Conducting market research using the internet: The case of Xenon laboratories

The way market research is conducted has changed dramatically over the past 30 years, as a result of both the development of the prevailing view of best practice and the state of technology available to researchers. While it is clear that the World Wide Web (WWW) will increasingly be used as a medium for conducting market research, the full implications of this new channel are not yet fully understood. This paper examines the potential for an Internet-based financial services firm (Xenon Laboratories) to analyse conduct market research using the WWW. The case demonstrates that, by employing a novel approach to market research, Xenon Laboratories is in a unique position to understand the charging structures in its market, the market for international payments using credit or charge cards. In doing so, the paper highlights the opportunity to unobtrusively gather market information from an international group of customers by providing Internet-based value-added services

Global strategies to overcome the spiral of decline in universal bank markets

Although there has been an increase in the overall financial services market, the profitability of banks world-wide has decreased from the early 1980s to the 1990s. This has been attributed to several factors: the decline of traditional banking activities (deposit taking and lending); poorly performing debts (arising from poor lending decisions); and, for domestic banks, depressed property prices and important local industrial sectors performing badly. However, the analyses of bank performance tend to be short-term and narrow in their outlook, and seldom attempt to explain the underlying trends and processes of change. In this paper it is argued that the broad competitive forces of information technology, globalisation and deregulation are destabilising the banking industry leading to irrevocable changes which allow new entrants, disintermediation, innovation and customer changes on a much greater scale than has occurred in the past. These concepts are illustrated using a range of different bank markets as examples. To compete in these new markets different approaches are needed, and a series of possible strategies for addressing new bank markets are outlined with reference to size and type of bank. The long-term outlook for banking is discussed with particular attention being focussed on the changing role of universal banks

Real-time new product development in financial services: Some managerial implications

A review of the various models of New Product Development (NPD) process shows that although different approaches have been proposed, they are in fact all variants on a linear theme: some may include feedback loops, but they all essentially advocate that certain steps precede, or are preceded by, others. An inevitable consequence on the Internet/World Wide Web (WWW or Web) is that such models are no longer applicable. Based on the lessons learned from the development of a new financial service offered via the Internet, we show how such assumptions of linearity need no longer be a constraint. In addition, innovativeness is not related to firm size. But the fact that the Web allows for the real-time development of new financial services based on on-going feedback from potential and current customers raises a new set of managerial issue that have to be tackled. The objective of this paper is to use the context of the recent launch of an innovative financial services product via the Web to explore the managerial changes that are starting to affect the banking industr

Motorola cash management: The evolution of a global system

The set of interorganizational information systems used for global cash management in business markets is analyzed. A longitudinal case study of Motorola is presented. Their strategy has evolved from an internal cost saving focus to a cooperative one, yielding significant strategic benefits by the inclusion of trading partners. The financial aspects of Motorola's business relationships with trading partners and its principal bank have been transformed through a process of organizational learning and adaptation coupled with the close integration of information systems (ISs) throughout the cash supply chain. Cooperative behavior between Motorola and its suppliers, with the help of Citibank, has enabled a coordinated response to bring cash flows in line with product flows. The results are compared with existing IS marketing theories on business relationships, market structure, and globalization

Evaluating a financial service opportunity via judgemental modelling

The financial services market is currently undergoing tremendous change, due to the twin influences of developments in the field of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and changes in the legislation determining how banks will be allowed to operate after 1992. Describes research whose objective was to evaluate the viability of introducing a new service to handle cross-border payments, undertaken for a large multinational bank, and focused on respondents from a variety of firms within the European Community. Uses a combination of a PC-based judgemental modelling package and in-depth interviews to develop a clear understanding of the needs of both the originators′ and the vendors′ requirements. Although based on a relatively small sample, the detailed findings permit development of an effective approach to segmenting the market for the particular service

Theory of disk accretion onto supermassive black holes

Accretion onto supermassive black holes produces both the dramatic phenomena associated with active galactic nuclei and the underwhelming displays seen in the Galactic Center and most other nearby galaxies. I review selected aspects of the current theoretical understanding of black hole accretion, emphasizing the role of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and gravitational instabilities in driving the actual accretion and the importance of the efficacy of cooling in determining the structure and observational appearance of the accretion flow. Ongoing investigations into the dynamics of the plunging region, the origin of variability in the accretion process, and the evolution of warped, twisted, or eccentric disks are summarized.Comment: Mostly introductory review, to appear in "Supermassive black holes in the distant Universe", ed. A.J. Barger, Kluwer Academic Publishers, in pres

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Strategies for building a customer base on the internet: Symbiotic marketing

The advent of the Internet is leading a re-evaluation of existing business practice as the methods employed in a non-virtual world may not necessarily be as effective in a virtual environment. The present paper examines the different strategic options facing organizations as they attempt to build a customer base on the Internet. The traditional site-centric approach of directing traffic to a central Internet site suffers from the problems of the increasing costs and decreasing effectiveness of Internet advertising. An alternative strategy is the symbiotic approach which is based on the concept of mutuality. A strategy of symbiotic marketing involves one organization providing functionality for another organization's Internet site. In exchange for the provision of functionality for another Internet site the provider benefits from a increased market coverage and reach. Although the strategy of symbiotic marketing may initially appear counter-intuitive,the following paper highlights the potential advantages for a company pursuing such a strategy.The case demonstrates such a strategy exits as a low cost method of developing a customer base on the Internet. Finally, the potential scope of symbiotic marketing is discussed

The management of financial supply chains: From adversarial to co-operative strategies

Information systems have developed along the supply chain to support logistics management in all types of industries. Most of this effort has been focused at reducing the levels of working capital by increasing the efficiency of information flow from market to raw materials suppliers. Similar developments have also occurred to support other business processes, for example connecting together new product design and marketing databases to create virtual corporations. Electronic commerce and associated technologies such as EDI are the norm in advanced supply chains and it is common for their use to be mandatory when trading with large companies. The manufacturing of a product is now seen as a whole process across the supply chain rather than a series of separate operations managed and controlled by different organisations. The management of logistics has been fundamentally re-engineered and designed to focus on quality and time-based strategies. However developments in the handling of financial information between functions within companies and across organisational boundaries have lagged far behind the developments in logistics management. This paper explores the potential benefits of co-operative relationships in the financial supply chain to reduce the time delays and increase the level of certainty regarding financial transactions between separate organisations. An example is used to illustrate the financial benefits of moving from an adversarial to a co-operative relationship and the potential savings are shown to be significant. An organizational model is presented of likely future developments and steps that can be taken by the financial service industry to benefit as integrated providers of financial services to supply chains and the areas for initial implementation are outlined

The potential scope of the internet's impact on advertising strategy

Although many commentators perceive that the potential impact of the Internet on business will be large, to date evidence is not conclusive. The present paper examines the internet's impact on advertising and outlines the potential impact the new media may herald. These include the interactive, measurable and controllable nature of advertising through on the internet. However, although the potential appears great, present levels of advertising spend on the Internet accounts for less than 1% of all advertising. This low level of total spend on the internet is considered to be a result of a combination of different factors including a lack of targeted sites and the problems of measurement standards. However, the potential benefits of building an advertising campaign on the medium are clear, and achievable, if advertising companies are willing to work closely with their key relationship clients