Innovation and Market Leadership in a Technology Industry

According to the Abernathy-Utterback (A-U) model, firms focus on technological product innovation early in the product lifecycle and then shift to process innovation as markets mature. However, there is no consensus on the forms that non-technological innovation can take. In addition, the A-U model, does not include forms of non-technological innovation that are generally accepted by experts. In this study, a hybrid e-Delphi technique with an AHP decision model was used to evaluate the forms of innovation used to establish market leadership over the historical lifecycle of the U.S. personal computer industry. This research provides new insights that should aid innovators in choosing the right form of innovation depending on lifecycle stage. Recommended Citation Zehr, W. (2020, October 1-2). Innovation and market leadership in a technology industry [Poster presentation]. Walden University Research Conference 2020 (online). https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/researchconference/2020/posters/18

Innovation and Market Leadership in a Technology Industry

According to the Abernathy-Utterback (A-U) model, firms focus on technological product innovation early in the product lifecycle and then shift to process innovation as markets mature. However, there is no consensus on the forms that non-technological innovation can take. In addition, the A-U model, which guides innovators, does not include forms of non-technological innovation that are generally accepted by experts. In this study, a hybrid e-Delphi technique with an AHP decision model was used to evaluate the forms of innovation used to establish market leadership over the historical lifecycle of the personal computer industry in the United States. In Phase 1, an e-Delphi panel of 30 technology experts, each with more than 20 years industry experience, confirmed that product, process, marketing, and organizational innovation are the correct forms to consider. In Phase 2, the expert panel agreed, based on an analysis of 45 years of market leadership data, that market share leaders used product innovation early in the lifecycle, and then process innovation as the market evolved. The expert panel also determined that marketing and organizational innovation were the most important forms of innovation when the market was mature. This research provides new insights that have the potential to aid innovators in choosing the right form of innovation depending on lifecycle stage. The results could also be used as a baseline to extend the A-U model to other forms of non-technological innovation. This is an essential piece of knowledge that can guide the next generation of innovators, create significant additional wealth, drive job creation and employment, reduce crime, and increase charitable giving

Two subpopulations of Crocosphaera watsonii have distinct distributions in the North and South Pacific

Crocosphaera watsonii is a unicellular nitrogen (N2)-fixing cyanobacterium with ecological importance in oligotrophic oceans. In cultivated strains there are two phenotypes of C. watsonii (large and small cells) with differences that could differentially impact biogeochemical processes. Recent work has shown the phenotypes diverged through loss or addition of type-specific genes in a fraction of their genomes, whereas the rest of the genomes were maintained at 99–100% DNA identity. Previous molecular assays for C. watsonii abundances targeted the conserved regions and therefore could not differentiate between phenotypes, so their relative distributions in natural communities were unknown. To determine phenotype distributions, this study developed and applied type-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays to samples from the North and South Pacific. Abundances of both Crocosphaera types declined sharply with depth between 45 and 75 m in both sites. In surface water small cells were 10–100 times more abundant than large cells in the N. Pacific, whereas in the S. Pacific the two phenotypes were nearly equal. Evidence for large cell aggregation was only found in N. Pacific samples. The differences in C. watsonii sub-populations in the North and South Pacific have direct implications for biogeochemistry and carbon export in oligotrophic gyres

Temporal variability of nitrogen fixation and particulate nitrogen export at Station ALOHA

We present nearly 9 yrs (June 2005–December 2013) of measurements of upper‐ocean (0 m to 125 m) dinitrogen (N2) fixation rates, coupled with particulate nitrogen (PN) export at 150 m, from Station ALOHA (22° 45′N, 158°W) in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Between June 2005 and June 2012, N2 fixation rates were measured based on adding the 15N2 tracer as a gas bubble. Beginning in August 2012, 15N2 was first dissolved into filtered seawater and the 15N2‐enriched water was subsequently added to N2 fixation incubations. Direct comparisons between methodologies revealed a robust relationship, with the addition of 15N2‐enriched seawater resulting in twofold greater depth‐integrated rates than those derived from adding a 15N2 gas bubble. Based on this relationship, we corrected the initial period of measurements, and the resulting rates of N2 fixation averaged 230 ± 136 μmol N m−2 d−1 for the full time series (n = 71). Analysis of the 15N isotopic composition of sinking PN, together with an isotope mass balance model, revealed that N2 fixation supported 26–47% of PN export during calendar years 2006–2013. The N export derived from these fractional contributions and measured N2 fixation rates ranged between 502 and 919 μmol N m−2 d−1, which are equivalent to rates of net community production (NCP) of 1.5 to 2.7 mol C m−2 yr−1, consistent with previous independent estimates of NCP at this site

Light and depth dependency of nitrogen fixation by the non‐photosynthetic, symbiotic cyanobacterium UCYN‐A

The symbiotic cyanobacterium UCYN-A is one of the most globally abundant marine dinitrogen (N2)-fixers, but cultures have not been available and its biology and ecology are poorly understood. We used cultivation-independent approaches to investigate how UCYN-A single-cell N2 fixation rates (NFRs) and nifH gene expression vary as a function of depth and photoperiod. Twelve-hour day/night incubations showed that UCYN-A only fixed N2 during the day. Experiments conducted using in situ arrays showed a light-dependence of NFRs by the UCYN-A symbiosis, with the highest rates in surface waters (5–45 m) and lower rates at depth (≥ 75 m). Analysis of NFRs versus in situ light intensity yielded a light saturation parameter (Ik) for UCYN-A of 44 μmol quanta m−2 s−1. This is low compared with other marine diazotrophs, suggesting an ecological advantage for the UCYN-A symbiosis under low-light conditions. In contrast to cell-specific NFRs, nifH gene-specific expression levels did not vary with depth, indicating that light regulates N2 fixation by UCYN-A through processes other than transcription, likely including host–symbiont interactions. These results offer new insights into the physiology of the UCYN-A symbiosis in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean and provide clues to the environmental drivers of its global distributions.En prens

NPC 15669 blocks neutrophil CD18 increase and lung injury during cardiopulmonary bypass in pigs

During cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), neutrophils become activated due to contact with extracorporeal surfaces and binding of complement fragments C3a and C5a, leading to extravasation and subsequent tissue damage. In this study, the effects of the leumedin NPC 15669 (N [9H - (2,7 dimethylfluorenyl - 9 - methoxy) car bonyl]-L-leucine), a leukocyte recruitment inhibitor, were evaluated in a pig model of CPB. NPC 15669 caused significant inhibition of CPB associated increase in CD18 upregulation, lung tissue myeloperoxidase content, and percentage wet weight compared to controls. Lung histology revealed clear airways and minimal neutrophil infiltration in treated animals vs. significant oedema and cellular infiltration in controls. It is concluded that CPB causes a dramatic increase in neutrophil CD18, and that leumedins are effective in inhibiting neutrophil activation and subsequent tissue injury when administered during CPB

Maternal effects on anogenital distance in a wild marmot population

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MARTIJANEC-GAMULICA - ANALYSIS OF FINDS FROM 1950

Godine 1950. na tada još neistraženom tumulu Gamulica kod Martijanca ukopan je stup dalekovoda. Tom je prilikom mještanin Martijanca, Martin Štanglin, u tumulu prokopao jamu te otkrio tragove grobne konstrukcije i priloga. Lokalitet je nakon toga obišao prof. Stjepan Vuković, tadašnji kustos Odjela za arheologiju Gradskog muzeja Varaždin, te je pokretne nalaze prikupio, a iskop sanirao. Istraživanje pod vodstvom dr. sc. Zdenka Vinskog kao i detaljna analiza tada prikupljenih arheoloških nalaza, potvrdili su izniman značaj lokaliteta Martijanec-Gamulica, međutim, tom prilikom nisu uzeti u obzir i predmeti koje je 1950. god. prikupio S. Vuković. Dvadeset i sedam keramičkih te jedan brončani predmet čine malu, ali vrijednu skupinu nalaza čija će analiza i konačna objava zaokružiti spoznaje o ukopu u tumulu Gamulica te pridonijeti boljem poznavanju stariježeljeznodobne grupe Martijanec-Kaptol.In 1950, on the then unexcavated tumulus of Gamulica near Martijanec, a transmission line pole was set up. On that occasion Martin Štanglin, a resident of Matrijanec, found a pit in the tumulus which contained traces of a tomb with grave goods. The site was then visited by professor Stjepan Vuković who worked as a curator at the Department of Archaeology of the Varaždin City Museum and who collected movable finds and protected the tomb. Research led by Zdenko Vinski, PhD, as well as a detailed analysis of the finds, confirmed the exceptional status of the Martijanec-Gamulica site. However, the study did not include finds collected in 1950 by S. Vuković. Twenty seven ceramic and one bronze find make up a small but valuable group of finds the analysis of which will unite our knowledge of the tomb inside the Gamulica tumulus and contribute to our understanding of the Iron Age Martijanec-Kaptol group

Short-term variability in euphotic zone biogeochemistry and primary productivity at Station ALOHA : a case study of summer 2012

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 29 (2015): 1145–1164, doi:10.1002/2015GB005141.Time-series observations are critical to understand the structure, function, and dynamics of marine ecosystems. The Hawaii Ocean Time-series program has maintained near-monthly sampling at Station ALOHA (22°45′N, 158°00′W) in the oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) since 1988 and has identified ecosystem variability over seasonal to interannual timescales. To further extend the temporal resolution of these near-monthly time-series observations, an extensive field campaign was conducted during July–September 2012 at Station ALOHA with near-daily sampling of upper water-column biogeochemistry, phytoplankton abundance, and activity. The resulting data set provided biogeochemical measurements at high temporal resolution and documents two important events at Station ALOHA: (1) a prolonged period of low productivity when net community production in the mixed layer shifted to a net heterotrophic state and (2) detection of a distinct sea-surface salinity minimum feature which was prominent in the upper water column (0–50 m) for a period of approximately 30 days. The shipboard observations during July–September 2012 were supplemented with in situ measurements provided by Seagliders, profiling floats, and remote satellite observations that together revealed the extent of the low productivity and the sea-surface salinity minimum feature in the NPSG.NOAA Climate Observation Division; National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) Grant Numbers: EF0424599, OCE-1153656, OCE-1260164; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Marine Microbiology Investigator2016-02-1

Evolutionary fitness as a function of pubertal age in 22 subsistence-based traditional societies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Context</p> <p>The age of puberty has fallen over the past 130 years in industrialized, western countries, and this fall is widely referred to as the secular trend for earlier puberty. The current study was undertaken to test two evolutionary theories: (a) the reproductive system maximizes the number of offspring in response to positive environmental cues in terms of energy balance, and (b) early puberty is a trade-off response for high mortality rate and reduced resource availability.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a sample of 22 natural-fertility societies of mostly tropical foragers, horticulturalists, and pastoralists from Africa, South America, Australia, and Southeastern Asia, this study compares indices of adolescence growth and menarche with those of fertility fitness in these non-industrial, traditional societies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The average age at menarche correlated with the first reproduction, but did not correlate with the total fertility rate TFR or reproductive fitness. The age at menarche correlated negatively with their average adult body mass, and the average adult body weight positively correlated with reproductive fitness. Survivorship did not correlate with the age at menarche or age indices of the adolescent growth spurt. The population density correlated positively with the age at first reproduction, but not with menarche age, TFR, or reproductive fitness.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on our analyses, we reject the working hypotheses that reproductive fitness is enhanced in societies with early puberty or that early menarche is an adaptive response to greater mortality risk. Whereas body mass is a measure of resources is tightly associated with fitness, the age of menarche is not.</p