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Insights
Despite high levels of investment in enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) systems, satisfaction rates and returns have not always met expectations. The systems allow for the integration and monitoring of business processes in order to create efficient work flow. To aid corporate executives in implementing or expanding their ERP systems, this study analyzes perceptions of risk and hidden costs associated with the systems. The study identifies and examines issues such as labor, consulting, business process transformation, integration and testing, data warehousing, data mining, hardware, product licensing, and project-planning aspects that firms face when they implement or expand such systems. When a firm considers the totality of the hidden costs in ERP implementation or expansion, it can better manage the risk and is more likely to transform the benefits of such systems into competitive advantage. Author: Miguel de Figueiredo. 10 pages. Index Keywords: Computer Software; Human Resources; Information Management; Information Systems; Knowledge Management; Manufacturing Industries.
What is an enterprise to do when it faces losing a significant amount of money when a server goes down, computer work is lost, or employee productivity declines because of blackouts? The best solution for such problems is to avoid the situation in the first place. One way to accomplish this goal is to band together with other firms in industrial parks that generate their own power. A proliferation of facilities with on-site power-generation capabilities will eventually create a system in which power sources are distributed rather than highly centralized at a small number of locations, as most energy grids currently are. Recent changes in the energy industry, together with the falling costs and improvement of distributed energy resources—such as fuel cells, solar power, and microturbines—are paving the way for distributed power generation. The latest versions of industrial parks, which developers dubbed "power parks" in 1998, are attempting to provide enterprises with reliable, efficient, and constant energy. Three such corporate power parks exist in the United States and are in the early stages of development. These three parks take widely different approaches to helping firms solve their energy problems. One park is pursuing a research-oriented approach to distributed energy resources in hopes of finding the correct balance between grid and off-grid energy sources. The second park is striving for a much more practical approach of supplying the cheapest, most reliable energy to park tenants with distributed energy resources. The third park is focusing on improving the connection between the existing power grid and the end user. All three configurations offer invaluable business opportunities to anyone willing to innovate and invest in power-distribution devices and distributed energy resources that may one day satisfy the needs of enterprises around the world. Author: Paula Lubreski. 11 pages. Index Keywords: Electric Power; Energy; Energy Management; Energy Technology.
Market and technical uncertainty are common and unavoidable characteristics of innovative technologies. "New economy" investment in innovative technologies reached incredible highs—for example, the average valuation of a high-tech start-up rose from about $11 million in 1996 to almost $30 million in 2000. Despite the near collapse of the new economy, innovation continues. Large companies, young companies, and investors are still willing to fund winning technologies anticipating long-term growth. The authors approach this study from the perspective of managers and venture investors whose responsibility is to decide whether to make an investment to commercialize a particular technology. They focus on the process of identifying and assessing the commercial feasibility of technologies before a firm decides to make a financial commitment to support the technology commercialization. This process corresponds to "Phase 0" of the commercialization roadmap in this study. It is the first and, arguably, the most important stage of commercialization. Approaches to assess technical capabilities, applications, and business models come from the SRI Consulting Business Intelligence commercialization roadmap and apply retrospectively to the case study of the personal digital assistant market—highlighting Palm Computing Inc.—as it existed in 1995. Needs of users is one market uncertainty that the study discusses in detail, because it proved to be a definitive variable in Palm's success. Although no single methodology will consistently and accurately resolve all ambiguities, this strategic framework should help in discovering and organizing uncertainties in innovative technologies. Authors: Christina H. Lee and Margaret Pak. 14 pages. Index Keywords: Innovation; Management; Technology Management.
The obsolete or forgotten electronics products that bear witness to the breakneck pace of technological advance in the developed world are finding their way to landfills at a rapidly accelerating pace and causing concern both about their total mass and about the potentially harmful substances they carry with them. That concern has resulted in new electronic-waste (e-waste) regulations in Europe, in Japan, and, to a lesser extent, in the United States. Three distinct e-waste–management models are emerging in those three economies as manufacturers respond to implemented or proposed legislation. In Japan, consumers have had to bear the direct costs of recycling discarded electronics; in the European Union, individual producers have been financially responsible for recycling their own products. The slower pace of legislation in the United States has allowed electronics producers to develop a more comprehensive and cost-efficient model based on the principle of shared responsibility on the part of all who obtain value from electronics products. The concept of shared responsibility may extend beyond the management of electronic waste to a wide range of manufactured products. Author: Thomas M. McKenna. 11 pages. Index Keywords: Consumer Electronics; Electronics Industry; Environment; Green Consumer; Pollution; Waste Management.
Signals of Change is a series of B-I-P research publications that help companies identify signs of change and explore emerging opportunities. This study analyzes signals of change that the September 2001 Scan meeting in Europe identified. Scan meetings are, in essence, brainstorming sessions that take their cue from a list of news events and business developments and build on the knowledge of SRIC-BI participants. In this study, the authors describe how digital-rights-management technology tracks the distribution and reuse of material—either collecting payments or prohibiting reuse. The technologies could equally apply to information that the "owner" perceives as valuable or to information collected without the knowledge of an individual or an organization. The technology could even apply to information that an organization distributes, perhaps unknowingly, in breach of privacy legislation. The authors also describe evidence that work is taking on a "new centrality" in the lives of white-collar workers in many developed countries. Consumer analysis has traditionally paid little attention to the beliefs, values, and behaviors that occupy consumers' working lives—even though this "central" activity will likely be an important defining force in their buying behavior. Authors: Rob Edmonds, Robert Thomas. 9 pages. Index Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Human Resources; Innovation; Intellectual Property. Scan
Demands on consumers' attention continue to proliferate as media options expand. Companies are looking for the means to make their brands and products stand out in an increasingly crowded commercial landscape. Complicating the process of attracting attention is the fact that sophisticated viewers in industrialized societies throughout the world have developed a tough-skinned skepticism about advertising messages that appear in most traditional broadcast media such as print and television. As a result, many companies are making forays into the real world to develop new ways of reaching consumers with branding and marketing messages. Some are taking advantage of new media such as the Internet; others are bypassing media altogether and going straight to trend-setting consumers as a means to propagate word-of-mouth, community-based channels to create demand for products and services. Happy Anniversary Our 300th Issue This issue of the B-I-P Bulletin is number 300—a milestone of sorts on a long and continuing trail of research and intelligence for clients of the Business Intelligence Program. Issue number 1 appeared in April 1976 under the name Datalog and featured Handbook of Forecasting Techniques, one of the best-selling studies in the Bulletin's history. The name Business Intelligence Program itself was new at that point, having recently replaced Long Range Planning Service as the SRI group's name. The Long Range Planning Service started in 1958. Our 300th issue marks more than 25 years of continuous service and 2350 publications. News The summaries below describe current activities and programs not included in the B-I-P membership but of potential interest to members. Two New Reports from Digital Futures Some two years ago, Bluetooth, a wireless personal-area-network technology, seemed to emerge as the way to establish interconnectivity between portable devices and eliminate the need for cables. But the technology started off very slowly and now faces a variety of alternative and competitive solutions. Bluetooth and Wireless Networks documents the solutions; analyzes the roadblocks, problems, and success factors; examines the proposed applications; and describes the likely outcomes. Batteries for Portable Electronic Devices: Are They Sufficient? examines the strengths and weaknesses of advanced battery technologies, documents significant industry developments, and provides a roadmap for battery developments that will support innovative and ergonomic designs of portable electronic devices. It also reports on the development of competitive technologies such as portable fuel cells. For more information about Digital Futures, telephone: +1 650 859 4600; e-mail: info@future.sri.com. Current Watch-List B-I-P's scanning and research processes identify areas on the periphery of your business's focus area that constitute potential opportunities or threats. The areas that we decide bear watching go on B-I-P's watch list of defining forces that are transforming the business environment. Current watch-list topics include:
The Bulletin will periodically highlight each defining force, listing related B-I-P publications. |
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