Market Life Cycle Research Articles

Production quality and pricing strategy for substitutable products under comparison effects

Comparison effects have been studied extensively in many fields. In particular, existing operations management articles have discussed the impact of comparison effects on enterprises' production and pricing decisions. Research has also shown that consumers' purchasing decisions are primarily determined by three factors: product quality, selling price, and comparison effects. The current study introduces the concepts of social and temporal comparison effects to examine how comparison effects influence a monopolist’s production quality and pricing strategy for substitutable products. Results reveal the following: (1) Setting different prices for even two types of substitutable products with negligible quality differences can divide customers into three groups under the influence of social comparison effects in a single-stage model. (2) The monopolist should avoid using a price discrimination strategy in which products with a short market life cycle have the same quality but different prices. (3) When the market life cycle of products is sufficiently long in the single-product market and the market with two substitutable products, the monopolist’s optimal choice in the second stage is to keep production quality constant and increase the selling price. Consequently, the number of buyers does not decrease because of temporal comparison effects. Therefore, the firm increases its revenue. (4) For the market with two substitutable products with quality differences, one approximate optimal strategy for the enterprise in the second stage is to keep the selling price constant with the assumption that product quality cannot be adjusted after the first period. At this point, the consumption situation in the market is the same as that in the first stage. Therefore, when no external constraints exist, the monopolist firm can obtain more benefits in the second stage than in the first stage by exploiting the temporal comparison effects of consumers in the second stage. (5) When consumer identity information can be confirmed in the market, social comparison effects, similar to temporal comparison effects, could help the enterprise increase its price and profit while maintaining product quality. These social and temporal comparison effects constrain consumers. Thus, the number of people who continue to buy products does not decrease.

Mature Australian VET markets: a data-driven case study of public policy implementation.

Australian vocational education and training (VET) policy makers have persistently proposed more user choice when reforming the national training system. Increasing alternatives by encouraging multiple providers to trade in regulated contestable markets remains the cornerstone of governments’ policies. However, despite policy intentions, students’ options are declining. Longitudinal quantitative jurisdiction-level statistics identify well-established trends of a reduced variety of providers, a smaller range of qualifications on offer and decreased public funding. These outcomes are occurring notwithstanding the continuous supportive policy environment for intensified competition and amplified choice. Rather than portray reduced choice as policy failure, this research makes novel use of large nationally consistent regulatory and enrolment data sets to provide evidence of successful public policy implementation that is approaching the end of the market life cycle. The results invite an exploration of issues that arise when VET markets are considered to be mature rather than unrealised aspirations. Choices provided in these fully-fledged markets that balance public and private provision are still necessary, but no longer sufficient, to meet national skills needs. It is argued that policy success is not permanent and should be revisited in light of contemporary economic alternatives to guide future VET policy making.

Processing Requirements for the Lifecycle of 8K Video Content in IoT Applications

AbstractNew display resolutions such as 8K bring new demands on supporting processor technology. The author analyzes, from a compute viewpoint, the typical lifecycle of video in consumer entertainment alongside an equivalent IoT market lifecycle for large‐format displays.

Convenience versus sustainability

Convenience versus sustainability

Alignment of Software Development Life Cycle and Product Life Cycle (Lesson Learned from BBM Fall Down)

Blackberry Messenger (BBM) has already announced its shutdown on May 31, 2019. With their massive growth in 2014, BBM slowly decreased the number of users due to their competitor’s growth, such as WhatsApp and Telegram. In the marketing life cycle, when a product already reaches its maturity level, it will enter a decline gate, which means that if a product wants longer existence in the market, it should prevent that decline level, or it will be gone just like BBM. While the product life cycle is related to marketing strategy (in this case BBM is a software product), the software development life cycle (SDLC) is related to information system design and analysis. Thus, this research tries to align both of life cycle and find out which step or level that should be anticipated by the board of director or project manager in software development. The result of this research finally declared that the mature stage should be aligned with the test and operation stage. It also stated that there are some suggestions on avoiding the decline stage, such as implementing change management, take customers’ suggestions and critics seriously for future development and execute strategy into action immediately. Thus, it can delay or even avoid software products entering the decline stage just like the lesson learned from BBM fall down.
 Keywords: product life cycle, software development life cycle, mature stage, BBM

Integration of life cycle assessment, artificial neural networks, and metaheuristic optimization algorithms for optimization of tomato-based cropping systems in Iran

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of an integrated life cycle assessment (LCA), artificial neural network, and metaheuristic optimization model to improve the sustainability of tomato-based cropping systems in Iran. The model outputs the combination of input usage in a tomato cropping system, which leads to the highest economic output and the least environmental impact. The LCA inventory was created using data from 114 open-field tomato farms in the Alborz Province of Iran during one growing period in 2015. Among all management components, the main focus was on irrigation management systems. The optimization problem was designed by integrating three indicators: carbon footprint (CF), benefit-cost ratio (BCR), and energy use efficiency (EUE) as the objective of field tomato production. The functional unit was 1 kg of tomato aligned with the system boundary of the cradle to market life cycle. Three artificial neural networks (ANNs) were applied to model relationships between the inputs and three indices (CF, BCR, and EUE) as the objective functions. Multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) and multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) were used to minimize the CF and maximize the BCR and EUE indicators. The abovementioned aims have been pursued by developing codes in MATLAB software. CF, BCR, and EUE were calculated to be 0.26 kg CO2−eq (kg tomato)−1, 1.8, and 0.5, respectively. MOGA results envisage the possibility of an increase of 86% and 50% in the EUE and BCR and a 43% reduction in the CF of tomato production systems. Moreover, EUE and BCR increased by 83% and 49%, and CF was reduced by 39% from the optimum results obtained from the MOPSO algorithm. It was revealed that in order to optimize field tomato production with the target objectives of this study, a large additional use for irrigation pipes, plastic, and machinery in comparison to current situation is required, while a large reduction of biocide, chemical fertilizer, and electricity consumption is indispensable. According to the results of our study, it was concluded that the optimal solutions require a modernization of irrigation systems and a decrease in the consumption of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The implementation of management options for such solutions is discussed.

PERBEDAAN ECONOMIC VALUE ADDED BERDASARKAN SIKLUS HIDUP PERUSAHAAN DAN PASAR

Abstract. This study aims to examime whether corporate and market life cycle situation have impact on financial performance. The situation that is experienced by company has impact on future financial performance. This matter is due to the risk that is taken by the company to confront that situation. The relationship between risk and return in this study will be explained by prospect theory. This study use the population of manufacture company listed in BEI period 2013-2015. This study use 115 sample of manufacture company. Those samples will be classified based on nine combination of corporate and market life cycle and will be tested with comparative test. The data analysis method of this study is mean rank comparative with kruskal wallis test. The result shows that corporate and market cycle have no impact on future financial performance. The result shows that there is no difference of financial performance based on corporate and market life cycle. This matter is caused by act of determine strategic risk that need a lot of another internal and external environment consideration

Format technology lifecycle analysis

The lifecycles of format technology have been a defining concern for digital stewardship research and practice. However, little evidence exists to provide robust methods for assessing the state of any given format technology and describing its evolution over time. This article introduces relevant models from diffusion theory and market research and presents a replicable analysis method to compute models of technology evolution. Data cleansing and the combination of multiple data sources enable the application of nonlinear regression to estimate the parameters of the Bass diffusion model on format technology market lifecycles. Through its application to a longitudinal data set from the UK Web Archive, we demonstrate that the method produces reliable results and show that the Bass model can be used to describe format lifecycles. By analyzing adoption patterns across market segments, new insights are inferred about how the diffusion of formats and products such as applications occurs over time. The analysis provides a stepping stone to a more robust and evidence‐based approach to model technology evolution.

Optimal procurement and discount pricing for single-period non-instantaneous deteriorating products with promotional efforts

Retailers often use discount pricing and promotional efforts to prop up declining demand of deteriorating item nearing the end of their shelf life. In this context, we study the problem of discount pricing, promotion and ordering of non-instantaneous deteriorating single period product subject to promotional efforts and deterioration. In this paper, we first modify price-and time-dependent demand function (covering demand running through stages of market lifecycle) to include demand accrued from the promotional efforts and then develop inventory model to determine discount selling price and order size that maximizes total profit considering the deterioration. Later, the optimal selling period is determined using enumerative search method. The numerical examples presented to illustrate results show the benefits of exerting optimal level of promotional efforts; benefits of lengthening the non-deterioration period—larger profit with smaller order size; existence of optimal selling period; deleterious effect of deterioration—reduced profit even with enlarged order size. The model developed for non-instantaneous deteriorating item can be used for non-deteriorating as well as instantaneous deteriorating item.

A REVIEW OF STAKEHOLDER DYNAMICS

Stakeholder relationships are a critical part of any businesses success, and should be properly managed to provide the best outcome for the firm during its market lifecycle. Our aim is to emphasize the importance of stakeholders along the firm lifecycle and present cultural dimensions of decision making with an overview of cultural aspects. The paper builds upon on the previous research of authors focusing on the very dynamic High-tech market in Canada. Our main statement is that the role and importance of stakeholders are changing and to show the directions or focus of stakeholders influence changes according to the stages in this market the interactions with, and among stakeholders’ changes remarkably depending on where the firm is in its market evolution or penetration. We also show the importance of stakeholders in the decision making process and analyzing the European market it can be seen that different cultural background even can affect the decisions also in a market with more similar background like Hungary and Germany. Market environment dictates the profile of the stakeholder ecosystem, and this reflects the profile of the marketplace. The relationship is mutually beneficial, or mutually destructive, and proper management is the only way to shift the latter to the former.

Does brand orientation help B2B SMEs in gaining business growth?

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between brand orientation and business growth in business-to-business (B2B) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors also explore whether this relationship is moderated by internal firm-related factors (firm age, firm size) and/or external market-related factors (market life cycle, industry type). Design/methodology/approach The authors develop and empirically test a conceptual model using data from 396 B2B SMEs operating in Finland. Structural equation modeling is used for testing the research hypotheses. Findings Brand orientation contributes to business growth via two indirect paths, the first one going through brand performance and the second one going through brand performance and customer relationship performance. However, although the effects are positive, the results reveal that the regression coefficients are relatively small, implying only a limited impact of brand orientation on growth among B2B SMEs. The results further suggest that firm age, firm size and industry type moderate the brand performance–business growth relationship, whereas market life cycle moderates the effect of brand orientation on brand performance. Research limitations/implications Future research could extend this study by examining brand orientation in industrial markets simultaneously with alternative strategic orientations, such as market, technology and innovation orientation. New moderator variables should also be considered, such as market or technological turbulence. Furthermore, given that this study uses a cross-sectional data set, it is recommended that future research should attempt to test the model using longitudinal data sets. Practical implications B2B SMEs are able to gain business growth through developing a strong brand. However, brand orientation per se appears to be of limited relevance for such an endeavor. Consequently, managers of small industrial firms should consider brand orientation only with, and in comparison to, alternative strategic orientations. Originality/value Brand orientation has been very rarely examined from the perspective of B2B firms or that of SMEs. Interestingly, the findings indicate that the performance benefits of brand orientation seem to be smaller among B2B SMEs than what earlier research would imply. The analysis of moderation effects offers additional insights into whether there are differences between industrial SMEs as to the relevance of brand orientation.

Manufacturing Strategy – A Neglected Success Factor for Improving Competitiveness

In the past decades, the requirements for manufacturing have increased significantly. The major reasons are shorter product and market life cycles, a significantly increased model range but smaller batch sizes and highest technological requirements. In order to distinguish oneself from other companies and to improve the own competiveness in this challenging market, an effective manufacturing strategy is crucial. Therefore, the manufacturing strategy has to be coordinated with other functional strategies and depends on enterprise individual contents. In result, the manufacturing strategy determines the certain use of specific resources and capabilities in manufacturing, which can enable the development and expansion of competitive advantages. However, existing approaches for developing a manufacturing strategy do not allow a sufficient response to the described market situation. In fact, relevant resources and capabilities which lead to a better performance in manufacturing and a higher competitiveness cannot be identified or just with a time lag. To meet the changing market conditions, the manufacturing strategy has to be developed with a new process. Therefore, an approach for developing a manufacturing strategy is presented. This paper points out how manufacturing can enable a decisive differentiation from competitors. In this new process, the development of the manufacturing strategy is seen as an integral part of the enterprise strategy. In summary, the approach allows a unique strategic position that enhances the competitiveness through specific resources and capabilities in manufacturing.

Market life-cycle and products strategies: an empirical investigation of Indian automotive market

With the 2008 financial crisis, interest has been returning to the emerging nations. While there is no shortage of rosy predictions relying only on the hope of the future growth in these emerging markets, the debate is far from being over regarding whether such high growth can truly be achieved. Although the penetration rate of automotive products needs to be considered on a country-by-country basis, there are some common characteristics. It is possible to compare these countries on certain criteria in relation to the respective phases of development undergone by each market. By focusing on general and emblematic areas and avoiding complicating surface issues, it is possible to identify not only the phases of development but also the orientation towards the actual achievement of growth. This paper will examine the TATA NANO and will discuss the necessity of creating product strategies that fit the phases of development of the market.

Remanufacturing Strategies Based on Value Analysis of Product Life Cycle

In order to improve the benefits of remanufacturing of end-of-life (EOL) products, the remanufacturability of these products should be analyzed. However, it is insufficient to evaluate the remanufacturability just according to the feasibility of technologies. The remanufacturability of EOL products should also be analyzed from the view of product life cycle. In this paper, the remanufacturability is discussed according to the signification of usage lifecycle and market lifecycle, which are sub conceptions of product life cycle. The cost and profit model of remanufacturing is also discussed from the view of product life cycle. In addition, preconditions and strategy are presented for direct remanufacturing, upgrading remanufacturing and component remanufacturing. Finally, three case studies are performed to verify the above mentioned remanufacturing strategies based on the analysis of EOL products.

Using the Boston Matrix at Identification of the Corporate Life Cycle Stage

The main aim of this article is to develop a new model supporting the identification of the particular corporate life stage within the corporate life cycle. This model will be derived from the Boston matrix. The main reason for using this approach as the base for making new model of the corporate life cycle is the fact, that every quadrant of the Boston matrix can be assigned to one phase of the product life cycle and there is supposed, that the phase, in which are most products, determines the phase of the corporate life cycle. For application the Boston matrix by identification phases of the corporate life cycle is necessary to define low and high values of both its variables using some quantities from the model of corporate- and market life cycle by Reiners (2004). So the interval of low and high sales growth is determined by comparing sales of the company and sales of the market and furthermore, there is considered the rate of inflation to eliminate the impact of price changes. And for determination low and high market shares, there are compared the shares of sales and shares of total assets. After that, there will be possible to identify all the quadrants and thus all the individual phases unequivocally, which is the basic advantage compared to most existing models of the corporate life cycle. The following aim of this article is to compare the occurrence of individual phases, identified by this modified model, depending on the sector sensitivity to the economic cycle, measured by the coefficient of correlation between sales on the market and GDP. There are selected two sectors of the Czech economy, namely one cyclical and one neutral sector. Subsequently there is selected a sample of companies from both these sectors. The data are collected from financial statements of companies and from analytical materials by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and by the Czech Statistical Office. On the basis of this research, there were recorded differences especially in the number of companies in the phases of stabilisation and decline, depending on the sector sensitivity to the economic cycle.

Doing business in the non-ferrous metals industry: how to survive in a mature market in crisis

Subject area Crisis management, Strategic management. Study level/applicability This case study can be used for teaching MBA and pre-experience Masters students as part of a strategic management course. Case overview This case study tells the story of Kirov non-ferrous metals processing plant located in Kirov (USSR, presently the Russian Federation). Founded in 1956, this company had long been one of the USSR's leading manufacturers in the industry of non-ferrous metals processing. The situation changed dramatically in the first half of 1990s. During those years, instead of state-planned economy, Russia saw the formation of market economy. It was the first time when the company (as a result of privatization, it became a joint-stock company with a small number of pure portfolio investment owners) was faced with the need to look for marketing outlets for its products on its own. At the same time, after having been privatized, the company could not receive government investments anymore. Due to all these conditions, in 1995, capacity utilization in this company fell to 16 per cent, and it appeared to be on the verge of bankruptcy. Expected learning outcomes The main learning objectives of the case study are: to develop students' skills to analyze complex managerial situations; to help students in understanding the logic of company's strategic choice, depending on the stage of the market life cycle (especially, in case of mature markets); and to provide the training for the students' ability to justify management decisions using the example of companies in B2B markets. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Adaptability within a Multi-variant Serial Production

Shorter product and market life cycles with reduced forecast accuracy and frequent new product launches demonstrate the necessity of appropriate measures to increase the market adaptability of manufacturing enterprises. Depending on the extent of changing market demands the product and production process innovation is a necessity for market adaptability. In order to realize a product and production process innovation, specific product and production process technologies are needed. This article analyzes and defines four most promising technological success factors to increase the market adaptability within a multi-variant serial production. In order to analyze and define the technological success factors for adaptability, the model “Patterns of Industrial Innovation” by William J. Abernathy and James M. Utterback is further developed. The aim is to achieve a more efficient and effective multi-variant serial production. Therefore, the developed model illustrates how to response to the increasingly dynamic and partially unpredictable market situation in a competitive way. It can be demonstrated that enterprises can increase their adaptability within a multi-variant serial production through simultaneously pursuing the four technological success factors. Finally, it is shown a mathematical description of these identified four technological success factors. This enables manufacturing enterprises to quantify and assess their actual condition as well as the definition of targets to increase their adaptability within a multi-variant serial production.

Marketing performance assessment systems and the business context

PurposeThis study provides empirical evidence for the contextuality of marketing performance assessment (MPA) systems. It aims to introduce a taxonomical classification of MPA profiles based on the relative emphasis placed on different dimensions of marketing performance in different companies and business contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe data used in this study (n=1,157) were collected using a web‐based questionnaire, targeted to top managers in Finnish companies. Two multivariate data analysis techniques were used to address the research questions. First, dimensions of marketing performance underlying the current MPA systems were identified through factor analysis. Second, a taxonomy of different profiles of marketing performance measurement was created by clustering respondents based on the relative emphasis placed on the dimensions and characterizing them vis‐á‐vis contextual factors.FindingsThe study identifies nine broad dimensions of marketing performance that underlie the MPA systems in use and five MPA profiles typical of companies of varying sizes in varying industries, market life cycle stages, and competitive positions associated with varying levels of market orientation and business performance. The findings support the previously conceptual notion of contextuality in MPA and provide empirical evidence for the factors that affect MPA systems in practice.Originality/valueThe paper presents the first field study of current MPA systems focusing on combinations of metrics in use. The findings of the study provide empirical support for the contextuality of MPA and form a classification of existing contextual systems suitable for benchmarking purposes. Limited evidence for performance differences between MPA profiles is also provided.

The brand orientation-performance relationship: An examination of moderation effects

The study examines whether the recently validated brand orientation-performance relationship is moderated by firm-related internal factors and/or market-related external factors. Six moderators are investigated namely (1) firm age, (2) firm size, (3) branding know-how, (4) customer type, (5) industry type and (6) market life cycle. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to validate the constructs and test measurement invariance. Moderation effects are examined using multigroup structural equation modeling. The data consist of 797 valid responses from Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Only external factors are found to moderate the brand orientation-performance relation, whereas internal factors seem to have no moderation effects. The results show that the effect of brand orientation on brand performance is moderated by customer type and market life cycle. It is reported that the effect is greater in firms serving consumers than in other businesses, and also in firms operating in declining/stable markets than in growing markets. This is among the first studies to empirically examine the performance effects of brand orientation in relation to moderation effects. Differing from most earlier papers, the present study examines brand orientation in the context of SMEs. The results have implications for both practitioners and researchers.

Transition of R&D and product development procedures after mergers and acquisitions: a case study of Intermagnetics General and Philips Healthcare

This paper presents an in-depth case study of the transition of R&D and product development procedures after the acquisition of a small entrepreneurial US high-tech company, Intermagnetics General Corporation (IGC), by a leading multinational, Philips of the Netherlands. We summarise the findings of interviews conducted in 2011 of IGC and Philips researchers and managers concerning the 5-year post-merger integration process, the alignment of rewards and incentives, the effect of market life cycle and product development strategies, the redefinition of relationships and expectations, the internal and external driving forces and the successful results. We conclude with the lessons learned, the limitations of the study and possible directions of future research.