Marketing and the Logic of Service: Value Facilitation, Value Creation and Co-creation, and Their Marketing Implications

The discussion of a service-dominant logic has made the findings of decades of service marketing research a topic of interest for marketing at large. Some fundamental aspects of the logic such as value creation and its marketing implications are more complex than they have been treated as so far and need to be further developed to serve marketing theory and practice well. Following the analysis in the present article it is argued that although customers are co-producers in service processes, according to the value-in-use notion adopted in the contemporary marketing and management literature they are fundamentally the creators of value for themselves. Furthermore, it is concluded that although by providing goods and services as input resources into customers’ consumption and value-generating processes firms are fundamentally value facilitators, interactions with customers that exist or can be created enable firms to engage themselves with their customers’ processes and thereby they become co-creators of value with their customers. As marketing implications it is observed that 1) the goal of marketing is to support customers’ value creation, 2) following a service logic and due to the existence of interactions where the firm’s and the customer’s processes merge into an integrated joint value creation process, the firm is not restricted to making value propositions only, but can directly and actively influence the customer’s value fulfilment as well and extend its marketing process to include activities during customer-firm interactions, and 3) although all goods and services are consumed as service, customers’ purchasing decisions can be expected to be dependant of whether they have the skills and interest to use a resource, such as a good, as service or want to buy extended market offerings including process-related elements. Finally, the analysis concludes with five service logic theses.

Diffusion path during internal displacement reactions in multi-component oxides: Reaction between Fe and (Co,Mg)TiO3 solid solution at 1273 K

The reaction between Fe foil and a disc of ilmenite solid solution (Co-0.48 Ni-0.52) TiO3 was studied at 1273 K. At the metal/oxide interface, the displacement reaction, Fe + (Co,Mg)TiO3 = Co + (Fe,Mg)TiO3 occurs, resulting in an ilmenite solid solution containing three divalent cations. Ferrous ions diffuse into the oxide solid solution and cause the precipitation of Co-Fe alloy as discrete particles inside the oxide matrix. The morphology of the product layer was characterized by SEM. Only two phases, alloy and ilmenite, were detected in the reaction zone. This suggests that the local flux condition imposed by ilmenite stoichiometry (Co + Fe + Mg):Ti = 1:1] was satisfied during the reactive diffusion: (J(Co) + J(Fe) + J(Mg)) = J(Ti). The composition of the alloy and the oxide was determined using EPMA as a function of distance in the direction of diffusion. Although Mg does not participate in the displacement reaction, its composition in the ilmenite phase was found to be position dependent inside the reaction zone. The up-hill diffusion of inert Mg is caused by the development of chemical potential gradients as a result of displacement reaction. The evolution of composition gradients inside the reaction zone and the diffusion path in a ternary composition diagram of the system CoTiO3-FeTiO3-MgTiO3 are discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Polymorphs, Pseudopolymorphs, and Co-Crystals of Orcinol: Exploring the Structural Landscape with High Throughput Crystallography

An extensive search of the structural landscape of orcinol, 5-methyl-1,3-dihydroxybenzene, has been carried out with high throughput techniques. Polymorphs, pseudopolymorphs (solvates), and co-crystals are described. Several packing modes driven by O-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds were identified for the orcinol N-base co-crystals and their hydrates. In these several structural variations, the OH group conformations in the orcinol molecule were found to depend on the choice of co-formers and the crystallization conditions employed. The structural landscape of a molecule is properly described by a sufficiently large number of related crystal structures, and high throughput crystallization followed by rapid structure determinations enables one to access these structures efficiently. Any understanding of this landscape would enable the crystal engineer to reasonably anticipate crystal structures of benzene-1,3-diol co-crystals with N-bases.

Interdiffusion and the vacancy wind effect in Ni-Pt and Co-Pt systems

In this study, bulk and multifoil diffusion couple experiments were conducted to examine the interdiffusion process in Ni-Pt and Co-Pt binary alloy systems. Inter-, intrinsic-, and tracer-diffusion coefficients at different temperatures, and as a function of the composition, were estimated by using the experimental data. Results show that in both the alloy systems, Pt is the slower diffusing species, and hence the interdiffusion process is controlled by either Ni or Co. The thermodynamic driving force makes the intrinsic diffusion coefficients of Co and Ni higher in the range of 30-70 at.%. The low activation energy for Co and Ni impurity diffusion in Pt compared with Pt in Ni and Co indicates that the size of the atoms plays an important role. The vacancy wind effects on the diffusion process are examined in detail, and it was demonstrated that its contribution falls within the experimental scatter and hence can be neglected.

Magneto-Transport Study of Pure and Co Doped ZnO Thin Films

A detailed low temperature magneto-transport study is carried out to understand the transport mechanism in pure and Co doped ZnO thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. A negative transverse magneto-resistance (MR) (with a value similar to 4% at 4.5 K) which decreases monotonically with the increase in temperature, is observed for the undoped ZnO film. A competition between positive and negative MR is observed for the Co doped ZnO samples. In this case at higher field values negative MR contribution dominates over the positive MR, which gives rise to a slope change in the MR data. Our data for MR shows excellent agreement with the semi-empirical formula given by Khosla et al., which is originally proposed for the degenerate semiconductors. This formula incorporates the third order perturbation expansion of the s-d exchange scattering of the conduction electrons from the localised spins. We have also obtained the Hall mobility, carrier conc. and mean free path as function of temperature for the pure ZnO film.

Synthesis and characterization of Fe- and Co-based ferrite nanoparticles and study of the T-1 and T-2 relaxivity of chitosan-coated particles

In pursuit of newer and more effective contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, we report in this article the use of biocompatible chitosan-coated ferrite nanoparticles of different kinds with a view to determine their potential applications as the contrast agents in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance. The single-phase ferrite particles were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation (CoFe2O4 and Fe3O4) and by applying ultrasonic vibration (CoFe2O4 and Co0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4). Although magnetic anisotropy of CoFe2O4 nanoparticle leads to finite coercivity even for nanoensembles, it has been reduced significantly to a minimum level by applying ultrasonic vibration. Fe3O4 synthesized by chemical co-precipitation yielded particles which already possess negligible coercivity and remanence. Substitution of Co by Zn in CoFe2O4 increases the magnetization significantly with a small increase in coercivity and remanence. Particles synthesized by the application of ultrasonic vibration leads to the higher values of T-2 relaxivities than by chemical coprecipitation. We report that the T-2 relaxivities of these particles are of two orders of magnitude higher than corresponding T-1 relaxivities. Thus, these particles are evidently suitable as contrast agent for T-2 weighted MR images.

Production of syngas from steam reforming and CO removal with water gas shift reaction over nanosized Zr0.95Ru0.05O2-delta solid solution

This study presents the synthesis, characterization, and kinetics of steam reforming of methane and water gas shift (WGS) reactions over highly active and coke resistant Zr0.93Ru0.05O2-delta. The catalyst showed high activity at low temperatures for both the reactions. For WGS reaction, 99% conversion of CO with 100% H-2 selectivity was observed below 290 degrees C. The detailed kinetic studies including influence of gas phase product species, effect of temperature and catalyst loading on the reaction rates have been investigated. For the reforming reaction, the rate of reaction is first order in CH4 concentration and independent of CO and H2O concentration. This indicates that the adsorptive dissociation of CH4 is the rate determining step. The catalyst also showed excellent coke resistance even under a stoichiometric steam/carbon ratio. A lack of CO methanation activity is an important finding of present study and this is attributed to the ionic nature of Ru species. The associative mechanism involving the surface formate as an intermediate was used to correlate experimental data. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In-cylinder investigations and analysis of a SI gas engine fuelled with H-2 and CO rich syngas fuel: Sensitivity analysis of combustion descriptors for engine diagnostics and control

The sensitivity of combustion phasing and combustion descriptors to ignition timing, load and mixture quality on fuelling a multi-cylinder natural gas engine with bio-derived H-2 and CO rich syngas is addressed. While the descriptors for conventional fuels are well established and are in use for closed loop engine control, presence of H-2 in syngas potentially alters the mixture properties and hence combustion phasing, necessitating the current study. The ability of the descriptors to predict abnormal combustion, hitherto missing in the literature, is also addressed. Results from experiments using multi-cylinder engines and numerical studies using zero dimensional Wiebe function based simulation models are reported. For syngas with 20% H-2 and CO and 2% CH4 (producer gas), an ignition retard of 5 +/- 1 degrees was required compared to natural gas ignition timing to achieve peak load of 72.8 kWe. It is found that, for syngas, whose flammability limits are 0.42-1.93, the optimal engine operation was at an equivalence ratio of 1.12. The same methodology is extended to a two cylinder engine towards addressing the influence of syngas composition, especially H-2 fraction (varying from 13% to 37%), on the combustion phasing. The study confirms the utility of pressure trace derived combustion descriptors, except for the pressure trace first derivative, in describing the MBT operating condition of the engine when fuelled with an alternative fuel. Both experiments and analysis suggest most of the combustion descriptors to be independent of the engine load and mixture quality. A near linear relationship with ignition angle is observed. The general trend(s) of the combustion descriptors for syngas fuelled operation are similar to those of conventional fuels; the differences in sensitivity of the descriptors for syngas fuelled engine operation requires re-calibration of control logic for MBT conditions. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Noteworthy performance of La1-xCaxMnO3 perovskites in generating H-2 and CO by the thermochemical splitting of H2O and CO2

Perovskite oxides of the composition La1-xCaxMnO3 ( LCM) have been investigated for the thermochemical splitting of H2O and CO2 to produce H-2 and CO, respectively. The study was carried out in comparison with La1-xSrxMnO3, CeO2 and other oxides. The LCM system exhibits superior characteristics in high-temperature evolution of oxygen, and in reducing CO2 to CO and H2O to H-2. The best results were obtained with La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 whose performance is noteworthy compared to that of other oxides including ceria. The orthorhombic structure of LCM seems to be a crucial factor.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Response Regulators, DevR and NarL, Interact in Vivo and Co-regulate Gene Expression during Aerobic Nitrate Metabolism

Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes Rv0844c/Rv0845 encoding the NarL response regulator and NarS histidine kinase are hypothesized to constitute a two-component system involved in the regulation of nitrate metabolism. However, there is no experimental evidence to support this. In this study, we established M. tuberculosis NarL/NarS as a functional two-component system and identified His(241) and Asp(61) as conserved phosphorylation sites in NarS and NarL, respectively. Transcriptional profiling between M. tuberculosis H37Rv and Delta narL mutant strain during exponential growth in broth cultures with or without nitrate defined an similar to 30-gene NarL regulon that exhibited significant overlap with DevR-regulated genes, thereby implicating a role for the DevR response regulator in the regulation of nitrate metabolism. Notably, expression analysis of a subset of genes common to NarL and DevR regulons in M. tuberculosis Delta devR, Delta devS Delta dosT, and Delta narL mutant strains revealed that in response to nitrite produced during aerobic nitrate metabolism, the DevRS/DosT regulatory system plays a primary role that is augmented by NarL. Specifically, NarL itself was unable to bind to the narK2, acg, and Rv3130c promoters in phosphorylated or unphosphorylated form; however, its interaction with DevR similar to P resulted in cooperative binding, thereby enabling co-regulation of these genes. These findings support the role of physiologically derived nitrite as a metabolic signal in mycobacteria. We propose NarL-DevR binding, possibly as a heterodimer, as a novel mechanism for co-regulation of gene expression by the DevRS/DosT and NarL/NarS regulatory systems.

Multi-scale modelling of Suzuki segregation in gamma' precipitates in Ni and Co-base superalloys

The high temperature strength of alloys with (gamma +gamma') microstructure is primarily due to the resistance of the ordered precipitate to cutting by matrix dislocations. Such shearing requires higher stresses since it involves the creation of a planar fault. Planar fault energy is known to be dependent on composition. This implies that the composition on the fault may be different from that in the bulk for energetic reasons. Such segregation (or desegregation) of specific alloying elements to the fault may result in Suzuki strengthening which has not been explored extensively in these systems. In this work, segregation (or desegregation) of alloying elements to planar faults was studied computationally in Ni-3(Al, Ti) and Co-3(W, Al) type gamma' precipitates. The composition dependence of APB energy and heat of mixing were evaluated from first principle electronic structure calculations. A phase field model incorporating the first principles results, was used to simulate the motion of an extended superdislocation under stress concurrently with composition evolution. Results reveal that in both systems, significant (de) segregation occurs on equilibration. On application of stress, solutes were dragged along with the APB in some cases. Additionally, it was also noted the velocity of the superdislocation under an applied stress is strongly dependent on atomic mobility (i. e. diffusivity).

Domain walls collision in Fe-rich and Co-rich glass covered microwires

JEMS 2012 - Joint European Magnetic Symposia edited by Tiberto, P; Affronte, M; Casoli, F; Fernandez, CD; Gubbiotti, G; Marquina, C; Pratt, F; Solzi, M; Tacchi, S; Vavassori, P. 6th Joint European Magnetic Symposia (JEMS) Parma, ITALY SEP 09-14, 2012

Ownership and co-management: towards the integrated management of Lake Victoria

The management of Lake Victoria is a high priority to the riparian countries that benefit directly from its resources. Management regulations have been formulated and implemented with the aim of maintaining the lake's ecological quality as well as sustaining fisheries exploitation for economic gain. Results indicate, however, that the regulations have not been successful in maintaining the state of the lake's ecosystem nor the fisheries. There has been a continuing decline in fish catches as well as declining biodiversity. Currently, the riparian countries are considering the introduction of a co-management regime as an alternative managerial strategy to address the lake's problems. In this paper it is argued that the failure of the former management regulations was because ownership of the lake was not clearly defined. It is further argued that even if co-management were to be successfully instituted, it will yield very minimal results if the problem of ownership is not properly addressed. This paper explores the ownership status of the lake based on data collected in Tanzania, and examines the relationship between, and significance of, ownership and co-management. The research makes recommendations for how these concepts can contribute to an integrated management of the lake

Heterogeneous catalytic activity on Mn, Fe and Co-based metalloporphyrinic Solid Coordination Frameworks (SCFs)

Comunicación al congreso 1st European Conference on Metal Organic Frameworks and Porous Polymers, celebrado en Postdam del 11 al 14 de octubre de 2015