing the existence and sense of the relationship between both variables. As a conclusion, we may state that the market entry mode has a positive and significant influence on export performance.

Identification of Segments for Overseas Tourists Playing Golf in Spain: A Latent Class Approach

Sports tourism has experienced spectacular growth in the last few decades. This study strives to contribute towards the hitherto scarce research on segmentation in sports tourism. Specifically, this work aims to determine the existence of various profiles of overseas tourists playing golf in Spain by means of using demographic variables, the characteristics of the travel, the main reason for the trip, and the satisfaction experienced with the trip. Segments were obtained using latent class analysis. Results show that there are four profiles of golf sports tourists based on the overall satisfaction experienced on the trip. Furthermore, results show that tourists play golf for various reasons and that there are significant market niches. Practitioners and academics have the ability to gain a fuller understanding of a particular market, thereby enabling them to improve techniques to predict consumer behavior and to exploit new market opportunities. In particular, governments, agents, and tourism managers can allocate resources in a more strategic and focused manner.

Choosing a travel agency franchise by mean of a global composite indicator: an application in Spain

This paper highlights the complexity of the franchise partner selection process from a franchisees perspective. The purpose of this article is, firstly, to propose the definition of a system of indicators which include all the relevant information which the potential franchisee should take into consideration when choosing a chain secondly, to obtain a global composite indicator for the construction of a ranking of franchisors. In order to illustrate the procedure, a sample of travel agency franchisors in Spain and a suitable database to quantify the indicators are considered. The paper concludes constructing a complete order of the franchisors in the travel agency industry. In addition, the results show the most important characteristics of franchisors that potential franchisees must take into account. The value of the paper is significant as it provides a practical frame - work for potential franchisees in the selection of franchisors.

Study of the influence of socio-economic factors in the international expansion of Spanish franchisors to Latin American countries

The saturation of the domestic market is one of the factors which drive firms to expand their business to other markets. Franchising is one of the formats adopted by companies when establishing their internationalization strategy. Spain is a country where franchising is strongly consolidated. This degree of maturity means that many chains seek other countries in which to operate. This work’s specific aims are, on the one hand, to offer a general view of the current situation of Spanish franchisors in Latin American countries and, on the other hand, to analyze which the socio-economic or external factors are that determine the presence of Spanish franchisors in this market. Canonical-correlation analysis is used to do so. The results show that Spanish franchisors focus on the market’s potential and size, and the per capita income, while they do not take into account its unemployment level, the country risk or the competitiveness there. This work shows that there is a series of socio-economic factors which influence the final choice of the destination country. However, this decision is not solely based on this country’s socio-economic aspects, but also on the structure of the franchising firm itself and on its export experience in other markets. This study therefore complements other research and helps franchisors in their difficult decision of choosing the destination for their internationalization.

Determining factors in the internationalization of hotel industry: An analysis based on export performance

Choosing the best way of operating in foreign markets is one of the most important decisions in business internationalization. The main aim of this study is to ascertain whether the choice of entry mode, made according to the impact of various factors, leads to improved export performance. Certain factors influence export performance in different ways, some of which are firm-related, while others lie beyond the firm’s control. It is, therefore, important to know what these factors are and what impact they have in order to be able to choose the optimal foreign market entry mode, as this decision will have a direct effect on performance.

Response to Viewpoint: On Constructing a Composite Indicator with Multiplicative Aggregation and the Avoidance of Zero Weights in DEA

First, we would like to thank Professor Tofallis for having pointed out the advantages of a new DEA-inspired model, which considers a multiplicative aggregation scheme, and for linking his viewpoint with our recent paper on JORS (Blancas et al, 2013).