Product-related Characteristics Research Articles

Towards circular fashion: Management strategies promoting circular behaviour along the value chain

The fashion industry is a significant driver of cultural, societal, and economic growth worldwide, but its traditional linear approach has led to negative environmental and social impacts. This study addresses the need to transition towards sustainable and circular practices by exploring the relationship between management strategies and behaviours across the fashion value chain. Through 10 semi-structured interviews with top industry decision-makers, thematic analysis revealed eight core themes, including collaborations, marketing strategies, product-related characteristics, education and awareness, business models, integration of technology, regulations and legislation, and strategic planning. The study provides targeted recommendations for stakeholders to promote a more sustainable and circular behaviour in the fashion industry. For instance, it emphasises strategic partnerships with suppliers, waste management companies, and consumers to minimise waste and promote circularity across the value chain. It urges the adoption of sustainable materials and eco-friendly designs for environmentally conscious consumers and encourages visual storytelling for transparency. Additionally, the study highlights the need for circular business models, recommending on-demand and made-to-measure manufacturing to align production with demand and reduce overproduction. Offering end-of-life strategies such as take-back programs, recycling initiatives, and repair services extends product lifecycles and creates sustainable value. Integrating advanced technologies such as digital IDs improves supply chain transparency and accountability. These actionable recommendations guided the development of a comprehensive framework for the practical application of sustainable and circular practices across the value chain, offering industry practitioners, researchers and policymakers effective strategies for driving impactful change within the fashion industry.

High Efficacy and Excellent Safety Profile of Actalycabtagene Autoleucel, a Humanized CD19 CAR-T Product in r/r B-Cell Malignancies: A Phase II Pivotal Trial

Background: Commercially approved CD19 CAR-T cell therapies are effective in r/r B cell malignancies, but are associated with significant albeit manageable toxicities. These toxicities contribute to significant morbidity. We have developed a novel, humanized CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, Actalycabtagene autoleucel (Actaly-cel) and previously reported the safety in Phase I study (Dwivedi et al. Mol Cancer Ther.2021, Karulkar et al. ASH 2022). Here, we present the pooled results from Phase I and a planned interim analysis of the Phase II study evaluating Actaly-cel. Materials and methods: The Phase I study (n=10) was a single-center trial to test the safety of Actaly-cel at a dose of 1x10 7 to 5x10 9 CAR-T cells in patients with r/r DLBCL, tFL and PMBCL (CTRI/2021/04/032727). The Phase II study (n=50) was a single-arm, multi-center study conducted across 3 centers in India (CTRI/2022/12/048211). Patients with r/r B-cell malignancies (including aggressive and indolent B-cell lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemia) aged ≥ 15 years, with normal organ function, ECOG PS 0-2 and measurable disease were eligible. Actaly-cel was manufactured using an integrated semi-automated system. Bridging therapy was allowed at the clinician's discretion. Patients received infusion of Actaly-cel two days after conditioning with fludarabine plus cyclophosphamide. The target dose was ≥5x10 6/kg CAR T-cells (efficacy-evaluable cohort), however doses of ≥0.5x 10 6/kg CAR-T cells were allowed. Patients who received Actaly-cel at any dose were considered in the safety analysis. The primary endpoint was objective response rate, with duration of response, adverse events, PFS and OS as the secondary endpoints. A Simon II-stage design was used to test the hypothesis that the ORR would increase from 25% (historical data) to 40% (⍺- 0.1 and β- 0.2), >15 responses were required out of 50 patients to reject the null hypothesis. The CRS and neurotoxicities (ICANS) were graded and treated as per ASTCT guidelines, other toxicities were graded as per CTCAE v5. Exploratory studies were performed to study the correlation between patient and product related characteristics with response. Results: A total of 59 patients with r/r DLBCL (41), ALL (16) and indolent lymphomas (2) were enrolled (Phase I; 06/2021 till 06/2022 and Phase II; 12/2022 till 07/2023), 56 underwent leukapheresis (ITT set) and 47 received Actaly-cel (safety set). 43 patients received the target dose (Figure 1A). The median age was 43 years (16-71) with 46 (65%) male patients. Patients had a median of 2 prior lines of therapy (1-6), 65% had refractory disease,25% of lymphoma patients had bulky disease, and the median bone marrow blast was 69% (6-98%) in the B-ALL cohort. The median vein-to-vein time was 17(7-132) days. Total 78%(33/43) patients reached the day 28 timepoint at the time of analysis (Figure 1B). The ORR was 70% (23/33), including 58% (19/33) with a CR. In the lymphoma cohort, the ORR was 71%(17/24) and CR was observed in 54%(13/24), while in the leukemia cohort, the CR rate was 66% (6/9, n=5 MRD negative). The median follow-up of evaluable patients was 57 days (21-453). All nine patients and 3 out of 4 patients maintained the response after 3 months and 12 months follow-up, respectively. None of the patients developed ICANS of any grade. CRS developed in 22/33(66%) cases (grade 1/2 in 61%, grade 3/4 in 6%). Of note, no grade >3 CRS was noticed in the lymphoma cohort. Grade 3/4 cytopenias developed in all cases. The median duration of neutropenia was 7 (4-32) days. On Day 28, grade 3/4 neutropenia was observed in 11/33(33%) cases, grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia was observed in 7/33 (21%). Only 1(3%) patient required ICU admission, 2(6%) required vasopressor support, tocilizumab was administered to 18 (55%) patients, median 1 dose (1-4) and steroids were used in 5 (15%) cases. Patients were hospitalized for a median of 8 days (7-19 ). There were no treatment-related deaths. On exploratory analysis, higher CAR-T dose, fewer prior lines of therapy and higher peak CAR-T copies/µg DNA correlated with response. Conclusions: Actaly-cel demonstrated efficacy in r/r B-cell malignancies with a very favorable safety profile. The absence of ICANS, shorter duration of cytopenias and a lower incidence of grade 3/4 CRS makes it one of the safest CD19 CAR-T cell therapy products. Actaly-cel can improve the ease of delivery of CAR T-cell therapy in a wide-range of settings.

An empirical investigation into the effectiveness of cost transparency: Evidence from apparel brands

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the impact of cost transparency on consumers’ perceptions of the brand and intentions to purchase its products. It also examines whether product-related attributes (product price and country-of-origin (COO) and consumer characteristics (socially responsible consumer behavior) moderate the effectiveness of cost transparency. Findings show that providing consumers with detailed cost breakdowns would lead to higher perceived quality and value and a more favorable brand attitude when compared to the conditions in which detailed cost information is not provided. The results also indicate that the cost transparency strategy is an effective way to generate a more favorable brand attitude, especially for lower-priced brands. Consumers who are more socially responsible in their behaviors perceived higher quality and expressed higher purchase intention for brands engaging in cost transparency practices. Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed.

Who sells knowledge online? An exploratory study of knowledge celebrities in China

PurposeThis study explores identity signaling used by an emerging class of knowledge celebrities in China – Knowledge Wanghong – who sell knowledge products on online platforms. Because identity signaling may involve constructing unique online identities and controlling over product-related and seller-related characteristics, the purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to uncover different online identities of knowledge celebrities; and (2) to examine the extent to which the online identity type is associated with their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and sales performance.Design/methodology/approachA unique data set was collected from a Chinese leading pay-for-knowledge platform – Zhihu – which featured the online profiles of tens of thousands of knowledge celebrities. Online identity types were derived from their self-edited content using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling. Thereafter, their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and respective sales performance were analyzed across different identity types using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple-group linear regression.FindingsKnowledge celebrities are clustered into four distinctive online identities: Mentor, Broker, Storyteller and Geek. Product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance varied across four different identities. Additionally, the online identity type moderated the relationships among their product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance.Originality/valueAs emerging-phenomenon-based research, this study extends related literature by using the notion of identity signaling to analyze a peculiar group of online celebrities who are setting an important trend in the pay-for-knowledge model in China.

SKU performance and distribution: A large-scale analysis of the role of product characteristics with store scanner data

This study investigates the relationship between distribution and market share across various consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories and specific stock keeping units (SKUs). The study identifies product-related characteristics that result in substantive deviations above or below market shares predicted by the distribution – market share relationship. The association of product price, brand (private label [PL] v. national brand [NB]) and pack size with above (or below) expected market share for a given distribution level is analysed. Results indicate larger pack sizes, PL and medium price levels result in market share above what would be predicted by an SKU’s distribution. This presents a source for competitive advantage in markets driven by push–pull dynamics.

Development and Validation of a Machine Learning Algorithm for Prediction of Platelet Transfusion Efficiency in Patients with Hematological Diseases

Background: Prophylactic transfusion of platelets provides a good protection for the implementation of invasive procedures and the prevention of bleeding events during chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients who are suffering from hematological diseases. The issues that what is the optimal dose of platelet transfusion and how to monitor platelet transfusion efficiency are important due to the short storage time of platelet products, rising clinical demands, and decreasing donors. It is worthy that there are amount of studies have been conducted in the past to explore factors that may affect the clinical efficacy of platelet transfusion and characteristics of patients under these different transfusion effects. While, previous studies failed to exactly address the problems of clinical needs for platelet transfusion. Methods: The aim of our study is to develop a model to evaluate the efficacy of platelet transfusion and the statistic method of machine learning algorithm (ML) was involved. The differences between this algorithm and traditional methods are that the former one can continuously be learning from the data and form a self-training model, therefore ML is more accurate than traditional artificial models and generally independent of the model and parameters themselves. We further take the multi-layer fully connected layer neural network model (MLNN) into our consideration because it simulates the multi-layer interconnection of human nervous systems, which is suitable for processing inaccurate and fuzzy information. In our study, the establishment of a neural network model was used to make a multiple-dimension analysis between factors affecting platelet transfusion efficacy and platelet count added value correction index (aCCI), and explore the correlation among these influencing factors as well. Results: The study utilized the data relative to 1840 platelet transfusions performed in 460 patients with hematological diseases. The participants ranged in age from 16 to 92, and the median age was 59.5. There were 199 females and 261 men. The whole data was divided to 2 parts, 2/3 of them were analyzed as a training set and the others were used for validating. We selected 30 factors (including patient-related factors and transfusion product-related characteristics) that may affect the efficacy of platelet transfusion except the storage time of platelet (all data < 2 days), and established a model for predicting platelet transfusion efficacy based on the volume of platelet transfusion. After the model was established, it was tested for goodness of fit, and the results showed that the LOSS value tended to be stable. Conclusions: The establishment of this model may not only be used for predicting the platelet count after platelet transfusions in patients and the amount of platelets that need to be transfused, but also provide supports for the solution of related problems. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Lectin bio‐layer interferometry for assessing product quality of Fc‐ glycosylated immunoglobulin G

Glycosylation, as the most prominent posttranslational modification, is recognized as an important quality attribute of monoclonal antibodies affected by various bioprocess parameters and cellular physiology. A method of lectin‐based bio‐layer interferometry (LBLI) to relatively rank galactosylation and fucosylation levels was developed. For this purpose, Fc‐glycosylated immunoglobulin G (IgG) was recombinantly produced with varying bioprocess conditions in 15 L bioreactor and accumulated IgG was harvested. The reliability, the robustness and the applicability of LBLI to different samples has been proven. Data obtained from LC–MS analysis served as reference and were compared to the LBLI results. The introduced method is based on non‐fluidic bio‐layer interferometry (BLI), which becomes recently a standard tool for determining biomolecular interactions in a label‐free, real‐time and high‐throughput manner. For the intended purpose, biotinylated lectins were immobilized on disposable optical fiber streptavidin (SA) biosensor tips. Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL) was used to detect the core fucose and Ricinus communis agglutinin 120 (RCA120) to determine galactosylation levels. In our case study it could be shown that fucosylation was not affected by variations in glucose feed concentration and cultivation temperature. However, the galactosylation could be correlated with the ratio of mean specific productivity (qP) and ammonium (qNH4+) but was unrelated to the ratio of mean qP and the specific glucose consumption (qgluc). This presented method strengthens the applicability of the BLI platform, which already enables measurement of several product related characteristics, such as product quantity as well as kinetic rates (kd,kon) and affinity constants (kD) analysis.

Impact of the powder flow behavior on continuous fine grinding in dry operated stirred media mills

Due to the rising demand for minerals with high product fineness, new and innovative mill types are needed, which enable the energy efficient production of fine materials within the lower micron range. As fine grinding processes require mills with high energy densities as well as high production capacities, there is currently a great interest in research and development of dry operated stirred media mills. These mills are a promising option for energy efficient dry fine grinding especially due to their high stress energies and frequencies. While present studies on these mills mainly focus on the investigation of machine-related parameters, the impacts of product-related characteristics on the grinding process are still mainly unknown. Especially in continuous grinding mode, product properties are normally of high importance. Therefore, this study focusses on the investigation of the product flow behavior regarding the grinding performance in continuously and dry operated stirred media mills. This study revealed that the grinding performance is strongly determined by both, machine-related values like the choice of process parameters as well as product-related characteristics like the powder flowability. It was further shown that the flow behavior of the product influences the grinding process on different levels simultaneously. Thereby, both too high and too low powder flowabilities lead to inefficient grinding. Also, an overlapping retention mechanism of the grinding media deflector wheel was identified, which may lead to further crucial impacts especially at high powder flowabilities.

The effect of platform characteristics on the adoption of smart speakers: Empirical evidence in South Korea

The emerging market for smart speakers is growing rapidly. Unlike conventional information technology (IT) devices, smart speakers are becoming a major platform that access many types of information through a voice interface. This study examines the factors related to the adoption of smart speakers from the platform perspective. More specifically, our study investigated how the product related characteristics (e.g., functionality, design, brand, and price), platform related characteristics (e.g., perceived service availability, perceived network size, perceived complementarity) and privacy concerns affect the perceived value and intentions to adopt a smart speaker. The results indicate that platform related variables have a bigger impact on the customer adoption of the smart speaker, whereas product related variables, such as functionality, have less of an impact.

Which are the sustainable attributes affecting the real consumption behaviour? Consumer understanding and choices

PurposeThis is an exploratory study on consumer information and behaviour towards green, health, local, social and environmental credentials on labels. It focusses on many dimensions of sustainability in the food products that affect consumer choices with a dual purpose: to identify and define “sustainable consumption” behaviour in broad sense and to investigate empirically the factors affecting the real consumption behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on consumers’ understanding, motivation and use of sustainable labelling in order to understand the role sustainability information plays in the food products market.Design/methodology/approachTwo focus groups in order to investigate consumer motivation and behaviour in-depth and to prepare the questionnaire. Identification of the outcomes that could summarize sustainable consumption combining: purchase of local products, consume only seasonal fruit, prefer products with recyclable packaging, attention to the fat content in foods, give importance to traceability and purchase products only in the place of origin. Identification of the “at risk” virtuous consumer, using a binary logistic regression approach, taking into account demographic characteristics, the food and nutrition value system, experience, knowledge, institutional factors and marketing.FindingsResults from the focus groups are mainly in line with the empirical analysis, highlighting the key role of education in influencing consumer attitude and behaviour. Consumers give little attention to information provided on the label for sustainable food consumption and environmental protection and have little knowledge of environmental problems. The virtuous consumer appears to give importance to a better food nutrition value system, to pay more attention to ingredients and instructions on the label, to be more attentive to environmental and sustainable attributes, to be concerned about product quality and to be slightly influenced by brands and special offers.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings from the empirical analysis confirm the results from focus groups even if it was not possible from the empirical analysis to investigate in-depth the marketing aspects concerning the food choice. This limit probably comes from the low number of observations. Further research will focus on these marketing aspects.Practical implicationsProducts with sustainable attributes can become a strategic variable and allow companies to gain a competitive advantage, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. This may encourage the development of new marketing channels based on the direct relationship between producer and the new consumer demand, increasingly sensitive to the food security issues.Social implicationsThere is a potential interest and sensitiveness to having sustainable behaviour in a broad sense, but there is a lack of knowledge about how to behave to be sustainable. In the absence of binding rules, it is necessary that government promote information and campaigns to generate greater awareness on sustainability, aiming at increasing knowledge to drive the consumer’s choices. This may lead to virtuous results in terms of reducing social costs related to an unhealthy diet, food waste and unsustainable consumption.Originality/valueThe results show that despite the appearance of attention to the environment and to healthy food which is associated with this emerging critical consumer in the literature, there remains the problem of the consumer giving little attention to information provided on the label for sustainable food consumption and environmental protection. This is the problem of “rules of thumb” in purchasing decisions that prevail in the following situations: when consumers have an overload of information that exceeds their processing limits; when they tend to base their decision making on heuristics, focussing their choices on brands as a proxy for high-quality, product-related characteristics.

Effects of skim milk concentrate dry matter and spray drying air temperature on formation of capsules with varying particle size and the survival microbial cultures in a microcapsule matrix

ABSTRACTThe impact of total solid (TS) content in combination with the feed rate and air inlet temperature on the survival of Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei F19 after spray drying in a skim milk matrix has been investigated and correlated with the capsule size. Depending on the experimental conditions, the survival rates ranged from 64 to 0.2%. The higher the air inlet temperature, the lower was the survival rate and an inversely correlation between the TS content and particle size has been determined. These results clearly indicate that process stress analyses and product-related characteristics must not be regarded separately.

Exploring user acceptance of streaming media devices: an extended perspective of flow theory

Streaming media devices have recently become one of the innovative IT devices used to replace traditional smart TV sets. In order to examine user acceptance of streaming media device, this study proposes an extended research model based upon flow theory and investigates the relationship among flow, perceived usefulness, product-related characteristics (i.e., content quality, functionality, ease of use, portability), and a manufacturer-related characteristic (i.e., trust). Partial least square methodology was employed to test the proposed model and corresponding hypotheses on data collected from 305 survey samples. The results showed that flow and perceived usefulness, two mediating variables, has a significant influence on usage intention. Among the four antecedents reflecting product-related attributes, content quality has the strongest effect on flow. Interestingly, functionality and ease of use affected only perceived usefulness in an indirect way through flow. Thus, flow mediates the effect of functionality and ease of use on perceived usefulness. This study discusses a number of implications and offers insights useful for both researchers and practitioners.

The effects of stated preferences for firm characteristics, optimism and overconfidence on trading activities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the competing explanations of stated preferences for firm characteristics, optimism and overconfidence for trading activities in a single framework. Design/methodology/approach A survey methodology is followed to collect the data among retail investors in Malaysia using simple random sampling. Findings The findings show simultaneous identification of stated preferences for firm characteristics, optimism and overconfidence as determinants of trading activities. Preferences for firm’s profitability characteristics, management and product-related attributes and risky characteristics are likely to decrease investors’ trading activities. On the other hand, preferences for firm’s liquidity and trading volume characteristics with relative financial-domain optimism, personal investment optimism and better-than-average aspect of overconfidence are likely to increase investors’ trading activities. Practical implications This finding implies that investors should be careful not only in assessing firm’s characteristics but also need to understand the effects of optimism and overconfidence in trading decisions. Originality/value The study considers various aspects of optimism and overconfidence, and the stated preferences for firm characteristics, unlike one aspect of these behavioral biases and indirect observation of preferences for firm characteristics. Furthermore, the study considers trading frequency, annual portfolio turnover and trading intention, whereas earlier studies considered only one or two of these trading decisions.

Design synthesis of machining systems using co-platforming

Modern manufacturing environment is characterized by frequent product design changes in order to satisfy evolving customer requirements. Various strategies are implemented in order to efficiently manage the consequences arising from the product design changes starting from product design to planning and manufacturing. This paper focuses on synthesizing manufacturing system using the co-platforming concept which maps product platform features and components to the manufacturing system candidate platform machines. A matrix-based mapping model is proposed in order to determine the candidate platform and non-platform machines. Product-related characteristics including manufacturing features, feature orientation, dimensional and geometrical tolerance, cutting power requirements, workpiece volume and surface finish are considered. Characteristics of machines in the manufacturing system include machining axes, accuracy, working envelop and available power. A case study adopted from an automotive engine cylinder block manufacturer is used for demonstrating synthesizing manufacturing systems, based on co-platforming, which are capable of adapting to new products variants without changes to the platform machines. This prolongs the life of the manufacturing system and reduces costs associated with retooling and replacing it.

E-Cigarettes Use Behavior and Experience of Adults: Qualitative Research Findings to Inform E-Cigarette Use Measure Development.

To gain a better understanding of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use behavior and experience among adult e-cigarette users, with the goal of informing development of future e-cigarette use measures. Between August and October 2014 six focus groups were conducted in Seattle. Participants (63% male; 60% >35 years old; 60% White): e-cigarette users who used combustible tobacco products either currently or in the past. E-cigarette discussion topics covered: their daily use pattern (eg, frequency), product-related characteristics (eg, nicotine levels), and perceptions about health risks and benefits. Participants' descriptions of daily use were so varied that no common "unit" of a "session" easily summarized frequency or quantity of typical e-cigarette use. Most users had difficulty in tracking their own use. Participants reported nicotine craving relief when using e-cigarettes, but described e-cigarettes use as less satisfying than combustible cigarettes. Valued characteristics included "ready availability" and the possibility of using indoors. A unique aspect of the e-cigarette use experience is the option of adding flavors and having the ability to exhale "big clouds" of vapor/aerosol. Most perceived e-cigarettes as a better and safer alternative to conventional cigarettes, yet still sought further information about health consequences and safety of e-cigarettes from trusted sources. E-cigarettes users are far from homogeneous in their behavior and motivation for adopting e-cigarettes. A range of use patterns arising from both hedonic and utilitarian factors, along with product characteristics (eg, variable nicotine levels and flavors) extending beyond those of conventional cigarettes, suggest that new, specific e-cigarette use measures must be developed. The current study provides timely information on adult e-cigarette use behavior, which is a crucial step in measuring this new phenomenon and assessing the risks associated with using e-cigarette products. Our findings reveal that vaping is not a mere replacement for combustible cigarette smoking and that many users of e-cigarettes enjoy product characteristics such as flavors and "clouds" that are unavailable in combustible cigarettes. Therefore, commonly available cigarette smoking measures are not well suited to measurement of e-cigarette use behavior, and indication that new measures need to be developed to accurately track e-cigarette use.

To Own or to Use? How Product Service Systems Facilitate Eco-Innovation Behavior

Increasingly firms develop technology-based sharing approaches where users rent, lease and share products, instead of purchasing them. Particularly, the product service system (PSS) concept has recently caught attention by scholars from different disciplines, although surprisingly little from the innovation research community. The writings from our colleagues however lead us to suspect that PSS developing firms might pursue an innovation behavior that is much more in line with recent societal demands for reducing environmental externalities. Recent examples show that adopting the PSS approach could be a way even for profit-driven firms towards a more sustainable economy, actually without too much governmental intervention.However, to our knowledge this argument has yet been hardly discussed in detail. Drawing on concepts from the innovation management literature as well as from environmental management research, we contribute a model that explains why the PSS approach can shift firm innovation behavior towards generating fewer environmental externalities. This model links firm innovation behavior to three antecedents, including two product related characteristics (ownership, product purpose) and the specifics of the PSS related profit function. We argue that these antecedents differ whether firms develop products or PSSs. In the latter case the antecedent specifications impact firms’ R&D objectives in a way that creates incentives to follow innovation trajectories that lead to a reduction of environmental externalities (i.e., eco-innovation behavior).

To own or to use? How product service systems facilitate eco-innovation behavior

Increasingly firms develop technology based sharing approaches where users rent, lease and share products, instead of purchasing them. Particularly, the product service system (PSS) concept has recently caught attention by scholars from different disciplines, although surprisingly little from the innovation research community. The writings from our colleagues however lead us to suspect that PSS developing firms might pursue an innovation behavior that is much more in line with recent societal demands for reducing environmental externalities. Recent examples show that adopting the PSS approach could be a way even for profit-driven firms towards a more sustainable economy, actually without too much governmental intervention. However, to our knowledge this argument has yet been hardly discussed in detail. Drawing on concepts from the innovation management literature as well as from environmental management research, we contribute a model that explains why the PSS approach can shift firm innovation behavior towards generating fewer environmental externalities. This model links firm innovation behavior to three antecedents, including two product related characteristics (ownership, product purpose) and the specifics of the PSS related profit function. We argue that these antecedents differ whether firms develop products or PSSs. In the latter case the antecedent specifications impact firms’ R&D objectives in a way that creates incentives to follow innovation trajectories that lead to a reduction of environmental externalities (i.e., eco-innovation behavior).

Impact of Product Characteristics on Supply Chains

Supply chains are typically considered to consist of many stages across several organizations starting from raw material sources through component production to manufacturing and further on via distribution operations to B-to-B customers and consumers. This paper focuses on analyzing product-related characteristics: what the characteristics mentioned in the literature are, and the impact they have on the structure and design of supply chains. The authors look at how product characteristics in general influence the design of supply chains, and their effect on different stages of supply chains. In the literature analysis, the focus is on examining the impact of product characteristics on supply chain strategy and structures, purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics services. Finally, they draw conclusions on the above. The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, based on supply chain management literature, the authors propose a framework for analyzing the impact of product characteristics on supply chains. Secondly, at the end of the paper, they extend the framework by summarizing the key results pertaining to each supply chain management area under analysis. These include the characteristics of the main frameworks used in previous studies and the generic product characteristics used.

Power Weibull system for business management

When competing brands are nearly identical, it is very difficult, in many instances, to choose a particular product solely on the basis of the product-related characteristics. With traditional Weibull, it is not possible to make clear distinction between the modes of failures revealing bathtub profile. Maintenance policies, in particular, will primarily be based on these modes of failure, missing which or mixing which will result in undesirable and detrimental consequences. To this effect, a system is developed incorporating bathtub hazard-rate function, using which effective failure data analysis can be carried out and effective maintenance policy and warranty decisions can be arrived at. The system is developed in MATLAB 7.0 platform. Development of the system and its applicability are discussed in the paper. The system was applied to a case and results obtained are discussed.

A stakeholder model in economic geography: perception and management of environmental stakeholders in German manufacturing companies

In this paper we aim to show that stakeholder theory can enrich analysis in (environmental) economic geography. By applying and modifying the stakeholder salience model from management studies, we analyse which factors influence company managers in their environmental decision-making and which priorities they give to competing stakeholder claims. We test the model on data from 250 German manufacturing firms. Overall, the results strongly support the basic assumptions of stakeholder theory. They indicate that stakeholder attributes such as legitimacy, power and urgency and the stakeholders’ willingness to co-operate are more important for stakeholder salience than company- and product-related characteristics. Moreover, the results confirm the findings of a recent study of Spanish manufacturing firms by Gago and Antolín.