Evolving electronic mail in a PTT

The convergence and expansion of products and services has critical implications for the strategic planning of PTTs, challenging traditional PTT monopoly supply arrangements. Viewing electronic mail as the keystone for office automation, John Morris provides an illustration of how, in the UK, the reshaping of British Telecom will enable the PTT to play an effective role in realizing the market potential of new information services.     

Three US electronic mail studies

In reports published recently by three individual groups charged with the task of studying its future prospects, the US Postal Service is warned that it faces increasing financial deficits and decreasing market acceptance of its services, particularly First Class Mail, unless it takes immediate steps to provide electronic services. The studies, conducted by the National Research Council, the Department of Commerce and the Commission on Postal Service, add more credibility to the viewpoint expressed in previous studies commissioned by the Postal Service that physical transfer of hard copy mail will soon give way to electronic information transfer or, as it is commonly known, ‘electronic mail’.     

Consumers and advertisers in the electronic marketplace: Implications for newspapers and other media

In the context of economic challenges faced by US daily newspapers, the author considers the potential of electronic information media. Despite the demand anticipations of system designers and operators, little is really known about consumer response to the media. Following an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the marketing ideology underlying the supposed demand for new home information services, it is stressed that the rate and degree of penetration, determined by what consumers and advertisers will be willing to pay, will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The author concludes that such media will gain slow and restrained acceptance in the light of social, economic and psychological constraints.     

Innovation strategies in the enzyme industry

Abstract The enzyme industry is characterised by a rapid rate of technological change and market dynamism. There are over 2000 different types of enzymes with patent cover and yet only a fraction of these have been successfully commercially exploited. What innovation strategies are used by UK suppliers? Could the success rate be improved? This paper reports the findings of a recent survey of UK enzyme suppliers to investigate their approaches to the management of innovation. The main thrust of the research considered the role of marketing and especially the role of customer involvement in the innovation process. A variety of approaches were found but essentially the customer has a fairly restricted part to play in innovation in this dynamic and technological market.     

Impact of deregulation on marketplace diversity in the USA

The current deregulatory mood sweeping Washington has changed the policy approach from one of government enforced diversity to one of marketplace-facilitated diversity. This is evidenced in the recent bills to revise the Communications Act of 1934, and the settlement of the AT&T antitrust suit. This article explores these public policy shifts as they relate to the information industries and suggests some impacts on the concept of diversity.     

Increasing the role of direct mail marketing in industrial marketing strategy

Direct marketing has long been a dominant factor in the distribution strategy of industrial goods and services. Yet frameworks for strategy formulation in this area are nearly nonexistent in the literature. Much that has been written focuses on successful techniques, such as how to use a specific type of sales letter to improve results. This article outlines a set of key perspectives that industrial marketers may use to evaluate the potential effectiveness of direct marketing strategies.     

Innovation strategies for successful product and process commercialization in Government R&D

This study examines the rate at which product and process innovations emerging from Government R&D have been commercialized by the Irish dairy industry. Success rates for both product and process commercialization, which are high by international standards, were found. The study identifies two criteria which appear to influence success and failure. Some product and process differences were found and the data suggest that a user dominated innovation strategy may be best for products, while a technology dominated strategy appears to be best for process innovations. Remarkably high rates for product success can be achieved in Government R&D provided industry activates the R&D. On the other hand R&D activation by research staff, without any industry involvement in the conduct of the R&D, appears to have a very poor chance of success. However, research staff can activate and achieve high success rates, particularly for process innovations, provided industry involvement in the R&D is secured.     

From the laboratory to the marketplace: Case history of an innovation

The author traces the sequence of events from basic discovery and conception of a new, revolutionary sweetener to its commercialization, and answers the question: Why did it take so long?     

Business and government interdependence in China: Cooperative goals to develop industries and the marketplace

Although government withdrawal from business has traditionally been considered a key reform in developing a market economy, the Chinese government remains active. This study uses the social psychological theory of cooperation and competition to analyze the interdependence between government and business. Structural equation results of interviews of specific incidents collected from 105 government officials and business people in Shanghai, China, support the model that cooperative, but not competitive or independent, goals induce open-minded discussions that in turn strengthen their relationships, accomplish tasks, foster confidence they will work productively in the future, and develop their industry and the marketplace.

A Swedish workplace of the future?: The Tomteboda mail centre

In 1983, the Swedish Post Office opened the most technically advanced mail centre in the world. Here the author describes how work is organised in this futuristically designed workplace.     

Changing dynamics of the overseas marketplace for TV programming: The rise of international co-production

This article examines the recent strategy adopted by the US television production industry in coping with the changing worldwide media environment. Developments in the USA include the commercial networks' declining audience share, the increasing penetration of cable TV, and spiralling production costs; abroad, the coming of age and increased sophistication of the televesion industry and the strengthening of programme import regulations are significant. Access to foreign markets is becoming critical to the financial equation of US producers and distributors of high-budget TV programmes. International co-production is the response to the new dynamics of world-wide television programming and a product of economic necessities.     

Product-market strategies in the minicomputer industry

The minicomputer industry has undergone rapid technological change over the last decade and is now characterized by high growth, the emergence of new markets, and intense competition. This article addresses the marketing strategies employed by large and small firms in the minicomputer industry and identifies trends and dimensions that are important for success in such a rapidly changing environment.     

Do source of mailing and monetary incentives matter in international industrial mail surveys?

To date there has been only a handful of studies on response rates of industrial mail surveys in the international setting. These studies have essentially dealt with either source of mailing effects or monetary incentives, and not a single study has dealt with both issues. Further, the results have been equivocal. In an attempt to resolve these equivocal findings, the authors report the results of a study wherein the impact of source of mailing effects and two types of monetary incentives on industrial mail survey response rates were investigated. Specifically, the hypotheses that a monetary incentive is better than a mailing effects incentive, a prize giveaway is better than a dollar incentive, and joint effects is better than only domestic mailing effects in enhancing response rates, were tested. Six hundred randomly selected Indian companies were systematically assigned to one of four groups, with a mailing size of 150 for each group. The four groups were the dollar incentive group, the prize giveaway group, the joint effects group, and a control group. The results indicate that the prize giveaway type of monetary incentive yielded a response rate of 25% that was significantly higher than the 7% of either the joint effects or the control group. Considering that prize giveaway had the least cost per response, it clearly appears superior to the other two tactics in enhancing response rates. More importantly, because joint effects fared no better than the control group in terms of response rates, it is difficult not to conclude that any attempt to sensitize respondents to a joint, domestic and foreign, affiliation in the context of research sponsorship would likely be a wasted effort.     

When e-mail becomes junk mail: The welfare implications of the advancement of communications technology

This paper examines the negative externality imposed by a direct marketing firm on the consumers who must spend time reading and processing the advertising they receive from that firm. A model is developed to show that with low communication costs, a firm would send out more unsolicited advertising messages than would be desired by consumers and a social welfaremaximizing planner. The optimal Pigovian tax to eliminate the problem of excessive message sending is then derived. The extent of the problem in a number of media, including direct mail, telemarketing, and the Internet, is briefly examined.     

绿色技术创新与传统意义技术创新辨析

传统意义的技术创新较少考虑环境质量提高和资源永续利用,创新本身可由供给驱动,创新主体间的技术竞争关系明显,技术所产生的环境问题由政府对生产服务组织采取“命令——控制”治污的方式来处理.绿色技术创新不能或缺环境保护内容,创新的产生有赖于市场生态需求的出现和强化,其创新主体间存在较强的技术共生关系,环境损害由政府、生产服务单位和消费者共同构成的环境管理组织来预防.     

Innovation communities: the role of networks of promotors in Open Innovation

Research on Open Innovation has increasingly emphasised the role of communities in creating, shaping and disseminating innovations. However, the comparability of many studies has been hampered by the lack of a precise definition of the community construct, and the research on Open Innovation has to date not been well connected to insights from research on the role of transformational leaders and the networking of champions and promotors across organisational boundaries. For this reason, this paper introduces a new construct of 'innovation communities' based on promotor theory, which it defines as 'networks of promotors'. It proposes a comprehensive concept of the quality of interaction in innovation communities, and presents findings of three case studies, which explore the role of promotors and networks of promotors in Open Innovation. The case studies reveal that such transformational leaders as promotors, and especially their close and informal co-operation across functional and organisational boundaries, play a key role in Open Innovation.     

Understanding the strategies of late-movers in International Manufacturing

This paper analyzes the internationalization of new multinationals from emerging countries. It also focuses on Production's role in firm internationalization, a subject seldom addressed because the discipline of International Manufacturing is still embryonic, while International Business tends to overlook production. The authors integrate International Business and International Manufacturing concepts and frameworks in order to analyze new multinationals from emerging countries, using the empirical evidence of a survey plus case studies of Brazilian multinationals for understanding late-movers’ strategies and competences, with emphasis on production.     

On the diffusion of electronic commerce

This paper analyzes retailers' adoption of e-commerce in a technology adoption race framework. An internet-based firm with no traditional market presence competes with an established traditional firm to adopt the e-commerce technology and sell to a growing number of consumers with on-line shopping capability. The focus of the analysis is on identifying how consumer loyalty, differences in firms' technology and consumers' preferences for the traditional versus the virtual market, and the expansion in market size made possible by the internet can affect the timing and sequence of adoption by firms, as well as the post-adoption evolution of prices. The model's implications are used to discuss empirical evidence on adoption patterns for different product categories and firm types.     

企业自主创新从管理创新开始

中共中央十六届五中全会通过了《中共中央关于制定国民经济和社会发展第十一个五年规划的建议》,着重提出了“必须提高自主创新能力”,并把它作为调整产业结构、转变经济增长方式的中心环节。各地区、各企业积极响应,纷纷提出自主创新的新目标,制定自主创新的新战略。这些现象是可喜的,但是其中也不乏盲目跟进、人云亦云、简单化、运动化的现象。其中对管理基础的支撑和管理创新作用缺乏认识和举措。自主创新是一个系统工程,技术创新、打造自我品牌是其最高目标,而如何实现这一目标则是一个管理工程,涉及方方面面,倘若其中一个环节出现问题,…     

Innovation in shipbuilding

Abstract . In certain products, such as aircraft or ships, innovation is not always easily recognizable. Major developments in components and systems can be overshadowed by the total product. Innovation is spread over many different items and timescales. The article describes an approach where innovatory activity in shipbuilding is planned and carried out by those involved in design production in several departments, rather than confined to a separate R&D department. The aims, organization, and procedures are described, including the process of project evaluation. The article concludes with a review of project success rate, and draws conclusions particularly about the key roles of marketing and individual performance.