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Measuring customer involvement in new service developments
Service marketing managers are being required to develop new services that succeed in the market and are valuable for customers. Services Marketing literature therefore stresses the need to innovate with customers and to integrate their view into the new service developed. However, consensus about the positive effects of customer involvement in new service development (NSD) has not been reached. Drawing on the theory of organisational knowledge creation and the concept of marketing orientation, we argue that customer involvement is not related to successful new services per se. However, we propose it contributes to the increase of a firmâs customer knowledge stock, the tacit and explicit dimension. The study results demonstrate that the increase in a firmâs tacit customer knowledge stock significantly affects market success, project success and sustainable competitive advantage, while the increase of explicit customer knowledge stock positively influences the acceptance of new service concept ideas initiated by customers. Both the explicit and tacit customer knowledge stock is positively influenced by the level of customer involvement.
Furthermore, the internal resource-based antecedents to customer involvement decisions are investigated. Our findings illustrate that a firmâs prior tacit knowledge about customers inhibits integration of customers in NSD, whereas prior explicit customer knowledge positively affects customer involvement. As for market-driven NSD, customer orientation, and project innovativeness, the study shows different effects on stages of customer involvement.
Finally, the research reveals that service firms manage customer involvement differently related to the facets of the construct, namely (1) methods and (2) stages of customer
involvement. Distinct management approaches are compared and contrasted to unearth salient decision parameters.
The research is based on interviews, one expert survey and one main survey, incorporating 131 respondents of diverse service firms in nine countries. Responses have been analysed in two structural equation models by Partial Least Squares (PLS) and explored by cluster analysis.
We suggest that Service Marketing managers should be more attentive to the act of customer knowledge creation to manage customer integration in NSD effectively. Particularly, they should be aware of the role of tacit customer knowledge in order to develop successful new services. A tight customer orientation is not worthwhile throughout NSD, since new markets may be neglected when working too close with current customers. Furthermore, contrary to prevalent research, NSD executives should combine beneficial methods of customer involvement instead of focusing on one method. Using different methods helps managers to create divergent perspectives on customer preferences and needs, required to generate new ideas. Finally, we propose that customer involvement
in NSD should not be seen as a short-term investment
Development and application of analytical methodology with the combined use of gold nanoparticles and aptamers for the colorimetric detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro TecnolĂłgico, Programa de PĂłs-Graduação em Engenharia QuĂmica, FlorianĂłpolis, 2022.Pseudomonas aeruginosa Ă© um patĂłgeno responsĂĄvel por causar doenças em todo o mundo. Ă uma bactĂ©ria Gram-negativa frequentemente encontrada em ambientes terrestres, aquĂĄticos e hospitalar. Devido Ă s grandes contaminaçÔes por essa bactĂ©ria, objetivou-se estudar a detecção colorimĂ©trica deste patĂłgeno atravĂ©s da utilização de aptĂąmeros, que sĂŁo oligonucleotĂdeos de fita simples de alta afinidade e especificidade, capazes de ligar-se ao alvo, conjugados a nanopartĂculas de ouro. Devido Ă especificidade e afinidade destes, as nanopartĂculas de ouro sĂŁo liberadas e as mesmas agregam-se, fazendo com que a solução passe da cor vermelha para roxo, indicando a presença do contaminante. Neste trabalho, os aptĂąmeros para detecção de P. aeruginosa foram conjugados a nanopartĂculas de ouro e incubados com a bactĂ©ria alvo apĂłs ensaios para verificar a concentração de NaCl e aptĂąmero ideal. JĂĄ a especificidade do aptĂąmero foi verificada com as bactĂ©rias Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, Enterobacteriaceae bacterium. Foi observado que os aptĂąmeros conjugados Ă s nanopartĂculas de ouro alteraram entre vermelho e roxo na presença de NaCl em concentraçÔes acima que 150 mM, desestabilizando as nanopartĂculas de ouro, mas na presença dos aptĂąmeros adsorvidos, a solução permaneceu estĂĄvel. Neste estudo, foi observado que a tĂ©cnica desenvolvida foi capaz de detectar a presença de P. aeruginosa atravĂ©s da mudança de cor de vermelho para roxo nas concentraçÔes de 108 UFC·mL-1 a 105 UFC·mL-1 apĂłs 5 horas de incubação. Assim, foi desenvolvido um biossensor capaz de ligar-se ao alvo em estudo de forma rĂĄpida, comparado a mĂ©todos convencionais. A identificação visĂvel foi possĂvel devido Ă mudança de coloração da solução, em concentraçÔes de 108 a 105 UFC·mL-1, podendo auxiliar a detecção de P. aeruginosa em setores hospitalares.Abstract: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogen responsible for causing disease worldwide. It is a Gram-negative bacterium frequently found in terrestrial, aquatic, and hospital environments. Due to the great contamination by this bacterium, the objective of this work was to study the pathogen colorimetric detection through the use of aptamers, which are single-stranded oligonucleotides of high affinity and specificity, capable of binding to the target, conjugated to gold nanoparticles. Due to their specificity and affinity, the gold nanoparticles are released and they aggregate, changing the dispersion color from red to blue, indicating the presence of the contaminant. In this work, the aptamer for P. aeruginosa detection was conjugated to gold nanoparticles and incubated with the target bacteria after assays to verify the ideal concentration of NaCl and aptamer. The aptamer specificity was verified with the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Enterobacteriaceae bacterium. It was observed that aptamers conjugated to the gold nanoparticles changed between red and blue in the presence of NaCl at concentrations above 150 mM, destabilizing the gold nanoparticles, but in the presence of the adsorbed aptamers, the dispersion remained stable. In this study, it was observed that the technique developed was able to detect P. aeruginosa through the color change from red to blue at concentrations from 108 CFU·mL-1 to 105 CFU·mL-1 after 5 h of incubation. Thus, a biosensor was developed to recognize the target rapidly when compared to conventional methods. A visible identification was possible through the change in color of the dispersion, at concentrations of 108 to 105 CFU/mL, which may help the detection of P. aeruginosa in hospital sectors
AnsÀtze einer Algorithmischen Anwendung Quantititiver Verfahren zur Effizienten Bedarfsprognose von Vorprodukten. Erste Ergebnisse Einer Empirischen Untersuchung
ZufĂ€llig schwankende Nachfragen nach Vorprodukten bzw. Teilen und Komponenten machen die Verwendung von stochastischen Modellen der Lagerhaltung notwendig. Das vorliegende Papier beschreibt einen standardisierten algorithmischen Ansatz, mit dem der Verbrauch von Vorprodukten fĂŒr die ZeitrĂ€ume von drei, sechs oder zwölf Monaten mit Hilfe zeitreihenökonometrischer Verfahren prognostiziert werden kann. Im Rahmen dieses Ansatzes werden fĂŒr jede Vorproduktgruppe die unterschiedlichsten quantitativen Prognosetechniken angewendet. Zu den Techniken zĂ€hlen unter anderem AR-, MA-, ARMA-, ARIMA- und strukturelle Regressionsmodelle. Durch algorithmisches Vorgehen wird aufgrund von GĂŒtekriterien (z. B. die PrognosefĂ€higkeit in einem Testdatensatz) ein optimales Prognosemodell ermittelt, das fĂŒr die Prognose des Bedarfs verwendet wird. FĂŒr alle gewĂ€hlten PrognosezeitrĂ€ume erwies sich das ARMA-Modell der d-differenzierten Zeitreihe als bestes Prognosemodell, gefolgt von einfachen Moving Average und ARIMA-Modellen. Die Bedeutung autoregressiver Verfahren nimmt aber mit der LĂ€nge des Prognosezeitraumes ab. Strukturelle AnsĂ€tze erweisen sich allerdings fast nie als beste Prognosemodelle, auch wenn deren Bedeutung mit der LĂ€nge des Prognosezeitraumes zunimmt. Der algorithmische Ansatz ermöglicht fĂŒr einen erheblichen Teil (rund 60 Prozent) der Vorprodukte eine gute PrognosequalitĂ€t. Die GĂŒte der Prognose verbesserte sich, je seltener ZeitrĂ€ume mit fehlender Nachfrage auftreten. Bei Beachtung ausgearbeiteter Voraussetzungen, dĂŒrfte diese algorithmische â und daher einfach durch den Computer zu ermittelnde â Vorgehensweise, die praktische Aufgabe der Prognose von LagerabflĂŒssen fĂŒr einen erheblichen Teil von Vorprodukten bzw. Teilen und Komponenten vereinfachen.Inventory Management, Forecasting, Material Requirement Planning, Time Series
Potentials of on-line repositioning based on implanted fiducial markers and electronic portal imaging in prostate cancer radiotherapy
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To evaluate the benefit of an on-line correction protocol based on implanted markers and weekly portal imaging in external beam radiotherapy of prostate cancer. To compare the use of bony anatomy versus implanted markers for calculation of setup-error plus/minus prostate movement. To estimate the error reduction (and the corresponding margin reduction) by reducing the total error to 3 mm once a week, three times per week or every treatment day.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>23 patients had three to five, 2.5 mm Ă spherical gold markers transrectally inserted into the prostate before radiotherapy. Verification and correction of treatment position by analysis of orthogonal portal images was performed on a weekly basis. We registered with respect to the bony contours (setup error) and to the marker position (prostate motion) and determined the total error. The systematic and random errors are specified. Positioning correction was applied with a threshold of 5 mm displacement.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The systematic error (1 standard deviation [SD]) in left-right (LR), superior-inferior (SI) and anterior-posterior (AP) direction contributes for the setup 1.6 mm, 2.1 mm and 2.4 mm and for prostate motion 1.1 mm, 1.9 mm and 2.3 mm. The random error (1 SD) in LR, SI and AP direction amounts for the setup 2.3 mm, 2.7 mm and 2.7 mm and for motion 1.4 mm, 2.3 mm and 2.7 mm. The resulting total error suggests margins of 7.0 mm (LR), 9.5 mm (SI) and 9.5 mm (AP) between clinical target volume (CTV) and planning target volume (PTV). After correction once a week the margins were lowered to 6.7, 8.2 and 8.7 mm and furthermore down to 4.9, 5.1 and 4.8 mm after correcting every treatment day.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Prostate movement relative to adjacent bony anatomy is significant and contributes substantially to the target position variability. Performing on-line setup correction using implanted radioopaque markers and megavoltage radiography results in reduced treatment margins depending on the online imaging protocol (once a week or more frequently).</p
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