Abstract Previous research has suggested that low share market businesses have dismal prospects. This study examines low share businesses which are effective. In particular, it examines the product‐market choices and competitive strategies of effective low share businesses, comparing them with two control groups: effective high share and ineffective low share businesses. Data are drawn from PIMS data bases and hypotheses are tested using cluster analysis and discriminant analysis. Effective low share businesses are found to locate in stable rather than protected environments. Their competitive strategies are strongly characterized by selective focus on specific strengths.

Abstract Reviews the book "Finney & Miller's Principles of Accounting--Introductory," 8th ed., by Glenn I. Johnson and James A. Gentry Jr.

Fishbein's attitude theory posits that beliefs are the only mediators of attitude formation and change. The validity of this proposition for consumers’ beliefs about product attributes and brand attitudes was exmained in the context of an advertising effects study. To manipulate product attribute beliefs and to create settings in which other mediation processes might occur, the authors exposed subjects to simple advertisements that contained either a verbal claim or visual information. Level of repetition also was varied. As expected, product attribute beliefs mediated attitude formation. However, another variable, termed attitude toward the advertisement, also mediated brand attitudes and purchase intentions. The authors discuss alternative explanations for the results and offer suggestions for future research.

Foreign investment in the United States has been expanding at a rapid rate during recent years. For a variety of reasons it is probable that such investment will play an increasingly important role in the U.S. economy in the future. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of such foreign ownership on an important aspect of labor relations – specifically, NLRB representation elections. Tests of whether foreign majority ownership is associated with decreased union success are conducted through multiple discriminant and regression analysis of election results. Both analyses control for foreign ownership, right-to-work legislation, industry effects, and size of election unit. The results indicate a moderately inverse association between foreign majority ownership and union success in elections.

The allocation of a specific amount of a given resource among competitive alternatives can often be modelled as a knapsack problem. This model formulation is extremely efficient because it allows convex cost representation with bounded variables to be solved without great computational efforts. Practical applications of this problem abound in the fields of operations management, finance, manpower planning, marketing, etc. In particular, knapsack problems emerge in hierarchical planning systems when a first level of decisions need to be further allocated among specific activities which have been previously treated in an aggregate way. In this paper we provide a recursive procedure to solve such problems. The method differs from classical optimization algorithms of convex programming in that it determines at each iteration the optimal value of at least one variable. Applications and computational results are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to derive a model of advertising effects on the firm's sales. A micromodel is postulated and aggregated across individuals and over time to produce a macromodel of the aggregate sales-advertising relationship for a single product. The micromodel postulated is very simple. It incorporates two factors: reach of the ads and rate of decay of their effectiveness over time. This approach to modeling advertising effects is shown to be fruitful in several respects: (1) the coefficients of the aggregate equation are easily interpretable—in terms of the reach and decay parameters; (2) the model derived is nonlinear yet estimable; (3) a special case of the model is very similar to lag models that have been in use; (4) the model can be used whatever the unit of time is; (5) the carryover effect of advertising (as commonly defined) is not constant, but depends upon the previous spending levels; and (6) the model helps illustrate that the duration of advertising may be greatly overstated if aggregate lagged dependent variable models are simplistically interpreted.

The susceptibility to social desirability response bias of four alternative methods of measuring the importance of job and organizational characteristics is examined. Data were collected from 86 graduate management students. Results support the hypothesis that the explicitly stated subjective weight methodologies are more likely to evoke a social desirability response bias than is the inferred objective weight method.

The social learning theory notion of vicarious learning through modeling can elucidate the phenomenon of behavioral change in organizations. Vicarious learning encompasses attentional, retention, motor reproduction, and motivational processes. If any of these processes is lacking or impaired, the learner is less likely to perform an observed behavior. Whether or not a model is attractive, competent, and successful contributes to the overall probability of that model's behavior being imitated by others. Managers need to use modeling effectively to enhance the achievement of organizational and personal goals. In particular, attention should be given to day-to-day modeling as well as to formal training to effect organizational behavior changes.

ABSTRACT This paper provides further evidence on the distributional impact of interest rate ceilings on the small saver. Cross‐section data from the 1977 Consumer Credit Survey was used to estimate the implicit losses imposed on different income classes by government regulations. Our findings generally support earlier studies which found the implicit burden to be regressive among income classes. However, the degree of regressivity showed a marked decrease since 1970. These results may be explained by portfolio adjustments of households and financial innovations in response to deposit rate ceilings and accelerating inflation during the 1970s.