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Insights
A new power shift is occurring in the health-care marketplace as growing numbers of consumers go online in search of health information. Factors that have contributed to more proactive and highly motivated health consumers include dissatisfaction with the market's delivery of health care, self-empowerment through the Internet, and a growing health awareness with the gradual aging of the Baby-Boomer population in developed countries. Companies are now preparing for the next step: getting people to act on their health needs. One can characterize the variety of Internet health services that have emerged to date according to content, connectivity, and commerce. Health portals are examples of health-information sites that provide a variety of information resources, connectivity provides users with more customized functionality and interaction, and commerce is based on transactions-based products such as online drug prescriptions. As technology evolves, even greater value-added Internet applications, such as sophisticated chronic-disease-management tools, may emerge. Companies will look to exploit such developments to expand into disease-, and even lifestyle-, management markets. This study reviews the current status of online health care in the United States and examines some of the leading application areas that are likely to emerge, as well as developments in Internet commerce that deserve monitoring for their potential impact on online health care. Although the transition to an online world will not be easy or cheap, consolidation of online services, particularly as technology evolves and the market matures, could result in a truly integrated delivery system characterized by higher quality, greater access, and lower cost. Author: Andrew Broderick. 16 pages. Index Keywords: Health Care; Insurance Industry; Internet.
Investment frenzy and high stock-market valuations in the high-tech industry are boosting the need for venture capital to fuel exciting new opportunities. Under pressure to shrink new products' time to market, deals are closing faster, the size of deals is mushrooming, and many new players are seeking to capture a share of the pie in time for the payoff of initial public offerings. Among these players are corporations that opt to deploy investment capital in service of their strategic objectives. A growing number of companies are establishing internal venture-capital units, supporting business incubators, or establishing separate venture arms to explore synergistic opportunities outside their core businesses. From a start-up's perspective, dealing with corporate venture capitalists is easier than dealing with regular venture capitalists, whose main concern is return on investment. Corporate venture capitalists can afford to take a longer-term perspective and may accept a lower financial return if a start-up brings other strategic benefits. In addition, a change is under way in companies' approach to their investments. As investment amounts grow, investors' desire to control start-ups grows as well. As a result, corporate venture capitalists are taking a more hands-on approach to the start-ups in which they invest. Author: Greger V. Teigre. 15 pages. Index Keywords: Finance; Innovation; Joint Ventures; Mergers and Acquisitions; Product Development; Strategic Alliances.
Online banking has been available for more than a decade. Full Internet access to a customer's entire range of financial accounts is now readily available. Yet the interest in online banking has not quite caught on with personal computer (PC) users in the same way that other Internet activities have. In the early days of the Internet, many analysts thought that online banking would explode. But news, information, entertainment, and retail sites continue to dominate the top Web rankings in terms of unique visitors. The rate of growth in online banking already appears to be slowing down. This study, based on consumer surveys by SRI's Consumer Financial Decisions program, compares the demographic and attitudinal profiles of current PC-banking users with those of potential users. This differentiation provides a critical starting point for online financial marketers in developing or revising marketing strategies and product features to meet the needs of the next wave of online banking customers. For the first wave of users, the convenience and accessibility of financial information outweigh the need for personalized contact and service from financial personnel. The learning curve needs to be short and the process simple and straightforward, such that after one visit the user can be an "expert." Without a proactive strategy to make online banking service more user-friendly, potential users will not likely ever become actual PC-banking users. Author: Maria Lourdes Woodward. 16 pages. Index Keywords: Electronic Commerce; Financial Services; Internet.
In early 1999, the future looked bright for the satellite industry. Two new satellite arrays would soon offer commercial mobile personal communications, and analysts were bullishly predicting that the market for mobile satellite services (MSS) would exceed 32 million subscribers. However, the hype and enthusiasm quickly evaporated by the end of the year, when two major consortia, Iridium and ICO Global Communications, had to file for bankruptcy. The culprits in these fiascos were players' overselling of the market, high costs, poor handset ergonomics, and unsatisfactory performance by the first service provider, Iridium. In turn, competition from terrestrial cellular-service providers proved to be stronger than the MSS industry anticipated. Despite this gloomy situation, the MSS industry in 2000 is attempting to rebuild itself on a more realistic foundation. Globalstar began offering mobile and fixed voice, paging, data-transmission, and fax services in January 2000. All eyes will be on Globalstar to see whether a market really exists for MSS offerings. Most analysts believe that terrestrial providers will not be able to fulfill demand completely for mobile services; some suggest that MSS might attract 4 percent of new wireless users after 2002. A key question is whether a market this size justifies the billions of dollars the industry continues to spend, to bring its services online. Author: David Benson. 12 pages. Index Keywords: Communications; Global Operations; Mobile Communications; Technology Trends; Telecommunications.
Wild cards are ideas and events well off the current trend lines in the business environment. They are the seeds of innovation, and the Business Intelligence Program (B-I-P) specializes in identifying them with its Scan process. This study reviews topics, trends, and discontinuities in the business environment that B-I-P researchers surfaced at B-I-P's Scan meeting of 19 January 2000. Topics are various: The Web as we now know it will gradually disappear as consumers move to integrated services that spare them the messy details of dealing with personal computers, Internet service providers, telephone and cable companies, and confusing interfaces. The global computer network is taking the form of a worldwide skin, but security and privacy concerns are likely to create significant speed bumps that will slow progress along the way. Barnesandnoble.com now allows individuals to function as affiliates by sharing profits with people who include a book-referral hyperlink to barnesandnoble.com in an e-mail message. Several companies are offering software systems that allow online customers to use a single shopping cart while shopping at various online venues. The process will save the consumer the trouble of entering billing and shipping information or establishing accounts at multiple Web sites. Author: Kermit M. Patton. 12 pages. Index Keywords: Innovation; Strategic Planning. Scan
Companies are producing immense commercial and competitive value by integrating and connecting existing knowledge bases. But all too often, the process is an uphill battle and is frequently limited to knowledge bases within the confines of the company. Typical incentives for knowledge workers in most companies remain mired in traditional reward models that favor the development of new knowledge and ignore the steps necessary to integrate the knowledge they develop with preexisting knowledge. The information-technology tools necessary for such integration are currently available, and they enable returns on investment that dwarf returns typical of traditional knowledge strategies. But frequently the vision is lacking. Companies that redefine employees' understanding of the knowledge process to set a high priority on integration and connection strategies will steal a march on the competition. Meanwhile, companies that develop new connection services and products are creating a new industry, and other companies such as Healtheon are building corporate empires based on knowledge-integration strategies. News The summaries below describe current activities and programs not included in the B-I-P membership but of potential interest to members. New Report from Media Futures The new report from Media Futures (MF), A New Role for the Video-Game Console, considers how some video-game-console makers are changing their products into Web-access devices and explores the broader implications of such Web-capable game consoles. The report considers possible responses by PC industry participants, Internet service providers and broadband data-to-the-home services, TV programmers and broadcasters, consumer-electronics firms, packaged-media distributors, and content owners. It also provides a detailed analysis of potential U.S. and Japanese adoption patterns, as well as suggestions of how other industries will respond and a discussion of the issues that the game companies must confront. For more information about the MF multiclient program, telephone: +1 650 859 4600; e-mail: info@sric-bi.com. Affluent MacroMonitor Report from Consumer Financial Decisions The MacroMonitor report on Affluent households—America's Affluent: On the Threshold of the New Millennium—provides data that analysts can use to characterize more than 25 million of the most influential households in the United States. It provides a unique perspective on the financials, personalities, capabilities, and mind-sets of the often-elusive Affluent U.S. household, which Consumer Financial Decisions (CFD) analysts define as a household with a combined income of $75 000 or more or with assets (excluding the primary home) of $300 000 or more. Regardless of how one defines the Affluent, no one would deny that their number is growing. The key to understanding the Affluent is in creating an effective method of segmenting them. Using a proprietary segmentation system, CFD identifies seven mutually exclusive household segments within the U.S. Affluent market, allowing companies to classify their Affluent customers and prospects in a readily accessible, easy-to-understand, and easy-to implement format. For more information about the CFD program, telephone: +1 609 734 2048; e-mail: info@sric-bi.com. |
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