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Archive for February, 2011

Creating real carbon credits comes from the concept of supplementarity within the Kyoto Protocol. Supplementarity means that internal abatement of emissions should take precedence before a country purchases carbon credits. It establishes that countries should develop real, measureable, permanent emissions reductions. There are steps involved in deciding whether or not carbon credits are legitimate. This means making sure that the process through which the carbon credits are submitted are in fact real, measurable, and permanent emissions.

Creating real carbon credits involves the concept of additionality. This refers to a term used by Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism, describing the fact that a carbon dioxide reduction project would not have occurred had it not been for concern for the mitigation of climate change. By proving additionality, it proves the legitimacy of the environmental stewardship claim resulting from the retirement of the carbon credit.

Involved with real carbon credits is personal carbon trading. Personal carbon trading has not yet been approved, but may very well help lower carbon usage as well as create small, localized economies. Personal carbon trading is a concept that is along the same lines as carbon offset credits. The concept of carbon trading refers to emissions trading.

It is hoped that personal carbon trading will help lower the amount of emissions by allotting a certain amount of emissions to individuals on an equal per capita basis. The number would be based on national carbon budgets. The credits would be surrendered later when buying fuel or electricity. Any individual who needs or wants more carbon credits would need to trade or purchase additional credits. Not only does this allow for people to get additional credits, it also makes it possible for those who do not need all of their credits, or are voluntarily lowering their carbon emissions, to sell surplus credits. Individual trading under Personal Carbon Trading is similar to the trading companies under the European Union Emission Trading System.

Personal carbon trading is not the same as carbon offsetting. They are very similar in the sense that they pay for emissions allowances, but carbon trading differs in that it is designed to be mandatory so nations are guaranteed domestic carbon emissions targets. There are various carbon proposals. Included are Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs), Personal Carbon Allowances (PCAs), and Tradable Personal Pollution Allowances.

Depending on the personal carbon trading that is chosen, individuals would most likely use electric accounts to control the carbon credits. The account would allow individuals to surrender credits when purchasing electricity, heating fuel, and petroleum. Personal Carbon credits would also be used for public transportation. Those who sell their extra credit would benefit by lowering their carbon footprint, which is of course, the entire point of personal carbon credits.

Biofuels Market in China 2010

Biofuels has huge growth potential in China as domestic and foreign biofuel producers have either started their production facilities or are working on the feasibility plan of establishing a facility. Recently, domestic and foreign players have formed joint ventures to develop second generation biofuels. The government is taking initiatives by investing in the development of marginal land on which non food crops are grown for the production of biofuels. Development of second generation biofuels along with government’s support will drive the biofuels market in China. ( http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=154292&rt=Biofuels-Market-in-China-2010.html )

The report begins with an introduction of biofuels market indicating different types of biofuels and its respective feedstocks. This is followed by an overview of the bioethanol and biodiesel market including its production capacity and different available feedstocks used for the same. It further talks about the development of second generation biofuels i.e. cellulosic ethanol.

An analysis of drivers explain factors contributing to the growth of biofuels market including depleting and dependency on oil reserves, rising automotive sector, degradation of environment, international partnerships and social impact. The key challenges identified include scarcity of land and water and food security. Government initiatives have been discussed indicating the subsidies given to develop the market.

Competition section provides brief profiles of major domestic and foreign players in the market. The section contains a snapshot of their corporation, financial performance and business highlights, providing an insight into the existing competitive scenario.

For more information kindly visit : http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=154292&rt=Biofuels-Market-in-China-2010.html

Related Reports

Global Biofuel Market Analysis
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=102089&rt=Global-Biofuel-Market-Analysis.html

The Biofuels Market 2010-2020
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=153397&rt=The-Biofuels-Market-2010-2020.html

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Looking At Concrete In A New Light

Concrete has traditionally endured a poor reputation as a fundamental building material due to perceptions concerning its reliance on virgin raw materials and the energy consumption and emissions associated with its production process. Based on recent developments, CEMEX UK’s Technical Director, Steve Crompton, argues that concrete should, instead, be viewed as a sustainable, strong, long-lasting, versatile and economically important construction material that has a vital part to play in the UK’s development of more sustainable communities.

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. It is all around us; from offices to schools, roads to railways and dams to homes. Its powerful economic sway sees over 40,000 people directly employed in its UK manufacture, and it supports a construction industry employing seven per cent of our population. However, when it comes to considering its sustainable credentials, which will ensure that we balance our current rate of development with the resource requirements of future generations, it is important to look at ready-mix concrete from several angles: its environmental and lifecycle aspects, its economic impact and its contribution to our society in general.

Taking the environmental aspect first. There is clear evidence that improvements in environmental performance are underway to minimise the impact of concrete production. These changes include actively reducing the emissions associated with the concrete manufacturing process, and lower the reliance on virgin raw materials by increasing the use of by-products in concrete. Add in better management of waste, the use of more recycled aggregates and alternative fuels, as well as the thermal mass of concrete, which in the face of climate change, can help keep future housing cooler in summer than lightweight houses, whilst also saving heating fuel in winter, it is clear that concrete has a fundamental part to play in helping to deliver the energy efficient buildings of the future.

While total construction industry impact accounts for 10 per cent of total UK CO2 emissions, concrete is responsible for just 2.6 per cent of this. Compared to the 33 per cent generated by transport, this is a relatively small amount, especially considering its importance as a basic construction material. Concrete also comes out favourably when compared to structural steel, where the amount of CO2 generated per tonne is approximately 10 times greater than that of reinforced concrete.

The use of waste products from other industries, such as ground blast furnace slag or fly ash, either as a mixer addition or incorporated in factory-blended cement significantly reduces the overall greenhouse gas emissions, and means that this essential building material is, and will continue to make, a significant contribution to the Government’s UK Climate Change Programme of driving down CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

In addition to actively consuming waste products from other industries and processes, the industry is working towards improving production plants and compliance with international standards, such as ISO 14001, to prevent pollution and ensure continual improvement through the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS). Use of recycled water at production plants is also on the increase and is increasingly commonplace.

It’s not only the environmental aspects of concrete that should be assessed as sustainable and positive, however, so let’s consider its overall lifecycle.

Like other building materials, concrete has a life span. When compared to other commonly used construction materials it is by far the most durable, with a typical design life of at least 60 years. It essentially has three phases of life. Its creation, its use in buildings and structures, and its reuse through recycling once the building comes to the end of its life.

It is far more likely that a modern concrete building will be deemed obsolete due to no further perceived usage, than the concrete fabric of the structure having failed due to age. With this in mind, and with cost-efficiency and sustainability now to the fore, reuse of concrete buildings is ever more commonplace. The material offers flexibility and seemingly redundant concrete structures can be worked on, redesigned and rebuilt with new up-to-date specifications. However, if demolished, the resulting aggregate can also be used for a number of applications as a ready-made and important recycled material.

Contrary to popular belief, all rubble does not end up in landfill after a building’s demolition. Anything up to 95 per cent of a building’s components can in fact be recycled, including the most heavily reinforced concrete.

Indeed, recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) has proven performance characteristics and is being used in the ongoing production of new concrete – thus completing its life circle. New European Standards have cleared the way for greater use of recycled concrete aggregates in the manufacturing process, supporting UK Government targets of increasingly meeting construction demand with material from secondary and recycled sources.

From an economic point of view, concrete and its sustainable credentials are well matched. To improve their sustainability credentials, products should be consumed as near to the place of production as possible. This country’s self sufficiency in providing the core materials required for concrete production means that inbound raw material transport and import levels are kept to a minimum. More often than not, the concrete industry uses locally sourced materials for local construction projects, thereby minimising transport related impacts. Compare this to timber, which imports over 98 per cent of the total volume used in UK construction.

With increased pressure on conserving fossil fuels, such as coal, for future generations, rising energy costs and changes to our climate, concrete can contribute positively by offsetting the heating up of buildings (especially in summer). Concrete’s high thermal mass can help absorb the heat generated by people, computers, lighting and electrical equipment, and keep internal temperatures lower.

The thermal mass in concrete walls and floors stores energy from the sun and the building’s own heating system, and releases this at night, thereby sustaining warmer overnight temperatures and reducing the need for heating.

Finally, from an economic standpoint, as a self-sufficient producer of this material and a UK net exporter of concrete and component materials, concrete more than holds its own against other important materials.

Concrete offers many virtues to our society as a whole. It produces natural light when used in exposed areas within a structure, and reduces the need for artificial lighting. It is naturally inorganic and inert, and does not need treatment with additional toxic chemicals. It has inbuilt fire resistance and offers secure characteristics due to its strength and robustness, and will last for a minimum of 60 years with little or no maintenance. There is no process of natural decay, which bodes well for future predicted environmental changes, and as a material for buildings is well regarded by designers and the public alike, who according to research, view masonry built houses as having the longest life expectancy of all construction options.

Sustainability is no longer an issue of choice, but must be considered at the very heart of ongoing development for our society. Assessing the sustainable credentials of products is a complex business and must take into consideration their combined environmental, economic and social impact and performance.

As illustrated here, concrete is a fundamental building material which combined environmental, economic and social performance is strong. It therefore has a critical role to play in delivering more sustainable communities, by reducing emissions and providing long-lasting, secure as well as cost and energy efficient buildings for the future.

We in the cement and readymix concrete industries are proud of the essential role we have played in creating Britain’s built environment and are positive that our industry has a lot more to contribute in the future to the further development of sustainable building materials.

1, the state of special metal materials tantalum and niobium Engineering Research Center to start construction of a comprehensive August 8, 2005, the state of special metal materials tantalum and niobium Engineering Research Center for the opening ceremony! In Ningxia Orient Nonferrous Metals Group, was held. Ningxia Autonomous Region to Vice Chairman Zhang Wu, Science and Technology Department Director Liu Huan, Shizuishan City Acting Mayor Tian, as well as Ningxia Orient Nonferrous Metals Group Chairman He Jilin, inaugurated the center, marking the special state of Tantalum and Niobium Metal Material Engineering Technology Research Center building has already started.

National TantalumNiobium Special Metal Materials Engineering Research Center by the National Science and Technology approved the formation of the Chinese materials, tantalum and niobium metals beryllium areas and industrial areas in Ningxia Autonomous Region No. 1 National Engineering Research Center. Engineering Center of Ningxia Oriental Nonferrous Metal Group Company will be relying on marketoriented, focusing on breakthroughs in metal smelting and processing of special key technologies, continuous research, development and engineering achievements, to build platform for industry innovation to drive industrywide scientific and technological progress and new product development, to raise China’s specialty metals industry technology.

Ningxia Orient Nonferrous Metal Group Company is a research, production and technology development as one of national largescale enterprise group metals, in tantalum, niobium, beryllium and its alloys and specialty metals is strong in areas such as research and development capacity in the domestic same industry in the leading position in technology. Ningxia Orient TantalumNiobium Nonferrous Metals Group, the country will be special metal Material Engineering Technology Research Center set up as a turning point. The formation of the Engineering Center and the Group’s restructuring, resource optimization, combining full use of group 40 years and accumulated rich experience and preliminary scientific research and development of science and technology innovation platform built as far as integration of advantageous resources center construction works carried out in all members of the unit technical, research and development institutions and other resources, equipment, facilities and conditions for integration, and improve various facilities, to establish a rational engineering research environment for research and development and scientific research to provide a good environment and a strong guarantee, and strive to improve the overall technological innovation capability, so that the project the center into a tantalum, niobium, beryllium specialty metal smelting and processing technologies, and supporting the development of innovative equipment, the main results promote the use of an incubator of new technologies into the market and promoting China’s special metal materials technological progress and industrial upgrading .

2, Ningxia Orient Tantalum colored targeting the international market to open up new areas of application of niobium beryllium Commissioned by the State Science and Technology, Ningxia Autonomous Region Science and Technology Department recently held an expert on the northwest Ningxia Oriental Nonferrous Metal Group Companyowned Rare Metal Materials Research Institute “with niobium superconducting cavity plate production technology development” project was carried out onsite inspection. The project is a total investment of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars level for the hundreds of millions of electron volts of the world’s largest superconducting linear accelerator project will require superconducting niobium plate manufacturing process technology research and development be implemented. Superconducting linear accelerator project is a multicountry crossborder cooperation projects, built in Hamburg, Germany, total length of 33 km, engineering, need to consume about 500 tons of niobium sheet. The project is completed, it will greatly facilitate the physics, chemistry, materials science, environmental and earth sciences, structural biology and many other fields of scientific and technological progress to solve the nuclear waste disposal problem.

Experts believe that with the niobium superconducting cavity plate production technology research and development success, has opened up new applications of our areas of niobium material to fill gaps in the study of China so that China’s new materials, manufacturing techniques quickly with international practice. Through participation in international cooperation projects, so that the formation of tantalum powder in Ningxia, tantalum wire, tantalum and tantalum strip products, and superconducting materials such as tantalum a wide range of hightech products system, and full access to international markets, stabilize the country tantalum and niobium in the world top three position.

Through “with niobium superconducting cavity plate production technology development,” implementation of the project, the Northwest Rare Metal Materials Research Institute formed a stable performance superconducting niobium plate manufacturing process technology, impurity control, control of residual resistivity, grain size control, control of yield strength and hardness of control to achieve innovative results. In the manufacturing technology, product performance reached the international advanced level, to become the material basis for linear accelerator.

As a set of scientific research, production and technology development as one of the nation’s largest tantalum, niobium production base and the only scientific research and production base of berylliumNingxia Orient Nonferrous Metal Group Co., Ltd., based on independent innovation, to achieve the innovation and development.

In recent years, after a continuous selfdevelopment and technology research to develop a number of tracking international development, technology leadership to meet the needs of domestic and international market of new products to achieve a tantalum powder and tantalum wire of high grade and technological upgrading. Tantalum powder of its flagship product, the market has reached 70,000 hematocrit application level, hematocrit level of research to reach 15,000 or more into the international leading ranks. They developed new products, the semiconductor target with tantalum and niobium, nickel hydroxide, magnesium alloy and processing of special materials and so on, has become the promotion of economic growth in Ningxia, a new bright spot. The company has 14 national patents, 3 international patents. Last year, the Ministry of Science and formally approved Ningxia Orient Nonferrous Metal Group Co., Ltd. as “special statelevel TantalumNiobium Metal Material Engineering Technology Research Center” group also established a “demonstration base of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of international scientific cooperation.”

In recent years, they study, and research, focusing on innovation and team building for enterprise development to provide a strong technical support. They coorganized with the Nankai University, “lithium niobate crystal and device research and development of the Commonwealth” and the Beijing University of Science and Technology jointly launched a “Nanopowders Prepared by Homogeneous Reduction Research”, and Tsinghua University jointly launched a “Welding of Beryllium Research Laboratory , “has made substantial progress. While taking advantage of postdoctoral stations, the National Engineering Center, enterprise technology center platform with strong technical innovation to attract talented people to carry out joint research in the “stress of Beryllium study” and “beryllium deuteride and beryllium hydride preparation of technical studies,” etc. breakthroughs.

In addition, they light alloy with the Russian Academy of partnerships, the introduction of magnesium alloy melting and casting technology and some key equipment, through digestion and absorption of annual production capacity of 10,000 tons of magnesium alloy and processing of material production line. The “superconducting niobium cavity with the sheet production technology development” project was carried out with the German Electron Synchrotron Institute of the good cooperation the success of acceptance of this technology to enhance the technological level of China’s metal niobium and production capacity for our metal niobium and their processed material to enter the international market and lay a solid foundation of technology and market.

3, tantalum niobium new trend in the development of new materials, Rare Metal Materials technology is the new century, the field of materials science and engineering disciplines, one of the most attention is the hightech development of key materials, tantalum, niobium and new materials which play an important role. Modern hightech such as information technology, new energy technology, space technology, biotechnology, the development of superconducting technology, especially with the rare metal material is closely related to new materials, tantalum and niobium. Tantalum and niobium in hightech field of new materials, more and broader space for development, above all, tantalum and niobium capacitors to the highvolume areas of expansion; Second, the carbide cutting tool towards superhard, microfine sharp direction, the application market is expected to will remain steady climbing; again is a tantalum and niobium used in the aerospace industry, tantalum, niobiumbased alloys and other specialty alloys will continue to develop steadily.

In recent years, specialNb steel

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The phrase “carbon-based life forms,” is often used in science-fiction books and movies by aliens to describe the creatures of Earth, the only planet known to support life. Not only all living things contain carbon but also carbon is in plenty of things that were once living and now are the source for living, which makes it useful for dating the remains of past settlements on Earth. Of even greater usefulness is petroleum, a substance containing carbon-based forms that died long ago, became fossilized, and ultimately changed chemically into fuels. Then again, not all materials containing carbon were once living creatures; yet because carbon is a common denominator to all living things on Earth, the branch of study known as organic chemistry is devoted to the study of compounds containing carbon. Though among the most important organic compounds are the many carboxylic acids that are vital to life, carbon is also present in numerous important inorganic compounds, most notably its small but unavoidable compounds such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and carbonates.

Carbon’s name comes from the Latin word carbo, or charcoal which, indeed, is almost pure carbon. Its chemical symbol is C is generally crowned with its atomic number of 6, meaning that there are six protons in its nucleus. Its two stable isotopes are 12C, which constitutes 98.9% of all carbon found in nature, and 13C, which accounts for the other 1.1%. The mass of the 12C atom is the basis for the atomic mass unit (amu), by which mass figures for all other elements are measured: the amu is defined as exactly 1/12 the mass of a single 12C atom. The difference in mass between 12C and 13C, which is heavier because of its extra neutron, account for the fact that the atomic mass of carbon is 12.01 amu: were it not for the small quantities of 13C present in a sample of carbon, the mass would be exactly 12.00 amu.

Carbon makes up only a small portion of the known elemental mass in Earth’s crust, oceans, and atmosphere (just 0.08%, or 1/1250 of the whole) yet it is the fourteenth most abundant element on the planet. In the human body, carbon is second only to oxygen in abundance, and accounts for 18% of the body’s mass. Thus if a person weighs 100 lb (45.3 kg), he/she is carrying around 18 lb (8.2 kg) of carbon, interestingly the same material from which the cherished and much valued diamonds are made. Present in the inorganic rocks of the ground and in the living creatures above it, carbon is everywhere. Combined with other elements, it forms carbonates, most notably calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which appears in the form of limestone, marble, and chalk. In combination with hydrogen, it creates hydrocarbons, present in deposits of fossil fuels: natural gas, petroleum, and coal. In the environment, carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), is taken in by plants, which undergo the process of photosynthesis and release oxygen for sustenance of animals that breathe in oxygen and release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

We know that carbon forms tetravalent bonds, and makes multiple bonds with a single atom. In addition, we have mentioned the fact that carbon forms long chains of atoms and varieties of shapes. But how does it do these things, and why? These are so good questions that an entire branch of chemistry, organic chemistry, is devoted to answering these theoretical questions, as well as to determining solutions to a host of other, more related and practical problems. Organic chemistry is the study of carbon, its compounds, and their properties. At one time, chemists thought that “organics” were synonymous with “living,” and even as recently as the early nineteenth century, they believed that organic substances contained a supernatural “life force.” Then, in 1828, German chemist Friedrich Wöhler cracked the code that distinguished the living from the nonliving species, and the organic from the inorganic.

Wöhler took a sample of ammonium cyanate (NH4OCN), and by heating it, converted it into urea (H2N-CO-NH2), a waste product in the urine of mammals. In other words, he had turned an inorganic material into an organic one, and he did so, as he observed, “without benefit of a kidney, a bladder, or a dog.” It was almost as though he had created life. In fact, what Wöhler had glimpsed—and what other scientists who followed came to understand, was this: ‘what separates the organic from the inorganic is the manner in which the carbon chains are arranged’.

Ammonium cyanate and urea have exactly the same numbers and proportions of atoms, yet they are different compounds. They are thus isomers: substances which have the same formula, but are different chemically. In urea, the carbon forms an organic chain, and in ammonium cyanate, it does not. Thus, to reduce the specifics of organic chemistry even further, it can be said that this area of the field constitutes the study of carbon chains, and ways to rearrange them in order to create new substances.

Rubber, vitamins, cloth, and paper are all organically based compounds we encounter in our daily lives. In each case, the material comes from something that once was living, but what truly make these substances organic in nature is the common denominator of carbon, as well as the specific arrangements of the atoms. We have organic chemistry to thank for any number of things: aspirins and all manner of other drugs; preservatives that keep food from spoiling; perfumes and toiletries; dyes and flavorings, and so on.

It may not be out of context to mention that radiocarbon dating is used to date the age of charcoal, wood, and other biological materials as when an organism is alive, it incorporates a certain ratio of carbon-12 in proportion to the amount of the radioisotope (that is, radioactive isotope) carbon-14 that it receives from the atmosphere. As soon as the organism dies, however, it stops incorporating new carbon, and the ratio between carbon-12 and carbon-14 will begin to change as the carbon-14 decays to form nitrogen-14. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years, meaning that it takes that long for half the isotopes in a sample to decay to nitrogen-14. Therefore a scientist can use the ratios of carbon-12, carbon-14, and nitrogen-14 to guess the age of an organic sample. The problem with radiocarbon dating, however, is that there is a good likelihood the sample can become contaminated by additional carbon from the soil. Furthermore, it cannot be said with certainty that the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14 in the atmosphere has been constant throughout time.

TECHNOLOGY MARKETING – P’s and Q’s

 

By

 

VIKRAM KARVE

 

 

 

The Law of the Hammer

“Give a child a hammer, and the child will use it on everything encountered.”

 

This is the law of the hammer and this seems to be the leitmotif of the technology marketing scene in the Indian context today. And, in many cases, this approach seems to be succeeding, at least in the short term.

 

The premise is that the customer is buying technology for technology’s sake, simply as a gimmick or to satisfy a perceived hedonistic need for novelty.

 

Addressing the human need for novelty is just one aspect of technology marketing, albeit an important one, and may yield rich dividends in the short term. However, a technological marketing strategy based solely on this approach is likely to be characterized by short market cycle, fast but unpredictable market penetration, and quick product obsolescence.

 

Success with high-tech products requires a confluence of technical understanding and marketing skills.

 

 

 

The P’s and Q’s of Marketing

Marketing is something which the producer or manufacturer has to do, or get done; it is not conferred on his product as if by right.

 

Marketing can be defined as “getting into the heads of your customers, identifying what they want, and giving it to them”.

 

Marketing, therefore, is addressing a need or a desire.

 

In the case of conventional products, the general need or desire is well known.

 

With new technological possibilities, the need or desire that is addressed is not always obvious. Therefore, in the care of new technology products, the technological marketer may have to take one step backwards to identify the fundamental role that his product can fulfill in the marketplace.

 

This fundamental approach can be modeled as “The P’s and Q’s of Marketing”.

 

The six P’s are: People, Product, Place, Price, Packaging, Promotion.

 

The three Q’s are: Quality, Quantity, Quickness.

 

The first step in technological marketing is to identify the role of technology in the new product, and hence how the PRODUCT relates to PEOPLE.

 

Technology can have four roles in new products. It can be the product itself, it can increase availability, can enhance distribution, and it can be present in the promotion.

 

•       The technology can be the Product itself. Technological inventions or innovations may lead to a revolutionary or exclusive which creates a dominant niche in the market [Examples: Mobile Phones (cell-phones), PC, Laptop, Walkman, Radial Tyre, Digital Technologies]

 

•       The technology can be in the Availability. A historical example is the gramophone record, which made available to the masses the virtuoso performance of the musical masters. People bought music. The technology is simply an enabling mechanism. Previously, the masses could have had access to some of the music only by attending live performances which was neither always feasible nor affordable. A more recent example Direct to Home (DTH) Television services. Thus, modern technologies make available desires that previously could not be met economically or practically.

 

•       The technology can be in the Distribution. For example, Internet has revolutionized the whole approach of marketing, banking [with instantaneous electronic transfer of money], with increasing online sales. Hence, it is imperative today that manufacturers design their marketing strategy keeping the Internet in mind.

 

•       The technology can be in the Promotion. The image of a traditional product can be subtly changed by the means of presenting it, using modern packaging and design technologies, combined with high-tech advertising, promotional, marketing and sales techniques.

 

 

The Q’s relate to the ways in which technology can transform the availability and distribution of products aimed at fulfilling existing human needs.

 

•       For example, in the Indian context, the advent of Japanese and Korean technology made possible greatly increased QUALITY of automobiles and two wheelers (motorcycle, scooters) and therefore has expanded the availability of efficient quality cars and two wheelers in the Indian Market. The same is the case with most consumer, entertainment and household items. The technological marketer can often identify an existing need or desire for quality goods, and use technology to develop a quality product for this wider market.

 

•       The QUANTITY of attractive jewelry has been expanded with technological developments in the production of diamond simulants like cubic zirconia. Other examples include Digital Storage Technologies, Digital Quartz Watches, Automation Technologies, Agriculture, Dairy and Food Processing Technologies. Technology can often make possible products for that mass market that emulate up-market consumption without threatening the elite market place.

 

•       Today, satellite technology allows sports events to be simultaneously observed on television throughout the world; in fact, it facilitates instantaneous worldwide video, telephone, or data transmission, which evidence the way in which technology can improve QUICKNESS. At first, messages could be transmitted and received by the postal service (transportation technology), then telegram (telecommunication technology) and now Satellite and Information and Communication technologies [ICT] have made the communication process instantaneous [real-time].  Microwave Ovens are another example of how technology can improve QUICKNESS.

 

 

 

A Model for Technological Marketing

Technological Marketing focuses on inducing substitution, or seducing the buyer to purchase the new product or service.

 

However, it would be wise to remember that seductive propositions can cause unplanned babies. In the technological marketplace unplanned babies take the form of unexpected outcomes that offer new and potentially exciting product and service opportunities.

 

“Unplanned Babies” come out of using technology to ‘modernize’ something that has a well-established place in everyday life. One very common example is the use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The original idea was that machines would carry out the age-old cash dispensing function more efficiently [The initial aim of the ATM was to use new technology to automate an old function carried out manually by bank tellers – cash dispensing].

 

A new way of doing things is always subtly different from what has been done before.

 

ATMs changed two things – where the cash was available, and when. These two aspects caused a fundamental change in the utility of the service received by customers. For the first time they could get cash 24/7 round the clock, off working hours, and away from bank premises. This indeed was a major new bank service. The customers were so delighted, demanded more and more and the banks were totally taken a back – they had not foreseen that automated cash dispensing machines could in fact produce a new service and they kept on enhancing value-added-services to the ATMs.

 

ATMs are now seen to be more than mere cash dispensing machines. Customers use ATMs to recharge their mobile phone pre-paid connections, pay their utility bills, even mutual fund transactions – making them at par with flexibility given in internet banking – only more secure.

 

This is an example of a new technology used for the old purpose giving rise to a new market situation. Microprocessor technology, VLSI and Nano Technologies are other examples of unexpected multi-dimensional changes leading to a large range of new products embodying multifarious market desires.

 

The progressive marketer stands back, looks at such a situation from a distance and reappraises it objectively, since it gives him the opportunity to get a much deeper understanding of the real needs and desires of the market-place.

 

In a nutshell, technology marketing comprises analyzing existing market demands, addressing these existing demands through technology, reappraising and redefining market needs and desires in the light of response to new technology, and accordingly fine tuning products for the developing market-place.

 

 

 

VIKRAM KARVE

 

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

Broadsheet newspaper publication: http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/09/25/fea01.asp

 

Globalisation and hit men

push finance aristocracy trans-Atlantic

By Wendell W Solomons

Summary: Anglo-American finance institutions find themselves forced to cough up larger and still larger pay rewards for their hit men. Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer explains tactfully, “Our aim should not be to prevent rewards where they are deserved, for long-term success or hard work.”

Today’s rules of unregulated markets allow executives to go out and become financial raiders in their own right — in competition with their previous financial home. This headache shakes the firms at a time when France and Germany at EU summits ask for a ceiling on the incomes of executives of financial institutions.

Yet, there’s more. Besides the EU, globalisation now causes the G-20 to take up the risk to world trade posed by financial freebooting. China, India, Russia and Japan (which states that it can no longer play the role of “Yes-man”) belong in the G-20 which represents two-thirds of humanity.

 

A diplomat who served Australia for more than a quarter century brings up the year-2005 published work, “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” by John Perkins.

This stimulates thought.

(a) Have the hit men been part of the plan to make us walk the economic gangplank today? (b) In the alternative, do events in the market suggest that the world’s traditional finance aristocracy walk the razor’s edge to avoid losing control of its financial raiders whose ranks have expanded into thousands? These thousands have been saturated too by the media catch-phrase of the last three decades — “Free to Choose.”

The US Federal Reserve has been placed on the horns of a dilemma because financial institutions like J P Morgan pay increasingly large salaries and bonuses to keep their financial raiders at home instead of their zipping out to carve for themselves a part of the cake like the infamous Bernard Madoff who took a $ 60 billon wedge of savings, including those of his friends. In this next quote, we see a careful US Federal Reserve chief trying to keep financial firms from being restrained in their endeavours:

“Forcing large, troubled financial firms to shrink is not a useful solution to the dangers created by ‘too big to fail’ institutions, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Gary Stern said in an essay released on Tuesday.’

“If we exclusively embrace a reform that misleadingly promises victory over TBTF by constraining the size of large financial firms, we may squander the time and resources needed to address the problem at its roots,” Stern said. (Reuters, Apr. 21, 2009)

Australian diplomat Reg Little recollects how John Perkins had described life as part of an elite group trained to “utilise international financial organisations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our banks.”

The Australian diplomat adds —

“Perkins’ second book on financial strategies, ‘The Secret History of the American Empire,’ invites readers to revisit and reconsider events like the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and ponder on it as the product of a team of economic hit men. It also raises daunting questions about the longer-term viability of major global institutions like the World Bank and IMF.”

Those then are the dimensions of the hit men’s world and scope of their know-how. We have a salient example next of the men who want to have their cake and eat it.

 

Zombie Hit Men

Lawrence Summers, a nephew of economics text-book writer Paul Samuelson, was placed on a team to conduct economic reforms in the Baltic republic of Lithuania. Within a year of his team’s effort, the economy of the republic turned pale. Suicide rates rose to the highest in Europe. Lawrence Summers played out more than the familiar role of loan salesman for Wall Street banks. He ambled on as a master zombie, groomed by what US journalists in 1976 had called “Voodoo Economics”.This behavioural nudging was a legacy from Great Communicator President Ronald Reagan who promoted Milton Friedman to Presidential Economics Adviser, the position he had hankered for after the slaying in 1962 of President John F Kennedy. Friedman had been translating for two decades for the psyche of hit men such as Lawrence Summers, the social philosophy of Ayn Rand.

Rand, Ayn (1905-1982) was named Alice Rosenbaum in St. Petersburg by her non-observant Jewish family. A fan of early movies, she had chosen to study social pedagogy in Bolshevik Petrograd. From there she carried her stock-in-trade across oceans to the USA. Her movie scripts to adjust behaviour flopped and she took to typing stories instead. A wealthy sponsor was found through the grapevine to finance the printing of her work and force-feed its promotion on university campus.

In the USA of the 1950s and 1960s Rand received promotion as a cult figure for college students. By 1965, courses on her books were offered in as many as eighty American cities. Wearing a $ sign as a brooch in her dress, the chain-smoker taught that selfishness is a virtue, that altruism is a vice, that the unfettered capitalist, Mr. Top Hat of her writings that began in the 1930’s, was the best possible persona for the world.

Lest we miss her purpose, Martin Seymour-Smith, a critic, explains:

“Unfortunately her crypto-totalitarian and ultra-simplistic ideas have had some influence on the conservatively bred young, since they allow people to be ruthless without a bad conscience. Her ‘philosophy’ is capitalistic-Superman (as in the figure in the comics).’

He continues,

“The ‘great’ men are those who use others, in the name of ‘reason,’ with an enlightened ruthlessness.” As icing on the cake, he adds, “The Fountainhead” — like her other books — is offensively ill written (‘pedestrian, pockmarked with short, clipped staccato sentences’).”

Many defined her social philosophy as one proposing a dog-eat-dog outlook. Gore Vidal described her outlook as “nearly perfect in its immorality.”

Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman brought forth men like Lawrence Summers as zombie functionaries. Pushed out of Harvard by teachers but himself ‘Too Big to Let Loose,’ the same Summers has been promoted by the financial aristocracy to the position of head of the National Economic Council at the White House of President Barrack Obama. Hopefully, Summers will now face the music and dance — promoting discipline on the turf as Godfather of financial raiders.

 

 

Alerts

Financial icon George Soros with an intellectual coterie of his own, anticipated that the hit men would shift the anchor of the aristocracy. He moved in with an article called “The Capitalist Threat” a decade ago —

“Unsure of what they stand for, people increasingly rely on money as the criterion of value. What is more expensive is considered better… People deserve respect and admiration because they are rich. What used to be a medium of exchange has usurped the place of fundamental values, reversing the relationship postulated by economic theory. What used to be professions have turned into businesses. The cult of success has replaced a belief in principles. Society has lost its anchor.” (‘Atlantic Monthly’, Volume 279, No. 2, February 1997.)

Two centuries ago a forecast on lost moorings had been penned: “This is the abolition of the capitalist mode of production within the capitalist mode of production itself… It establishes a monopoly in certain spheres and thereby requires state interference. It reproduces a new financial aristocracy, a new variety of parasites in the shape of promoters, speculators and simply nominal directors; a whole system of swindling and cheating by means of corporation promotion, stock issuance, and stock speculation.”(Marx’s manuscript edited and published by F. Engels in ‘Capital’, Volume III, Chapter 27.)

Contemporary US commentator Laura Knight Jadczyk follows on —

“And so it is: such a state of affairs cannot last long… and, as Lobaczewski says, the outcome is inevitable. Sooner or later, the reality this psychopathic elite think they create is going to turn around and bite them. In fact, it is already beginning to. And that is due to another psychopathic trait: the inability to remember the past or conceive of the future and the consequences of their actions.’

“Goaded by their character, psychopaths thirst for global power even though it ultimately condemns them to death along with millions — or billions — of others. Psychopaths do not have the capacity to understand the catastrophes that they repeatedly bring on themselves and the world. Just as germs are not aware that they will be burned alive or buried deep in the ground along with the human body whose death they are causing, so the psychopath does not understand that the only reality he is creating is the reality of his own ultimate destruction. (http://laura-knight-jadczyk.blogspot.com).

 

Old Clan versus New Legions

How did the number of financial raiders reach cataclysmic size? In part, Rand and Friedman had chanced to imperil the financial aristocracy by promoting the conversion of an old system. Here is a case study to reflect what the old system was.

A man named Jacob Schiff emigrated from Germany and settled in the US in 1865. After ten years in the market, he was settled for marriage with the daughter of Solomon Loeb, the head of Kuhn, Loeb & Co.

INTRODUCTION     

Most countries particularly the developing ones like Nigeria are faced with the enormous challenges of urban planning problems which in turn affects the economic development. Urban growth for instance has a number of impacts on the environment and human well-being. Apart from the few impacts, almost all major cities of the country are increasingly plagued by environmental problems. In other words, there is a great threat to health and safety in most Nigerian cities (Egunjobi, 2000 and Kessides, 2006) courtesy of unguided urbanization and ineffective planning (Mabogunje, 2001; Ogunsanya, 2002 and Egunjobi, 2000). There are several schools of thoughts and insights into the causal factors, and government’s attempts tame towards alleviating the situation. One of such factors is overlapping of professional practices that greatly affect the functionality of our environment and the society at large. For Instance, in Nigeria, overlapping of professional practice per-se is not the only factor affecting effective functionality of the society.

The paper argued that, much as professional overlaps might be an issue in most developing countries, lack of adequate focus on planning as a profession, and the actions of quacks have contributed significantly to the worsening urban problems. Specifically, this paper espouses on professionalism, and highlights the responsibilities of planning to different segments of the society as it emphasises the need for proficiency among planners through continuous training and re-training programmes, such as seminars, workshops and refreshers courses.It suffices to ask the question as to who is a professional Urban and Regional Planner? What are their responsibilities to sustainable livelihoods and development of a nation? The underlying motivations of this paper relates to the dynamic nature of professionalism as a concept, and the essence of competent practitioners in our society. This is more pertinent as technological revolution is impacting on diverse facets of human endeavour. In addition, geographical zoning has tended to vary the practice of Urban and Regional Planning from nation to nation.

Based on this premise, this paper attempts to contribute to growing academic literatures by discussing who a professional Urban and Regional Planner is in the Nigerian context.

 Professional Urban and Regional Planner

Professionalism is an inclusive term covering a variety of activities in different field of study. Oni, (2007), buttressed this point by emphasising the fact that professional activity would encompass a particular level of systematic knowledge and proficiency. Thus, planning education is a systematic process aimed at developing knowledge, skills, and other capabilities within individuals. It includes training and re-training exercise in an institution of higher learning approved by the Ministry of Education and the Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC). Precisely, a professional Town Planner is identified here as a person who has gained mastery or proficiency in planning and related fields of knowledge and skills; and can effectively help local officials to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems through delineation for roads paths, schools location and other infrastructure designation; and suggesting zoning regulations for private properties within a locality. The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners views a professional Town Planner as a person who possesses any of the following academic/professional qualifications:(i) A degree in Urban and Regional Planning/Town Planning;(ii)A Professional Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning/Town Planning;(iii)A pass in the final stage of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners/Town Planners Registration Council Examination;(iv)Attainment of 2 years post qualification supervised experience.It should be noted that, courses leading to the award of the specified qualification (i) and (ii) above must be from any institution recognised and accredited by the Town Planners Registration Council (TOPREC) (NITP, 1991).It can be deduced from the above that, a Master’s Degree from an accredited planning institution provides the best training for a wide range of planning positions.

However, various degrees in urban and regional planning from notable institutions aims to provide planners with ;

(i) A broad understanding of the forces and processes shaping cities, regions and built and natural environment;

(ii)To keep a breast with the physical, economic, social and environmental factors that strongly influence the practice of the profession;

(iii)The knowledge and confidence to question and, where necessary to challenge current planning wisdom, and the creativity to develop alternative planning proposals and;

(iv)To engender in planners the respect and commitment necessary to make effective community consultation and interdisciplinary collaboration crucial to planning practice.

Above all, professional Planners must be able to think in terms of spatial relationships and visualize the effects of their plans and designs. They should also be flexible to reconcile different view points and make constructive policy recommendations. Professional Planners should however be able to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, as this is necessary and can never be divulge from individuals that are interested in the Urban and Regional Planning profession.Agbola et al (2004) perceived planning as a purposeful action. In other words, it involves taking decisions or making appropriate arrangements before hand to influence the course of action on a particularly developmental need. They went further to explain that, planning consists of making suitable choices among several options which appear open for the future and then advice the concern government on how to deploy necessary resources to implement the adopted alternative. This definition, which is one among several views (Oyesiku, 1998; Adeniji, Egunjobi, 2001) of purposeful planning, show or view planning as;

(i) General approach to decision making;

(ii) A future oriented exercise;

(iii)An activity with many alternatives;

(iv)The choice of one alternative among several others, depending on facts based on past experience, present situation, the anticipated future and the resources (human and materials) available at that point in time and/or expected to be available at the time of implementation (Agbola et al, 2004 and Agbola, 2007).

It is worth mentioning that, the professional Town Planner’s primary responsibility is to serve the public interest. However, the definition of the public interest is formulated through continuous debates; a planner owes allegiance to a conscientiously attained concept of the public interest, which requires special obligations. In actual fact, public interest refers to the common good of society at large. It also entails the “common well-being” or general “welfare”. Accordingly, public interest is central to policy debates and professional practice. Thus professional planners have valuable responsibilities to the public, clients and employers, to the professional and colleagues and planner’s self-responsibility. For effective practice, planners requires the use of theories and techniques of planning (Agola, 2001 and Ayeni, 1998) that informs and structures debate, facilitate communication and foster understanding. Interestingly, professional Planners are expected to:

(i)Practice in a manner that respects the diversity needs, values and aspirations of the public and encourages discussion on these matters;

(ii) Provide full, clear and accurate information on planning matters to decision makers and members of the public;

(iii) Acknowledge the inter-related nature of planning decisions and their consequences for individuals, the natural and built environment, and the broader public interest; and

 (iv) Identify and promote opportunities for meaningful participation in the planning process to all interested parties.Apart from the stated responsibilities of professional planners to the public, the vitality and credibility of the planning profession and of the institute are reflective of the quality of the membership. To further the profession, members will be expected to attain and maintain a high standard of professional competence and conduct, which extends to their relationship with other members.They are also expected to encourage healthy and constructive criticism about theory and practice of planning among colleagues and share the results of experience and research output that contribute to the evolving body of planning knowledge.Moreso, maintenance of appropriate awareness of contemporary planning philosophy, theory, and practice by seeking and receiving professional education throughout a planning career. Much discussion in developing countries particularly Nigeria today surrounds the relationship between that section of the society concerned with the development of long- and short-term plans for the use of land and the growth and revitalization of urban, sub-urban and rural communities and the region in which they are located and the world of work.

The discussion has tried to focus on such issues as; the increase in building collapse in cities; rapid urbanization and population growth that create a big challenge for state and municipal governments in terms of infrastructure and services provision.The scale and complexity of the above mentioned facts are intensifying in Nigeria. Building collapse, traffic congestion and accidents, unemployment, urban violence and crime and a host of others are recognised problems in Nigerian cities. They however have dramatic impact on social fabric of cities, threaten the reform process and erode the ability of the poor to build