To study the risks, and benefits, to companies or introducing new products to the market.
Abstract
Purpose
To study the risks, and benefits, to companies or introducing new products to the market.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the findings in context.
Findings
Ahn‐Sook Hwang describes Korean cosmetic company AmorePacific's integrated approach to innovative technology, marketing and management to win market share against domestic and global competition. Patrick Barwise and Seán Meehan say, as products and services become more and more alike, customers aren't looking for “something different”, but something which works well. Anurag Sharma and Nelson Lacey study the new product development process of the US pharmaceutical industry to determine whether or not a steady stream of new product innovations has a beneficial effect on firm performance.
Originality/value
Prompts organizations to ask themselves why they are introducing new products. Introduces the argument that striving to “be better” may be an alternative to a constant search for new products.
Details
Keywords
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Politicians – and company chiefs – who are too busy to do anything other than run the country or the company are in grave danger of losing touch with ordinary people. Ordinary people have it in their power to change governments at the ballot box – at least they do in democratic countries. And ordinary people have it in their power to change the products they buy. But sometimes one company, or government, is just as bad as another when it comes to knowing what is happening at grass‐roots level.
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.
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Keywords
Sarah Pearson and Patrick Barwise
The purpose of this paper is to understand the use of the personal video recorder (PVR) in the home and the impact on TV advertising exposure.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the use of the personal video recorder (PVR) in the home and the impact on TV advertising exposure.
Design/methodology/approach
A video ethnographic study of 22 participants in eight homes with PVRs.
Findings
Use of the PVR differed widely between and within homes but of the 22 individuals, 21 used the PVR – if at all, as a backup when there was nothing on that they wanted to watch live. Consequently, of 3,480 individual opportunities to see commercials during the study, Only 30 per cent were time‐shifted and 70 per cent viewed live. Even for the 30 per cent of commercials that were time‐shifted, there was variable but significant ad exposure. This paper suggests that in combination with other, complementary studies, the impact of PVRs on advertising exposure will be limited.
Research limitations/implications
Many respondents perceived themselves as using the PVR much more than they actually did and claimed to have zero exposure to commercials when they watched time‐shifted programmes. In line with previous research, this shows that claimed behaviour is not reliable and it is important to observe actual behaviour in the natural context in order to understand future use of technology. As with all qualitative research the main limitation of this study is the small sample size. In practice, however, the results were very consistent with comparable results from the two main quantitative sources BARB and the Sky + panel. What our methodology provides, which quantitative methods cannot, is breadth and richness of insight into actual consumer behaviour in a natural context. The two methods are consistent and complementary. Further research could be improved if it was longitudinal and focused on the motivations to use and value of use of PVR and other emerging technologies, e.g. video on demand, internet protocol television and mobile TV.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the necessity of observing actual behaviour in order to gain an accurate understanding of the impact of new technologies on behaviour.
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Keywords
Arvind Sahay, Jane Gould and Patrick Barwise
The research reported here takes a complementary approach to the direct user/consumer studies, by measuring experts’ perceptions of the likely impact of new interactive media…
Abstract
The research reported here takes a complementary approach to the direct user/consumer studies, by measuring experts’ perceptions of the likely impact of new interactive media (NIM) on different product markets. This has two benefits. First, it provides a different (and, arguably, better‐informed) perspective on consumers’ likely future response to NIM from the perspective obtained by direct consumer research. Second, the perceptions of these and other experts will strongly influence firms’ investment in NIM and their applications, which will in turn strongly influence the impact on consumers.
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Anita Elberse, Patrick Barwise and Kathy Hammond
In this chapter, we review research on the Internet's impact on ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ competition. First, focusing on horizontal competition, we examine theory and empirical…
Abstract
In this chapter, we review research on the Internet's impact on ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ competition. First, focusing on horizontal competition, we examine theory and empirical evidence on the extent to which the Internet increases market efficiency, as well as possible underlying explanations for the observed empirical patterns. Second, turning to vertical competition among market players within the value chain, we analyze the extent to which the Internet leads to ‘disintermediation'’ ‘reintermediation’, or other forms of value chain reconfiguration. We find little support for early predictions that the Internet will have a dramatic impact on horizontal and vertical competition.
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Learning from customers is a valuable route to timely innovation and competitiveness. But do company bosses always listen when their employees are telling them what the customers are saying? Or are they only prepared to listen to positive feedback?
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.
Details
Keywords
The financial analysis of international investment decisions is complex. The basic methodology which homes in on incremental cash flows needs to be refined in order to focus upon…
Abstract
The financial analysis of international investment decisions is complex. The basic methodology which homes in on incremental cash flows needs to be refined in order to focus upon cash flows which are remittable to the parent company, for it is only these that would logically add shareholder value. Build in the complications of two lots of tax and changing exchange rates and the equation looks anything but simple. But there is another complexity too which renders the traditional discounting methodology less than wholly appropriate. And this applies not just to international investment but to any situation where capital is committed with an option to expand or curtail embedded in it. This is not to say that the typical model cannot be adapted to meet the situation. It can and it is not too difficult.