=============================================================
Thank you for subscribing to the SRIC-BI News mailing list.

This is a read-only mailing list alerting you to recent
news at SRI Consulting Business Intelligence (SRIC-BI).
To unsubscribe, please visit http://www.sric-bi.com/unsubscribe.shtml
=============================================================



In this issue:

  * Buzz Marketing in the Electronic Era
  * Bioplastics in the Automotive Industry
  * Business-Skills Simulations
  * Higher Prices for U.S. Broadband?
  * Signals of Change
  * Spotlight on the Biotech Industry
  * MacroMonitor Survey Results
  * Nanoscale Chemicals, Materials, and Composites
  * Challenges in Adopting Enterprise Portals
  * Presentations at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference


----------------------------------------------------------
(Full text of SRIC-BI publications is available to
sponsoring clients only.  To find out if your company is a
sponsor, please visit http://www.sric-bi.com/info.shtml.)
----------------------------------------------------------


---------------------
 Recent Publications
---------------------

Buzz Marketing in the Electronic Era

Word of mouth has long been a powerful influence on consumer 
decisions, but the rise of the Internet and other electronic 
channels has increased the power and appeal of this time-tested 
marketing approach. Moreover, companies don't need to have a 
new, different, or wild product to ignite buzz. Analysts in 
SRIC-BI's VALS Program have identified the influential consumer 
groups most likely to generate buzz for companies' products and 
services. (Personal Influence Marketing: All about Buzz)
http://www.sric-bi.com/DF/summaries/PersInfMktg0303.shtml


Bioplastics in the Automotive Industry

Automotive manufacturers are facing tough new legislation that 
will require them to recycle each car at the end of its useful 
life. As manufacturers of bioplastics and biocomposites continue 
to improve the properties of their materials, automobile 
manufacturers will increasingly look to these materials in 
producing the next generation of cars to meet legislative 
demands. For this reason, engineering-polymer players are wise 
to monitor bioplastic and biocomposite development. (March 2003 
Engineering Polymers Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/EP.shtml


Business-Skills Simulations

Most simulations to teach business skills are still at least 
partially customized and require a serious investment by the 
purchaser. However, as marketplace acceptance of business 
simulations grows, prices will drop somewhat, simulations will 
have greater integration with work, and the market will see less 
hype and fewer disappointments. (Simulations for Business 
Skills: Best Practices and Market Outlook)
http://www.sric-bi.com/LoD/summaries/Simulations4Bus2003-03.shtml


Higher Prices for U.S. Broadband?

Analysts have long agreed that a major reason for the relatively 
low number of high-bandwidth household connections to the 
Internet is the relatively high price of broadband access. 
However, the cost of U.S. broadband service may go up rather 
than down as a result of a February 2003 ruling by the U.S. 
Federal Communications Commission that does not require large, 
established telephone companies to give competitors access to 
any new fiber-optic networks that they build. (March 2003 
Internet Commerce Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/IC.shtml


Signals of Change

The debut issue of Scan Monthly highlights SRIC-BI analysts' 
take on several early signals of change. For example, thinking 
small may be the next big thing in wireless services, given that 
"trivial" applications like mobile-phone voting on reality-TV 
shows and downloadable cell-phone ring tones are bringing in 
millions of dollars of revenue. Other writeups look at slow 
progress in digital-copyright policy, data-federation strategies 
in biotechnology, and the appeal of simple solutions in the 
marketplace. (Scan Monthly, March 2003)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM001.shtml


Spotlight on the Biotech Industry

Some people fear that a biotechnology bubble is in the making. 
Yet the biotech industry appears to be at a point of maturation, 
with a healthy product pipeline and revenue base. The challenge 
for investors is to identify opportunities and make the right 
investment decisions amid growing risks and unknowns. Biotech 
companies, for their part, need good science, strong 
intellectual capital, and effective management to attract 
investment capital. (Biotechnology: Industry Inflection Point 
or Investment Bubble?)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM001.shtml#D03-2419


MacroMonitor Survey Results

SRIC-BI's Consumer Financial Decisions group has released its 
Top-Line volume, which provides the results of its 96-page 
2002-03 MacroMonitor survey and compares the results to those of 
the 2000 survey. The questionnaire solicits consumers' responses 
on every conceivable financial product, service, and delivery 
channel. It also explores consumers' use of and attitudes toward 
institutions, accounts, investing, retirement, credit, 
insurance, information, planning, and advice and investigates 
respondents' financial goals, motivations, and likely purchases. 
(Top-Line 2002-03 MacroMonitor)
http://www.sric-bi.com/CFD/TOCs/2002StdTLtoc.shtml


Nanoscale Chemicals, Materials, and Composites

Nanoscience is opening up an increasing number of applications 
in a wide range of industries. One such industry is the chemical 
industry, where nanotechnology will present both threats and 
opportunities. Two recent reports from SRIC-BI-Nanoscale 
Chemicals and Materials and Polymer Nanocomposites-explore the 
implications of nanotechnology for the industry, including the 
economics of polymer nanocomposite manufacturing. (March 2003 
Nanotechnology Viewpoints)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Explorer/NT.shtml


Challenges in Adopting Enterprise Portals

Though many Global 2000 companies have deployed or are 
developing enterprise portals, most of these portals are 
relatively unsophisticated. The current focus is to consolidate 
Web investments into an organized and scalable framework. 
However, the ultimate vision is to use portals to create a 
customized environment for solving problems in real time-a task 
that will require simpler ways of integrating applications into 
portal frameworks. (Enterprise Portals: Emerging Adoption 
Patterns)
http://www.sric-bi.com/Scan/ScanMonthly/SM001.shtml#D03-2420


------------------------------------------
 Presentations and Press by SRIC-BI Staff
------------------------------------------

O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
Santa Clara, CA (22-25 April 2003)
  * Using Scenarios to Make Better IT Business Decisions 
     (Tutorial by Bill Ralston)
  * Demand for Innovation
     (Speaking session by Cheri Anderson)
http://www.sric-bi.com/news.shtml


--------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the Web site: http://www.sric-bi.com.

Copyright 2003 by SRI Consulting Business Intelligence.