Functional extruded snack products based on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) flours

Background – Chickpea and fenugreek are both legumes that confer several nutritional and functional virtues, especially to diabetes and associated metabolic syndrome conditions. They are high in protein and fibre, low in fat and prove to be low glycaemic. They also provide a gluten-free alternative to those suffering from celiac disease. Though these seeds are locally available, hardly any products appear on the supermarket shelves.
Objectives – The aim was to utilise the health and nutritional benefits of chickpea and fenugreek and develop acceptable snack products by extrusion technology.
Design – Preliminary trials were conducted with different proportions of rice and chickpea at a range of extruder conditions to optimise the raw material and processing conditions. Studies were then conducted at optimum processing conditions using a 7:3 chickpea and rice combination replacing with 2% fenugreek or 5, 10, 15 and 20% FenuLifeÒ (deodorized fenugreek powder). Products were evaluated for their physical (expansion, crunchiness and colour) and sensory ( texture, colour, flavour and overall acceptability) characteristics in order to identify their suitability as snack products.
Outcomes – Addition of chickpea up to 70% with rice showed increased expansion and stable product characteristics. Addition of fenugreek and FenuLifeÒ, indicated slight reduction in product expansion (radial) and crunchiness. However, the product made with 20% FenuLifeÒ had significant changes in expansion, crunchiness and colour values. The median scores of sensory evaluation indicated that all products were within the acceptable range. Inclusion of fenugreek showed lower ratings for flavour due to the strong bitter taste of fenugreek. There were no significant differences between products containing FenuLifeÒ (5-15%) in their colour, flavour, texture and overall quality.
Conclusion – This study demonstrates an opportunity for using chickpea and fenugreek in functional product development. Fenugreek in the form of deodorize powder (fenulifeÒ) could be incorporated up to 15% in a mixture of chickpea and rice to develop snack products of acceptable physical and sensory properties.

Entering China : an operations management case study

Market forces and international competition are driving companies to reduce costs. The operations management issues experienced by 50 Australian companies when investing in China were examined. Many experiences were found to be common to most of the participant's industries. Relationships with government, associations, local partners and members of supply chains were considered highly important. Levels of technology in China were not considered to be a significant issue. Access to staff with sufficient technology training (particularly for product development) and technology implementation was an important issue. The paper presents a model relating the various operations management issues identified to one another.

The availability of information in knowledge-based economies

The use of information is preceded by its availability. For post-industrial economies to exploit information to full potential it is important for knowledge to be free of vested-interest censorship and manipulation. History suggests that a range of vested-interests have manipulated explicit> information availability through various forms of sectarian, state and business manipulation of the systems of information storage and transfer. The OECD 1996 report "The Knowledge-Based Economy" recognized that the diffusion of knowledge was as significant as its creation, and that knowledge distribution networks were crucial to innovation, production processes and product development. The success of enterprises and national economies is considered reliant on the effectiveness of their ability to gather, distribute and utilize knowledge. The increasing need for ready access (of information that might become knowledge) in accordance with the OEDC definition is particularly relevant to this paper as it assumes infrastructures capable of providing that need. Wherever there are infrastructures there are opportunities to benefit from them, either for profit or power. This paper considers the implications of sectarian, state and business-model control over the selective content, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge, both from historical and current perspectives. The advent of new technologies and how they have enabled the flow of information adds new dimensions to knowledge control but the quality of knowledge is less certain and who controls or influences distribution of knowledge less transparent. It could be argued that at each step in the development of knowledge distribution networks, knowledge and its distribution, is not free of the possibility of third-party vested interest.

Customer-oriented NPD models for entrepreneurial firms

New Product Development (NPD) is an underutilised methodology in New Zealand. In this paper the authors review the literature on New Product Development, NPD theory and methods for early stage product design and development to make it better understood to SMEs.

New educational service products : tertiary EC/EB education - the Asia-Pacific region

Electronic Commerce (EC) / Electronic Business (EB) has been (and is expected to continue to be) a dynamic, rapidly evolving area of technology, requiring skilled people with up-to-date knowledge and skills. The global community has required (and still requires) tertiary academic programs to prepare and train these people quickly. In the late nineties, following a tidal wave of tertiary EC program development in the United States, new tertiary programs began to appear in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region to satisfy this need, over a very short period of time. This research project aims to examine whether the development and effectiveness of tertiary EC/EB educational programs can be enhanced through employing a particular marketing paradigm. Four regions - Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR and the Republic of Singapore — were selected from the AP region, for this study. Based on a review of marketing literature, an inductive approach is adopted to build a model for new educational service product offerings. I also provide a description and comprehensive analysis of EC/EB education, and explore the model empirically, examining how it applies to the way EC education programs have been developed, to date. Essentially, this project consists of two major activities: theory building and theory testing – and is divided into three parts. Part 1: Preliminary study – literature review for theory building. This section of the thesis provides a literature review of the domains of curriculum development, EC/EB program development and management, EC/EB component models and new service product development. Part 2 : Understanding the marketplace – quantitative analysis. This section comprises five major surveys which provide an understanding of EC/EB education. Part 3 : In-depth analysis – qualitative research for theory testing. This section discusses the results of the multiple case studies of EC/EB degree programs undertaken over a five year period. The results of this project highlight both theoretical and practical aspects of the topic. In terms of the theoretical aspect, I provide a contribution to existing theory concerning the planning and development of new tertiary education programs. Research into academic course development in the past has tended to assume that all program development is pedagogically based and influenced. There is an assumption that people only develop academic programs and academic courses for pedagogic reasons. What this research project has done is to suggest that there are, in fact, many possible reasons for developing new programs and that, although these reasons might be pedagogic in nature, they can also be industry-focased, and market-oriented in the following ways: -the university is shaping the way it is perceived by the public – that is, the market; -the university is highlighting where its expertise lies. This led me to a form of new service product development consistent with the new image of the university. There is a clear need for diverse models for program development which accommodate the dynamic roles of modern universities. My research project develops such a model based on conditions in the Asia-Pacific region, and discusses findings arising from the overall project, which can be used to improve new educational program offerings in future, in both the Asia-Pacific and, I suggest, in other regions. This potential use of my findings highlights the practical contribution made by the research Project.

Process improvement and ICTs in Australian SMEs: a selection and implementation framework

This article describes the development, modification and testing of a tool designed to assist small firms in making more appropriate decisions regarding information and communication technology (ICT) selection and implementation. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, a number of possible tools were initially developed to support firm-based self-diagnostic exercises. Research outcomes from a joint European–Australian research project were regionalised for Australian conditions through collaborative product development with a number of Australian SME manufacturing firms. This article reports on the pilot implementations and the outcomes achieved with these Australian SMEs. These implementations have shown successful outcomes for the trial SME participants and have led to the creation of an online self-assessment tool to allow wider access by interested SMEs

The play of power and politics in innovation and HRM

This paper analyses the human resource management (HRM) practices involved in the implementation of a process innovation approach to product development (concurrent engineering (CE)) in the Australian subsidiary of a multinational firm engaged in military defence electronics. According to the research literature, almost all aspects of managing product development under a CE approach are linked to people management. Yet in this particular case, other than project team structure, the prescriptive HRM dimensions of CE were conspicuously absent in the implementation process. This absence is explained by the play of power and politics involving stakeholders analysed over an 18 month period. The implications of this analysis for understanding the embedded, interdependent and political nature of HRM and process innovation are addressed.

Innovation and HRM : absences and politics

This article analyses the role of HRM practices in the implementation of an innovative cross-functional approach to new product development (concurrent engineering, CE) in Eurotech Industries. Contrary to CE methodology stipulations, and despite supportive conditions, HRM received scant attention in the implementation process. Organizational power and politics were clearly involved in this situation, and this article explores how their play created such HRM ‘absences’. The article builds on a four-dimensional view of power in order to provide a deeper understanding of the embedded, interdependent and political nature of HRM practice and innovation.

Customer analytics managers' views about market research

Data based on survey responses from online questionaire directed at Customer Analytics managers in the United States. Respondents recruited were mainly in CRM, customer data warehouse or CA roles.

Success was measured on several items asking respondents to compare the success of their organisation with others in their industry on measures such as profitability and new product development. Items about the integration of MR and CA were included. These talked about effectively combining CA and MR for the purpose of identifying new markets and new segments as well as reducing churn.

Online communities and commercialization of Chinese internet literature

This article presents a case study on roles of online communities in development and commercialization of Chinese Internet literature (CIL). Online communities are widely used in ethnic Chinese communities for publication of CIL works. Uses of online communities in publication of CIL works enhance authors’ and readers’ experience and facilitate the growth of the CIL market. In turn, the growth of the CIL market creates new business opportunities that eventually lead to CIL commercialization. Evidences from the case show that the roles of online communities on CIL commercialization are much larger than simply being a new product development platform.

Analysing business processes to manage and resolve strategic issues in a manufacturing business

This paper demonstrates the value of applying heuristics to knowledge systems of business processes in a manufacturing company to resolve strategic issues and enable the attainment of strategic business goals. The manufacturing company was losing market share through not being able to get its new products to market quickly enough. The research illustrates the ‘location’ and use of information systems in a manufacturing context. The researchers collected the specific business process knowledge in the company and developed a knowledge management system and then applied heuristics to the ‘AS IS’ manufacturing process to determine better models of manufacturing that would enable faster to market product development and thus enable better strategic alignment between company expectations and realisation of market share. The paper highlights the strategic use of information systems as a means of directly solving business problems.

Improving knowledge, fibre and textile quality, and communications

This is a technical report summarising activities to improve the knowledge about rare natural animal fibres in Australia, including aspects of their production, fibre quality, and textiles made from these fibres. It summarises results of Australian investment on these subjects, and makes recommendations about future investment. This is important, as there is limited scientific understanding of how to improve productivity, quality and financial returns from these industries in Australia.