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Market Potential (market + potential)
Selected AbstractsEhealth: Market Potential and Business StrategiesJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 4 2001Pamela Whitten Due to the economic and social priorities afforded health services in the United States, research on new delivery modalities such as the Internet is gaining in popularity. Claims of the Internet's potential range from a promise to revolutionize the fundamental way health care is delivered to a tool for empowering patients through enhanced interaction with providers (Rice, 2001). Even though a great amount of attention has been given to e-health activity, the preponderance of publications to date has focused on the Internet as a source of health information. However important this form of e-health is, this type of service simply does not face the same constraints that must be addressed by those actually delivering health care services or tightly regulated pharmaceutical products. In this paper, we examine e-health by focusing explicitly on the delivery of health care products and services. Our examination of e-health activity is guided by two broad research questions. First, we ask what the potential is for the development of online health care services by examining its potential in major health care service and product sectors. Second, based upon case studies of two online health service firms, we seek to understand the emerging strategies of firms that are attempting to enter the health care market with an entirely online approach. Our examination of current e-health trends, as well as our two case studies, demonstrates the tremendous potential for health-related commercial activity on the Internet. However, our examination of the barriers facing ehealth from the US health system also pointed out the almost insurmountable challenges. We therefore conclude that a "click and mortar" model may perhaps be the optimal strategy for e-health. [source] Aluminium Foam Sandwich Panels: Manufacture, Metallurgy and ApplicationsADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS, Issue 9 2008J. Banhart Abstract Sandwich panels consisting of a highly porous aluminium foam core and aluminium alloy face sheets are manufactured by roll-bonding aluminium alloy sheets to a densified mixture of metal powders , usually Al-Si or Al-Si-Cu alloys with 6,8% Si and 3,10% Cu , and titanium hydride, and foaming the resulting three-layer structure by a thermal treatment. We review the various processing steps of aluminium foam sandwich (AFS) and the metallurgical processes during foaming, compare the process to alternative ways to manufacture AFS, e.g. by adhesive bonding, and give an overview of the available literature. Two ways to treat AFS after foaming are presented, namely forging and age-hardening. Some current and potential applications are described and the market potential of AFS is assessed. [source] Nordic Investments in the Former Soviet Baltic Frontier: A Survey of Firms and Selected Case StudiesGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2000Harley Johansen Nordic companies have been leaders in the rapid expansion of Western business into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the St Petersburg area of Russia. While joint ventures were being developed prior to the demise of the USSR, investment rose sharply in early 1992. Our survey of companies from Nordic countries revealed a pattern of location and of adaptation to the conditions of former Soviet infrastructure, culture, politics and economy. Initial Nordic investment has renewed economic ties across the Baltic Sea, with inter-country links stronger between specific countries. Frustrations with changing government rules, communications, work ethic, quality expectations and other conditions were expressed in interviews with managers of Nordic companies in the Baltic area. Optimism was tempered by continued uncertainty about Russian governmental policies and market potential. [source] MOISTURE SORPTION ISOTHERM, PROPERTIES OF SORBED WATER AND HEAT OF SORPTION OF SANDESH, AN INDIAN MILK PRODUCTJOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESSING AND PRESERVATION, Issue 1 2010J.K. SAHU ABSTRACT Moisture sorption isotherm of sandesh, one of the most popular milk products in India, was determined in terms of its moisture adsorption isotherms by gravimetrical method at 20 and 30C using various saturated salt solutions in the range of 11.2 to 97.2%. The isotherms obtained were of sigmoid shape and of the Brunauer,Emmett,Teller type. Out of three sorption models fitted to the experimental data, Caurie's model was found superior in interpreting the moisture adsorption characteristics of sandesh. The monolayer moisture content as calculated from the Caurie's model at 20 and 30C were 5.89% (dry basis [d.b.]) and 5.21% (d.b.), respectively. The values of isosteric heat of sorption as calculated from Clausius,Clapeyron equation was found to increase with decreasing moisture content at lower moisture content and approached the value of heat of vaporization of free water above 17.25% (d.b.). PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The present paper describes basically the storage stability of sandesh. The sandesh is a heat,acid coagulated product of milk in Indian subcontinent and forms the part and parcel of social life, ceremonies and festivals. It has an excellent market potential and higher profit margin compared with other milk products like table butter, cheese and milk powder. Although Indian dairy industry has made rapid strides in the last few decades, there is no proper packaging system, developed so far, for storage of sandesh. Keeping pace with the growing consumers' demand for fresh, convenient and microbiologically free foods, design of proper packaging system is the need of the hour. The data presented in the paper will be very much essential for the researchers and research and development institutions for proper designing of packaging system for sandesh. [source] Effects of E-Commerce on Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Case Study of Grocery Home Delivery in FinlandJOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Hanne Siikavirta Summary In this article, we present a literature review of the general and environmental effects of e-commerce in various parts of the demand-supply chain. These are further translated into effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the food production and consumption system. The literature study revealed many opportunities for e-commerce to reduce GHG emissions in the food production and consumption system. Some possibly negative effects were also identified. Electronic grocery shopping (e-grocery) home delivery service was chosen as the subject of a case study because of its direct and indirect potential for reducing the GHG emissions in the food production and consumption system. GHG emission reduction potential through the implementation of various e-grocery home delivery strategies was quantified. Depending on the home delivery model used, it is possible to reduce the GHG emissions generated by grocery shopping by 18% to 87% compared with the situation in which household members go to the store themselves. We estimate that the maximum theoretical potential of e-grocery home delivery service for reducing the GHG emissions of Finland is roughly 0.3% to 1.3%; however, the current and estimated future market potential is much smaller, because the estimated market share of e-grocery services is only 10% by 2005. Narrowing the gap between the theoretical and the actual potential requires a model that would simultaneously provide additional value to the consumer and be profitable to companies. To be able to achieve significant reductions in GHG emissions, system-level innovations and changes are required. Further research is needed before conclusions can be reached as to whether e-commerce and e-grocery are useful tools in that respect. [source] A journey of hope: lessons learned from studies on rare diseases and orphan drugsJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 1 2006M. WÄSTFELT Abstract. Rare diseases are frequently life-threatening or chronically debilitating and the impact on the quality of life of affected patients and their family members is thus significant. However, drug development for these conditions has been limited by a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease and the relative unavailability of subjects for clinical trials, as well as the prohibitive cost of investing in a novel pharmaceutical agent with poor market potential. Nevertheless, the introduction of Orphan Drug legislations has provided important incentives for the development of orphan drugs (i.e. drugs that have been abandoned or ,orphaned' by major drug companies). Moreover, recent studies on rare diseases, including inherited immunodeficiencies and metabolic disorders, have served not only to alleviate the plight of patients with rare diseases, but also yielded valuable information on biological processes of relevance for other, more common conditions. These lessons, along with the crucial importance of cooperation between academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, patient advocacy groups and society in the elucidation of rare diseases, are highlighted in the present review. [source] Implementing the lead user method in a high technology firm: A longitudinal study of intentions versus actionsTHE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2001Erik L. Olson The customer or user's role in the new product development process is limited or nonexistent in many high technology firms, despite evidence that suggests customers are frequently an excellent source for new product ideas with great market potential. This article examines the implementation of the Lead User method for gathering new product ideas from leading edge customers by an IT firm that had not previously done much customer research during their new product development efforts. This case study follows the decision-makers of the firm through the process, where the end result is the generation of a number of useful product concepts. Besides the ideas generated, management at the firm is also impressed with the way the method makes their new product development process more cross-functional and they plan to make it a part of their future new product development practices. Approximately one year later the firm is revisited to find out if the Lead User method has become a permanent part of their new product development process. The authors find, however, that the firm has abandoned research on the customer despite the fact that several of the lead-user derived product concepts had been successfully implemented. Management explanations for their return to a technology push process for developing new products include personnel turnover and lack of time. Using organizational learning theory to examine the case, the authors suggest that the nontechnology specific product concepts generated by the lead users were seen as ambiguous and hence overly simplistic and less valuable by the new product development personnel. The technical language spoken by the new product personnel also increased the inertia of old technology push development process by making it more prestigious and comfortable to plan new products with their technology suppliers. The fact that the firm was doing well throughout this process also decreased the pressure to change from their established new product development routine. The implications for these finding are that: 1) it is necessary to pressure or reward personnel in order to make permanent changes to established routines, and 2) researchers should be careful at taking managers at their word when asking them about their future intentions. [source] Innovative versus incremental new business services: Different keys for achieving successTHE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2001Ulrike de Brentani In companies where new product development plays an important strategic role, managers necessarily contend with a portfolio of projects that range from high technology, new-to-the-world, innovations to relatively simple improvements, adaptations, line extensions, or imitations of competitive offerings. Recent studies indicate that achieving successful outcomes for projects that differ radically in terms of innovativeness requires that firms adjust their NPD practices in line with the type of new product project they are developing. Based on a large-scale survey of managers knowledgeable about new product development in their firm, this study focuses on new business-to-business service projects in an attempt to gain insights about the influence of product innovativeness on the factors that are linked to new service success and failure. The research results indicate that there are a small number of "global" success factors which appear to govern the outcome of new service ventures, regardless of their degree of newness. These include: ensuring an excellent customer/need fit, involving expert front line personnel in creating the new service and in helping customers appreciate its distinctiveness and benefits, and implementing a formal and planned launch program for the new service offering. Several other factors, however, were found to play a more distinctive role in the outcome of new service ventures, depending on how really new or innovative the new service was. For low innovativeness new business services, the results suggest that managers can enhance performance by: leveraging the firm's unique competencies, experiences and reputation through the introduction of new services that have a strong corporate fit; installing a formal "stage-gate" new service development system, particularly at the front-end and during the design stage of the development process; and ensuring that efforts to differentiate services from competitive or past offerings do not lead to high cost or unnecessarily complex service offerings. For new-to-the-world business services, the primary distinguishing feature impacting performance is the corporate culture of the firm: one that encourages entrepreneurship and creativity, and that actively involves senior managers in the role of visionary and mentor for new service development. In addition, good market potential and marketing tactics that offset the intangibility of "really new" service concepts appear to have a positive performance effect. [source] PHA bioplastic: A value-added coproduct for biomass biorefineriesBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 4 2009Kristi D. Snell Abstract The petroleum industry has optimized profits by producing value-added coproducts, such as plastics and chemicals, in addition to primary liquid fuels. A similar coproduct strategy applied to biorefineries processing cellulosic biomass to liquid fuels and/or energy would transform a technology that is marginally economic, depending on oil prices, to a sustainable business with enhanced revenue streams from multiple coproducts. The challenge is finding a biobased coproduct that is compatible with a biorefinery scenario and where markets warrant its production on a similar scale as liquid fuels and/or energy. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics represent a coproduct that would be entirely compatible with either production of liquid fuels by hydrolyzing the residual biomass after PHA extraction or by alternative thermochemical processes. PHA bioplastics possess properties making them suitable replacements for many of the applications currently served by petroleum-based plastics, thus providing tremendous market potential. Proof-of-concept technology for production of these plastics in several crops of agronomic interest has been demonstrated. In this review, we show that the potential for developing biomass-based biorefineries producing liquid fuels and a value-added coproduct is both real and realizable. Examples using switchgrass producing PHA bioplastics as a coproduct are described. © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Engineering an Anti-Graffiti System: A Study in Industrial Product DesignCHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 8 2004A.J. Hutchinson Abstract The objective of this work was to develop products for the anti-graffiti market using a product design framework that takes into account the company core practices and meets customer expectations. Product development comprised several concurrent steps including market research and analysis to determine the market potential using a Quality Functional Deployment tool. From market research it was estimated that anti-graffiti products had significant potential within Australia. A range of technical and quality parameters were tested. The Hildebrand and Hansen solubility parameters, viscosity and diffusivity estimates were mainly used for technical evaluation of products. An iterative process was used throughout in conjunction with parameter restraints to meet environmental sustainability, waste reduction and minimize resource consumption. The result was a cost effective product, tailored to customer expectations. [source] Labor Mobility within China: Border Effects on Interregional Wage DifferentialsCHINA AND WORLD ECONOMY, Issue 2 2010Cheng Li O53; R12; R23 Abstract Labor migration is institutionally restricted within China under the hukou system, China's registration system. However, what is the pecuniary impact of labor immobility on interregional wage inequality? To answer this question, we derive a simple wage gap equation including educational attainment, market potential and provincial border indicators. The regressions based on city and sector-level data show that, other things being equal, the wage dispersions within Chinese provincial borders are significantly less pronounced than those among provinces. Such border effects on spatial wage differentials, which have been shown to pervasively exist in all sectors considered in the present paper, reflect the distortions generated by migration controls. Finally, we show that despite the recent hukou reforms aimed at relaxing the restrictions on population movement, border effects appear to persisted over the period 2003,2005. [source] | ||||||||||||||||