Imagine how things could change if there were a real effort to reduce the cost of management.... Perhaps we could outsource these multimillion dollar positions to India or Pakistan where they could do the same jobs for pennies on $10.
Can you purchase a car in a reasonable manner with the features YOU want? Assuredly NOT. One must purchase opetion "packages" even though you may only one one of the options. How many other unwanted options will a diabetic need to purchase along with the on-board glucose monitor?
Does anyone feel they get value from the dealership from which they purchase the vehicle? There's an opportunity here for a smart automobile manufacturer.
Leave the internal options to be added by the dealership, making them add some real value. Use standard interfaces (like USB ports, or Firewire, or something similar) for easy installation. Let the consumer pick what they want.
It's time to see something truly different come from the auto industry. Henry Ford brought assembly line mass production to the industry; it's time to meld that with the ability to provide customization.
I think it's still possible to achieve competitive advantage even with the partnership model. You saw (and still see) a lot of this in the IT industry (they used to refer to it as co-opetiion). Sure, there were varying degrees of success and there were casualties along the way, but some of the controversial partnerships (IBM/Microsoft) were what was needed to get the PC industry off the ground. Perhaps the same situation applies here.
Seems to me this is just a new, financially prudent version of what the big car makers used to do when they wanted to get into new platforms or markets -- they'd acquire it. (Like GM did w Saab etc.) So now there's no cash for acquistions, so they partner instead. And of course this raises the big question: How does a car maker maintain a lead/proprietary technology if everyone's partnering with everyone else. The end course of that road map is every car becomes a commodity. In which case, ultimately, the Chinese (one day will) win.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
Researchers at MIT and Sandia National Labs have observed a reaction in lithium-air batteries that could help improve the design of these cells for electric vehicles and other applications.
Healthcare might seem to be an unlikely target application for the Internet of Things technology, but recent developments show small ways that big-data is going to make an impact on patient care moving into the future.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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