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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2008.03.006 Byline: Charles R. Taylor (a), Kyung Hoon Kim (b), Eunju Ko (c), Myung Hwan Park (d), Dong Ryul Kim (e), Hak Il Moon (f) Keywords: International marketing; Market orientation; Salesforce management; Marketing in Asia Abstract: Display Omitted This study examines the impact of sales engineers having a market orientation on level of relationship commitment and, in turn, business performance. A model is proposed that suggests a positive relationship among these constructs. To test the model, a survey of sales engineers in the industrial robotics industry in Korea was conducted. Consistent with our predictions, our findings support the idea that having sales staff who have a market orientation leads to higher commitment to relationships and drives improved business performance. Implications are discussed. Author Affiliation: (a) Villanova University, Villanova School of Business, Department of Marketing 800 E. Lancaster Ave. Villanova, PA 19085-1678, United States (b) Changwon National University, Dept. of Business Administration, College of Business Administration 9 Sarimdong, Changwon, Republic of Korea (c) Yonsei University, Department of Clothing and Textiles, College of Human Ecology 134 Sinchon-Dong, Seodaemun-Gu Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea (d) Changwon, Gyeongnam Republic of Korea (e) Korean Economy and Management Development Institute Changwon, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea (f) LG Electronics, 1151 Pointclear Place, #1522, Huntsville, AL 35824, United States Article History: Received 28 August 2006; Revised 30 April 2007; Accepted 28 March 2008

We consider operational optimization problems for a multi-head surface mounting placement tool with dual-gantry robots. We discuss operational decisions and their interrelationships. We focus on the component allocation and feeder arrangement decisions, which are most essential for cycle time optimization. We propose a way of decomposing and structuring the operational decision problems. We propose a genetic algorithm of optimizing the two decisions simultaneously. The two decisions are optimized by maximizing the number of simultaneously picked up components for each access of a multi-head module, or equivalently minimizing the number of pickups, and balancing the workload between the two gantries. We propose a gene encoding method that incorporates interference between the feeders of different widths. In order to evaluate the workload at each gantry for the fitness function, we propose a greedy heuristic for the work cycle formation and pickup sequencing decisions. Computational performance is examined using real industrial data. Keywords: Dual-gantry; Multi-head; Component allocation; Feeder arrangement; Genetic algorithm

The cross-national market segment for the fashion industry in Europe, South Korea and United States and its response to advertising is examined. Identification of lifestyle segments that cut across cultures is identified using cluster analysis. Fashion lifestyle segment has been found affect consumer reaction to a set ads for a major global fashion company.