bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How New Product Introductions Affect Sales Management Strategy: The Impact of Type of “Newness” of the New Product
Authors: Micheal Kamel , Rochford Linda , Wotruba Thomas R. 
Published: May 2003

How do firms adjust sales management strategy for new product launch? Does sales management strategy change more radically for different types of new products such as new‐to‐the‐world products versus product revisions? Because firms introducing a new product rely considerably on their sales force in the product launch effort, the types and degree of changes made in managing the selling effort are important issues. Past studies have demonstrated that firms make substantial adjustments in their sales management strategy when they introduce a new product. This study expands on previous investigations by examining whether sales management strategy changes are conditioned by the type of newness of the new product to the market and to the firm.Australian sales managers were asked to respond to a mail questionnaire concerning pre‐ and post‐new product launch sales management activities. Three groups of firms were compared: (1) those with new‐to‐the‐market and new‐to‐the‐firm products (i.e., new‐to‐the‐world products); (2) those with products new to the firm but not new to the market; and (3) those with products that are revisions to the firm and not new to the market. The study finds that firms do not make the most adjustments for products with the greatest degree of market newness—the new‐to‐the‐world types of products—except in the sales management strategy categories of compensation and supervision. In the other sales management strategy categories defined for study—organization, training, quotas and goals, and sales support as well as for all categories in the aggregate—sales management strategy changes were greatest in incidence, as measured both by the percent of firms making changes and the average number of changes per firm, when the new product was new to the firm but not new to the market.These results suggest that, because different types of new products face different competitive environments, there may be greater incentive for a not‐new‐to‐the‐market new‐to‐the‐firm product to make changes in sales strategy. Uncertainties about market size and customer location with new‐to‐the‐world products may limit the understanding of what changes to make in the strategy categories of quotas and territories. Similarly, uncertainties about product use and customer acceptance of new‐to‐the‐world products may limit the development of training and sales support materials by these firms. Instead, these firms may rely more on compensation and supervision to direct sales efforts for new‐to‐the‐world products. However, observing the market experience and performance of the first‐to‐market product can benefit firms launching a not‐new‐to‐market and new‐to‐the‐firm product, allowing them to rely more on strategy changes in training, sales support materials, organizational adjustments such as redeployments, and quotas.
Commercial Innovations from Consulting Engineering Firms: An Empirical Exploration of a Novel Source of New Product Ideas
Authors: Alam Ian 
Published: May 2003

Industrial firms interact with many outside organizations such as the customers, suppliers, competitors, and universities to obtain input for their new product development (NPD) programs. The importance of interfirm interactions is reflected in a large number of interdisciplinary studies reported in a wide variety of literature bases. As a result, several sources of new product ideas have been investigated in the extant literature. Yet given the growing complexity and risks in new product development, there seems to be a need for managers to obtain input from new and unutilized sources. Apparently, one source that industry has not tapped adequately for its NPD efforts is the consulting engineering firms (CEFs).To fill the aforementioned gap in the literature, this article explores the roles and suitability of CEFs in new product development by conducting a rigorous in‐depth case research of new product idea generation in a large Australian firm manufacturing a variety of industrial products. To generate ideas for the sponsoring firm, longitudinal field interviews with 64 managers and engineers from 32 large CEFs were conducted over a one‐and‐one‐half year period. The findings of the field interviews were combined with the documentary evidences and the archival data. This longitudinal data collection enabled the author to generate new product ideas over real time and to gain access to the information that otherwise might have been difficult to obtain.The results suggest that CEFs are a rich source of new product ideas of potential commercial value. However, industry is making little use of CEFs, which underscores the need for industrial firms to collaborate and to establish an effective idea transfer relationship with them. Moreover, the services of CEFs are not restricted to idea generation but can stretch across the entire NPD process. These findings of the study encourage product managers to conceptualize NPD as a highly synergistic mutually interdependent process between CEFs and industrial firms rather than simply an arm's‐length consulting transactions. Given the dearth of research on idea generation with CEFs, this study highlights the findings that are novel and that go beyond the techniques of new product idea generation established in the extant literature.
A Model of Supplier Integration into New Product Development*
Authors: Petersen Kenneth J. , Handfield Robert B. , Ragatz Gary L. 
Published: May 2003

In many industries, firms are looking for ways to cut concept‐to‐customer development time, to improve quality, and to reduce the cost of new products. One approach shown to be successful in Japanese organizations involves the integration of material suppliers early in the new product development cycle. This involvement may range from simple consultation with suppliers on design ideas to making suppliers fully responsible for the design of components or systems they will supply.While prior research shows the benefit of using this approach, execution remains a problem. The processes for identifying and integrating suppliers into the new product development (NPD) process in North American organizations are not understood well. This problem is compounded by the fact that design team members often are reluctant to listen to the technology and cost ideas made by suppliers in new product development efforts. We suggest a model of the key activities required for successful supplier integration into NPD projects, based on case studies with 17 Japanese and American manufacturing organizations. The model is validated using data from a survey of purchasing executives in global corporations with at least one successful and one unsuccessful supplier integration experience. The results suggest that (1) increased knowledge of a supplier is more likely to result in greater information sharing and involvement of the supplier in the product development process; (2) sharing of technology information results in higher levels of supplier involvement and improved outcomes; (3) supplier involvement on teams generally results in a higher achievement of NPD team goals; (4) in cases when technology uncertainty is present, suppliers and buyers are more likely to share information on NPD teams; and (5) the problems associated with technology uncertainty can be mitigated by greater use of technology sharing and direct supplier participation on new product development teams. A supplier's participation as a true member of a new product development team seems to result in the highest level of benefits, especially in cases when a technology is in its formative stages.
Purification and Properties of an Intracellular 3-Hydroxybutyrate-Oligomer Hydrolase (PhaZ2) in
Ralstonia eutropha
H16 and Its Identification as a Novel Intracellular Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate) Depolymerase
Authors: Kobayashi Teruyuki , Shiraki Mari , Abe Tomoko , Sugiyama Akinori , Saito Terumi 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

An intracellular 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB)-oligomer hydrolase (PhaZ2
Reu
) of
Ralstonia eutropha
was purified from
Escherichia coli
harboring a plasmid containing
phaZ2

Reu

. The purified enzyme hydrolyzed linear and cyclic 3HB-oligomers. Although it did not degrade crystalline poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), the purified enzyme degraded artificial amorphous PHB at a rate similar to that of the previously identified intracellular PHB (iPHB) depolymerase (PhaZ1
Reu
). The enzyme appeared to be an endo-type hydrolase, since it actively hydrolyzed cyclic 3HB-oligomers. However, it degraded various linear 3HB-oligomers and amorphous PHB in the fashion of an exo-type hydrolase, releasing one monomer unit at a time. PhaZ2 was found to bind to PHB inclusion bodies and as a soluble enzyme to cell-free supernatant fractions in
R. eutropha
; in contrast, PhaZ1 bound exclusively to the inclusion bodies. When
R. eutropha
H16 was cultivated in a nutrient-rich medium, the transient deposition of PHB was observed: the content of PHB was maximized in the log growth phase (12 h, ca. 14% PHB of dry cell weight) and decreased to a very low level in the stationary phase (ca. 1% of dry cell weight). In each
phaZ1
-null mutant and
phaZ2
-null mutant, the PHB content in the cell increased to ca. 5% in the stationary phase. A double mutant lacking both
phaZ1
and
phaZ2
showed increased PHB content in the log phase (ca. 20%) and also an elevated PHB level (ca. 8%) in the stationary phase. These results indicate that PhaZ2 is a novel iPHB depolymerase, which participates in the mobilization of PHB in
R. eutropha
along with PhaZ1.
SigM, an Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma Factor ofBacillus subtilis, Is Activated in Response to Cell Wall Antibiotics, Ethanol, Heat, Acid, and Superoxide Stress
Authors: Thackray Penny D. , Moir Anne 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACTThe extracytoplasmic function sigma M ofBacillus subtilisis required for normal cell growth under salt stress. It is expressed maximally during exponential growth and is further induced by the addition of 0.7 M NaCl. The promoter region of thesigMoperon contains two promoters; one (PA) is sigma A dependent, and the other (PM) is sigma M dependent. These have been placed separately at theamylocus, directing expression of alacZreporter gene. Only the PMfusion responded to salt induction. This promoter, which was responsive to the level of active sigma M in the cell, was also induced by 5% ethanol, by vancomycin, bacitracin, or phosphomycin (inhibitors of cell wall biosynthesis; 2 μg per ml), and by heat shock of 50°C for 10 min. It was very strongly induced by acid (pH 4.3) and 80 μM paraquat, but after a 15- to 30-min delay. There was no induction by alkali (pH 9), 5 mM H2O2, the detergents 0.1% Triton X-100 and 0.1% Tween 20, or 50 μM monensin. In addition to their reduced tolerance to salt, null mutants ofsigMwere unable to grow at pH 4.3 and lysed after exposure to 5% ethanol. Genes regulated by SigM were also tested for their response to pH 4.3, 5% ethanol, and 2 μg of vancomycin per ml. Expression of the genes may have been activated by increased levels of sigma M, but at least some were also subject to additional controls, as they responded to one type of stress but not another. Expression ofyrhJ, which encodes a cytochrome P450/NADPH reductase, was induced in response to acid and vancomycin.yraAexpression was acid, ethanol, and vancomycin induced, whereasyjbDshowed only ethanol induction. YraA protein was extremely important to acid survival—a mutation inyraA, like asigMmutation, resulted in the failure ofB. subtilisto grow at pH 4.3. Sigma M is therefore involved in maintaining membrane and cell wall integrity in response to several different stresses in exponential growth phase and is activated by such stresses.
ThettsAGene Is Required for Low-Calcium-Induced Type III Secretion of Yop Proteins and Virulence ofYersinia enterocoliticaW22703
Authors: DeBord Kristin L. , Galanopoulos Nicholas S. , Schneewind Olaf 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACTPathogenicYersiniaspecies use a virulence-plasmid encoded type III secretion pathway to escape the innate immune response and to establish infections in lymphoid tissues. At least 22 secretion machinery components are required for type III transport of 14 different Yop proteins, and 10 regulatory factors are responsible for activating this pathway in response to environmental signals. Although the genes for these products are located on the 70-kb virulence plasmid ofYersinia, this extrachromosomal element does not appear to harbor genes that provide for the sensing of environmental signals, such as calcium-, glutamate-, or serum-sensing proteins. To identify such genes, we screened transposon insertion mutants ofY. enterocoliticaW22703 for defects in type III secretion and identifiedttsA, a chromosomal gene encoding a polytopic membrane protein.ttsAmutant yersiniae synthesize reduced amounts of Yops and display a defect in low-calcium-induced type III secretion of Yop proteins.ttsAmutants are also severely impaired in bacterial motility, a phenotype which is likely due to the reduced expression of flagellar genes. All of these defects were restored by complementation with plasmid-encoded wild-typettsA. LcrG is a repressor of theYersiniatype III pathway that is activated by an environmental calcium signal. Mutation of thelcrGgene in attsAmutant strain restored the type III secretion of Yop proteins, although the double mutant strain secreted Yops in the presence and absence of calcium, similar to the case for mutants that are defective inlcrGgene function alone. To examine the role ofttsAin the establishment of infection, we measured the bacterial dose required to produce an acute lethal disease following intraperitoneal infection of mice. ThettsAinsertion caused a greater-than-3-log-unit reduction in virulence compared to that of the parental strain.
PhoP-Responsive Expression of theSalmonella entericaSerovar TyphimuriumslyAGene
Authors: Norte Valia A. , Stapleton Melanie R. , Green Jeffrey 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACTThe SlyA protein ofSalmonella entericaserovar Typhimurium is a member of the MarR family of transcription regulators and is required for virulence and survival in professional macrophages. Isolated SlyA protein was able to bind a specific DNA target without posttranslational modification. This suggested that SlyA might not be activated by directly sensing an external signal but rather that the intracellular concentration of SlyA is enhanced in appropriate environments through the action of other transcription factors. Analysis ofslyAtranscription reveals the presence of a promoter region located upstream of the previously recognized SlyA repressed promoter. The newly identified upstream promoter region did not respond to SlyA but was activated by Mg(II) starvation in a PhoP-dependent manner. We present here evidence for a direct link between two transcription factors (PhoP and SlyA) crucial forSalmonellavirulence.
The
Pseudomonas fluorescens
AlgG Protein, but Not Its Mannuronan C-5-Epimerase Activity, Is Needed for Alginate Polymer Formation
Authors: Gimmestad Martin , Sletta Håvard , Ertesvåg Helga , Bakkevig Karianne , Jain Sumita , Suh Sang-jin , Skjåk-Bræk Gudmund , Ellingsen Trond E. , Ohman Dennis E. , Valla Svein 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

Bacterial alginates are produced as 1-4-linked β
-d-
mannuronan, followed by epimerization of some of the mannuronic acid residues to α
-l-
guluronic acid. Here we report the isolation of four different epimerization-defective point mutants of the periplasmic
Pseudomonas fluorescens
mannuronan C-5-epimerase AlgG. All mutations affected amino acids conserved among AlgG-epimerases and were clustered in a part of the enzyme also sharing some sequence similarity to a group of secreted epimerases previously reported in
Azotobacter vinelandii
. An
algG
-deletion mutant was constructed and found to produce predominantly a dimer containing a 4-deoxy
-l-
erythro
-hex-4-enepyranosyluronate residue at the nonreducing end and a mannuronic acid residue at the reducing end. The production of this dimer is the result of the activity of an alginate lyase, AlgL, whose in vivo activity is much more limited in the presence of AlgG. A strain expressing both an epimerase-defective (point mutation) and a wild-type epimerase was constructed and shown to produce two types of alginate molecules: one class being pure mannuronan and the other having the wild-type content of guluronic acid residues. This formation of two distinct classes of polymers in a genetically pure cell line can be explained by assuming that AlgG is part of a periplasmic protein complex.
Protein Synthesis in
Escherichia coli
with Mischarged tRNA
Authors: Min Bokkee , Kitabatake Makoto , Polycarpo Carla , Pelaschier Joanne , Raczniak Gregory , Ruan Benfang , Kobayashi Hiroyuki , Namgoong Suk , Söll Dieter 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

Two types of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase exist: the discriminating enzyme (D-AspRS) forms only Asp-tRNA
Asp
, while the nondiscriminating one (ND-AspRS) also synthesizes Asp-tRNA
Asn
, a required intermediate in protein synthesis in many organisms (but not in
Escherichia coli
). On the basis of the
E. coli trpA34
missense mutant transformed with heterologous ND-
aspS
genes, we developed a system with which to measure the in vivo formation of Asp-tRNA
Asn
and its acceptance by elongation factor EF-Tu. While large amounts of Asp-tRNA
Asn
are detrimental to
E. coli
, smaller amounts support protein synthesis and allow the formation of up to 38% of the wild-type level of missense-suppressed tryptophan synthetase.
The
Stigmatella aurantiaca
Homolog of
Myxococcus xanthus
High-Mobility-Group A-Type Transcription Factor CarD: Insights into the Functional Modules of CarD and Their Distribution in Bacteria
Authors: Cayuela María L. , Elías-Arnanz Montserrat , Peñalver-Mellado Marcos , Padmanabhan S. , Murillo Francisco J. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

Transcriptional factor CarD is the only reported prokaryotic analog of eukaryotic high-mobility-group A (HMGA) proteins, in that it has contiguous acidic and AT hook DNA-binding segments and multifunctional roles in
Myxococcus xanthus
carotenogenesis and fruiting body formation. HMGA proteins are small, randomly structured, nonhistone, nuclear architectural factors that remodel DNA and chromatin structure. Here we report on a second AT hook protein, CarD
Sa
, that is very similar to CarD and that occurs in the bacterium
Stigmatella aurantiaca
. CarD
Sa
has a C-terminal HMGA-like domain with three AT hooks and a highly acidic adjacent region with one predicted casein kinase II (CKII) phosphorylation site, compared to the four AT hooks and five CKII sites in CarD. Both proteins have a nearly identical 180-residue N-terminal segment that is absent in HMGA proteins. In vitro, CarD
Sa
exhibits the specific minor-groove binding to appropriately spaced AT-rich DNA that is characteristic of CarD or HMGA proteins, and it is also phosphorylated by CKII. In vivo, CarD
Sa
or a variant without the single CKII phosphorylation site can replace CarD in
M. xanthus
carotenogenesis and fruiting body formation. These two cellular processes absolutely require that the highly conserved N-terminal domain be present. Thus, three AT hooks are sufficient, the N-terminal domain is essential, and phosphorylation in the acidic region by a CKII-type kinase can be dispensed with for CarD function in
M. xanthus
carotenogenesis and fruiting body development. Whereas a number of hypothetical proteins homologous to the N-terminal region occur in a diverse array of bacterial species, eukaryotic HMGA-type domains appear to be confined primarily to myxobacteria.
Relaxed Specificity of the R1162 Nickase: a Model for Evolution of a System for Conjugative Mobilization of Plasmids
Authors: Becker Eric C. , Meyer Richard J. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

The primary DNA processing protein for conjugative mobilization of the plasmid R1162 is the transesterase MobA, which acts at a unique site on the plasmid, the origin of transfer (
oriT
). Both MobA and
oriT
are members of a large family of related elements that are widely distributed among bacteria. Each
oriT
consists of a highly conserved core and an adjacent region that is required for binding by its cognate MobA. The sequence of the adjacent region is important in determining the specificity of the interaction between the Mob protein and the
oriT
DNA. However, the R1162 MobA is active on the
oriT
of pSC101, another naturally occurring plasmid. We show here that MobA can recognize
oriT
s having different sequences in the adjacent region and, with varying frequencies, can cleave these
oriT
s at the correct position within the core. Along with the structure of the
oriT
s themselves, these characteristics suggest a model for the evolution of this group of transfer systems.
FlrA, a σ
54
-Dependent Transcriptional Activator in
Vibrio fischeri,
Is Required for Motility and Symbiotic Light-Organ Colonization
Authors: Millikan Deborah S. , Ruby Edward G. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

Flagellum-mediated motility of
Vibrio fischeri
is an essential factor in the bacterium's ability to colonize its host, the Hawaiian squid
Euprymna scolopes
. To begin characterizing the nature of the flagellar regulon, we have cloned a gene, designated
flrA
, from
V. fischeri
that encodes a putative σ
54
-dependent transcriptional activator. Genetic arrangement of the
flrA
locus in
V. fischeri
is similar to motility master-regulator operons of
Vibrio cholerae
and
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
. In addition, examination of regulatory regions of a number of flagellar operons in
V. fischeri
revealed apparent σ
54
recognition motifs, suggesting that the flagellar regulatory hierarchy is controlled by a similar mechanism to that described in
V. cholerae
. However, in contrast to its closest known relatives,
flrA
mutant strains of
V. fischeri
ES114 were completely abolished in swimming capability. Although
flrA
provided in
trans
restored motility to the
flrA
mutant, the complemented strain was unable to reach wild-type levels of symbiotic colonization in juvenile squid, suggesting a possible role for the proper expression of FlrA in regulating symbiotic colonization factors in addition to those required for motility. Comparative RNA arbitrarily primed PCR analysis of the
flrA
mutant and its wild-type parent revealed several differentially expressed transcripts. These results define a regulon that includes both flagellar structural genes and other genes apparently not involved in flagellum elaboration or function. Thus, the transcriptional activator FlrA plays an essential role in regulating motility, and apparently in modulating other symbiotic functions, in
V. fischeri
.