This volume presents concepts, policies and cost models for various long-term warranty and maintenance contracts. It offers several numerical examples for estimating costs to both the manufacturer and consumer. Long-term warranties and maintenance contracts are becoming increasingly popular, as these types of aftersales services provide assurance to consumers that they can enjoy long, reliable service, and protect them from defects and the potentially high costs of repairs. Studying long-term warranty and service contracts is important to manufacturers and consumers alike, as offering long-term warranty and maintenance contracts produce additional costs for manufacturers / service providers over the product’s service life. These costs must be factored into the price, or the manufacturer / dealer will incur losses instead of making a profit. On the other hand, the buyer / consumer needs to weigh the cost of maintaining it over its service life and to decide whether or not these policies are worth purchasing. There are a number of complexities involved in developing failure and cost models for these policies due to uncertainties concerning the service life, usage pattern, maintenance work and long-term costs of rectifications. Mathematical models for predicting failures and expected costs for various one-dimensional long-term warranty policies are developed at the system level and analyzed by taking into account the uncertainties in connection with longer coverage periods and the rectification costs over the warranty period. Failures and costs are modeled using stochastic techniques and illustrated by means of numerical examples for estimating costs to the manufacturer and consumer. Various rectification policies are proposed and analyzed. The models developed here can be used to aid in managerial decisions on purchasing products with long-term warranty policies and maintenance contracts or outsourcing maintenance.

As the 21st century begins, we are faced with opportunities and challenges of available technology as well as pressured to create strategic and tactical plans for future technology. Worldwide, IT professionals are sharing and trading concepts and ideas for effective IT management, and this co-operation is what leads to solid IT management practices. This volume is a collection of papers that present IT management perspectives from professionals around the world. The papers seek to offer new ideas, refine old ones, and pose interesting scenarios to help the reader develop company-sensitive management strategies.

Offers a holistic approach to guiding product design, manufacturing, and after-sales support as the manufacturing industry transitions from a product-oriented model to service-oriented paradigm This book provides fundamental knowledge and best industry practices in reliability modelling, maintenance optimization, and service parts logistics planning. It aims to develop an integrated product-service system (IPSS) synthesizing design for reliability, performance-based maintenance, and spare parts inventory. It also presents a lifecycle reliability-inventory optimization framework where reliability, redundancy, maintenance, and service parts are jointly coordinated. Additionally, the book aims to report the latest advances in reliability growth planning, maintenance contracting and spares inventory logistics under non-stationary demand condition. Reliability Engineering and Service provides in-depth chapter coverage of topics such as: Reliability Concepts and Models; Mean and Variance of Reliability Estimates; Design for Reliability; Reliability Growth Planning; Accelerated Life Testing and Its Economics; Renewal Theory and Superimposed Renewals; Maintenance and Performance-Based Logistics; Warranty Service Models; Basic Spare Parts Inventory Models; Repairable Inventory Systems; Integrated Product-Service Systems (IPPS), and Resilience Modeling and Planning Guides engineers to design reliable products at a low cost Assists service engineers in providing superior after-sales support Enables managers to respond to the changing market and customer needs Uses end-of-chapter case studies to illustrate industry best practice Lifecycle approach to reliability, maintenance and spares provisioning Reliability Engineering and Service is an important book for graduate engineering students, researchers, and industry-based reliability practitioners and consultants.

The globalization of manufacturing is a key development in most industries over the last decade. New technologies like e-commerce, genetic algorithms, and neural networks have to be adapted to the manufacturing environment. This book deals with methods and tools suitable for designing, managing and controlling processes within the supply chain. Virtual Enterprise and Extended Enterprise are the terms which describe the challenges for global production management. The implementation of global production management requires integration of business processes, technical and organizational aspects. The main topics of the papers selected for this book are therefore: Strategic manufacturing issues and design of virtual enterprises; Supply chain management; Performance measurement and management information; Business process engineering; Modeling and simulation; Advanced scheduling approaches and decision support; IT systems to support global production . The book contains case studies as well as reports on research findings. The papers represent a summary of current issues which have been presented at the International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems (APMS) in September 1999. This event was sponsored by the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP), and was organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK), Berlin. The authors are leading experts within the international community in the field of production management. Global Production Management is suitable as a reference for researchers and practitioners in global manufacturing, supply chain management, logistics and IT services, and consultants. It can also be used as further reading for advanced courses on management and manufacturing.

This book presents the proceedings of the IDEAS Conference, which is intended as a forum for a new generation of researchers. IDEAS is an arena that encourages researchers to defy their field's boundaries, leveraging disciplinary mindset into contributions to broad domains within the Science, Technology, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Management. Further, IDEAS explores novel questions and challenges existing policies and practices on how to apply science and technology as an input to design more innovative and sustainable systems that promote human well-being.

This book efficiently and effectively solves complex business problems using the theory of inventive problem-solving tools (TRIZ). With 200+ examples and 100+ tasks (including 30 for independent study), it equips readers to address real-world challenges and develop essential skills. Aimed at individuals responsible for solving business problems, it provides expert guidance and specialized TRIZ tools for practical success.

Going global can be risky business if you don't divest yourself of your ethnocentric thinking. You have to take into consideration your new market's language, work schedules, tastes, lifestyle choices, and cultural associations, and this is the book to help you do that! Handbook of Cross-Cultural Marketing shows you how to sensitize your marketing approaches to the cultural norms and taboos of other societies, as well as the importance of demonstrating an interest in and appreciation of different cultures. Designed to assist both American and foreign companies, Handbook of Cross-Cultural Marketing shows you how to increase your chance at success in international markets. It identifies and explains ten important aspects of culture that are essential to cross-cultural marketing to help you understand how underlying cultural beliefs govern the way marketing functions in different societies. It also gives you specific steps for developing cultural adaptation strategies in international marketing. To further your understanding of global marketing and fundamental marketing concepts, this comprehensive book discusses: real life examples of company successes and failures abroad attitudes toward middlemen in underdeveloped countries the advantages of foreign trade shows locating and using representatives, agents, and/or distributors in foreign countries the reception of different American products in different countries potential cultural pitfalls of primary data collecting techniques the role of time in various cultures setting standards for product performance A useful text for students and practitioners alike, Handbook of Cross-Cultural Marketing gives you hands-on strategies and advice for delving into different markets, using techniques that are respectful of individual cultures, and avoiding unnecessary mistakes that can occur if you don't take the initiative to get to know the culture of your new marketplace. Your outlook and beliefs are not the global norm, so read this book to find out how you can be successful with customers who are different from you in terms of motivation, values, beliefs, and outlook.

Businesses are important for economic development of nation and increasing of living standards of people. Also, management is a critical factor for both businesses because it creates utility for businesses. All the success and failure depend upon business functions and management. In this context, this book contains three important factors of business management. In the first part of the book covers strategic management subjects; especially entrepreneurship and human resource management. The second part of the book includes accounting and auditing. The third part of the book is about marketing.

The progress of broadband ICT is having a big impact on individual lifestyles and corporate activities. For corporate strategy, broadband use goes beyond improving management efficiency to contributing to enhancing customer services and developing new markets. In addition, the shape of corporate organizations and their behavior is changing along with recent changes in the business environment and development of broadband networks. It will become increasingly important for future business strategies to go beyond resources limited by business units within conventional corporate organizations to take positive initiatives with knowledge and competences outside the company as well as with the dynamic use of ICT, through such means as external strategic alliances, virtual corporations, mergers and acquisitions, and outsourcing. This book describes that the full utilization of ICT based on fixed and mobile wireless broadband communication platforms supports managerial speed and excellence, while making it possible to formulate new business models. Chapter 1 describes business process innovations and new e-business that activates the concepts and technology of video-based information networks (VIN) based on the leading broadband and wireless technologies of multimedia communication networks. Dynamic activities with VIN as a future network strategy support tool will enable business innovation through strengthening corporate competitiveness and enhancing customer services. Chapter 2 considers theoretical frameworks related to "ICT dynamic capability" for companies that have employed ICT. "ICT dynamic capability" comprises the three elements of context architecture, boundaries consolidation, and ICT application capabilities, and is discussed from the viewpoint of the new knowledge creation process. The interaction among actors' dynamic use of VIN tools and the community knowledge creating cycle simultaneously enhances knowledge effectiveness and creativity. Chapter 3 goes on to consider the decision-making process that introduced and activated VIN tools within the company, aimed at the acquisition of ICT dynamic capability, from the perspective of a strategy-making process. Chapter 4 demonstrates community management frameworks exploiting VIN in the company through in-depth case study. The top-down approach through the innovative leadership of community leaders who comprehensively manage the business community spread within and outside the company will enable the dynamic use of ICT by community members. In Chapter 5, looking at the creation of business linking industry and academia, the author considers cases of VIN development through a bottom-up approach involving members in the strategic community, and shows analysis from the viewpoint of ICT dynamic capability created from dynamic interaction of context and knowledge with customers who have crossed the organizational boundaries among industries. In Chapter 6, through emergent strategies for small and medium-sized companies, the book justifies new knowledge in-house after its creation from a trial-and-error process using a bottom-up approach, and the author looks at the feelings and behaviour of actors undertaking to improve in-house productivity and customer services as a strategy for the entire company. In Chapter 7, the author takes up a case study of Sony, and looks at an example of VIN tools adoption by means of Sony’s deliberate strategy using a top-down approach. Moreover, learning from Sony’s trial & error method, the author considers the process of a successful VIN adoption from a bottom-up approach through emergent strategies centered on worksite organization. In Chapter 8 the author considers successful case studies of VIN adoption by large companies. The author considers the processes that productively resolve internally generated friction and conflict and transform corporate culture through the use of both top-down and bottom-up approaches. Finally, in Chapter 9, the book provides new insights derived from the case studies and theoretical and managerial implications related to new knowledge creation by ICT dynamic capability. Bridging theory and practice and providing international scope, this book will be invaluable to academics and students with an interest in business, management, ICT, and to managers in high-tech industries.

Customer relations management (CRM) is about maintaining long-term customer relationships. This book looks at creating and managing customer relationships and how relationship marketing, applied throughout any organisation, can create new value to build the organisation for the long term. In order to achieve CRM, companies need to focus on customer retention, a high customer commitment and a long-term perspective. The book examines the changes in the practice of marketing and the solutions offered by relationship marketing. It also analyses the profound impact of technology and how it enables the business to focus on individual customers.