IESEG | IÉSEG Research | Travaux en cours

This section presents a summary of the current research programs at IESEG

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Economie Appliquée
Applied Economics

BAKHOUYA Bouchra
DOR Eric
DURRÉ Alain
KERSTENS Kristiaan
RICHARD Ingrid

Marketing

BIELEN Frédéric
CHUMPITAZ Ruben
DEMOULIN Nathalie
LE BOEDEC Aline
PAPAROIDAMIS Nicholas
SWAEN Valérie

Industrie et Service

EL ASRAOUI Hassan
MILLEQUANT Francois

Management

ANGOT Jacques
CARUGATI Andrea
KLEYMANN Birgit
MALLOCH Hedley
NEWLANDS David
ROUSSEL Caroline
SAEE John

Finance

ANÉ Thierry
CHEVAL Christophe
URECHE Loredana
WANG Peijie

Droit social
Labour law

TAQUET François

Economie appliquée - Applied Economics

Mlle Bouchra Bakouya

a) Microeconomics: theory and empirical analysis

Modelling the externalities in the production fuction
Mesure the effects of the public infrastructures on the strategic location of economic activities
Estimation of empirical models explaining the impact of public infrastucture on the costs of the production

b) Spatial economics ant location theory

Theoric approach examines the spatial effects of market structure on the production decision

c) Transport economics :theory and empirical analysis

Link between the transportation infrastructure and location choice
Modelling the impact of the transport costs on the location choice of firms

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Dr. Eric Dor

a) Monetary Macroeconomics: theory and empirical analysis

Modeling Central Bank decisions under uncertainty with departures from certainty equivalence
Modeling the interaction between monetary policy and financial asset prices
Empirical analysis of central bank decisions using ordered Probit and stochastic duration models
Specification and estimation of empirical models explaining the insurance cycle
Derivation of optimal monetary policy rules in a model with bankruptcy risk and related cycles

b) Labour Economics: theory and empirical analysis

Empirical assessment of the impact of labour market policies on unemployment

c) Determinants of aggregate price fluctuations

Empirical modeling of inflation dynamics

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Dr. Alain Durré

L'évaluation des anticipations du marché à travers les taux du marché monétaire: le cas Européen

Beaucoup de banques centrales, dont la Banque Centrale Européenne, utilisent les taux d'intérêt à la fois comme source d'information mais également comme outil opérationnel. Il est primordial pour les autorités monétaires de bien appréhender les anticipations des marchés financiers dont l'usage est généralement triple. D'une part, la connaissance de ces anticipations permet de détecter dans quelle mesure une décision de politique monétaire sera ou non anticipée. D'autre part, elle permet d'évaluer la communication de la banque centrale avec les marchés financiers ainsi que comme corollaire, de vérifier ex-post si les décisions prises étaient ou non prévisibles.

Cette recherche¹ se base sur la théorie des anticipations rationnelles de la structure par terme des taux d'intérêt. Cette théorie revient à dire que les taux d'intérêt à long terme sont une moyenne pondérée des taux d'intérêt à court terme anticipés. Ces taux courts anticipés sont alors estimés par les taux implicites. Toutefois, dans la mesure où il peut exister des primes de risque liées à l'aversion au risque des agents ou au risque de taux, les taux implicites n'indiquent pas exactement les anticipations du marché, ce qui nécessite l'estimation de ces primes.

En appliquant ce cadre théorique à des données européennes, l'objectif de cette recherche est double. D'une part, il s'agit de vérifier dans quelle mesure les anticipations du marché en Europe ont été affectées par l'introduction de l'euro en janvier 1999, en comparant les résultats obtenus pour la période du deutsche mark avec ceux obtenus pour un échantillon plus large (incluant les données de 1999 à 2001). D'autre part, il s'agit, dans la mesure du possible d'essayer d'estimer le niveau des primes de risque avant et après 1999.

Les résultats tendent à suggérer que la théorie est vérifiée dans sa forme faible (avec une prime de risque constante) sur les données allemandes alors que ce n'est plus le cas sur les données incluant également les données depuis 1999. Néanmoins, en testant l'existence d'un changement dans le niveau de la prime de risque, il apparaît que le précédant résultat soit attribuable à une diminution des primes de risque sur le marché monétaire après 1999. La perspective d'une politique monétaire unifiée et d'un plus large marché monétaire intégré ont probablement affecté les anticipations des agents les incitant à réduire leur prime de risque.

Estimating the financial markets expectations from the money market rates: An Application to the Euro Area

Many central banks, including the European Central Bank (ECB), rely on interest rates both as sources of information for assessing monetary policy and as operating instruments for conducting policy

It is crucial for policymakers to have a good idea of market expectations, the use of which can be threefold. Firstly, knowledge of such expectations helps the central banks to predict whether a particular policy decision is likely to surprise market participants, and what their short-term response is likely to be to a given decision. Secondly, measures of interest rate expectations can also be useful evaluating the central banks' communication with financial markets. And as a related matter, the understanding of the yield curve is also useful in measuring whether the monetary policy was predictable to market participants ex-post.

Analysis in this research¹ is focused on the expectations hypothesis (EH) theory of the yield curve. Following this theory, the spread between interest rates at different maturities, or the shape of the implied forward rates, reflects the path of future short-term rates. The existence of premiums, arising from interest rate risk and investor risk aversion, implies that derived forward rates will not in general indicate the exact expectations of future interest rates.

By implementing this theoretical framework on European dataset, the aim of this research is twofold. Firstly, testing to what extent the expectations of financial markets in Europe have been affected with the launch of the single currency in January 1999 by comparing the results with the empirical evidence during the German Mark period (up to 1998). Secondly, amounting the level of the liquidity premium when such a premium exists.

While it is possible to find support to the weak version of the EHTS (including a constant liquidity risk premium) for the German period, it is no more the case for most horizons in the sample with the Euro area observations. The test performed for a level shift in the intercept seems to indicate that the latter result could be explained by lower liquidity premia after 1999. The perspective of having a more consistent monetary policy for all the particpants to the Euro area and a larger integrated money market are probably the main explanations.

¹Durré, A., 2003. The EH Theory and the Money Market: An Application to the Euro Area. LABORES Working Paper (CNRS U.R.A. 362), 2003-03 and Durré, A., Evjen, S., Pilegaard, R., 2003. Estimating Risk Premia in Money Market Rates. ECB Working Paper, n°221.

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Dr. Kristiaan Kerstens

a) Productivity Indices and Indicators

Bennet profit function and Luenberger productivity indicators: Linking both indicators, their decompositions and observed and shadow prices.
Infeasible distance functions in primal productivity indices: Diagnosis and remedies.

b) Efficiency analysis: Methodology

Modeling congestion using non-convex technologies and value functions.
Static efficiency decompositions and capacity utilisation: Integrating technical and economic capacity notions

c) Efficiency analysis: Empirical applications

Short- and long-run credit constraints in French agriculture: A directional distance function framework using expenditure-constrained profit functions.
Industry capacity planning for a common pool resource: Applying the short-run Johansen industry model to Danish fisheries.
Productivity growth in public libraries: The role of deregulation and socio-economic variables
Mean-variance-skewness portfolio selection, performance gauging and duality.

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Dr. Ingrid Richard Bierla

a) Game theory

Modelling the interactions between players involving in ultimatum games, prisoner’s dilemma.
Introducing several motivations (fairness, envy) in the player’s utility function.

b) Experimental Economics

Testing individual motivations with the experimental method.
Including psychological tools to illustrate many attitudes.

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MARKETING

Dr. Frédéric Bielen

a) Services Marketing

To clarify the concept of services intangibility and to develop a new measurement scale of the intangibility of a service offering.
To explore links between dimensions of intangibility and consumer perceived risk.
To develop service quality models according to the needs of the specific context based on empirical studies.
To explore links between perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty of clients.
To identify relationships between social performance and market-orientation of organization.

b) Health Care Marketing

To develop different patients’ satisfaction-loyalty models according segmentation-fragmentation criteria.
To explore patients’ needs and motivations according to those criteria.
To compare ability of organizations to provide appreciated health services.
To analyse the influence of perceived waiting time on patient satisfaction.

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Dr. Ruben Chumpitaz

a) Effects of Perceived Retail Environment on Consumption Emotions, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions in Shopping Centers and Traditional Retailing (with L. Andreu, E. Bigné and V. Swaen)

The research objectives are three-fold:

testing a model of relationships between emotions, disconfirmation, attributions, satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the consumer shopping experience
to assess the influence of perceived attributes of retail environment on consumption emotions and subsequent relationships
to explore the differences according to the type of shopping environment (shopping center versus traditional retailing).

b) “Being A Socially Responsible Company”, What Does It Means for European Young Consumers? Analysis of the Impact of Perceived Environment, Culture and Values (with V. Swaen, L. Andreu and E. Bigné)

Companies have been put under increasing pressure to invest in their corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, little is known about what consumers consider as a socially (ir)responsible company. Consequently, the first objective of this research will be to study consumer’ perceptions about responsible activities of companies and the importance of CSR elements in consumers’ buying decisions. Furthermore, this research analyses the effect of the perceived macro-environment (economic, social, technological and political environment) on consumers’ CSR perceptions. Finally, a segmentation analysis will be carried out on the basis of socio-demographic variables, consumers’ values, social activities and culture. A theoretical framework is suggested for investigating these issues and a questionnaire has been developed for data collection in four European countries (Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain).

c) Relationships between quality and satisfaction in business-to-business; analyses in six European countries (with V. Swaen)

This research investigates the satisfaction of industrial buyers as well as the relationships between their perceptions of the product/service quality and their satisfaction. To attain this objective, a theoretical framework is firstly proposed to present the relevant concepts (perceived quality and a definition of industrial buyers’ satisfaction). Secondly, a model is developed and tested among industrial clients of a medical textile company and I.C.M.A. International has collected data in 1994, 1996 and 1998 in six countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden). Consequently, the authors had the opportunity to explore the differences in the relationships between quality and satisfaction over time and across countries. Finally, managerial implications and directions for future research conclude this paper.

d) Modelling Behavioural Intentions in a Business to Business Setting : Integrating service quality, relationship satisfaction, trust and commitment (with N. Paparoidamis)

It is widely agreed in the relationship marketing literature that the quality of the relationship between the parties involved is an important determinant of the permanence and intensity of this relationship and therefore of the success of relationship marketing practices. Although academics recognize the importance of relationship marketing practices (Berry, 1995; Goff et al., 1997) empirical evidence on the nature and extend of the impact of relationship marketing tactics on relationship quality outcomes is scarce (Gwinner et al., 1998).

With that in mind, the aim of this research is to establish the theoretical basis for evaluating the strategic increase in customers’ service/product quality perceptions, in terms of an increase in relationship quality and customer loyalty in a business-to-business environment, as well as to test this theoretical basis empirically. Firstly, we conceptualize service/product quality perceptions identifying the dimensions pertaining to the specific industry. Secondly, we conceptualize the relationship quality construct providing the theoretical framework consisting the heart of our research model. Thirdly we empirically test the formulated model in an effort to establish the impacts of service quality and relationship quality variables on customer loyalty in a business-to-business setting.

e) Service quality and Marketing Performance relationships in Business to Business. Exploring of Mediating effect of Client Satisfaction (with N. Paparoidamis)

The advent of Relationship Marketing and the increasing competition characterising the markets of the last 30 years, placed consumer satisfaction and related research constructs in the heart of the services literature. Particular attention has been given to the conceptualisation and measurement of the quality and satisfaction variables placing them both in the centre of modern marketing theory and practice as principal indicators of marketing performance.

Although numerous studies made an effort to clarify, conceptualise and measure these constructs in a business-to-consumer environment, in a business-to-business context this is rather rare, with very few studies trying to fill in this lacuna of clarity concerning the quality and satisfaction dimensions that influence industrial behaviour (Schellhase, Hardock and Ohlwein, 1999, 2000; Parasuraman, 1998). This paucity characterizing quality and satisfaction assessments in business-to-business markets creates the need for scholarly conceptual and empirical research in an effort to a) establish a pattern of dimensions formulating quality perceptions of industrial buyers b) define and clarify the industrial satisfaction concept c) establish theoretical and empirical links of those two constructs with industrial behavioural intentions and loyalty levels and d) identify an appropriate way of measuring the constructs involved.

On this basis the purpose of the present study is a) to develop a validated instrument of loyalty measurement using the key constructs of quality perceptions and industrial satisfaction, b) to create the theoretical basis upon which hypotheses can be formulated concerning the variables of perceived quality, industrial satisfaction and loyalty, c) to explore and identify a stable pattern of quality perceptions’ dimensions in an industrial context and d) to empirically test the underlined hypotheses. In this paper the survey’s methodology follows the literature review and hypotheses part. The results of the empirical study are presented and discussed. Finally, conclusions and limitations are presented together with some managerial implications.

f) Market Orientation and business performance : methodological issues and new empirical evidence (with Jean-Jacques Lambin)

In recent years, the concept of market orientation has received increased attention both from the business and the academic communities (see Shapiro 1988; Webster 1988 and 1994; Day 1990; Kholi and Jaworski 1990; Narver and Slater 1990; Ruekert 1992; Lambin, 1994 and 1996, Rivera 1995; Lado 1996; Gatignon and Xuereb 1997; Desphandé and Farley 1998; Han, Kim and Srivastava 1998). This revival of interest for the concept can be namely attributed to three geopolitical drivers. First, the wave of deregulation and of privatisation which, worlwide, liberates markets, dismantlies monopolies and is forcing former state-owned enterprises to dramatically change their business culture. Second, in Western Europe, the process of economic integration triggered by the creation of the European Single market, which induces firmes to redefine their strategic options in an enlarged and more competitive environment. Last but not least, the adoption of the market economy system by the former Communist bloc, incluiding countries like China and Vietnam which are trying to find an original road toward a state-led market economy. In this new context, it is important for the dynamic firm to have a good understanding of the managerial implications of the market orientation business philosophy and to have at its disposal reliable managerial instruments for both diagnosing the present state of a business and establishing the most appropiate course of action for its future development.

The objective of this research is to review three fundamental questions. (1) What does it mean for a firm to be market-oriented? Several substantially different definitions of market orientation construct appeared in the literature and too often market orientation is assimilated to marketing orientation (Shapiro 1988). (2) How can we measure the level of market orientation in a firm? Several measurement instruments have been proposed and tested in various countries and sectors but these tools raised yet unresolved methodological issues that should be addressed (Kholi, Jaworski and Kumar 1993; Söderlund 1993; van Bruggen and Smidts 1995; Liffliandchik 1997; Lado, Olivares and Camino 1996; Selnes, Jaworski and Kholi 1996). (3) Does stronger orientation lead to superior business performance? If the existence of positive correlation between market orientation and various indicators of performance is reported in several papers (Narver and Slater 1990; Ruekert 1992; Kholi, Jaworski and Kumar 1993; Pitt, Caruana and Berthon 1996; Lambin 1996; Rivera 1995; Lado 1996; Lambin and de Moreau 1997; Langerak and al. 1997), serious obstacles still exist for establishing the causal 'market orientation - business performance' relationship. Having discussed these three questions, we shall propose a new measurement instrument tested on several European markets.

g) Modelling behavioural intentions: the role of service quality, service recovery and overall encounter satisfaction. An empirical investigation (with N. Paparoidamis and J. Rivera)

Despite the fact that the relationship between consumer satisfaction and customer complaint is widely acknowledged (Bearden and Oliver 1985; Manning 1990; Liu et al. 2000), the majority of studies in the area focus on the way consumers respond to dissatisfaction with goods (Andreassen 2000), while very few studies examine empirically the antecedent effects of service recovery to consumer satisfaction and loyalty (Singh 1988, 1990; Singh and Widing 1991; Kelley and Davis 1994; Spreng et al. 1995). The importance of this gap, lies on the fact that service practitioners need to implement complaint management strategies capable of increasing consumer retention (Liu et al. 2000). From a managerial standpoint very few service providers have a clear service recovery strategy (Bitner et al. 1994) placing consumers on an uncertain state of mind in the service failure situation. On the other hand, there is lack among service providers of a tool measuring value delivered to consumers taking under consideration service failures and service recovery efforts (Reichheld 1996), resulting negative outcomes such as declining market share and more expensive defensive marketing programs (Fornell and Wernerfelt 1987). From this point of view service recovery can provide valuable information concerning service improvements resulting increased satisfaction levels (Boshoff 1997).

The purpose of this research is first to develop a validated instrument of consumer loyalty measurement using the key constructs of service quality, consumer satisfaction and service recovery. Second, to empirically test the position and effect of the service recovery construct in such a model. Third, to explore and identify a stable pattern of service quality dimensions in the airline industry. Finally, to provide evidence concerning the causality of the involved constructs. The present empirical study begins with an examination of the existing literature in the different domains of service quality, consumer satisfaction, loyalty and service recovery and the presentation of a conceptual model detailing the hypothesised relationships linking these variables. Next we present the survey’s methodology. The results of the empirical study are presented and discussed. Finally, conclusions and limitations together with managerial implications and future research avenues are provided.

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Dr. Nathalie Demoulin

a) The effect of data accessibility and knowledge on marketing managers decision-making and their performance (With F. Guerra and A. Bultez, Professors at the Catholic University of Mons, FUCAM, Belgique)

In environments characterized by an overabundance of data, marketing managers should focus on relevant data while making their decision. Otherwise, their performance suffers (Glazer et al. 1992). According to Drucker (1999), managers do not make efforts to determine their data requirement : they tend to count on computer scientists. Yet in the late 70’s, Ackoff (1967) suggested that to know what data they need decision-makers must have an adequate model of the decision at hand. We evaluate to what extent decision-makers are able to focus on more relevant data when they are provided with all data related to their decision. We firstly assess to what extent marketing managers are able to base their reasoning on relevant data only. Secondly, given that MMSS should filter data sets, we investigate the efficiency enhancement that may be derived from the reduction in data overload and redundancy. Thirdly, we evaluate the effect of theoretical insights (i.e., knowledge that are provided to decision-makers), on their data selection and performance as well as on their subjective evaluation of decisions and data sets used.

In this research, we supply decision-makers with knowledge to help them to concentrate on more relevant data with respect to their decision. Knowledge is presented by means of conceptual models defining the most relevant variables and the relationship existing between them. We also investigate whether reducing the amount of data by filtration, which purpose is to eliminate irrelevant data, increases not only the decision accuracy but also decision-makers' understanding of their decision. Recent studies (e.g., Shapira et al. 1999) on data filtering focus on the methodology that might help decision-makers to cope with large amounts of data. However, the methods, which are used in the latter studies, are not evaluated with respect to the quality of the final decisions but rather by comparing methods’ outcomes with the users’ evaluation of data. In order to improve not only the decision accuracy but also the efficiency, data redundancy must be eliminated. Consequently, we assess whether providing decision-makers with data, which are condensed, in addition to being filtered, to eliminate redundancy, decreases the decision-making time. Previous studies are ignoring both the simultaneous effect of reducing data overload and redundancy and how better quality data sets impact on the decision-making process.

b) Does Marketing Decision Support Systems (MDSS) openness improve managers’ understanding of market phenomena and their evaluation of decisions and the system used ? (With F. Guerra and A. Bultez, Professors at the Catholic University of Mons, FUCAM, Belgique)

Previous research shows that managers having the opportunity to use MDSS evince better performance but are not more confident in their decision. Our research aim is to evaluate whether increasing the openness of such MDSS may lead to not only improve decision-makers’ understanding of marketing phenomena derived from MDSS usage but also to better evaluate their decisions and the system used. More precisely, we study the effect of increasing the openness of decision support systems. We wonder whether decision-makers are willing to use tools that do not lead them to better evaluate their own decision making. We argue that decision-makers should not only be familiar with the interface of the MDSS but they should also understand the “hidden part of the iceberg” that is, the hypotheses underlying the decision model, the variables and relationships between them, and the data used to quantify these relationships. On the one hand, the purpose of increasing MDSS openness is not only to improve the performance but also to achieve a better understanding of the market by decision-makers. Managers may gain this understanding throughout the use of the decision aid but also by being aware of the MDSS working. On the other hand, given that managers are not very inclined to use decision models and that the use of the latter models does not increase their confidence towards their decision, we investigate whether open systems are better accepted than black-box systems. Few studies look into DSS characteristics. Nevertheless, researchers in the DSS field (Barr and Sharda 1997) believe that DSS specific parameters may influence the decision understanding that managers gain from using systems.

c) Assessment of decision-makers ability to solve marketing-related optimization problem (With F. Guerra and A. Bultez, Professors at the Catholic University of Mons, FUCAM, Belgique)

The research purpose is, on the one hand, to assess managers’ ability to solve marketing optimization problems when they are provided with information about the expected effect of alternatives but, without the help of highly sophisticated DSS. And on the other hand, we intend to determine the difficulties they face while synthesizing information. We namely hope to generate insights valuable to MDSS designers.

Indeed, we probe the decision-makers’ ability to solve a marketing-related optimization problem and identify the difficulties they encounter while processing it. Decision-makers facing optimization problems have, in addition to transforming data into information, to synthesize the latter. Unless DSS are highly sophisticated, they do not help decision-makers to answer to “what should happen” questions. Consequently, decision-makers may fail to achieve the most profitable decision even when provided with the adequate information. The difficulties mostly quoted in the literature are identification and weighting of relevant criteria, the generation of alternative solutions and the evaluation of these alternatives. To test managers’ ability to make fairly good decisions when they are provided with the information they need, we run a case study. We designed the SOVEDI case, a paper case in which the problem defined consists in maximizing the net profitability increase of a promotional plan carried out by a wholesaler, the SOVEDI firm. This decision situation inspired by a marketing problem repeatedly faced (yearly) by this company and is therefore a very realistic decision. We submitted the problem to undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students as well as to managers enrolled in executive programs attending classes in Applied Economics and Business Administration.

d) The moderating role of satisfaction with waiting time on the satisfaction-loyalty relationship ? (With F. Bielen, IESEG School of Management)

Delay is an important issue for service providers. Previous studies have widely shown the negative effect of the waiting time on customers’ satisfaction. However, making customers loyal is even more crucial than just satisfying them. Even if lots of authors find a strong link between customer satisfaction and loyalty, satisfaction is not the only determinant of customer loyalty. Other factors such as switching barriers and customer characteristics affect customer loyalty.

The purpose of this study is to look into the moderating effect of perceived waiting time and satisfaction with waiting time on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. Results show that the moderating effect of the satisfaction with waiting time is stronger than the effect of the perceived waiting time. We also investigate determinants of the satisfaction with waiting time and evaluate to what extent customers’ characteristics influence these determinants.

e) Programme de fidélisation de la clientèle : outil de marketing relationnel ? (avec P. Zidda, Chargé de cours aux Facultés Notre Dame de la Paix à Namur, FUNDP, Belgique)

Les programmes de fidélisation de la clientèle sont de plus en plus répandus et ce particulièrement dans le secteur de la grande distribution. Les entreprises engagent des sommes considérables dans ces programmes, et pourtant, leur efficacité est loin d'avoir été prouvée (Benavent et Crié 2000 ; Sharp et Sharp 1997). Soulignons cependant que jusqu’à présent, seuls des variables économiques ont été utilisées pour mesurer cette efficacité. Les recherches précédentes ont montré que les programmes de fidélisation ont peu d'incidence sur des variables telles que le chiffre d'affaires, la part de marché et le taux de marge (Benavent et Crié 2000 ; Sharp et Sharp 1997). Pour expliquer ce phénomène, peu de chercheurs se sont interrogés quant à la manière dont ces programmes sont perçus par les consommateurs. En effet, peu d'études ont évalué l'impact de ces programmes dans un cadre plus large c’est-à-dire en considérant des variables relatives à l’engagement du consommateur vis-à-vis de l’enseigne ainsi que son comportement d’achat. De plus, ces programmes ne sont évidemment pas les seuls déterminants de la fidélité au magasin voir à l’enseigne. D'autres variables telles que la qualité de service, la promotion, la politique de prix, la localisation, l'image et l'assortiment du point de vente (Dick et Basu 1994 ; Sirohi et al. 1998) pourraient également influencer la fidélité de la clientèle.

L’objet de ce projet de recherche est d’évaluer les programmes de fidélisation dans un cadre plus large en se penchant sur la perception qu’ont les consommateurs des programmes de fidélisation et en mesurant l’efficacité de ces programmes tout en considérant également d’autres outils de marketing relationnel. Dans cette recherche, nous positionnons les programmes de fidélisation par rapport aux stratégies suivies par les distributeurs. Les distributeurs pourront situer le format de leur programme de fidélisation par rapport à ceux de leurs concurrents et déterminer le format du programme de fidélité qui génère le plus de valeur aux yeux des consommateurs. Cette étude permettra de mettre en évidence les variables déterminant la fidélité au point de vente, les programmes de fidélisation mis en place n’étant pas les seuls éléments responsable de la fidélité des clients. Ceci permettra aux distributeurs de concentrer leurs efforts sur ces dernières. Nous profitons, notamment, de la mise en place d’un programme de fidélisation chez un distributeur Belge pour réaliser cette recherche.

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Mlle Aline Le Boedec

Research program not yet communicated

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Dr. Nicholas Paparoidamis

a) Service Quality, Service Recovery, Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty

Empirical assessment of the nature of these constructs as well as the production of models explaining their interdependence and causality.
Complaint Management
Complaint Behaviour

b) Sales Management

Sales Force Control Systems
Relationship Selling Strategies
Salesperson Outcome Performance/Sales organisation effectiveness
Organisational Citizenship Behaviours-Sales/Customer Oriented Selling
Adaptive Selling
Salespeople Orientation: Performance/Learning
Salespeople Relational Behaviours

c) Organisational Learning

Learning Orientation in the sales manager – salesperson dyad.
Absorptive Capacity
Knowledge Management

d) Leadership /Group Dynamics

Group Cohesion,
Leader-Member Exchanges (LMX)
Subordinate Commitment
Team Work
Job Satisfaction
Procedural Justice

e) Relationship Marketing

Trust
Commitment
Relationship Satisfaction
Relationship Quality
Dependence

f) Supply Chain Management

Purchasing Decision Criteria
Supply Source Selection Criteria
Organisational Effectiveness/Performance

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Dr. Valérie Swaen

a)“Being A Socially Responsible Company”, What Does It Means for European Young Consumers? Analysis of the Impact of Perceived Environment, Culture and Values (with L. Andreu, E. Bigné and R.Chumpitaz)

b) The Dangers of Using Corporate Social Activities in Communication Campaigns (with J. Vanhamme)

Many companies engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. However, recent research shows that communicating about ‘good’ social activities is not always beneficial to business whereas perceived socially irresponsible corporate activities are clearly detrimental. Moreover, companies that are doing the most in the area of CSR are also the ones that are frequently criticized the most. This highlights the importance for companies promoting themselves as socially responsible to carefully evaluate the global effect of this type of communication. A theoretical framework is suggested for investigating this specific issue and different experiments are in progress.

c) The Missing Link Between Corporate Citizenship and Relationship Marketing (with A. Lindgreen)

The idea behind the concept of corporate citizenship is that it is no longer enough for corporations to be concerned only with seeking a profit – they should also 'give something back to the society at large'.

Relationship marketing promises companies a tool to build economically profitable relationships, networks, and interactions with different, but equally important stakeholder markets.

We propose that good corporate citizenship is implemented through relationship marketing and we test this hypothesis by using questionnaires on relationship marketing (marketing exchange and managerial dimensions) and corporate citizenship (economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary aspects).

d) Effects of Perceived Retail Environment on Consumption Emotions, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions in Shopping Centers and Traditional Retailing (with L. Andreu, E. Bigné and R.Chumpitaz)

The research objectives are three-fold:

testing a model of relationships between emotions, disconfirmation, attributions, satisfaction and behavioral intentions in the consumer shopping experience
to assess the influence of perceived attributes of retail environment on consumption emotions and subsequent relationships
to explore the differences according to the type of shopping environment (shopping center versus traditional retailing)

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FINANCE

Dr. Thierry Ané

Non-Gaussian Modelling, Time Changes and Subordinated Processes.
Stochastic Volatility Models and Uncertain Volatility Framework.
The Dynamics of Energy Prices.
Multivariate Modelling, Copulas and Dependence Structures.
Markov Switching Models.

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Mr Christophe Cheval

Research program not yet communicated

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Dr. Loredana Ureche

Volatilité et flux d’information sur les marchés financiers

La volatilité des séries financières représente un paramètre central pour la plupart des décisions financières, telles que la valorisation et la couverture des actifs dérivés, la théorie du portefeuille ou la gestion du risque. De plus, l’apparition ces dernières années des bases de données à haute fréquence a renouvelé l’intérêt pour l’analyse, tant théorique qu’empirique, des relations existant entre le volume de transactions et la volatilité des cours et des rentabilités des actifs financiers. L’objectif direct ou indirect de toutes ces recherches est d’étudier la possibilité de prévoir la rentabilité des actifs.

S’inscrivant dans ce cadre d’analyse, le premier volet de cette recherche peut être structurée autour des points suivants : la modélisation de la volatilité, du processus d’arrivée d’information, les comportements des agents et leur impact sur la volatilité ainsi que la relation volatilité – volume de transactions.

Les faits stylisés caractérisant la volatilité et plus généralement les séries financières (tels que les queues épaisses, la mémoire longue, l’aggrégation dans le temps de périodes de forte volatilité - volatility clustering - , l’intermittence, etc.) font l’objet d’une vaste littérature (qui prouve le manque de consensus quant à la manière de définir et de modéliser la volatilité). Tout d’abord, la littérature financière propose un certain nombre de modèles de volatilité stochastique tandis que l’énorme littérature économétrique se focalise sur les modèles en temps discret de type ARCH, à variance conditionnelle hétéroscédastique. En même temps, les interactions entre les volatilités calculées à différentes échelles de temps, qui fournissent chacune des informations spécifiques, et l’étude du caractère intermittent de la volatilité représentent un nouveau domaine de recherche fort prometteur en finance de marché.

Par conséquent, une partie de cette recherche porte sur la manière de modéliser le processus de volatilité – et notamment en utilisant des spécifications de type composantes multiples, à court et à long terme – afin de capturer ces faits stylisés reportés empiriquement (tout particulièrement la mémoire longue ou la décroissance hyperbolique de la fonction d’autocorrélation de la volatilité et le comportement intermittent de la volatilité ou les mouvements brutaux observés dans les séries financières).

Une possibilité est offerte par la modélisation de type multifractal. Il s’agit d’un paradigme riche, car il assure en même temps la prise en compte de nombreux faits stylisés caractérisant la volatilité et la formalisation d’un certain nombre d’intuitions économiques concernant l’arrivée d’informations à différentes fréquences. Avec une cascade stochastique (multifractale), les chocs d’information à différentes échelles génèrent la volatilité par un processus hiérarchique entre les échelles de temps. De plus, il s’agit d’une modélisation nécessitant un nombre de paramètres assez réduit. Une première analyse de ce paradigme a été faite lors de recherches précédentes. Cependant, étant donnée la complexité du processus, la spécification appropriée à donner à cette cascade stochastique et surtout son estimation empirique - et donc son applicabilité pratique - restent des questions à explorer.

La modélisation de type changements de régime (Regime Switching ou RS) avec variance conditionnelle hétéroscédastique de type ARCH-GARCH représente une autre manière d’appréhender les nonlinéarités présentes dans la structure de la volatilité. Des travaux de recherche récents montrent qu’une spécification de type RS Asymmetric Power GARCH – qui permet, en plus du changement de régime, un réponse asymétrique de la variance conditionnelle aux chocs et l’obtention de manière endogène du paramètre de puissance dans les équations de hétéroscedasticité – semble capable de mettre en lumière les faits stylisés reportés plus haut (notamment la mémoire longue de la volatilité, et cela même à l’intérieur de chacun des deux régimes) mais également d’autres dynamiques intéressantes dans le comportement des rentabilités des indices boursiers. Cependant, plus d’analyse s’avère nécessaire surtout pour vérifier si ce même type de comportement se retrouve sur d’autres actifs financiers que les indices boursiers et pour proposer un modèle capable de capturer les dépendances à court terme sur un régime et celles à long terme sur l’autre régime.

Il convient de préciser que l’intérêt des nouvelles spécifications du processus de volatilité se dirige de plus en plus vers des modèles qui arrivent à générer une caractéristique de persistance dans la volatilité, tout en la reliant aux comportements des agents et aux arrivées d’informations sur le marché. Par conséquent, la microstructure des marchés mais aussi la finance comportementale – jusqu’à présent d’intérêt uniquement pour le monde académique et consistant à l’étude des causes qui motivent les agents à se comporter d’une façon ou d’une autre et des manières dont ils disposent pour profiter de leurs choix (apparemment illogiques) – commencent à faire leur place dans la pratique financière. L’apparition des fonds qui essaient d’exploiter la psychologie des investisseurs en est le témoin. Cela conduit à ce que l’analyse du processus de décision des investisseurs, de leur psychologie, de la manière dont ils reçoivent et interprètent l’information, dont ils interagissent ainsi que les influences de ces décisions sur la volatilité et le volume d’échanges soit incontournable dans ma recherche.

Deux pistes de recherche future semblent emerger de cette problématique. Premièrement, l’analyse de la stratégie (au niveau des comportements pris en compte), de la performance et de la persistance de la performance de ces nouveaux fonds « comportamentaux » (behavioral funds), dès que la quantité de données disponibles sera suffisante pour la réalisation d’une telle étude (n’oublions pas que ce type de fonds vient juste d’apparaître). Deuxièmement, en ce qui concernce la transmission et l’interprétation de l’information ainsi que les effects sur la volatilité, l’analyse des relations existantes entre les cours boursiers et la volatilité (spillover effects) des actions cotés sur plusieurs marchés (multiple listed stocks), et tout particulièrement, sur le marché boursier assez atypique de la Chine. Sur ce marché, les actions échangées appartiennent à deux catégories : actions uniquement négociées par les citoyens chinois et actions uniquement négociées par les investisseurs étrangers. Par conséquent, alors que les entreprises émettrices sont soumises aux mêmes conditions économiques et aux mêmes contraintes légales, les investisseurs opérant sur ces deux segments de marché sont différents. Sur un segment on retrouve quasi uniquement des investisseurs privés alors que qur l’autre segment, ouvert à l’international, les opérateurs sont représentés par des investisseurs institutionels, plus à même de se couvrir contre le risque que les investisseurs individuels. On a donc la possibilité assez unique d’examiner les effets de la transmission de l’information dans un marché segmenté par le type des investisseurs.

Enfin, l’étude de la relation volatilité – volume de transactions semble également proche des éléments discutés précédemment. La littérature financière nous dit que la volatilité et le volume sont liés parce qu’ils reflètent les divergences concernant la valeur d’un actif, en partant des différences d’information ou d’opinion. De la même manière que le volume des transactions, la volatilité exprime l’activité d’un marché financier et, assez naturellement, une corrélation positive semble exister entre ces deux variables. Une interprétation possible de ce résultat consiste à dire que le flux d’information est le processus sous-jacent qui « dirige » ces deux variables. Ce cadre théorique, est appelé Mixture-of-Distribution Hypothesis ou MDH. Un autre domaine de recherches récentes s’attache à l’étude systématique des dépendances à long terme de la volatilité et du volume de transactions par le biais de la propriété de mémoire longue de leurs transformés à différentes puissances. Les résultats obtenus montrent que même si ces deux variables partagent des éléments communs à court terme, leur comportement à long terme est totalement différent. Cela souligne la nécessité de développer le cadre, certes simple et intuitif de la MDH, et laisse la porte ouverte à la poursuite des recherches concernant la relation volatilité – volume.

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Dr. Peijie Wang

a) International finance and foreign exchange markets

Examination of spot-forward relationships
Foreign exchange market behavior
Exchange rate modeling

b) Real estate

Unsmoothing real estate indexes and evaluation of real estate performance
Cycles and common cycles in real estate and the economy

c) Econometrics

Topics on econometrics: modeling in the frequency domain and the state space

d) Financial markets and macroeconomic environments

Business cycles coherence, phases, and persistence
Trends, cycles, and growth in output

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MANAGEMENT

Mr. Jacques Angot

The research interests are focused on the way the action is produced in a intraorganizational perspective. Starting from the paradigmatical point of view which consider that an organization is the area of multiple rationalities, we try to understand how the concept of rationality may succeed in explaining the unexpected consequences of action. Moreover, our reflections will lead to the construction of a managerial tool called "map of rationalities", useful to manage the organisational change and to optimise participation of actors in decision making process. The research work conciliate an empirical work (two case studies about french companies) and a multidisciplinary approach of the concept of rationality and its instrumentation (philosophy, psychology, sociology, economy, organizational theory and dynamics, managerial experiences). The validity of this research lead us to collaborate and publish methodology papers and especially about questions of operationalization in management research.

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Dr. Andrea Carugati

Research program not yet communicated

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Dr. Birgit Kleymann

My main research interest is in the development of loosely coupled organisational systems, such as multilateral alliances, large heterogeneous organisations and social networks. Using at the moment primarily a combination of the resource dependence perspective and institutional theory, I try to understand the “autopoiesis” (self invention) of loosely coupled systems, in other words, how they are moving toward an open future which they themselves are “creating”.

My research is currently focusing on two organisational systems:

airline alliance groups, which represent formal networks of autonomous, but increasingly interdependent firms. I try to understand the factors that guide the evolution of these multilateral alliances as organisations in their own right, and deduct from there implications for corporate governance of airlines within such a group
the International Journeyman Project (IJP), an Anglo-French project aiming at establishing a learning alliance between UK technical apprentice training schemes and the French Compagnons de Devoir. One key interest here is on understanding formalisation processes of loose alliances, the role of social capital, and the internationalisation of highly institutionalised practices. This project is pursued in collaboration with Prof. Hedley Malloch and Prof Jacques Angot.

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Dr. Hedley Malloch

The research concerns the relevance of a French vocational and education system for engineering craftsmen to a UK firm of engineers. The theoretical problems are:

The relevance of a French high-skills model of craft training to the UK economy
The role of state institutions in promoting training across national boundaries.
The recruitment and selection issues involved.

The method is a case study which follows the fortunes of the first cohorts of UK youngsters recruited, selected and inducted into the French system. Durham University Business School in the UK are collaborating with the research.

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Dr. David Newlands

Professional Interests: An emphasis on wealth creation and non-value added waste reduction, change management, design of and for logistics, supply chains and logistics strategies and management, supplier development, what-if strategic analysis, fact based decision making, budgets for improvement initiatives, implementation methodologies. These tackle organisational learning and learning organisational issues
Subjects of interest Subjects of interest to me and for 5th year Memoire supervision include: Operations Strategy
Process choice, Process design, Plant Layout, Plant Location Decisions, Planning for Manufacture, make/buy decisions, Decision Making, case studies, Just in Time
Heijunka, Jidoka, Poke Yoke, New applications & Case Studies Total Quality - Philosophies and Techniques, New applications and case studies, Kaizen, QFD applications, case studies, Benchmarking
Organisational Learning and Learning Organisations, performance enhancement, case studies, Business process reengineering (BPR)
new process designs, process simplification, Kaikaku, case studies, Supply Chain Management
Performance metrics, Cost reduction, Flow, Supply Chain Development
Supplier Development, New Technology Aquisition, New Supply Chain Creation, case studies, Procurement / Strategic Purchasing
Strategy, Models, Best Practice, case studies, Transportation and Logistics
Infrastructure Analysis, Urban Area Sustainability, Crossing borders, hub design, information flows, routes, Design OF Logistics, case studies, Change Management
implementation methodologies, case studies, Project Management
People issues in new project implementations, Financial Justifications for Projects, case studies, New Product Development
Concurrent Engineering, Design FOR Logistics, PDM/EDM, Product Design Packages, case studies.

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Dr. Caroline Sargis Roussel

a) Knowledge Management

Studying the knowledge creation and diffusion process with empirical analysis in banking sector
Modelling the factors that influence knowledge creation and diffusion process
Empirical analysis with longitudinal case study and qualitative methodology

b) Outsourcing strategy