Energy Harvesting WSNs for Accurately Estimating the Maximum Sensor Reading: Trade-Offs and Optimal Design

Computing the maximum of sensor readings arises in several environmental, health, and industrial monitoring applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We characterize the several novel design trade-offs that arise when green energy harvesting (EH) WSNs, which promise perpetual lifetimes, are deployed for this purpose. The nodes harvest renewable energy from the environment for communicating their readings to a fusion node, which then periodically estimates the maximum. For a randomized transmission schedule in which a pre-specified number of randomly selected nodes transmit in a sensor data collection round, we analyze the mean absolute error (MAE), which is defined as the mean of the absolute difference between the maximum and that estimated by the fusion node in each round. We optimize the transmit power and the number of scheduled nodes to minimize the MAE, both when the nodes have channel state information (CSI) and when they do not. Our results highlight how the optimal system operation depends on the EH rate, availability and cost of acquiring CSI, quantization, and size of the scheduled subset. Our analysis applies to a general class of sensor reading and EH random processes.

Strategic Marketing and Innovation Performance of Indian MSMEs

Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is an integral part of the Indian industrial sector. The distinctive features of MSMEs are less capital investment and high labour absorption which has created unprecedented importance to this sector. As per the Development Commissioner of MSME, the sector has the credit of being the second highest in employment in India, which stands next to agricultural sector. The MSMEs are very much needed in efficiently allocating the enormous labour supply and scarce capital by implementing labour intensive production processes. Associated with this high growth rates, MSMEs are also facing a number of problems like sub-optimal scale of operation, technological obsolescence, supply chain inefficiencies, increasing domestic and global competition, fund shortages, change in manufacturing & marketing strategies, turbulent and uncertain market scenario. To survive with such issues and compete with large and global enterprises, MSMEs need to adopt innovative approaches in their regular business operations. Among the manufacturing sectors, we find that they are unable to focus themselves in the present competition. This paper presents a brief literature of work done in MSMEs, Innovation and Strategic marketing with reference to Indian manufacturing firms.

The Trade-offs with Space Time Cube Representation of Spatiotemporal Patterns

Space time cube representation is an information visualization technique where spatiotemporal data points are mapped into a cube. Fast and correct analysis of such information is important in for instance geospatial and social visualization applications. Information visualization researchers have previously argued that space time cube representation is beneficial in revealing complex spatiotemporal patterns in a dataset to users. The argument is based on the fact that both time and spatial information are displayed simultaneously to users, an effect difficult to achieve in other representations. However, to our knowledge the actual usefulness of space time cube representation in conveying complex spatiotemporal patterns to users has not been empirically validated. To fill this gap we report on a between-subjects experiment comparing novice users error rates and response times when answering a set of questions using either space time cube or a baseline 2D representation. For some simple questions the error rates were lower when using the baseline representation. For complex questions where the participants needed an overall understanding of the spatiotemporal structure of the dataset, the space time cube representation resulted in on average twice as fast response times with no difference in error rates compared to the baseline. These results provide an empirical foundation for the hypothesis that space time cube representation benefits users when analyzing complex spatiotemporal patterns.

The question of ethical decision in marketing and ethics

Resumen: Mientras que el marketing está asociado con prácticas negativas que involucran la explotación y la deshonestidad, Anton Jamnik afirma la necesidad de crear una teoría ética para éste. El artículo intenta brindar, por un lado, un breve bosquejo de las principales corrientes de la literatura de la ética del marketing y, por otro, participar de su desarrollo. El autor analiza los desafíos éticos que sur girán en el futuro, provenientes de tres fuentes distintas: las innovaciones tecnológicas, la influencia de la competencia global y la expansión de las actividades de mercado en áreas no tradicionales. Esto requerirá el desarrollo de una ética normativa realista. Para concluir, explica que la ética del marketing debería analizar hasta qué punto ha sido exitosa a la hora de resolver los desafíos éticos del mundo actual.

The role of the terms of trade in the trade channel of transmission of oil price shocks

This paper highlights the role of the terms of trade in the trade channel of propagation of oil price shocks both empirically and theoretically. Empirically, I show that oil price shocks have a large, persistent and statistically significant impact on the US terms of trade. Theoretically, I add oil in the model by Corsetti and Pesenti (2005) and analyse under what conditions the terms of trade plays a relevant role in the international transmission of oil price shocks. With nominal price rigidities and full exchange rate pass-through positive oil price shocks depreciate the currency of the oil importing country. The subsequent negative wealth effect adds to the recessive effect of the supply channel and may trongly reduce the consumption in the oil importing country economy. Without exchange rate pass-through oil shocks transmit to the economy only through the supply channel. The model suggests that a change in the exchange rate pass-through might contribute to explain the evidence of a weaker impact of oil price shocks on the macroeconomic activity in recent times.

Un caso de marketing turístico: el agroturismo en el País Vasco

[ES] El agroturismo vasco, que data del año 1988, responde a una modalidad de turismo desarrollada en el medio rural, con la peculiaridad de llevarse a cabo en una explotación agraria y ser desempeñada por agricultores que combinan su labor agrícola con la prestación de servicios. La aplicación del marketing en esta forma turística ha sido hasta el momento escasa y se ha canalizado básicamente a través de la Administración Autonómica.

Factores determinantes de la integración de la variable medio ambiente en los planteamientos de la economía de la empresa y el marketing

[ES] Actualmente las empresas se enfrentan a un nuevo reto: la integración de los aspectos medioambientales en la gestión y toma de decisiones empresariales. Varios han sido los factores desencadenantes, que han inducido a la Economía de la Empresa y al Marketing a introducir la variable medio ambiente en sus planteamientos, en aras a conformar una base teórica sistematizada que permita abordar con éxito las necesidades medioambientales de la clientela y de la sociedad. En este trabajo se analizan los factores que han contribuido a incrementar la importancia de la variable medio ambiente en la empresa, así como las causas que, en su día, motivaron su exclusión.

La gestión de calidad y el marketing interno como factores de competitividad en empresas de servicios: El caso de empresas vascas de servicios con gestión avanzada

[ES] En este trabajo se argumenta y se evidencia (con el análisis de algunos casos de empresas vascas), que para las empresas de servicios, la calidad y más concretamente la gestión de la calidad basada en los postulados de la filosofía de Gestión de Calidad Total y recogidos en modelos como el modelo EFQM de excelencia, es la vía esencial de diferenciación, competitividad y fidelización de la clientela. De ello se deriva también el papel esencial que en la competitividad de las empresas de servicios despeña el Marketing Interno.

La gestión de marketing de ciudades y áreas metropolitanas: de la orientación al producto a la orientación al marketing

Ponencia aceptada y defendida en el XVI Congreso Nacional y XII Hispano-Francés de AEDEM, celebrado en Alicante, en junio de 2002.

Delimitación del Marketing con Causa o Marketing Social Corporativo mediante el análisis de empresas que realizan acciones de responsabilidad social

Extracto del trabajo de investigación presentado en el programa de doctorado, que además está incluido en el formato de artículo en los anales (proceedings) de las II Jornadas Internacionales de Marketing Público y No Lucrativo (Zaragoza, abril de 2003).