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Report
A looming problem for industrial energy users The dynamics governing the real cost of energy for industry are changing in today's highly competitive global marketplace. Regulatory environments are evolving throughout the world, aging infrastructures are creating concerns about replacement costs, and new energy-generation technologies are coming online. In addition, many energy end users must meet new energy-quality and uptime requirements to avoid costly shutdowns and equipment failures. In this environment, corporate planners will have to turn their attention to the changes occurring in the transmission and distribution segments of the energy value chain if they are to maintain the strategic flexibility necessary to cope with the real energy costs that will emerge in the new environment. The dynamics and options available to companies are increasingly complex, and companies can develop significant competitive advantage by carefully analyzing the marketplace and developing proactive and creative energy-procurement strategies. Author: John T. Fraser. 23 pages. Index Keywords: Electric Power; Energy; Energy Management; Energy Technology; Fuels; Manufacturing Industries; Strategic Planning. Executive Contacts and Report Recipients will receive this document automatically. Insights
Computers processing human speech and talking to their users are recurring themes in science fiction—just think of HAL in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Star Trek series on television. In both, humans interact constantly with computers through normal, conversational speech. Although companies have been working on the technology for decades, limited processing power, less than perfect accuracy, and abysmal reliability thwarted all efforts to introduce viable commercial products in the market. But the advent of high-speed processors, server-embedded speech-recognition systems, low-cost storage, and the Internet with its broadened access to information have significantly boosted speech technology capabilities and potential in the past ten years. Commercial applications include telephony-based voice portals, speech-enabled call centers for customer-service management, and in-vehicle telematics applications. A wide range of software technology providers and speech-recognition implementers already offer services for a variety of applications. No industry segment seems to be excluded in the search for enterprise and consumer-speech–enabled applications. Benefits include cost-efficient solutions, easy interfaces for accessing data, and consistent messages to clients and customers. Companies have to be aware, however, of the opportunities as well as the limitations of speech technology. Speech technology can reduce costs, improve customer relationships, and provide fast and extensive access to data and information. But they can also, if implemented for the wrong purposes or in the wrong way, pose challenges that extend far beyond technological issues. This study presents the current state of the technology and provides an outlook on the development of the technology. Author: Martin Schwirn. 16 pages. Index Keywords: Communications; Computer Software; Consumer Electronics; Electronic Commerce.
In the late 1990s, companies spent more than $23 billion per year on enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) software. Despite the large investment in the software—which allows firms to integrate, codify, and automate their business processes—surveys show that roughly one in three chief financial officers measure the investment returns on the software. This study offers metrics and qualitative factors that corporate executives should consider when determining the returns on their ERP systems. Additionally, it argues that firms are now in a position to maximize their bargaining power when purchasing or adding on to an existing system. The study then suggests some best practices that firms can adopt to extract additional value from their ERP systems. Author: Miguel de Figueiredo. 10 pages. Index Keywords: Computer Software; Human Resources; Information Management; Information Systems; Information Technology; Knowledge Management; Manufacturing Industries.
The major accomplishments of the genomics era were gene sequencing and mapping. Now, in the postgenomics era, proteomics is coming to the fore. The technical and intellectual challenges of proteomics—the study of the context-specific expression of proteins—are formidable. Unlike genomes, proteomes—the protein complements that a cell or tissue expresses—differ among cell and tissue types. In addition, nearly all proteins change after translation, and growth conditions, developmental stages, or disease states can influence protein-expression patterns. Proteomics researchers need new technologies that improve ease of use, throughput, automation, reproducibility, and sensitivity. Protein arrays, or protein chips, are among the protein-analysis approaches with the greatest promise to provide such improvements. The technology is still in the design stage, but life-sciences researchers are confident that they can overcome current technical hurdles by focusing on surface chemistry, capture agents, and detection technology. Reproducing advances like those in DNA microarrays will be difficult. However, incentive to forge ahead with protein-chip development is strong because the market opportunities for protein chips will be far greater than those for DNA chips. If companies come up with viable products, the protein-chip market could approach $500 million in 2006. Author: Andrew Broderick. 15 pages. Index Keywords: Biotechnology; Medical Research; Pharmaceutical Industry; Research and Development.
Eager to comply with national and international legislation and regulations, many firms are investing a lot of time and money in developing privacy policies only to slap a statement about these policies on their Web site in small type and confusing terms. Why not exploit all the hard work that went into the privacy policy and leverage it to gain a competitive edge? Firms can do so by looking to and beyond the Internet for opportunities to build brand and promote the firm through their privacy policies. This study identifies often overlooked ways to increase consumer trust and branding opportunities through a relatively new yet powerful tool: a privacy policy. And the process does not require a privacy policy that only the shrewdest privacy advocate could love. Rather, it requires creativity and knowledge of one's customers. Through the use of VALSTM, a consumer psychographic segmentation system from SRI Consulting Business Intelligence (SRIC-BI), this study identifies the privacy attitudes of three major consumer groups. It also provides suggestions and examples of how to present privacy policies in a way that will resonate with the appropriate audience on and off the Web. Authors: Paula Lubreski, Pat Breman, Kristen Thomas. 12 pages. Index Keywords: Advertising; Internet; Marketing. Watch-List Spotlight: Knowledge Management B-I-P's watch list identifies defining forces that are transforming the business environment. This selection from the watch list of defining forces is knowledge management. Knowledge Management Although many experts claim that knowledge management was a business fad and has already run its course, many companies have finally abandoned the misplaced emphasis on information technology that plagued many knowledge-management initiatives and are reaping benefits by approaching the discipline with an emphasis on people rather than technology. The emphasis should never have been on codifying and automating knowledge processes. It should have been on enabling knowledge workers to expand their creative options and their ability to accommodate the constantly changing business environment. The rising popularity of eLearning techniques and technologies in many corporations is an indicator that their emphasis is switching from the mere agglomeration of knowledge to a meaningful transfer of actionable knowledge to workers who need it. B-I-P's recent publications on knowledge-management topics follow: News The summaries below describe current activities and programs not included in the B-I-P membership but of potential interest to members. Japan-VALS™ Japan-VALS™ defines ten consumer segments that together offer a comprehensive picture of Japanese society. The system captures the process of change over time: the flow of new products, new patterns of beliefs and behaviors, and elements that counteract these beliefs and behaviors within Japanese society. A questionnaire battery identifies the consumer segments. SRI Consulting Business Intelligence (SRIC-BI) recently shortened the battery from 49 to 30 attitude items, reducing administrative time and expense. SRIC-BI and research partner JDS have started the fourth run of the Product Diagnoses Program 2001, a multiclient survey and consulting program that uses Japan-VALS to understand Japanese markets. This program surveys 1200 consumers in nine major Japanese cities. Clients have the opportunity to include their own company- and product-specific questions in the survey. With this program, SRIC-BI offers clients opportunities to diagnose their product offerings in terms of product features and benefits, positioning, targeting, and marketing mix. For more information about Japan-VALS, telephone: +1 650 859 4600; e-mail: info@sric-bi.com. New Report from Learning on Demand Enterprises are competing for top talent even as economic growth slows, and the need continues to help employees update their skills, expand their creativity, and develop a strategic understanding of corporate goals. eLearning will increasingly help companies reach these objectives, often in combination with classroom-based learning—if vendors can create engaging and compelling products. Games and Simulations in eLearning suggests that one key to creating such products will be use of games and simulations that make learning fun, provide realistic environments in which to practice skills, and meet the expectations of the computer-savvy Generation X and the Net Generation. For more information about the Learning-on-Demand program, telephone: +1 650 859 4600; e-mail: info@sric-bi.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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