Japanese major alcoholic beverage companies, whose businesses are mainly the production and sale of beer products, stand at a strategic crossroads. There are several reasons: a slow decrease in the Japanese population, which leads to a smaller drinking population; diversification of customers'...

This thesis consists of five related essays which explore new approaches to help design successful and profitable new products. The primary focus is the front end of the process where the product development team is seeking improved input from customers and improved ideas for developing products...

This thesis explores the changes occurring in the software industry and the strategic implications thereof. The software industry has historically benefited from the rapid introduction of new platforms and applications, an increasing user base and nearly contiguous cycles of growth. However,...

Competition in the business world is becoming harsher as markets shrink due to the financial crisis of the late 2000s. Firms have to leverage their core competencies to survive by attracting more customers and attaining more efficient operations. In such circumstances, diversified corporations...

Essay One: Explaining the Start and Fizzle of Organizational Change: Co-evolving Process and Content The theme that sustaining efforts to change is difficult appears in many guises throughout the organizations. The tendency for change processes to run out of energy and momentum is widely...

Essay One The Impact of Shortages on Push-Pull Production Systems This paper explores the impact of endogenous customer demand on supply chain instability. It investigates how a semiconductor manufacturer's hybrid push-pull production system responds to customer demand, when inventory...

The recent surge in the globalization of markets in various industries has brought global brands to the attention of consumers worldwide. Just as information connects consumers across geographical borders in seconds, globalization is a common stream among many industries, which leads consumers...

In the backdrop of the dotcom bubble burst, companies cleaned up the excesses of the nineties and are more agile and efficient than ever before. However, companies face tremendous pressure to improve shareholder returns. A new trend is emerging as more and more capital is flowing into Private...

Technology transitions require the formation of a self-sustaining market through alignment of consumers' interests, producers' capabilities, infrastructure development, and regulations. In this research I develop a broad behavioral dynamic model of the prospective transition to alternative fuel...