New Product Development Process

It is very important for any company with an intention of developing a new product to ensure that all competing goals are well balanced. New product development should follow a systematic process and organizations should therefore be able to adapt to new opportunities for sustainable development.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on New Product Development Process specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The process of developing a new product should be thoroughly followed within the frameworks of new innovation. As much as an organization may be interested in short-run profits, it is very essential not to lose sight on the long-term goals (Annacchino, 2003). The new-product planning process is divided into seven fundamental stages that are interdependent. The decisions made at each stage affect the ultimate outcome of the process. The first stage of a product development process is the idea generation stage where new id eas regarding new products are generated by the research and development department. Market and consumer trends are analyzed at this stage together with the available opportunities and threats. Ethnographic development methods and competitor analysis are very important in generating ideas about new products. Opportunity analysis should be thoroughly done in order for the organization to come up with concrete facts to be used the screening phase. Brainstorming can lead to excellent ideas about new product lines and features. The possible threats and opportunities presented by the new ideas should be used to decide whether the idea should proceed to the screening stage or not (Annacchino, 2003). The second stage in a new-product development plan is idea screening. The main objective of this stage is to ensure that an organization’s resources are only committed to sensible ideas and concepts. In product screening, various issues such consumer benefits, market trends, profitabili ty and the current competitive pressures are considered before any new idea is approved. The company should also have the capacity to produce the new product or else the whole process remains to be a dream (Annacchino, 2003). The company should have the required technologies and manpower to produce the new product for the idea to sound practical.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More After idea screening, the next stage is concept development and testing. During this stage, all the intellectual property issues are explored and the target market identified. Product features and all the engineering details are developed at this stage. The cost and methods of production are evaluated at this stage in order to determine the feasibility of the new product (Kolar, 2000). The other way of testing a new concept is through interviewing prospective customers as the organization tries t o find out their thoughts about the new idea before a final decision is made. The fourth stage is the business analysis stage where the price and profitability of the new product is estimated based on market trends and competition. Methods such as break-even analysis are used at this stage to estimate the profitability of the new product. The next stage after the business analysis stage is product development. During product development, all the resources are assembled and the actual final product produced. The products are produced according to the initial design and customer demands before being taken out for test marketing (Kolar, 2000). The next stage after product development is test marketing where the prospective market performance of the new product is determined. At this stage, the new product is produced and tested in actual situations in which it was designed for. All the necessary adjustments are done at this stage before the product is taken to trade shows. Customer acc eptance is very important and it is therefore very necessary to make sample sales to prospective customers at this stage to find out how the new product is received by customers. A test market area is selected and the actual product sold as the new product tries to penetrate the market (Kolar, 2000). The seventh and final stage of a new product development process is commercialization. After the new product has been tested in the market during the market testing stage, the product is now ready for launching. The organization embarks on serious promotion of the new product with substantial resources being invested in advertisements. During the commercialization stage, distribution channels are identified and the product supplied to the market. Many new products tend to fail in the market due to poor market analysis (Kolar, 2000). A serious organization should be able to foresee any potential failures and this can only be done through careful market analysis.Advertising We will w rite a custom term paper sample on New Product Development Process specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Lack of market demand is among the major challenges that companies face when introducing a new product to the market. Market assessment should be done in the right way for a company to avoid investing its resources in an idea that is bound to fail. There are various mistakes that companies make during market assessment that can result in new-product failures. To begin with, a company that is unaware of its capacity to create a market demand is bound to fail. The market demand is very important for a new product to penetrate in the market. The other mistake that most companies make is only focusing on its technical merits at the expense of business and commercial factors. Incomplete and biased market demand feedback during market testing is another reason why new products tend to fail in the market. Overdependence on the customer’ s interests can make a company forget to consider other factors that affect purchasing decisions (Kolar, 2000). Some companies rely on third party market forecasts that can be at times deceiving. It is essential for an organization that intends to introduce a new product into the market to conduct its own market research using the right methodologies. It is not a wise idea to only rely on the assumptions made by a third-party. Sound business decisions can only be if the market is assessed professionally using proven methodologies (Kmetovicz, 1992). Detailed market investigation is the key to the success of a new product but many business executives tend to ignore this fact. Since there is always a lot of market competition for new products, an organization must put in extra effort to ensure that its products and services remain competitive within the market. Organizations that offer services to customers have to provide other peripheral services to their customers for them to have a competitive advantage. According to the goods/services continuum, a firm should focus marketing the services it provides rather than focus on marketing pure goods (Kmetovicz, 1992). A firm should specify its core services regardless of whether it is goods or service oriented. The bond between the company and customers is made stronger when there is more emphasis on the basic services offered to the customers. Marketing pure goods is important but what makes a company more competitive are the services it offers to its customers (Kmetovicz, 1992).Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More References Annacchino, M. (2003). New product development: From initial idea to product management. London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Kmetovicz, R. (1992). New product development: Design and analysis. New York, NY: Wiley-IEEE. Kolar, A. (2000). The new product development process. New York: NY: Milwaukee School of Engineering. This term paper on New Product Development Process was written and submitted by user Kamren Baxter to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Exploring the Yellowstone Supervolcano

Exploring the Yellowstone Supervolcano Theres a powerful and violent  menace lurking under northwestern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, one that has reshaped the landscape several times over the last several million years. Its called the Yellowstone Supervolcano and  the resulting geysers, bubbling mudpots, hot springs, and evidence of long-gone  volcanoes  make  Yellowstone National Park  a fascinating geologic wonderland. The official name for this region is the Yellowstone Caldera, and it spans an area about 72 by 55 kilometers (35 to 44 miles)  in the Rocky Mountains. The caldera has been  geologically active for  2.1 million years, periodically sending  lava  and  clouds of gas and dust into the atmosphere, and reshaping the landscape for hundreds of kilometers.   Yellowstone Caldera is among the  worlds largest such calderas. The caldera, its supervolcano, and the underlying magma chamber help geologists understand volcanism and is a prime place  to study first-hand the effects of hot-spot geology on the Earths surface. The History and Migration of the Yellowstone Caldera The Yellowstone Caldera is really the vent for a large plume of hot material that extends hundreds of kilometers down through Earths crust. The plume has persisted for at least 18 million years and is a region where molten rock from Earths mantle rises to the surface. The plume has remained relatively stable while the North American continent has passed over it. Geologists track  a series of calderas created by the plume. These calderas run from the east to northeast and follow the motion of the plate moves to the southwest. Yellowstone Park lies right in the middle of the modern caldera. The caldera experienced super-eruptions 2.1 and 1.3 million years ago, and then again about 630,000 years ago. Super-eruptions are massive ones, spreading clouds of ash and rock over thousands of square kilometers of the landscape. Compared to those, smaller eruptions and the hot-spot activity Yellowstone exhibits  today are relatively minor. The Yellowstone Caldera Magma Chamber The plume that feeds the Yellowstone Caldera moves through a magma chamber some 80 kilometers (47 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide. It is filled with molten rock that, for the moment, lies fairly quietly below Earths surface, although from time to time, the movement of the lava inside the chamber triggers earthquakes. Heat from the plume creates  the geysers (which shoot superheated water into the air from underground), hot springs, and mudpots scattered throughout the region. Heat and pressure from the magma chamber is slowly increasing the height of the Yellowstone Plateau, which has been rising more rapidly in recent times. So far, however, there is no indication that a volcanic eruption is about to occur. Of more concern to scientists studying the region is the danger of hydrothermal explosions in between major super-eruptions. These are outbursts caused when underground systems of superheated water are disturbed by earthquakes. Even earthquakes at a great distance can affect the magma chamber.   Will Yellowstone Erupt Again? Sensational stories crop up every few years suggesting that Yellowstone is about to blow again. Based on detailed observations of the earthquakes that occur locally, geologists are sure that it will erupt again, but probably not  anytime soon. The region  has been fairly inactive for the past 70,000 years and the best guess is that  will remain quiet for thousands more.  But make no mistake about it, a Yellowstone super-eruption will happen again, and when it does, it will be a catastrophic mess. What Happens During a Super-Eruption? Within the park itself, lava flows from one or more volcanic sites would likely cover  much of the landscape, but the bigger worry is ash clouds blowing away from the site of the eruption. Wind would blow the ash as far as 800 kilometers (497 miles), eventually blanketing the mid-section of the U.S. with layers of ash and devastating the nations central breadbasket region. Other states would see a dusting of ash, depending on their proximity to the eruption. While its not likely that all life on earth would be destroyed, it would definitely be affected by the clouds of ash and the massive release of  greenhouse gases. On a planet where the climate is already altering rapidly, a additional discharge would likely change growing patterns, shorten growing seasons, and lead to fewer sources of food for all of Earths life. The U.S. Geological Survey maintains a close watch on the Yellowstone Caldera. Earthquakes, small hydrothermal events, even a slight change in the eruptions of Old Faithful (Yellowstones famous geyser), provide clues to changes deep underground. If magma starts to move in ways that indicate an eruption, the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory will be the first to alert surrounding populations.

Ethan Allen - American Revolution

Ethan Allen - American Revolution Birth: Ethan Allen was born at Litchfield, CT, on January 21, 1738, to Joseph and Mary Baker Allen. The eldest of eight children, Allen moved with his family to nearby Cornwall, CT shortly after his birth. Raised on the family farm, he saw his father become increasingly prosperous and serve as a town selectman. Educated locally, Allen furthered his studies under the tutelage of a minister in Salisbury, CT with the hopes of gaining admission to Yale College. Though possessing the intellect for higher education, he was prevented attending Yale when his father died in 1755. Rank Titles: During the French Indian War, Ethan Allen served as a private in the colonial ranks. After moving to Vermont, he was elected colonel commandant of the local militia, better known as the Green Mountain Boys. During the early months of the American Revolution, Allen held no official rank in the Continental Army. Upon his exchange and release by the British in 1778, Allen was given the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and major general of militia. After returning to Vermont later that year, he was made a general in the Army of Vermont. Personal Life: While working as the part owner of an iron foundry in Salisbury, CT, Ethan Allen married Mary Brownson in 1762.  Though a largely unhappy union due to their increasingly conflicting personalities, the couple had five children (Loraine, Joseph, Lucy, Mary Ann, Pamela) before Marys death from consumption in 1783. A year later, Allen married Frances Fanny Buchanan. The union produced three children, Fanny, Hannibal, and Ethan. Fanny would survive her husband and lived until 1834. Peacetime: With the French Indian War well underway in 1757, Allen elected to join the militia and take part in an expedition to relieve the Siege of Fort William Henry. Marching north, the expedition soon learned that the Marquis de Montcalm had captured the fort.   Assessing the situation, Allens unit decided to return to Connecticut.   Returning to farming, Allen bought into an iron foundry in 1762. Making an effort to expand the business, Allen soon found himself in debt and sold off part of his farm. He also also sold part of his stake in the foundry to his brother Hemen.   The business continued to founder and in 1765 the brothers gave up their stake to their partners. The following years saw Allen and his family moved several times with stops in Northampton, MA, Salisbury, CT, and Sheffield, MA. Vermont: Moving north to the New Hampshire Grants (Vermont) in 1770 at the behest of several locals, Allen became embroiled in the controversy over which colony controlled the region. In this period, the territory of Vermont was claimed jointly by the colonies of New Hampshire and New York, and both issued competing land grants to settlers. As a holder of grants from New Hampshire, and wishing to associate Vermont with New England, Allen aided took in legal proceedings to defend their claims. When these went in New Yorks favor, he returned to Vermont and helped found the Green Mountain Boys at the Catamount Tavern. An anti-New York militia, the unit consisted of companies from several towns and sought to resist Albanys efforts to take control of the region. With Allen as its colonel commandant and several hundred in the ranks, the Green Mountain Boys effectively controlled Vermont between 1771 and 1775. With the beginning of the American Revolution in April 1775, an irregular Connecticut militia unit reached out to Allen for assistance in capturing the principle British base in the region, Fort Ticonderoga. Located at the south edge of Lake Champlain, the fort commanded the lake and the route to Canada. Agreeing to lead the mission, Allen began assembling his men and the necessary supplies. The day before their planned attack, they were interrupted by the arrival of Colonel Benedict Arnold who had been sent north to seize the fort by the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. Fort Ticonderoga Lake Champlain: Commissioned by the government of Massachusetts, Arnold claimed that he was to have overall command of the operation. Allen disagreed, and after the Green Mountain Boys threatened to return home, the two colonels decided to share command. On May 10, 1775, Allen and Arnolds men stormed Fort Ticonderoga, capturing its entire forty-eight man garrison. Moving up the lake, they captured Crown Point, Fort Ann, and Fort St. John in the weeks that followed. Canada Captivity: That summer, Allen and his chief lieutenant, Seth Warner, traveled south to Albany and received support for the formation of a Green Mountain Regiment. They returned north and Warner was given command of the regiment, while Allen was placed in charge of a small force of Indians and Canadians. On September 24, 1775, during an ill-advised attack on Montreal, Allen was captured by the British. Initially considered a traitor, Allen was shipped to England and imprisoned at Pendennis Castle in Cornwall. He remained a prisoner until being exchanged for Colonel Archibald Campbell in May 1778. Vermont Independence: Upon gaining his freedom, Allen opted to return to Vermont, which had declared itself an independent republic during his captivity. Settling near present-day Burlington, he remained active in politics and was named a general in the Army of Vermont. Later that year, he traveled south and asked the Continental Congress to recognize Vermonts status as an independent state. Unwilling to anger New York and New Hampshire, Congress declined to honor his request. For the remainder of the war, Allen worked with his brother Ira and other Vermonters to ensure that their claims to the land were upheld. This went as far as negotiating with the British between 1780 and 1783, for military protection and possible inclusion in the British Empire. For these actions, Allen was charged with treason, however since it was clear that his goal had been to force the Continental Congress into taking action on the Vermont issue the case was never pursued. After the war, Allen retired to his farm where he lived until his death in 1789.

Workers Without Health Insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Workers Without Health Insurance - Essay Example It will finally draw a conclusive recommendation on how workers can be provided with medical covers to enhance their heath care service provision. The primary source of health insurance covers in the United States is the employer-sponsored insurance -ESI1. ESI offers job-based health benefits which are in some cases subsidized by the federal government by exempting employer tax on health insurance premiums. In certain companies there are private employer sponsored which are voluntary and depends on the company's financial ability to meet the health care requirement for its entire workforce. Since not all employers offer insurance covers to its employees, not all workers have insurance policies and consequently, their children and spouses do not have them. In most cases, people who are not insured are either workers or family members of the workers. Previous research has shown that most American citizens obtain their health insurances through their employment agencies. However, some working environments do not find it economically possible to offer health insurance services to its workers. These working environments include; those who earn low wages, short job tenures, working part-time or those with low incomes2. In 2003, the Kaiser commission of inquiry reported that of the 124 million workers who were uninsured, 80% of them were self employed and this can be explained by the fact that these group of people do not get access to group insurance which is somehow cheaper. Another group of uninsured workers who formed the remaining percentage were workers with non-working spouses. Causes of medical disenfranchisement People become medically disenfranchised because they lack proper medical insurance cover that they can depend on whenever they are not feeling well. Poor health care in America today has been blamed on lack of worker insurance policies and programs leading to high costs of medical services. As many people continue to work as casuals and part-time jobs, in addition to low wages and salaries, they are not able to meet the medical requirements needed not only by themselves but also by their families. This has led to increased number of people who operate without medical and insurance covers for a better part of their lives. In fact, research has shown that three out five working Americans are not covered with insurance covers. This trend has in the past sparked a lot of condemnation from all quarters especially from government critics. Pressure is therefore building on employers to ensure that all its employees are insured. However, with increased incidences of political unwillingness, societal diversity and stagnating economies, it is no longer economically visible to offer all people the medical insurance cover they need. The burden has been therefore left to the workers to seek private insurance covers, which are very expensive to them.

Lactic acid and ethanol fermentation Lab Report

Lactic acid and ethanol fermentation - Lab Report Example The presence of CO2, released as the waste product is responsible for its foam like expansion as it forms bubbles in the dough. Ethanol, on the other hand evaporates from the dough completely after the bread is fully baked (Kratz, 2005). Ethanol fermentation that is carried out by yeast is employed for the production of nearly all beverages containing alcohol except for those produced by maceration of carbon. In addition, the production of wines and brandies is carried out by the process involving fermentation of natural sugar of fruits, especially that of grapes. While beers, ales and whiskeys are produced by the fermentation of grain starches that is converted to sugar by application of enzymes called amylase that is present in germinated grain kernels. Vodka is produced by the fermentation of amylase-treated grains or potatoes, while the first step involved in the production of rum is the fermentation of cane sugar. In each and every process the fermentation must take place in a v essel that is specifically arranged to allow CO2 to escape, but at the same time preventing the external air from coming in, as formation of ethanol can only take place in absence of oxygen. The yet another use of yeast fermentation of various carbohydrate products is to produce ethanol that can be used for the fuels. Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol which is found in alcoholic beverages. It is mostly used as biofuels additive for gasoline in motor fuels (alcohol and you). Method and materials used for making wine For making wine, grapes or berries are crushed, depending upon the type of wine that is to be made. Yeast is then added to this mush of crushed fruits that consumes the sugars... The historic uses of fermentation were mostly the creation of alcoholic beverages such as mead, wine and beer, which date back to 7, 000 BC in some parts of Middle East. However, the fermentation of food items such as milk and other vegetables was experimented almost thousand years later. In 1857, Louis Pasteur, a French Chemist connected yeast to fermentation and defined it as respiration without air. Later, in 1907, Eduard Buchner, the German chemist found out that fermentation is actually caused by yeast secretions which can even take place outside the living cells. In 1920s, scientist discovered that extracts of muscle catalyze the formation of lactate from glucose in the absence of air. They also revealed that fermentation reactions are not peculiar to the action of yeast but can also occur in many other cases of glucose utilization. For making wine, grapes or berries are crushed, depending upon the type of wine that is to be made. Yeast is then added to this mush of crushed fruits that consumes the sugars released in their juices. A 5 gms packet of dry yeast or 35 ml to 175 ml of liquid yeast would be the right amount for making 5 gallons of wine.

Discrimination and Physical Appearance :: essays papers

Discrimination and Physical Appearance There are billions of people living in this world, and that is the most important reason why there is a discrimination. This discrimination occurs due to the difference of skin color, religion, language, and even culture. Back in my home country, there are two groups of people who always seem to discriminate one another. These two groups are the Indonesian natives and the Chinese. Since my skin color is very much different as compared to the Indonesian natives’ I could hardly make friends with them. This was mainly because I always thought that the Indonesians were low-class people just because they are poor; they worked as servants, street sweepers and labors. I believed that this thought applies to most of the other Chinese. The Chinese always think that they are much better off than then dark-skinned Indonesians because the Chinese hold the majority of the business throughout the whole Indonesia although the Chinese population is extremely small in Indonesia. Besides the difference in skin color, I used to think that I would never make friends with the natives because ninety nine percent of them were Moslems. I began to realize that I was absolutely wrong when I left my home country for Singapore to continue my further studies. There, I was very impressed how the Singaporeans, the Indians and the Malays get along together very well. There is even a racial harmony day held once a year. Since then, I started to treat my surrounding people equally regardless of their skin color, language, and religion. When I went back to Indonesia, I tried to make friends with the natives. I then realized that they were just the same as the Chinese. I felt very sorry whenever I thought of how I treated my servants and my other Indonesians so badly in the past. I should have treated the Indonesians well since the beginning because Indonesia does not belong to the Chinese; I was only a foreigner there.

Studying Deviance from a Socio-cultural Stance

Robert K. Merton describes deviance as a unaccepted means of attaining socially important goals. His term innovation requires the person to obtain such goals (wealth, power, etc†¦) in socially unacceptable means, therefore placing the person in the category of a deviant. The strengths of looking at deviance in criminology are the boundless resources of sociologists and other social scientists such as Merton, Emile Durkheim, and George Herbert Mead.Their works are timeless and to the point as they do not need to reflect the current state of societies and instead only the underlying conflict theories from that school of thought that they represent. They are complimentary to current studies, but herein lies the weakness and that is the ever-changing actors and states in societies that need to be studied. The most important factor is the socio-cultural root of socially important goals that deviancy holds many times for the criminal.Those born into poverty and those whose ethnicity o r other minority status puts them into societal disadvantage may innovate ways to achieve simple survival when economies fail them. These socio-cultural roots need to be further explored. The past decade has shown more minority arrests on the part of women and black men, for example. A research study done by the National Institute of Justice suggests that rates of violent crimes by women is on the increase and the term â€Å"marginalized† is used to possibly explain that the most vulnerable women (those who are victims of crimes perpetuated by others) are most likely to commit crimes themselves.But the weakness is the absence of explanation as to why now this is a growing problem as women have always held minority status, but have not shown this level of deviancy. Black men are another group that is disproportionately incarcerated in relation to whites. The question may be of what is the rate of arrest vs. conviction? Is it that these minority populations are being arrested a t higher rates and inevitably convicted due to the financial strain of defense and, in fact deviancy has not changed, arresting attitudes have changed?Research is of the utmost importance in revealing these answers. At any rate these are socio-cultural issues, as is the issue of the images and glamorization of crime in some groups. Pierce and Singleton (1995) suggest that in young African American youth achieving is related to a sense of competence and that that competence represents a sense of control over their possibly out-of-control environments.Innovation then is transformed into deviancy when control and competence is the desired outcome. Looking at conflict theory and economics is the key to understanding this, but it does make it difficult for the Criminologist, as he or she must look to the current state of affairs in a society and look back to theories; sometimes in other disciplines to comprehend deviancy. Studies must be done on motivation and perception, which are highl y psychological.Organizational Behavior offers insight into, such deviant topics as gangs and recruitment, etc†¦Political Science may be utilized to look at other comparable societies to one’s own and the crime rate in relation to regime/regime change and other political factors. Theology (and the Protestant Ethic, for example) may offer insight into deviancy of past and present, as well. But, most importantly a Criminologist must understand the socio-cultural roots, stereotypes, and cultural bias that exists in his/her own community of interest to understand deviancy as innovation and the roots of all this. References Eitzen, D. S.   Phi Delta Kappan. April 1992.   â€Å"Problem Students: The Sociocultural Roots†.   p.587. Mead, G.H. (1918) â€Å"The Psychology of Punitive Justice†, American Journal of Sociology 23: 577-602. National Institute of Justice.   (1999).   â€Å"Research on Women and Girls in the Justice System: Plenary Papers of the 1999 Conference on Criminal Research and Evaluation-Enhancing Policy and Practice Through Research†. Volume 3. Pierce, W.J. & Singleton, S.M.   (1995).   â€Å"Improvisation as a concept for understanding and treating violent behavior among African American youthâ€Å". Families in Society. 76(7).   pp.444-450.