Consider autonomous agents endowed with two goods and the capability ofproducing each. Regularly each agent can produce one (only) of the goods or trade with other agents. Each good yields utility according to a utility function. This paper studies how utility-maximizing agents optimize in these...

Describes how focusing on total product quality (TPQ) can provide a new form of competitive differentiation, bearing in mind the move towards product parity. Considers that the role of marketing is vitally important in building TPQ, as a good quality product can be so easily let down by poor...