Virtual marketing in virtual enterprises

Virtualization caused tremendous evolution in the economics of marketing channels, patterns of physical distribution and the structure of distributors and developed a new concept that is known as virtual marketing (VM). VM combines the powerful technologies of interactive marketing and virtual reality. Virtual enterprise (VE) refers to an organization not having a clear physical locus. In other words, VE is an organization distributed geographically and whose work is coordinated through electronic communications." It should be mentioned that here VE encompasses all other similar phrases like Virtual company, virtual corporation, etc. One of the greatest challenges facing business owners and managers – both for traditional and virtual organizations- is finding a way to cost−effectively communicate frequently and consistently with their target markets; and the virtual marketing perform this function at the best possible. In this paper, we focus on the concept of “Virtual marketing in virtual enterprises”.virtuality, Virtual marketing, virtual enterprise

R&D Management in Iran, Opportunities and Threats

Research and Development (R&D) management in Iran has faced many barriers and obstacles, in which R&D units are considered as the basic core of the product development and innovation. Due to structural shortcomings, a great number of organizations and industries have not yet been able to position themselves in the market. There are about 1141 R&D units throughout Iran, due to the geographical decentralization of these units this paper considers and analyzes the R&D case study in one of the provinces located in the north part of Iran, and the findings can be generalized to the other industrialized areas and zones in Iran. In this province, there are about 2504 industrial units of which there are only 44 R&D units certified by the state government. However, there is limited number of these R&D units that are extensively active. This paper also addresses the current status in respect with the R&D activities to find out why little attention has been paid to these activities in the industrial units. Considering the opportunities and challenges of these R&D units reveals that there is a need to activate these units so that they can quickly respond to changes in the market. Finally, a few alternative solutions and improvement plans are proposed, in which the Iranian R&D Society is responsible for supporting and fostering these action plans towards the organization goals. The research methodology was based on a previous field research conducted in Hamedan province, and after the analysis of the research results, a model for the efficiency of R&D units will be presented.R&D management, R&D Society, Innovation, Industrial sectors

A Systemic Approach for Modeling and Analysis of Coopetition

Coopetition has been defined as an approach to managing that combines competition and cooperation. Coopetition transcends the traditional paradigms of competition and cooperation in an effort to achieve the advantages of both. As an inter-organizational relationship which is of a higher complexity than cooperation between non competitors, coopetition presents challenges both for business managers and researchers in the strategy field. In this paper we present a systemic approach to modeling and to the analysis of coopetition between firms in a business environment that can contribute to our understanding of the strategic incentives and processes for enterprises to engage in a coopetitive relationship. Our approach comprises a modeling technique called Systemic Enterprise Architecture Method (SEAM) that incorporates conceptualizations from competence-based management (CBM) theory. We illustrate our approach by applying it to the case of Amazon.com’s coopetitive strategies

Analysis of Opportunities and Challenges for R&D Management and the Role of the R&D Society for its Improvement – A Case Study in Iran

Research and Development (R&D) management in Iran is faced to many barriers and obstacles, in which R&D units are considered as the basic core of the product development and innovation. Due to structural shortcomings, a great number of organizations and industries have not been able to find their actual status. There are about different 1141 R&D units with a dispersion pattern in Iran. This paper considers and analyzes the R&D case study in one of the provinces located in the north part of Iran in order to enhance the potential R&D activities in respect with the industrialized areas and zones. In this province, there are about 2504 industrial units of which there are only 44 R&D units certified by the state government. However, there are limit numbers of these R&D units that are extensively active. This paper also addresses the current status in respect with the R&D activities to find out why there is a lack and depression of these activities in the industrial units. By considering the opportunity and challenges of these R&D units, there is a need to change these units to be active in order to quickly respond the market and demand requirements. Finally, a few alternative solutions and improvement plans are proposed, in which the Iranian R&D Society is responsible for supporting and succeeding these action plans towards the organization goals.R&D Management

Coopetition within and between value networks – a typology and a modelling framework

This study develops a typology of coopetition in value networks, wherein a distinction is made based on two factors. Firstly, whether coopetition takes place inside a particular value network (i.e., intra-value network coopetition) or between value networks (i.e., inter-value network coopetition); and secondly, whether the nature of collaboration is focused on value leveraging or value co-creation. We present empirical examples from the global ICT sector (Amazon Services, Amazon Marketplace, AIM Alliance, and Windows Mobile Community) to illustrate the four categories identified in the typology. Each example is graphically represented using a modelling framework in order to aid the understanding of various organisational and network structures that can accommodate coopetition as a complex inter-organisational relationship. We suggest that the developed typology and modelling methodology can help researchers and practitioners to better grasp and communicate the role and benefits as well as the network and organisational structures of coopetition within and between value networks

A Modeling Framework for Analyzing the Viability of Service Systems

Recent research has explored the principles of service system viability based on systems inquiry invoking perspectives from Systems Theory and Cybernetics in particular Stafford Beer’s viable systems model (VSM). However based on Banathy & Jenlink (2004), Systems inquiry encompasses more than just Systems Theory and includes domains such as Systems Methodology and Systems Philosophy. Building on the extant literature, our work has the following particularities: 1) it is based on an explicit systems philosophy in which we explicitly define what we view as viability and, 2) it involves a systems methodological approach to either analyze the viability of a service system or to design a viable service system. This is achieved by means of applying a systems modeling technique called SEAM (Systemic Enterprise Architecture Method). SEAM rests upon systemic principles and embodies conceptualizations from VSM. We apply SEAM to concretely model a utility company in Geneva, Switzerland in order to gain an understanding of how a service system maintains its identity and remains viable in its environment

Coopetition In The Global Book Industry: The Case Of Amazon.Com’s Evolution

Coopetition (collaboration between competing firms) is a phenomenon which has recently captured a great deal of attention due to its increasing relevance to business practice. The current research on coopetition is still short in explaining how the potential advantages of coopetition strategy can be realized over time as a part of individual firm’s business model. In order to approach this gap, this study focuses on understanding how coopetition strategy of a firm evolves over time, and how such strategy is executed through the business model of Amazon.com. We find evidence on three distinct coopetitive business models: 1) Amazon Marketplace 2) Amazon Services and 3) Collaboration between Apple and Amazon on digital text platforms. As a result, we put forward several propositions on how the potential advantages of coopetition strategy can be reached by involving competitors within the firm’s business model. Thus, the results increase the understanding on how business models can be designed to include competitive partners, and how a firm can capture value through such arrangements. Overall, the study contributes to the extant coopetition research by showing the aspects inherent in business models that can help to realize potential advantages of coopetition strategy

A Framework to Model and Analyze the WHY and the HOW of Coopetition

Coopetition has been defined as an approach to managing that combines competition and cooperation. It transcends the traditional paradigms of competition and cooperation in an effort to achieve the advantages of both. As an inter-organizational relationship that is of a higher complexity than either simple competition or cooperation, coopetition presents both conceptual and practical challenges for business managers and researchers in the strategy field. In this paper we present a systemic approach to modeling coopetition between firms that provides a methodology for analyzing the strategic incentives for enterprises to engage in coopetition relationships and the organization design required to address the complexities inherent in such multi-faceted relationships. Our approach comprises a modeling technique called Systemic Enterprise Architecture Method (SEAM) that incorporates important conceptualizations adapted from competence based management (CBM) theory. We illustrate our approach by applying it to the case coopetition between IBM and Apple in the development of PowerPC CPU

Virtual marketing in virtual enterprises

Virtualization caused tremendous evolution in the economics of marketing channels, patterns of physical distribution and the structure of distributors and developed a new concept that is known as virtual marketing (VM). VM combines the powerful technologies of interactive marketing and virtual reality. Virtual enterprise (VE) refers to an organization not having a clear physical locus. In other words, VE is an organization distributed geographically and whose work is coordinated through electronic communications." It should be mentioned that here VE encompasses all other similar phrases like Virtual company, virtual corporation, etc. One of the greatest challenges facing business owners and managers – both for traditional and virtual organizations- is finding a way to cost−effectively communicate frequently and consistently with their target markets; and the virtual marketing perform this function at the best possible. In this paper, we focus on the concept of “Virtual marketing in virtual enterprises”

Problem Structuring Methods in System Dynamics Modeling-A Cognitive Fit Perspective

The knowledge residing in the mental models of clients and stakeholders is considered as a crucial source of information by system dynamicists. Despite the importance of this knowledge, the theory of SD does not provide practical means for eliciting and recording it. Thus, several methods known as problem structuring methods (PSMs) have been developed and employed in the SD community to facilitate the problem situation conceptualization in group model building (GMB). Despite the growing body of literature on the application of the PSMs, limited work has been done on assessing and comparing the relative usefulness of PSMs in terms of their potential impact on problem-solving performance. In this paper, by invoking Cognitive Fit Theory, we develop a set of propositions for the analysis of the impact of PSMs on problem-solving performance