Suchergebnisse

Purpose
This study aims to improve understanding of companies' motives and concerns in relation to cooperation through a joint commercial product portfolio.


Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research method was used to study 17 companies based on two case projects.


Findings
The joint commercial product portfolio is introduced as a new type of co-marketing. The possible business drivers, targeted benefits and perceived challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to cooperation through a joint commercial product portfolio are identified. The companies seem to be motivated by and concerned about similar issues that also apply to other forms of co-marketing.


Research limitations/implications
The study consisted of two case projects in the same country and, thus, share fairly similar business environments and cultures. Therefore, the same results may not be obtained for a study that is conducted in a different location.


Practical implications
Managers of SMEs can benefit from the results of this study by improving their understanding of co-marketing opportunities through the creation of a joint commercial product portfolio with suitable companies. In addition, the results provide managers with insights into the challenges that should be considered when planning marketing cooperation.


Originality/value
The study provides new perspectives on the existing co-marketing literature by discussing the creation of a joint commercial product portfolio as a vehicle to support companies' business objectives. The study contributes to the increasing business-to-business co-marketing literature by presenting the business drivers, targeted benefits and perceived challenges related to SMEs cooperation through a joint commercial product portfolio.

PurposeThe ownership of waterworks is topical in many countries and especially developed countries seem to speak for public ownership instead of private ownership. This paper attempts to provide a new view of the debate between public and private ownership by presenting three public governance models and comparing them in the light of waterworks performance.Design/methodology/approachThe research is qualitative in nature and presents SWOT analyses of three different public governance models used in the Finnish water sector. Empirical evidence was collected mainly through interviewing Finnish waterworks managers.FindingsThe results indicate that there are clear differences between the autonomy and transparency of the most common public governance models. Reforming waterworks organised as municipal units into municipal‐owned enterprises and municipal‐owned companies is considered a good option compared to, for example, privatisation or outsourcing.Practical implicationsAccording to this study, restructuring appears to increase business orientation, improve accuracy in bookkeeping and, in some cases, increase transparency. The selection of the right governance model also provides opportunities for institutional investors.Originality/valueWhile previous research has concentrated on comparing public and private ownership, this paper presents and discusses three public governance models and what kind of opportunities they present to public service provision.

Purpose
This study aims to focus on creating sales capability as part of new product development (NPD). The aim is to define generic requirements for building sales capability as a part of NPD and to propose a necessary process by defining key activities for sales readiness.


Design/methodology/approach
An inductive and qualitative research method was used to construct a sales capability creation process based on a current state analysis in seven companies.


Findings
The results indicate that the status of companies' sales-related planning varies during the NPD, and the related activities are not systematically managed. Considering sales early is necessary to enable a smooth and cost-efficient start of sales, and to avoid unnecessary delays and problems in other functions. At the same time, the companies recognise the need for improvement.


Originality/value
This paper presents a potential process including systematic activities for creating sales capability in conjunction with product development, which is novel to the literature. The proposed process is applicable in aligning industrial company needs.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse current challenges and to articulate the preconditions for data-driven, fact-based product portfolio management (PPM) based on commercial and technical product structures, critical business processes, corporate business IT and company data assets. Here, data assets were classified from a PPM perspective in terms of (product/customer/supplier) master data, transaction data and Internet of Things data. The study also addresses the supporting role of corporate-level data governance.


Design/methodology/approach
The study combines a literature review and qualitative analysis of empirical data collected from eight international companies of varying size.


Findings
Companies' current inability to analyse products effectively based on existing data is surprising. The present findings identify a number of preconditions for data-driven, fact-based PPM, including mutual understanding of company products (to establish a consistent commercial and technical product structure), product classification as strategic, supportive or non-strategic (to link commercial and technical product structures with product strategy) and a holistic, corporate-level data model for adjusting the company's business IT (to support product portfolio visualisation).


Practical implications
The findings provide a logical and empirical basis for fact-based, product-level analysis of product profitability and analysis of the product portfolio over the product life cycle, supporting a data-driven approach to the optimisation of commercial and technical product structure, business IT systems and company product strategy. As a virtual representation of reality, the company data model facilitates product visualisation. The findings are of great practical value, as they demonstrate the significance of corporate-level data assets, data governance and business-critical data for managing a company's products and portfolio.


Originality/value
The study contributes to the existing literature by specifying the preconditions for data-driven, fact-based PPM as a basis for product-level analysis and decision making, emphasising the role of company data assets and clarifying the links between business processes, information systems and data assets for PPM.

Abstract New legislation and emissions trading increase pressures for the industry to find new environmentally sound solutions. This research analyses the utilisation of carbon monoxide (CO), formed in steel mills from the emissions reduction viewpoint. The research studies possibilities of combining steel and chemical productions from economic and environmental perspectives. The analysis includes considering emissions costs and electricity price, when CO is converted into chemical products. The results prove the economic profitability of a steel mill selling CO gas to a chemical producer instead of using it for energy production, while CO₂ emissions are simultaneously reduced.

Abstract Environmental awareness has been raised globally, and as a consequence, sustainability is increasingly under focus. Due to increased demand from end-users and tightened legislation, companies must seriously take sustainability into account. Typically, sustainability is attempted to address only after product realisation. However, best sustainability results can be obtained through earlier consideration, guiding relevant requirements directly to product development (PD). This paper analyses how a significant ICT company combines sustainability and PD with design for excellence practices. The results include a description of practical realisation of design for sustainability together with its main challenges.

Abstract This article discusses the market potential estimation results at different stages of second-generation oxy-fuel technology for carbon capture and storage, where oxygen content is increased in order to increase efficiency and product life cycle. The article highlights the challenges to commercializing an energy technology with long development lead times. Challenges related to external market environment, regulations and market price for carbon dioxide (CO₂) also need to be resolved. The study is based on a second-generation oxy-CFB technology evaluation, SWOT analysis and product life-cycle estimation. The commercialization of second-generation oxy-fuel technology, estimated as a basis of oxy-CFB technology, is largely found to be dependent on technical, sociological and economical aspects related to the energy market environment. The CO₂ price in European Union (EU) emissions trading is currently below 10 €/ton, which does not favour investment in CCS. CO₂ storage also faces public opposition and EU directive limitations. The CO₂ price needs to be in the range of 30 €/ton by 2030, the estimated time of commercialization. Technological development or subsidies would also be required for the second-generation oxy-CFB power production concept to become viable. This is one of the critical factors in market deployment as the price development is influenced by several external factors, including the EU's environmental policy, politics and public acceptance.

This paper examines differences in life satisfaction among children in different family structures in 36 western, industrialised countries (n = 184 496). Children living with both biological parents reported higher levels of life satisfaction than children living with a single parent or parent–step‐parent. Children in joint physical custody reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction than their counterparts in other types of non‐intact families. Controlling perceived family affluence, the difference between joint physical custody families and single mother or mother–stepfather families became non‐significant. Difficulties in communicating with parents were strongly associated with less life satisfaction but did not mediate the relation between family structure and life satisfaction. Children in the Nordic countries characterised by strong welfare systems reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction in all living arrangements except in single father households. Differences in economic inequality between countries moderated the association between certain family structures, perceived family affluence and life satisfaction.

Abstract Geomembranes are used worldwide as basin liners in tailings ponds to decrease the permeability of the foundation and prevent further transportation of harmful contaminants and contaminated water. However, leakage into the environment and damage to the geomembrane have been reported. This paper reviews available literature and recommendations on geomembrane structures for use as a basal liner in tailings ponds, and presents a framework to achieve early involvement and an integrated approach to geomembrane structure design. Cohesive planning guidelines or legislative directions for such structures are currently lacking in many countries, which often means that the structure guidelines for groundwater protection or landfill are applied when designing tailings storage facilities (TSF). Basin structure is generally unique to each mine but, based on the literature, in the majority of cases the structure has a single-composite liner. The type of liner system used depends mainly on the material to be used on top of the structure, local hydraulic pressure gradient, and climate conditions. More practical information and scientific knowledge on the use of base liners in various cases are needed. A sustainable approach could be risk-based design, where the life cycle of the basin is taken into consideration. To this end, this paper proposes geomembrane-lined tailings pond to be assessed as a stakeholder. Emphasis on this, early enough, can ensure critical factors for tailings ponds to be considered from the outset in the design of mines and reduces the environmental footprint of the mining industry. More holistic project management and early involvement and integration are recommended to improve construction quality during the entire life cycle of the pond. In the long term, use of dry stacking or other alternative methods should be encouraged, despite the higher costs for operators.

Neuro-Oncology Vol.12 Nr.Suppl. 3, iii34 ; Malignant gliomas are the most common type of primary brain tumors affecting 16,000 new patients every year in the United States. In this study, we undertook a systematic large-scale transcriptomics data mining study of 9,783 Affymetrix samples from the Genesapiens database (www.genesapiens.org) in order to identify the most glioma-specific biomarkers. We searched for genes that were highly expressed in 322 Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) samples and in 66 anaplastic astrocytomas as compared to 425 samples of the normal central nervous system as well as all other normal and cancerous tissues in the database. Transcription cofactor HES6 (Hairy and enhancer of split 6) emerged as one of the most glioma-specific genes. Since the role of HES6 in glioma pathogenesis is poorly understood, we chose to validate its expression by immunostaining and functional role by siRNA knockdown studies in glioma cell lines. HES6 protein levels were studied in a glioma tissue microarray material that consisted of 414 samples as well as in normal brain tissue controls. Positive HES6 immunoreactivity was present in 99 % of available gliomas. Recurrent tumors of grade 2 astrocytomas and grade 2-3 oligodenrogliomas showed higher levels of HES6 immunoreactivity than the corresponding primary tumors. Endothelial cells within the tumors were also stained in 75 % of gliomas. In functional studies, cell viability was reduced by 60 % and Caspase 3/7 activity elevated after HES6 silencing by RNA interference in A172 and LN405 cells. HES6 silencing also increased apoptosis 2 fold in two cell lines as measured by Apo-ONE Homogeneous Caspase-3/7 Assay. The biological role and consequences of HES6 silencing was explored with genome-wide analyses following RNAi, which indicated a key role for HES6 in e.g. p53, c-myc, and CREB1 transcriptional networks. Gene ontology analysis implicated genes involved in cellular movement, development and RNA post-transcriptional modification. HES6 protein was localized to the PML-bodies by immunostaining and co-localized with the creb binding protein (CBP). In conclusion, these results pinpointed HES6 as a potential therapeutic target playing a critical role in sustaining glioma cell growth, survival and possibly invasion. HES6 may also be a useful biomarker for gliomas. This work was supported by funding under the 6th FP of the European Union, Project RIGHT (LSHB-CT-2004-005276), and the Academy of Finland. ; 9th Meeting of The European Association of NeuroOncology. Maastricht, The Netherlands, 16 - 19 Sept. 2010