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For decades, difference scores have been widely used in studies of congruence in organizational research. Although methodological problems with difference scores are well known, few viable alternatives have been proposed. One alternative involves the use of polynomial regression equations, which permit direct tests of the relationships difference scores are intended to represent. Unfortunately, coefficients from polynomial regression equations are often difficult to interpret. We used response surface methodology to develop an interpretive framework and illustrate it using data from a well-known person-environment study. Several important findings not reported in the original study emerged. For decades, difference scores have been widely used in both micro and macro organizational research. Typically, these scores have consisted of the algebraic, absolute, or squared difference between two component measures (e.g.,

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The authors report the results from a three-year study of new product development practices in Japanese firms. They develop a causal model of factors correlated with new product success. They test the model using data collected on 788 new products developed and commercialized by Japanese firms in the past four years. The “best practices” identified in this study suggest that Japanese new product success is positively influenced by the level of cross-functional integration and information sharing, the firm's marketing and technical resources and skills, the proficiency of the new product development activities undertaken, and the nature of market conditions. Cross-functional integration and product competitive advantage are two key determinants of new product success. The authors also discuss managerial and research implications.

Drawing on the marketing and management literatures, the authors identify strategic, tactical, and environmental factors that influence the commercial success of new products. They test the resulting conceptual model using data collected on 788 Japanese and 612 American new product development projects. The results provide insights into the antecedents and correlates of new product success and failure in both Japanese and U.S. firms, as well as into successful and unsuccessful management practices.

This paper explores channel coordination by a manufacturer that sells through competing retailers and that treats these retailers equally, as required by the Robinson-Patman Act. The authors show that, in general, there exists no single two-part tariff with a constant per-unit charge that will duplicate the behavioral results (i.e., prices, quantities, and channel profits) that are obtained by a vertically integrated system; that is, the channel cannot be coordinated except in the trivial cases of identical or noncompeting retailers. However, an appropriately specified quantity-discount schedule will enable the channel to earn the same profits generated by a vertically integrated system. Conditions are derived under which a manufacturer will prefer to offer various two-part tariffs with constant per-unit charges instead of the channel-coordinating quantity-discount schedule. The authors also establish the existence of a menu of two-part tariffs that mimics all results of a vertically integrated system. However, only under stringent conditions will retailers select the appropriate tariff from the menu. When these conditions are not satisfied, the channel is worse off than in the case of a single, second-best tariff. It is also demonstrated that under a wide range of parametric values the manufacturer will prefer to offer the second-best two-part tariff rather than a menu of two-part tariffs that could maximize channel profits.channels of distribution, pricing research, game theory

Operating in the upper echelons of highly competitive, global markets, numerous Japanese firms enjoy well‐deserved reputations for excellence in new product development. Despite this success, however, almost no research has been conducted to explore the keys to successful new product development in Japanese companies. For the most part, research in this area has focused on North American and European firms. X. Michael Song and Mark E. Parry address this gap with a study of 404 Japanese firms and 788 new product introductions. Their research explores the links between new product success and 10 factors: product advantage; marketing synergy; technological synergy; market potential; market competitiveness; market and technical understanding; senior management support; proficiency in the predevelopment planning process and in concept development and evaluation; proficiency in market research, market pretesting, and market launch; and technical proficiency. To avoid any cultural bias, development of the survey was preceded by in‐depth case studies and focus group interviews with Japanese and American new product development teams. Although time‐consuming and expensive, these preliminary steps were necessary for ensuring the validity of the survey contents and procedures. Notwithstanding the obvious cultural differences, the findings from this study suggest that Japanese new products professionals view the keys to success in much the same way as their North American counterparts. For the survey respondents, the most important success factor is product advantage. Other important success factors include predevelopment proficiency (that is, proficiency in the predevelopment planning process as well as in concept definition and evaluation) and marketing and technological synergy. Consistent with previous research on North American firms, market competitiveness was found to be the least important success factor. For managers who are trying to predict whether a project will result in a product advantage, several survey items may be useful as a checklist for assessing potential product advantage. In particular, these managers should consider whether the product offers potential for reducing consumer costs and expanding consumer capabilities, as well as the likelihood that the product offers improved quality, superior technical performance, and a superior benefit‐to‐cost ratio.

Research on network externalities has identified a number of product categories in which the market performance of an innovation (e.g., unit sales and revenues) is an increasing function of that innovation's installed base and the availability of complementary products. Innovation scholars have attributed these findings to the positive impact of network externality variables on consumer perceptions of innovation attributes. This paper provides the first empirical examination of these perceptual linkages by extending the Technology Acceptance Model to include consumer perceptions of network externality variables. The authors hypothesize that, when direct and indirect network externalities exist, consumer purchase intentions and consumer perceptions of an innovation's usefulness and ease of use will positively reflect perceptions of installed base size and the availability of complementary products. To test this reasoning, the authors developed new measures of consumer perceptions of network externality variables. These measures were incorporated into a survey that explored the attitudes in Japan of potential adopters toward digital music (DM) players at an early stage in the product life cycle. Findings reveal a direct positive relationship between ease of use and the perceived availability of digital music. The authors also find positive and significant relationships between both purchase intention and perceived usefulness and (1) the perceived size of the DM player installed base and (2) the perceived availability of digital music. An application of the Baron-Kenny test for mediating variables reveals that (1) ease of use partially mediates the relationship between the perceived availability of digital music and perceived usefulness and (2) perceived usefulness partially mediates the relationship between the perceived availability of digital music and purchase intention. The research has important implications for future research on new product adoption and for the management of innovations that involve network externalities. The conceptual model provides a framework for testing alternative explanations of observed variations in the impact of network externalities within and across product categories. The empirical analysis provides guidance for managers who wish to manage the impact of network externalities on adoption. In addition to stimulating the size of the installed base and the variety of complementary products, executives must also manage consumer awareness of network externality variables and consumer understanding of the relationship between those variables and innovation à Author names appear in reverse alphabetical order. All three authors contributed equally to this research.attributes. Finally, traditional adoption models link consumer adoption decisions to perceptions of innovation attributes. The findings provided here imply that predictive accuracy of these models can be improved by including consumer perceptions of network externality variables.