Fragmented industry

Although the manufacture and sale of adhesives is a worldwide enterprise, the adhesives business can be characterized as a fragmented industry. The 1987 Census of Manufacturers obtained reports from 712 companies in the United States, each of which considers itself to be in the adhesives or sealants business (13) only 275 of these companies had more than 20 employees. The total value of material shipped by these companies approached 4.7 biUion... 

This membrane industry is very fragmented. Industrial applications are divided into six main sub-groups reverse osmosis ultrafiltration microfiltration gas separation pervaporation and electrodialysis. Medical applications are divided into three more artificial kidneys blood oxygenators and controlled release pharmaceuticals. Few companies are involved in more than one sub-group of the industry. Because of these divisions it is difficult to obtain an overview of membrane science and technology this book is an attempt to give such an overview. 

Because their nature, their uses, and their origins are extremely varied, food additives are supplied by a large number of different firms. In what is a fragmented industry, some producers stand out more because of the major place they occupy on the market than because of their range of additives. 

Aggregates Resources The Bell Laboratories concept of aggregating research monies to serve the large-scale needs of a diverse using sector has been paralleled in the development of EPRI for the electric utilities. This concept could be extended into other areas where a fragmented industry — like coal or natural gas — has large-scale system needs that its individual companies could not finance. 

In a fragmented industry (l.e., many equal competitors) all competitors would follow the experience curve more or less together. Prices would be expected to follow the dotted line, with the ordinal difference between the solid and dotted lines representing "profit" or return on total investment. Under these conditions, a firm 1s not likely to diffuse unless this ordinal difference Is positive at or very near the beginning of the Diffusion stage. 

Fragmented Industry - companies enjoy many opportunities for differentiation, but each competitive advantage is small. A restaurant, for example, can differentiate in many ways, but still ultimately fail to increase its market share. Profitability is not related to restaurant size. 

Annual growth rate of Chinese fine chemicals market 10% Low entry barriers for new emerging competitors due to low investment, low-cost and often low-tech production Dramatic overcapacity and fierce price competition Highly fragmented industry... 

HSE Annual Reports expressed concern about the under-reporting of accidents in a fragmented industry (HSE, 1997 89) and also the ability of companies to control contractors (ibid. 115). 

Critical Mineral depletion, formation of guUies, occurrence of cones of depression, karst, suffosion, dewatering of soils, ground removal, humus decay, soil erosion, chemical pollution, changes of water level, projective cover fragmentation Industrial pollution, chemical pollution... 

A historically fragmented Japanese industry, with rapid growth to meet internal demand, changed in 1979 with an agreement by its five principal manufacturers (Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Nippon Kayaku, Mitsui Toatsu, and Hodogaya) to the formation of a cartel to coordinate research as well as manufacture. Successful operation of this cartel could have profound effects on the international situation by the end of the twentieth century. 

Local Failure The penetration or perforation of most industrial targets cannot be assessed using theoretical analysis methods, and recourse is made to using one of the many empirical equations. In using the equations, it is essential that the parameters of the empirical equation embrace the conditions of the actual fragment. 

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