Market feedback

To grow new ideas into flourishing businesses, companies must define them as separate entities that can develop autonomously like startups in the open market. This ensures that they will get the market feedback they need in order to thrive -and also provide protection against corporate fears of cannibalism. 

The FDA recently confirmed that market feedback showed that mislabelling recalls were not associated with packaging processes with on-line bar code readers. This has led to the relaxation of the need for full component reconciliation, but indirectly upgraded the technical demands on validating bar code readers. 

Under the tradename Aonilex, Kaneka, a Japanese company, plans to start production of 1,000 tonnes/year of P(3HB) and 3-hydroxyhexanoate, of different ratios, in order to achieve a wide range of final properties. Kaneka claims it will increase Aonilex production up to 10,000 tonnes/year depending on the market feedback [22-23]. 

A product which possesses features that satisfy customer needs is a quality product. Likewise, one that possesses features which dissatisfy customers is not a quality product. So the final arbiter on quality is the customer. The customer is the only one who can decide whether the quality of the products and services you supply is satisfactory and you will be conscious of this either by direct feedback or by loss of sales, reduction in market share, and, ultimately, loss of business. 

The Kind of Blue is based on Magellan gin, a French product, which arrived in die United States last summer and got noticed a lot because it s blue. It was developed by Michel Roux, die man behind die legendary Absolut vodka marketing. Mr. Roux worked on Bombay Sapphire, with its trademark blue bottle, and the feedback on that project was diat people were disappointed to pour Sapphire and find diat the gin itself wasn t an attractive blue. 

Feedback from the market is another key data source. This can come through customer comments or complaints or through the vigilance systems that are mandatory for drugs and devices. 

The countries use similar means for disseminating information from the review. In Australia, Cypms, Estonia and Venezuela, ADR information and the results of report evaluation are published in bulletins which are distributed to physicians and pharmacists. In Tunisia, such information is disseminated at health professionals workshops. In Malaysia, review information is also sent to the reporters and the marketing authorization holders as information feedback. In every country, review information is forwarded to the DRA. Each of the countries also sends reports to the WHO Collaborating Centre for International Dmg Monitoring. 

At Novartis, so-called BioavailabiUty Radar Plots [44] are used to visually display the oral absorption potential of molecules. On these plots five important calculated descriptors (log P, molecular weight, PSA, number of rotatable bonds and water solubility score [45]) are displayed on the axes of a pentagonal radar plot and compared with predefined property limits (green area) which were determined by the analysis of marketed oral drugs. These plots provide an intuitive tool that displays multiple parameters as a single chart in a straightforward but informative way, providing visual feedback about the molecule s bioavailabiUty potential (Fig. 5.5). 

Judging from the feedback of some butchers, a possible market for unpopular cuts of organic meat could be a premium pet food manufacturer ... 

Other applications include car rental, shared-car ownership or public transport -these transfer the risk of ownership of a vehicle with a new propulsion system away from the private person. Once established, these niche applications can help to raise the profile of the new technology, increase public acceptance and provide opportunities for feedback that can lead to technology improvement. Once their commercial viability in the niche market has been proved, the vehicles can expand into wider markets. Particularly suitable for introducing hydrogen (or other alternative fuels) are buses, fleet vehicles and rental vehicles (Smith, 2001). 

Crystallization from solution is a widely utilized separation and purification technique in chemical industry. It is characterized by the formation of a spectrum of differently sized crystals. This spectrum, called the Crystal Size Distribution or CSD, is highly important for the performance of the crystallizer, the crystal handling equipment like centrifuges and dryers, and the marketability of the produced crystals. However, in many industrial crystallizers, the observed CSD s show large transients due to disturbances or are unstable because of the internal feedback mechanisms of the crystallization process ). The main limitation for effective CSD control was the lack of a good on-line CSD measurement device, but recent developments show that this hurdle is taken (2). 

Continually improving the system through measurement and feedback-controlled evaluation becomes possible due to the analytical and quantifiable approach of the process models. (Note that at its ultimate level this will lead to a real-time, feedback-controlled enterprise capable of reacting to dynamically changing market needs.)... 

Despite thorough research, technology opportunity assessment may come back with an inconclusive assessment. In those cases, the technology may not quite be ripe or the markets may not yet be sufficiently developed. In cases such as this, it may be useful to shop the TOA around to potential investors, academics, and potential customers, not with the idea of getting an investment, but with the objective of getting feedback on how to reshape the idea so that it is more obviously promising. 

What can be expected in the near and middle future for inhaled powder delivery There certainly will be some more new passive devices to reach the market and the patient, but it seems that a lot of purely mechanical design ideas have been implemented already in the newest generation of multiple-dose DPIs. Most important are audible and visible feedback features that help to improve delivery efficiency and patient compliance. Future improvements also seem possible in reducing dependency of the particle dispersion on actuation flow rate and internal device resistance. The next or over-next generation of multiple-dose devices also may incorporate lean, inexpensive, but rugged electronics... 

A pharmacist also is likely to make use of interpersonal communication skills when interacting with patients and other practitioners such as physicians. Training in these skills is essential. For example, pharmacists may need practice and critical feedback in writing effective SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment plan) notes to be sent to physicians. It is important that pharmacy personnel develop confidence in their ability not only to provide new pharmacy services but also to market their services to all groups of consumers (i.e., patients, health care providers, and payers). 

The last marketing-mix variable is productivity and quality. One issue here is creating efficiency in pharmacy service activities. This means that monitoring and feedback of service encounters should be performed. Then pharmacists can be trained to be efficient in the time spent with patients when providing services. Time benchmarks can be established for various service offerings. Nonpharmacist personnel should be used where appropriate, such as in scheduling appointments and billing payers. 

The final part of a marketing plan is a control process that will allow assessment of performance in comparison with selected objectives. When such monitoring is combined with feedback and adjustments, then the success of a pharmacy s marketing efforts will be enhanced. This approach can be viewed as a quality improvement process that is linked to marketing objectives (Gronroos, 2000). The scope of such a process could include the quality of care, financial performance, patient satisfaction, and service growth. 

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