Lag-user method: Using laggards to leverage user innovation

Laggards are the last users to adopt a product. Prior literature on user-led innovation ignores laggards’ impact on innovation. In this paper, we develop the Lag-User Method, through which laggards can generate new ideas. Through six studies with 62 teams in three countries, we apply the method to different technologies and services and present our findings to executives to get managerial insights. Findings reveal that laggards who generate new ideas (lag-users) have different perceptions of user-friendly products and different unfulfilled needs. They prefer simple products. We propose that by involving lag-users in NPD, firms can improve the effectiveness of NPD.

Laggards in our schools; a study of retardation and elimination in city school systems,

Mode of access: Internet.

The late adopter scale: A measure of late adopters of technological innovations

Diffusion of Innovation is a topic of interest for researchers and practitioners. Although substantial research is conducted on user categories, researchers often focus on the first half of the curve, ignoring the late adopters. We conduct two studies to measure the attributes of late adopters. In our first study of mobile phone users, we develop the Late-Adopter Scale. We then test it on a sample of laptop users. This scale is multi-dimensional, presents nomological and discriminant validity and has three dimensions: 1) rate of adoption, 2) resistance to innovation, and 3) skepticism. Findings reveal that all three Late Adopter Scale dimensions are significantly associated with low price preference. Moreover, in both samples skepticism is associated with high preference for simple products, lower leading edge status, and lower product involvement. Discussion focuses on implications of this new scale to theory and practice of new product development and diffusion of innovation.

Factors Affecting Innovation Adoption in Organizations: The Case of Corporate Website Adoption

Diplomityössä tutkittiin innovaatioiden omaksumista organisaatioissa, ja tarkoituksena oli selvittää tekijät, jotka vaikuttivat omaksumisajankohtaan sekä luokitella yritykset omaksujaryhmiin. Työn empiirinen osuus tarkasteli yritysten internet-kotisivujen omaksumista. Tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto kerättiin postikyselyn avulla, ja vastausprosentti kyselyssä oli melko hyvä (60%). Aikaisempien tutkimusten pohjalta muodostettiin eri tekijöille mittarit, jotka analyysien perusteella olivat erittäin luotettavia. Regressioanalyysia sovellettiin, kun pyrittiin selvittämään omaksumisajankohtaan vaikuttavia tekijöitä, ja klusterianalyysiä käytettiin apuna omaksujaluokkien muodostamisessa. Omaksujaluokkien väliset erot selvitettiin varianssianalyyseillä. Tutkimuksessa löydettiin kolme omaksumisajankohtaan vaikuttavaa tekijää: (1) innovaation koettu suhteellinen hyöty, (2) yritysjohdon sitoutuminen omaksumisprosessiin, sekä (3) yrityksen strategisten partnereiden määrä. Yritykset luokiteltiin neljään omaksujaluokkaan (innovaattorit, aikaiset omaksujat, aikainen enemmistö ja myöhäinen enemmistö) innovatiivisuuden perusteella. Innovatiivisuutta mitattiin kolmella indikaattorilla, jotka olivat: (1) ajankohta, jolloin yritys tuli tietoiseksi internet-sivuista, (2) ajankohta, jolloin tehtiin omaksumispäätös sekä (3) aika, joka kului internet-sivujen käyttöönottoon. Omaksujaluokkien välillä tunnistettiin lukuisia eroja eri ominaisuuksien suhteen.

Symmetric pollen mitosis I and suppression of pollen mitosis II prevent pollen development in Brachiaria jubata (Gramineae)

Microsporogenesis and pollen development were analyzed in a tetraploid (2n = 4x = 36) accession of the forage grass Brachiaria jubata (BRA 007820) from the Embrapa Beef Cattle Brachiaria collection that showed partial male sterility. Microsporocytes and pollen grains were prepared by squashing and staining with 0.5% propionic carmine. The meiotic process was typical of polyploids, with precocious chromosome migration to the poles and laggards in both meiosis I and II, resulting in tetrads with micronuclei in some microspores. After callose dissolution, microspores were released into the anther locule and appeared to be normal. Although each microspore initiated its differentiation into a pollen grain, in 11.1% of them nucleus polarization was not observed, i.e., pollen mitosis I was symmetric and the typical hemispherical cell plate was not detected. After a central cytokinesis, two equal-sized cells showing equal chromatin condensation and the same nuclear shape and size were formed. Generative cells and vegetative cells could not be distinguished. These cells did not undergo the second pollen mitosis and after completion of pollen wall synthesis each gave rise to a sterile and uninucleate pollen grain. The frequency of abnormal pollen mitosis varied among flowers and also among inflorescences. All plants were equally affected. The absence of fertile sperm cells in a considerable amount of pollen grains in this accession of B. jubata may compromise its use in breeding and could explain, at least in part, why seed production is low when compared with the amount of flowers per raceme.

Un modèle explicatif des niveaux de réglementation des États américains en matière de production de gaz à effet de serre

Ce travail contribue au champ d’études sur l’adoption de politique publique des États américains en étudiant quantitativement leurs réactions à l’enjeu du réchauffement climatique. Suivant l’approche des déterminants internes, des facteurs économiques, politiques et environnementaux sont utilisés pour expliquer la densité réglementaire étatique limitant la production de gaz à effet de serre. La variable dépendante constitue la principale contribution de ce travail puisqu’elle incarne une revue exhaustive des options législatives adoptées par les États américains et les regroupe en six catégories. Les déterminants internes identifiés permettent d’expliquer pourquoi certains États sont des instigateurs ou des retardataires dans le dossier du réchauffement climatique. Les principaux facteurs explicatifs sont la présence d’une population idéologiquement libérale et de groupes d’intérêts environnementaux forts.

Profiles of digital TV adopters in the switchover context in Portugal

In order to conduct a successful transition from analogue terrestrial television to full digital terrestrial television it is essential to identify what are the most significant drivers and barriers for adoption among the impacted population. Also importantly, it is to segment the population according with their attitudes towards digital TV, their awareness about the switchover process and intention of adopting digital TV, among other relevant topics. The tradition of profiles definition based on the adoption and rejection of innovations can be traced back to Beal & Bohlen, who proposed five categories of innovation adopters based on the time of adoption, with significant differences in selected personal and social characteristics: the innovators, the early adopters, the early majority, the majority and non-adopters. Later, Rogers would propose similar categories of adopters that became the standard for years to come: the innovators, the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority and the laggards. While helpful, these traditional innovation adopters’ profiles do not totally grasp the complexities of the adoption of an innovation such as digital TV, particularly in mandatory settings. In this paper we will propose a classification of adopters of digital TV in Portugal, based on the results of one of the four empirical studies of the research project ADOPT-DTV, namely, the quantitative inquiry administered to a representative sample of the Portuguese population. The paper will be concluded with a brief discussion of results and the enumeration of the next steps of the research project.

eRPUK 2003: eCommerce and Retail Property in the UK: third annual benchmarking survey

This new survey, which has just been completed and includes brand new data, has been funded by the RICS Education Trust and the European Shopping Centre Trust. It follows up our 2000 survey of UK retailers, investors and developers. The report presents results from our new 2001 survey. This continuing benchmark series of studies includes an extensive review of developments in ecommerce and retail in Europe and the USA. The survey reveals a cooling in attitude towards ecommerce in the UK, but there is rapid growth in some sectors and polarisation and marginalisation of secondary centres are likely to increase. In Europe the growth of a three tier system of ecommerce 'pioneers', 'followers' and 'laggards' is becoming established, and the research also reveals results from a recent joint survey on US and UK retailers conducted with Colorado State University. There is a danger of complacency as UK online sales (in percentage terms) now outstrip USA.

Diferença entre homens e mulheres na propensão em adotar produtos e serviços tecnológicos

The construct Technology Readiness (TR) and its instrument of measure Technology Readiness Index (TRI) defined by Parasuraman (2000), refer to people¿s propensity to adopt digital technological products and services. The TR can be viewed as an overall state of mind resulting from mental drivers and inhibitors related to optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity. These facets combine into a complex way for produce distinct groups of individuals (explorers, pioneers, skeptics, paranoids and laggards) with different traits of behaviors connected to the adoption of technological products and service. This study had as its objective to evaluate the applicability of the TRI in the Brazilian context, through the replication of the scale on a sample of 336 adults consumers (168 men and 168 women) resident in the state of the Rio de Janeiro, segmented by age groups, educational level and monthly family income. The results show that, in the sample analyzed, as culturally the technology is linked to values of a male society, men presented a higher propensity in adopting technological products and services than women. However, this hypothesis was not confirmed in the analysis segmented by age groups.

Growth and reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s

Includes bibliography

The Caribbean and the post-2015 development agenda

This paper will contend that the post-2015 development agenda presents a major opportunity for Caribbean countries to reverse decades of lagging economic performance and make the transition to balanced, holistic, and people-centred growth and development. The MDGs, while valuable in promoting gains in poverty reduction, health, education, nutrition, and maternal well-being were not tailored to the growth and development needs of the region. This can now be changed by a post-2015 development agenda which goes beyond improving the welfare of citizens by meeting basic needs and enhancing access to primary services. The necessary scaling-up of the MDG framework will require that the sustainable development goals, which will anchor the post- 2015 development agenda, are capable of promoting structural change, competitiveness and output gains while advancing social development and meeting environmental concerns. They must also address the unfinished business of the millennium development goals, primarily in the area of human development.

Marketing és vállalatközi kapcsolatok - Kutatócsoport zárótanulmány

Tanulmányunkban a Marketing és Vállalatközi kapcsolatok kutatócsoport 2011-ben készült műhelytanulmányainak legfontosabb eredményeit mutatjuk be. Kutatásaink központi témája a vállalati versenyképesség, illetve annak vizsgálata, hogy a vállalatok tevékenységének egyes területei hogyan járulnak hozzá a vállalatok versenyképességének növeléséhez. Elemzéseink a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem Vállalatgazdaságtan Intézete Versenyképesség Kutató Központja által vezetett „Versenyben a világgal” kutatási program nagyszabású kérdőíves felmérésén alapulnak, amely során 300 vállalat vezetőit kérdeztek meg 2009-ben. Eredményeink közül kiemeljük, hogy a piacorientáció szintje a vizsgált vállalati körben az átlagosnál valamivel jobb, azonban a marketingkoncepció jobb megvalósítása érdekében a vállalatoknak a versenytárs-orientációjukat kellene elsősorban erősíteniük. Fontos következtetése a kutatásnak a vezető vállalatok gyakorlatának feltérképezése, e kategóriát egy összetett teljesítménymutató alapján alakítottunk ki. Eredményeink szerint a vezető vállalatok a piacorientáció mértékében, a márkázásban, a disztribúció kiterjedtségében, valamint változatosságában, a marketing erőforrásokban és képességekben és a vállalati hálózatban betöltött pozíció terén erősebbek az átlagosan teljesítőktől és/vagy a lemaradóktól. ----- Abstract: In this research paper we present the most important results of the research papers prepared by the research group „Marketing and Interfirm Relationship” in 2011. The central theme of our research papers is corporate competitiveness. We investigate the ways the different activities of firms contribute to the increase of their competiveness. Our analyses are based on a large scale survey carried out by the Competitiveness Research Center of Corvinus University Of Budapest, in which 300 company executives were surveyed in 2009. Among our results we highlight that market orientation of Hungarian firms is little above the average in our sample, however a better implementation of the marketing concept would require a stronger emphasis on competitor orientation. An important conclusion of our research is the description of the practice of leading companies, a category created in terms of a complex performance measurement. Our results suggest that leading companies show a higher level of market orientation, a more sophisticated branding practice, a more extended distribution system with a higher degree of variablity, stronger marketing resources and capabilities and a stronger position in the firm’s network than companies with average performance and/or laggards.