Monday, January 14, 2013

Social Media Welcome To Reality Online | Telecom Source Consulting

While some may think you?re only enjoying the multiple aspects of social media, the truth of your interest may be tinged with a company focus.
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What that doesnt mean is that you publish in order to leave a traceab?

The use of social media encompasses a wide selection of on the web media types. Although some may possibly only consider a social network like MySpace there are several social media types that contain significant marketing potential for online business.

The truth of one?s interest may likely be tinged with a company focus, although some may think you?re just enjoying the multiple aspects of social media.

What that doesnt mean is that you post only to leave a link back again to your company site. People who visit any social media site see through articles that are overtly geared toward marketing. Most of the time social press people view this as junk even when the social network owners don?t. Ultimately, you can drop credibility of you dont work as a meaningful factor in a social media environment.

Social media may be shown in many different kinds. Lets have a peak at some of them.

Other and youtube similar movie internet sites These films may be interesting, significant, off the cuff and often political in nature. You may present your business in a light and allow individuals to be interested in learning you and your business.

MySpace and other social networks This kind of social media is popular since it draws together multiple elements of social marketing and makes them accessible to the masses of social networking that may be viewed by individuals as an online version of reality television.

Websites This can be a type of social media only if because it does allow interactive exchanges between the writer and the reader.

Forums This could allow you to have someone voice willing to discuss subjects of interest to the majority. Much like all social networking you are able to give a link to your website. If you?re viewed as a trusted source forum members will be likely found by you following you to your internet site to learn more.

Podcasting This is an audio stream that may allow a visitor to hear an individual message from you. This may have a pronounced influence in social marketing.

That isnt an exhaustive list, but it does give something for you to take into account as an addition to other marketing techniques you may have in position. Social media allows you to have some fun while you share your message and simply take your message to the folks.

I cant stress enough how essential it is to be true. The entire Internet community includes a low tolerance for supposed junk so ensure you dont use social media marketing as simply another type of web marketing.

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Source: http://thetelecomsource.com/listings/?p=14523

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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Department Of Homeland Security Is Hard At - Business Insider

DHS.gov

Last March we found 450 million rounds of .40 caliber ammunition slated for delivery to the Department of Homeland Service and its agencies.

Weeks later we found an additional request for 750 million rounds. The news wasn't reported much, though the order forms are still floating around.

It's not as demand for ammunition by the DHS is terribly new. Manufacturer Winchester posted an award to its site in 2009 agreeing to deliver 200 million rounds for the agency over five years. But if that's accurate it's an additional order that's still coming in on top of the others.

Major General Jerry Curry, (Ret) offered up a good point when the 750 million order became public last fall saying that number of bullets was more than 10 times what U.S. troops used in a full year of Iraqi combat.

Now that a new Department of Homeland Security order for another 200,000?hollow points has been placed, we're curious to see what happens to that much ammunition in 12 months. Knowing that DHS trains rural, regional, and federal law enforcement at their Georgia training center, we took a look online to see what programs they have requiring so much firepower.

The Firearms Division?(FAD) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center?(FLETC) in?Glynco, Georgia?is?the biggest facility of its kind in the nation and has more than 88 instructors from several federal agencies.

Main firearm courses where some of those millions of bullets go:

Wikimedia Commons

H&K MP-5

Homeland Security offers a Rifle Training Program,??a?Precision Rifle Observer Training Program (PROP)?that looks like a 37 hour sniper/counter-sniper course. The bonus at PROP is any uniformed officer can take the course and receive the advanced training, since assignment to a sniper team or tactical unit is not required. No rifle or sniper training at all, in fact, is required to take this one where public servants learn to take out targets at more than 1,800 feet away.

There's also the?Reactive Shooting Instructor Training Program (RSITP), which looks like some sound practical advice for folks facing off against bad people during their workday.

The?Submachine Gun Instructor Training Program (SMGITP)?provides?H&K MP-5 and UMP-40, Colt M-4, SMG (9mm) and our personal favorite the FN P90 for testing and training. There are even two qualifications required to graduate this one. One test goes down with the H&K MP-5 the other the Colt M-4.

Finally, the?Survival Shooting Training Program (SSTP)?seems like a challenging 8.5 day Master course where Law Enforcement Officer's become acquainted with a variety of weaponry, technique, and the effects of stress.

Definitely a comprehensive program, especially the Interesting Facts About The Firearms Division page. I'll list them below in their entirety after I point one fact that states all the firing in the above courses, and whatever else gets expended, requires about 15 million rounds of ammunition a year.

That doesn't make the most recent batch of 200,000 rounds seem out of line, but those billion or so rounds, seem like they could be better accounted for. Anyway, as promised ? all the interesting facts about the firearms division:

  • Firearms Division (FAD) has approximately 49 buildings that include indoor and outdoor firing ranges, offices, ammunition and weapons storage, equipment and supply storage spaces.
  • The indoor range complex and the outdoor ranges (to include 2 outdoor ranges currently under construction) have a combined total of approximately 384 firing points for live fire training.
  • These do not include the various scenario-based training ranges that FAD uses for tactical training.
  • FAD has approximately 9 training ranges used for scenario-based tactical firearms training.
  • There are approximately 150 staff members assigned to the Firearms Division including managers, support personnel and instructors.
  • The instructor cadre consists of former law enforcement and/or military personnel who now work for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and current law enforcement personnel detailed from many of the agencies who participate in training conducted at the FLETC.
  • Training requires the use of approximately 15 million rounds of ammunition annually.
  • The ammunition includes lead projectiles and reduced hazard (environmentally friendly) ammunition.
  • The reduced hazard ammunition accounts for approximately 70 percent of the ammunition expended for training.
  • FAD offers 8 advanced firearms training programs. These programs are open to Federal, state and municipal law enforcement personnel. Some international law enforcement personnel attend these programs when they are sponsored by one of the Federal partner agencies.
  • FAD offers approximately 120 firearms courses.? Many of these are contained in FLETC basic, agency basic and advanced law enforcement training programs.
  • FAD conducts advanced export training (off site) at other Federal, state and municipal facilities around+ the country on an as-needed basis.
** Signing off the DHS?FLETC home page we noticed a small banner at the bottom right stating firearms training requires about 20 million rounds annually. So give-or-take five million or so. No wonder they need so many deliveries.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/dhs-fletc-ammunition-purchases-750-million-200-million-40-caliber-rounds-2013-1

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The text is a kind of emotional release: Top 10 Marketing Tools

List of 10 able business automation assets and tools.

Whether you are an aboriginal technology adopter or not, there is no abstinent that the accurate appliance of assertive technology accoutrement can advice you added finer automate your business processes.

Automation allows you to acquaintance added audience and affairs added frequently with beneath plan - all acceptable things.

The afterward is a annual and abrupt description of my Top 10 Business Automation tools. (What got them on the annual is that I use anniversary one personally)AWeber - This is a annual that allows me to automatically administer my email database, forward auto responses CANDI GM Tech2 to requests and forward this newsletter. There are abounding choices for this blazon of annual but AWeber is the best. - http://www.aweber.com/?204167TypePad - This is a hosted blog software that is simple to use but actual powerful. With a Pro annual you can start-up as abounding blogs as you wish. Blogs are abundant but what about application the technology as a applicant portal. You can countersign assure a TypePad blog and use it to allotment advice and files with clients.

AudioGenerator - Broadcast audio agreeable to your website. Actualize audio testimonials. All you do is alarm a buzz number, almanac your bulletin like voicemail and analeptic the cipher to put the audio on your web site. This is a abundant way to get audio testimonials from clients.

Feedburner - This is a annual I use to extend the ability of my RSS feeds. Feedburner makes the augment accordant with any reader, gives me accoutrement to advance subscriptions and even automatically alerts the above blog and RSS directories every time I add new agreeable to my blog.

Google Account Alerts - Blazon in as abounding seek agreement as you like, even your name and your aggregation name, and Google will bear an email active of any acknowledgment of your seek agreement in the Internet new wires. This can be a abundant way to clue some of your own PR and and accumulate tabs on competitors and industry trends.

BlinkList - Your surfing about the Internet and you appear aloft a web website that you wish to remember. Hit a button and add the website to a BlinkList folder. The annual is chargeless and allows you to actualize and abundance web page URL's in a way that you can admission them at a after date. This is a abundant analysis tool. An added account of this online annual is that Opcom OP-Com 2010 V you can broadcast your lists as RSS feeds. Surf about and acquisition lots of abundant assets that chronicle to your business and with one band of cipher you can adhesive this annual on a web page. When you change the list, it automatically updates on your site.

Submit Your Commodity - This annual allows you to abide up to four online writing anniversary ages and again distributes the online writing to hundreds of web sites, commodity directories and ezine publishers. There is a allegation for this service, but it is able-bodied account the acknowledgment and cartage you will accretion from constant use.

PRLeads - Dan Janal's PR Leads annual sends you leads from reporters who are alive belief that chronicle to your business or expertise. Several times a day you will accept an email with acquaintance advice of reporters who are requesting information. This annual has led to several above PR mentions for me including two appearances in Entrepreneur magazine.

PRWeb - A chargeless columnist absolution administration service. This annual allows you to column columnist releases and see them automatically broadcast about the Internet. For a $30 donation you aswell get admittance in Google and Yahoo news. With the bulk of OPEL TECH2 COM sites that republish those account feeds you get abundant acknowledgment whether a anchorman calls or not.

ACT - This chump accord administration software allows you to accumulate abundant advice on audience and affairs as able-bodied as befitting tabs on mailings and advance bearing campaigns. Add a new acquaintance and you can start-up ACT to active you to mail the new acquaintance alternation of belletrist automatically.

There you accept it! Now, that should accumulate you active for the blow of the week.

Source: http://kindemotionalrelease.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-10-marketing-tools.html

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Health and Fitness Gadget for Your Need | Blog Perawat

The holidays wreak havoc on our bodies, with their mandatory over-indulgence in food as well as family and reminiscences. As we reflect on the year past ? its victories and losses ? we also begin looking ahead to the next, and in big ways or small, making plans to keep our momentum going.

For many, this involves taking health more seriously, whether it?s losing a few pounds, training for that first marathon, or just being more active. In turn, there?s been a lot of activity in the health space over the last year, as we?ve seen a number of apps and startups launch ? or continue iterating ? in the quest to help us make healthier choices, get in shape and conquer the world.

In fact, for Quantified Self devotees, data-vores and the fitness conscious it?s a great time to be alive. Wearable health-tracking devices and health information and networking platforms are maturing, as is the technology that makes them tick, and it won?t be long before doctors are prescribing mobile health apps and devices. The FDA?s recent approval of AliveCor?s iPhone-based heart monitor is just one great example of how much there is to be excited about at the intersection of technology and health.

Nonetheless, with all the excitement in the space, it can be tough to cut through the noise, keep tabs on all the options and figure out which apps and startups should matter for you. Everyone has their own individual agenda, but collectively we?re all bound to be making a few health-related resolutions in preparation for 2013 and beyond. Without further ado, the Health Stars:

1. Jawbone UP
Up is one of the members of the exciting new generation of movement and health-tracking devices. The $129 bracelet suffered from some major problems when it first debuted, but it re-emerged in November with a much-improved look and experience. You can use it to track your activity during the day, your sleep at night, as well as log food intake and mood to give you a better overall picture of your health, happiness and calorie input and output.?JawBone UP

The device comes with about a week?s worth of battery life in a single charge, is sleek and relatively unobtrusive, insulated in rubber and is waterproof. It includes a silent alarm that will wake you in the morning at the right time and a buzzer to remind you when it?s time to get up and get moving during the day.

Most of the re-design centers around the internal hardware and keeping it immune to wear and tear. The device doesn?t come with much connection to the desktop, or an external display, so, as John wrote recently, the appeal is mostly in its simplicity and the fact that it doesn?t scream ?nerd device? to all who see you wearing it. More in John?s write up here.

2. Fitbit
Fitbit is another popular wearable activity tracker that, compared to Up, is slightly more favorable in the pricing department at $99. The small, lightweight device clips onto your clothing (and is meant to be worn somewhere on the torso) or fits into an elastic armband when sleeping. It works like a charm, tracking the number of steps one takes each day, the amount of sleep one gets each night (though this is still a bit buggy), is sensitive to movement and offers a look into the number of calories burned each day.?Fitbit

It displays users? activity in a personal analytics module linked to their Fitbit account, which is made easy to set up through a wireless USB dongle that can be paired with its software in a few minutes. Users can keep the dongle in a USB port of sync it with Fitbit?s new Bluetooth radio functionality. As to the data, users can view their levels of activity in graphs, food and calorie intake, and add in other data, like blood pressure mood, etc. Like Up, it?s also got a silent alarm, and at $99, it?s becoming one of the most popular of these devices. [More in Chris' review here.]

3. Nike+ FuelBand
Nike has been looking to leverage its brand recognition and massive footprint in the sports world to make waves in the fitness-tracking space with its wearable health tracker. The QS bracelet debuted in January 2012, and is now selling for $150 on Nike?s website ? and, giving it a leg up over others beyond what it already had from the Nike brand ? is now selling in the Apple Store across the U.S., Canada and the U.K.?Nike+

Reviews of the FuelBand run the gamut, and with the trend seeming to be that, up to this point, it hasn?t been accurate enough to be used in real training and workouts, putting it more in the casual use category as a motivator for workouts and just getting off your butt. It looks great (although not unlike UP), comes with a great mobile app, and tracks whether or not you?re burning calories each day and meeting your basic fitness goals. It?s also started to gain some experimental integrations, like with Path, for example.

Nike also offers similar apps like Nike+ Running and Training Club in its growing arsenal of smartphone fitness motivators.

4. Basis
I say this haltingly, not having spent significant time with it yet, but Basis? new health-tracking wrist watch is probably the one I?m most excited about. The company quickly ran through its first batch after bringing the product to market in November and has since stopped accepting new orders to concentrate on meeting early demand.?Basis

The Basis band is a bit more expensive than the aforementioned gear at $200, and the question, of course, is whether there?s enough going on to justify that higher price. But from the looks of it, there is, especially for the Quantified Self and wristwatch nerds among us. The device comes with an LCD display (sort of like Pebble?s e-ink version) that shows date and time, touch capacitive buttons, a 4-day battery life and Bluetooth support, which will be activated when the company releases its accompanying mobile apps (expected in the near future).

The device is loaded with sensors, which beyond using the accelerometer to measure sleep patterns, include an optical scanner to track blood flow (i.e. heart rate), a perspiration monitor, as well as skin and ambient temperature monitors to measure workout intensity, heat dissipation and so on. On top of that, the company offers a dashboard complete with a host of metrics, which include stuff like calories burned, steps taken, resting heart rate and hours slept and allows users to track their progress and create small, achievable goals to begin establishing healthy habits.

One of the more noteworthy aspects of Basis is that it adjusts to your daily activity (and sleep patterns) automatically, so you don?t have to mess around with different modes and settings. The idea is that it just works in the background, suggesting personalized goals and habits that you can actually meet ? when you want it to. There are still more pieces to add, like integrations with other devices, an API, mobile apps (and of course wider availability), but Basis looks to have a lot going for it ? at least at this early stage. [More in our review here.]

5. Lark
Lark was originally a sleep-monitoring device, app and coaching service that recently expanded beyond sleep to go after the broader, general wellness market. The TechCrunch Disrupt grad now combines, a nighttime and daytime wristband and iOS app to track basic fitness statistics, food eaten, sleep logged, calories burned, distance traveled, and so on. Lark CEO Julia Hu recently told TechCrunch that Lark has sold ?tens of thousands? of devices, and that 73 percent of insomniacs saw an improvement after using Lark Pro for a month. The wristbands are designed by Ammunition ? which also designed the Beats by Dre headphones ? and through its new platform the startup is trying to move beyond its initial, core user base: Athletes.?Lark

The app and wristband combo now offer one-tap diet tracking, which allows users to tap a button to indicate they?re eating, tracking dietary info, stress and productivity data to help users make more informed decisions about their health. The platform offers personalized advice, developed in consultation with its scientific advisors, which include Stanford ?neuroeconomists,? psychologists and sleep experts and so on. The ?Larklife? product, which includes the two wristbands and mobile apps, will sell for $150. Lark looks great and has a lot to offer, but it does have to contend with the fact that others are offering a lot of this functionality in one device ? at competitive prices.

Misfit Wearables? Shine is another elegant-looking activity tracker that isn?t yet available but looks promising.

Amiigo, which, described in our recent coverage, is a ?fitness app and lightweight plastic bracelet (with detachable shoe-clip) that can identify the type of exercise you?re doing and tell you how well you?re doing it as you?re doing it, thanks to a variety of sensors analysing how your body is responding as you run, bike, swim (yes it?s waterproof), or whatever your preferred exercise poison.?

?

Source: TechCrunch

Interesting Articles

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    The health space is always in a state of transformation, but its evolution has accelerated of late, and technology is playing an increasingly vital role in this development. Improvements in sensor technology (and a reduction in the cost of production) have led to a boom in the popularity of health ...

  • Mental Health and Suicide

    1.?Overview Mentally ill people are not an homogeneous group of the sick in a healthy society. [2] 4.4% of the UK population report symptoms suggesting a personality disorder, 3.4% of women and 5.4% of men.? 0.6% of men and 0.5% of women reported symptoms which indicated probable psychotic disorder [3]. ...

  • How To Write A Research Proposal

    A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research project and that?you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it. Generally, a research proposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research process and include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate ...

  • Depression and Suicide

    1. Overview Depression is a very common mental health problem worldwide.? It is estimated that it will become the second most common cause of disability, after heart disease, by 2020 [1] The term ?depression? covers a very wide range of experiences and level of illness forms, from mild to severe, ...

  • Quote for Nursing

    1. When you are a nurse, you know that every day you will touch a life, or a life will touch yours ??Annonim 2. Wonders are many, and nothing is more wonderful than a man ??Sophocles 3. A nurse will always give us hope, An angel in a stethoscope ??Carrie ...

Source: http://blogperawat.com/health-and-fitness-gadget-for-your-need/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=health-and-fitness-gadget-for-your-need

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Monday, January 7, 2013

Japan tuna fetches record $1.7m

A single bluefin tuna has sold in Japan for 155m yen ($1.7m; ?1.05m), almost triple the record price set last year.

High bids traditionally mark the year's first auction at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market.

Even the buyer, sushi chain owner Kiyoshi Kimura, who also paid out the record price last year, said the cost was "a bit high".

The sale came amid continued warnings from environmentalists that tuna stocks are dwindling and overfished.

'Encourage Japan'

This year's record-breaking fish was caught off north-eastern Japan and weighed in at 222kg (489lbs), some 47kg lighter than last year's prize-winner, which fetched 56m yen.

The prices do not necessarily reflect quality or size and are more linked to publicity and setting the tone for the business year.

The auction at the market - which trades millions of dollars of products daily and is a popular tourist destination - began at 05:00 local time.

Mr Kimura immediately carted his purchase off to a nearby branch of his Sushi Zanmai chain.

He said he wanted to "encourage Japan" with his bid.

The price works out at about $7,600 per kg ($3,500/lb).

Japan consumes more than half of the world's bluefin catch.

New figures to be released on Monday are expected to show a continued decline in Pacific bluefin stocks.

Amanda Nickson, of the Pew Environmental Group's global tuna conservation campaign, told Associated Press news agency: "Everything we're hearing is that there's no good news for the Pacific bluefin. We're seeing a very high value fish continue to be overfished."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20919306#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Manziel, Texas A&M beat Oklahoma 41-13 in Cotton

Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel (2) reaches the end zone for a touchdown as Oklahoma's Frank Shannon (20) and others give chase in the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel (2) reaches the end zone for a touchdown as Oklahoma's Frank Shannon (20) and others give chase in the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Oklahoma's Landry Jones (12) warms up for the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game against Texas A&M, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops shakes hands with quarterback Blake Bell (10) as the team stretches before the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game against Texas A&M on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Texas A&M's Kenric McNeal (5) is unable to reach a pass as Oklahoma's Julian Wilson (2) defends in the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin calls out to his defense during the first half against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ? Johnny Manziel stretched out both of his arms and ran off the field as if he was flying.

With the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback known as Johnny Football, Texas A&M certainly is soaring in the SEC.

Manziel tiptoed the sideline for a 23-yard touchdown on the first drive of the Cotton Bowl, the first of his four touchdowns as part of his bowl-record 516 total yards and the Aggies capped their first SEC season with a 41-13 win over 12th-ranked Oklahoma on Friday night.

"To come in and go against a Big 12 rival and do everything we wanted as a team, and send these seniors out with a win, we couldn't feel any better," Manziel said after his first game since becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman.

With first-year coach Kevin Sumlin and their young star quarterback, the Aggies (11-2) broke the SEC record with their 7,261 total yards this season (the first over 7,000 after 633 in Cowboys Stadium). They also averaged more than 40 points a game.

And they capped their debut season with an overwhelming victory in the only postseason game matching teams from those power conferences. It is the Aggies' first 11-win season since 1998, when they won their only Big 12 title.

The chants of "S-E-C!, S-E-C!" began after Manziel's 33-yard TD pass to Ryan Swope with 4 minutes left in the third quarter for a 34-13 lead. They got louder and longer after that.

"I think tonight was really indicative of this season," Sumlin said. "It's one of the teams I thought in the country that truly got better every week."

Texas A&M never trailed while winning its last six games. That included a win at SEC champion Alabama, which plays for the BCS national title Monday night.

Manziel set an FBS bowl record with his 229 yards rushing on 17 carries, and completed 22 of 34 passes for 287 yards.

"Johnny Manziel is everything he was billed to be, expected him to be," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who after the game shook the quarterback's hand and told him "good job."

SEC teams have won the last five Cotton Bowls, all against Big 12 teams, and nine out of 10. That included Texas A&M's loss to LSU only two years ago.

Oklahoma, led by quarterback Landry Jones in his 50th career start, had 401 total yards.

Jones completed 35 of 48 passes for 278 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He won 39 games and three bowls for the Sooners, in a career that started on the same field in the 2009 season opener when he replaced injured Heisman winner Sam Bradford in the first college game at Cowboys Stadium.

Texas A&M led by only a point at halftime, but scored on its first three drives of the second half ? on drives of 91 and 89 yards before Swope's score on a fourth-and-5 play.

Oklahoma (10-3), which like the Aggies entered the game with a five-game winning streak, went three-and-out on its first three drives after halftime.

"In the first half, we played together as a team, limited them, used the clock, scored. That's how you have to play them. In the second half it totally broke down offensively and defensively," Stoops said. "We had guys plenty of times in position to make a play. Couldn't make a play."

Already with a 24-yard gain on an earlier third down on their opening drive, the Aggies had third-and-9 when Manziel rolled to his left and took off. When he juked around a defender and got near the sideline, he tiptoed to stay in bounds and punctuated his score with a high-step over the pylon for a quick lead.

Officials reviewed the touchdown play, but it was clear by the replay shown on the huge video screen above the Cowboys Stadium field that Manziel stayed in bounds.

"There is too much talk about how you perform after the Heisman and about the layoff and all of that," said Manziel, who set an SEC record with 4,600 total yards in the regular season. "There wasn't anything holding us back. No rust, there was no nothing. We played as a unit. ... To go out and win 11 games and do what we've done, is impressive."

Manziel added a 5-yard TD on a bootleg play in the second quarter, and capped the scoring with a 34-yard pass to Uzoma Nwachukwu with 9 minutes left in the game.

The first TD run was Manziel's school-record 20th of the season. He became only the fourth FBS quarterback with 20 TDs rushing and 20 passing in the same season.

The other 20-20 quarterbacks were Auburn's Cam Newton and Florida's Tim Tebow, who like Manziel are Heisman winners from the SEC, and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick.

Oklahoma needed drives of 16 and 18 plays to get a pair of field goals by Michael Hunnicutt (23 and 24 yards). Jones threw a 6-yard TD pass to Justin Brown just before halftime to make it 14-13.

Jones set Cotton Bowl records when he had 23 completions and 30 attempts (for 175 yards) by halftime.

Ben Malena (7 yards) and Trey Williams (30 yards) had the TD runs to cap the long scoring drives in the third quarter for the Aggies.

Manziel was picked off in the second quarter after his bootleg move and a throw that hit Malcome Kennedy in the hands in the end zone and deflected into the air. Javon Harris grabbed the interception.

The Sooners then crossed midfield before Jones had a pass intercepted by Dustin Harris and returned to the Oklahoma 48.

That A&M drive started with a little trickery, Manziel holding the ball down in his left hand while faking a throw with his right hand. He then pitched to Kenric McNeal, who threw a 20-yard pass to Mike Evans. Two plays later, Manziel had his bootleg TD run.

Oklahoma was in the Cotton Bowl for only the second time. It was the first bowl matchup between the former Big 12 rivals, but the 17th consecutive season they have played each other.

The Sooners had won 11 of 13 since Bob Stoops became their coach. That included a 77-0 Oklahoma win in 2003 that was the most-lopsided loss in Texas A&M history.

Sumlin was the A&M offensive coordinator in 2002 when the Aggies upset the top-ranked Sooners. The next year, Sumlin was hired by Stoops as an assistant, and he stayed there five seasons before going to Houston as head coach and then the Aggies.

"Words can't describe how I feel," said Damontre Moore, A&M's leading tackler who has already said he will bypass his senior season for the NFL draft. "I'm just overwhelmed with excitement and joy, just to get such a big win, all the goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season, to see them be accomplished."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-05-FBC-T25-Cotton-Bowl/id-c23886a081904ae694a59e09b764bab5

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Tornado generator may create the energy of a coal-fired power plant

1 day

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel?s foundation recently invested $300,000 in a start-up company that aims to harness energy from tornadoes. A single twister-generator machine could produce as much energy as a coal-fired power plant without the downside of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Atmospheric Vortex Engine is the brainchild of Louis Michaud, a Canadian engineer who first started talking about the concept in the early 2000s. He?s successfully proven it works with 13-foot diameter version.?

The investment money from Thiel ?will allow us to carry out well documented development experiments in an academic environment,? Michaud told NBC News in an email. ?Such results are required to get financial and power industry support to move to the next stage.?

He is working with Lambton College in Ontario on a 26-foot-wide-by-20-foot-tall outdoor prototype that will produce twisters up to 1.6-feet wide and 164-feet tall.?

The twister is created by injecting warm, humid air tangentially into a circular area. This causes the warm air to spin as it rises, forming a small, anchored tornado-like vortex, he explained. The heat source can be solar energy or waste heat. For the prototype, he will use propane burners or steam.

If the energy industry bites on the concept, Michaud envisions a full-sized, 328-foot diameter engine that would generate 200 megawatts ? the equivalent of a large, coal-fired power plant. It would cost about $200 million to build and produce electricity a rate of 3 cents per kilowatt hour.

The vortex generated could have a diameter of 100 feet at the base and extend up to 6.2 miles. About?20 turbines around the base station would generate electricity.

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/tornado-generator-may-create-energy-coal-fired-power-plant-1B7812870

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Friday, January 4, 2013

Trip Doctor: Get Paid to Travel - Carry On | Travel + Leisure

01.03.13

Worksurfers

Nearly every Ask an Editor Day, you?ve asked us the same question: How can I get paid to travel? Here?s a new way to make it happen: Worksurfers. The recently launched startup aims to connect creative professionals with short-term freelance assignments around the world, allowing them to hop the globe?or prolong an existing vacation?while broadening their portfolio. Simply sign up and input the type of work you?d be looking for (and where) and you?ll be e-mailed job leads as they?re made available.

But don?t book flights just yet: the service is brand new, and its scope is still limited to certain trades (architects, marketers, and designers, for example). Plus, as with any startup, the site will need time to develop a larger user base?in this case, all around the world?to successfully carry out its mission.

Nikki Ekstein is an Editorial Assistant at Travel + Leisure and part of the Trip Doctor news team. Find her at on Twitter at @nikkiekstein.

Photo courtesy?of?Worksurfers

Source: http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-blog/carry-on/2013/1/3/trip-doctor-get-paid-to-travel

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2013: What's In Store For Small Businesses?

2013: What?s In Store For Small Businesses?

The new year means new prospects for small businesses. 2012 was a profitable year for independent retailers, with a 7.1% growth rate ? 2% higher than bigger retail chains.

With a successful 2012 behind them, what?s in store for small businesses in 2013? We asked more than 3,000 owners and entrepreneurs how they felt about the effects of the economy and whether they planned to increase or decrease their marketing presence and spending*.

The answers we got should be encouraging to all small business owners. Running a business is tough. Most of the ones we surveyed have 5 employees or fewer and the owner does the marketing ? on top of everything else they do.

But despite the challenges, small business owners plan to increase their marketing and their spending. See what 2013 could have in store for your own operation:

Share this infographic on your blog or website ? here?s the HTML you can copy/paste to share it:

Share this page and infographic with your friends and colleagues on your favorite social network:

What Does This Mean For My Business?

2012 brought us new social networks, changes to existing social networks and new mobile preferences for the people you?re trying to reach with your marketing.

While all these other channels are effective ? the majority of small business owners plan to increase their brand?s presence on social networks after all ? small businesses still find the most value in email marketing.

Tweetable Stats:
85% of small businesses plan to increase email marketing in 2013.
(click to tweet this)

77% of small businesses say email marketing drives business and sales.
(click to tweet this)

67% of small businesses will increase their marketing spending in 2013.
(click to tweet this)

71% of small businesses will blog more in 2013.
(click to tweet this)

$1 spent on email marketing drives $40 in revenue.
(click to tweet this)

Why Email Marketing?

It doesn?t take much time ? most business owners said they spend between 1 and 3 hours a week on their campaigns. Plus, auto-responding follow ups and drag-and-drop email templates make sending messages quick and easy.

See what else email can do for your business with a $1 trial.

What?s in store for your small business in 2013? Share your own outlook with us in the comments!

*Complete results of survey available here.

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Source: http://www.aweber.com/blog/email-marketing/2013-small-biz-infographic.htm

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Previous studies on toxic effects of BPA couldn't be reproduced

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Following a three-year study using more than 2,800 mice, a University of Missouri researcher was not able to replicate a series of previous studies by another research group investigating the controversial chemical BPA. The MU study is not claiming that BPA is safe, but that the previous series of studies are not reproducible. The MU study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also investigated an estrogenic compound found in plants, genistein, in the same three-year study.

"Our findings don't say anything about the positive or negative effects of BPA or genistein," said Cheryl Rosenfeld, associate professor of biomedical sciences in MU's Bond Life Science Center. "Rather, our series of experiments did not detect the same findings as reported by another group on the potential developmental effects of BPA and genistein when exposure of young occurs in the womb."

Creating reliable data on the effects of the chemicals on mice is important to human health since people are frequently exposed to BPA and genistein and humans share similar biological functions with mice. BPA is a chemical used in certain plastic bottles and may be found in the lining of some canned goods and receipt paper. Genistein occurs naturally in soy beans and is sold as a dietary supplement. Research by Fredrick VomSaal, professor of biological science at MU, and others suggests the chemicals may have other adverse effects on many animals, including humans.

Researcher who conducted the original series of experiments claimed that exposure to BPA and genestein resulted in yellow coat color, or agouti, offspring that were more susceptible to obesity and type 2 diabetes compared to their brown coat color, healthy siblings. However, Rosenfeld and her team did not obtain the same results when repeating the study over a three-year period.

After failing to repeat the original experiments findings with similar numbers of animals, Rosenfeld's group extended the studies to include animal numbers that surpassed the prior studies to verify that their findings were not a fluke and to provide sufficient number of animals to ensure that significant differences would be detected if they existed. However, even these additional numbers of animals and extended experiments failed to reproduce the earlier findings. However, the current studies demonstrate that a maternal diet enriched in estrogenic compounds leads to a greater number of offspring that express an agouti gene compared to those that do not, even though equal ratios should have been born.

"This finding suggests that certain uterine environments may favor animals with a 'thrifty genotype' meaning that the agouti gene of mice may help them survive in unfavorable uterine environments over those mice devoid of this gene, Yet, the downside of this expression of the agouti during early development is that the animals may be at risk for later metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes" Rosenfeld said. "In this aspect, humans also have an agouti gene that encodes for the agouti signaling protein (ASIP) that is expressed in fat tissue and pancreas, and there is some correlation that obese individuals exhibit greater expression of this gene compared to leaner individuals. Therefore, the agouti gene may have evolved to permit humans the ability to survive famine, but its enhanced expression may also potentiate metabolic diseases under bountiful food conditions."

While the research casts doubt on the previous study, Rosenfeld said that by understanding the genetic profile of the mice in the first series of studies, scientists could learn more about the correlation between certain genes and obesity. This could eventually influence prevention and treatment programs for patients with diabetes and other obesity-related diseases in humans.

###

University of Missouri-Columbia: http://www.missouri.edu

Thanks to University of Missouri-Columbia for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 60 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126114/Previous_studies_on_toxic_effects_of_BPA_couldn_t_be_reproduced

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Thursday, January 3, 2013

Managing Open Innovation in SMEs: The CAS Software AG Case ...

Managing Open Innovation in SMEs: The CAS Software AG Case Study

Working Paper Stuttgart, August 20, 2012

Author details:

Sabine Brunswicker*
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering, Nobelstra?e 12, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany. Phone: +497119702035; Fax: +497119702099 E-mail: sabine.brunswicker@iao.fraunhofer.de

Frank Ehrenmann
University of Stuttgart, Graduate School of Excellence advanced Manufacturing Engineering Keplerstra?e 17, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany. E-mail: frank.ehrenmann@gsame.uni-stuttgart.de

* Corresponding author

Keywords: open innovation, SME, management systems for innovation, organizational capabilities, organizational change

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2151892

Managing Open Innovation in SMEs: The CAS Software AG Case Study
Abstract The concept of open innovation lies at the heart of the current research debate on innovation and strategy. Existing literature indicates that firms vitalize their interest in opening their innovation processes and business models to commercialize not only their own ideas but also external ones. However, existing work mostly concentrates on large firms and does not study open innovation in SMEs. This paper investigates the organizational capabilities for managing open innovation in SMEs. Our single case study analysis highlights that SMEs require new internal managerial capabilities for open innovation. It discusses six dimensions of a managerial system for open innovation: strategy, culture, corporate structure, cross-company network structure, process and IT-support. Further, it presents the transformation process of the CAS software AG and reveals the evolutionary character of the change process from closed to open innovation with different maturity levels.

1

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally most firms pursued relatively ?closed? innovation strategies, limiting interactions with actors outside their organizational boundaries and emphasizing hierarchical control of all innovation activities. However, in recent decades the changing innovation landscape has undermined the traditional view of innovation at the firm level. The burgeoning literature on ?open innovation? highlights the boundary spanning nature of innovation. It documents that firms have vitalized their interest to purposively open their innovation processes and to interact extensively with their innovation environment [1]. Indeed, the concept of open innovation lies at the heart of research on innovation and strategy and receives high attention in recent management literature [2; 3]. Recent work provides first empirical evidence that opening up the innovation process may positively shape a firm?s innovation performance [4; 5; 6]. Further, case studies and exploratory research on large firms depict in a very detailed manner how large multinational firms organize themselves for open innovation and modify their management practices to ease the implementation of the new management

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2151892

paradigm [4]. This exploratory work indicates that there are several challenges in shifting towards open innovation [7], and managing open innovation internally [8]. In spite of the increasing interest in open innovation and extension of the analysis of open innovation to various topics, most of existing work concentrates on large firms. Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) have been excluded from the mainstream discussion in open innovation research, and only recently, some researchers explore the role of openness in the SME sector [9; 10]. However, we lack a significant understanding of how SMEs successfully shift towards open innovation and adapt their organizational system for innovation to the open innovation paradigm. As SMEs are important actors in innovation [11] this paper seeks to place the concept of open innovation in the context of SMEs and studies the organizational innovation systems for managing open innovation in SMEs. It reports on a single case study of a highly successful German SME discussing the managerial levels of open innovation and depicting the transformation process from a closed innovator towards an open innovator. The paper is organized as following: In section 2, we briefly introduce the open innovation concept and the peculiarities of open innovation in SMEs. Afterwards, we discuss the role of internal managerial capabilities for innovation and introduce our research framework. Section 4 presents the case of CAS Software AG and our research design. Section 5 discusses the different managerial levels of open innovation. In section 6 we describe the transformation process of CAS towards an open innovator. Finally, we conclude and discuss contributions of our research.

2 2.1

OPEN INNOVATION IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES The concept of open innovation

Traditionally, large established firms relied on their own R&D departments and favored a closed innovation model where all innovations are under the firm?s control. This ?closed innovation model? is contrasted with the open innovation paradigm that describes a new cognitive framework for a firm?s strategy to profit from innovation. It supports firms to purposively use inflows and outflows of

knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and to expand markets for external use of innovation, respectively [12]. Open innovation is a firm-level concept taking the firm level as the unit of analysis. Most research on open innovation differentiates between two concepts of open innovation: inbound where new ideas flow into an organization and outbound where internally developed technologies and ideas can be acquired by external organizations with business models that are better suited to commercialize a given technology or idea. Depending on the financial flows involved, both concepts can be either pecuniary or non-pecuniary in nature [2]. For example, in-licensing and acquiring of external technologies represent pecuniary inbound practices whereas crowd sourcing and informal networking is rather non-pecuniary inbound open innovation modes. Free revealing of knowledge and donations (e.g. to creative commons) represent non-pecuniary outbound activities. Open innovation is already being adopted by firms from high-tech as well as low-tech industries [13]. They experiment with a variety of different practices to engage both in inbound and outbound innovation and choose different governance modes along the innovation process [14]. Recent literature depicts that large firms introduce both dimensions - inbound versus outbound - separately in their journey towards open innovation rather than jointly [8].

2.2

Peculiarities of open innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises

SMEs are a relevant source of innovation. SMEs do have the capacity for radical, new-to-the-world innovation; not just large firms [11]. However, their innovation models and activities differ from those of large firms. While they are usually more flexible, less formalized and fast decision makers, their financial resources for internal R&D are limited [9], especially if they are young and small [15; 16]. In addition, they cannot cover all innovation activities required to successfully realize an innovation. Thus, open innovation is a relevant innovation strategy for SMEs. Indeed, young and small firms regularly rely upon external partnerships and networks to remain competitive [17]. Further, prior work on the market for ideas indicates that young technology start-ups are an important ?source? for open innovation as they license their technologies to large firms rather than developing them into tangible artefacts [18]. While prior research on SMEs and networks indicates that open innovation ? or at least some open innovation practices ? seem to be of relevance to SMEs, only recently researchers perform

studies specifically focusing on open innovation in SMEs. First empirical studies on open innovation in SMEs indicate that both inbound and outbound open innovation practices are adopted in the SME sector. In a descriptive survey among Dutch SMEs, non-pecuniary inbound activities such as cooperation with customers and suppliers were identified as the open innovation activities adopted most often, while outbound activities such as licensing and venturing are adopted by a small share of SMEs in the Dutch sample only [10]. Indeed, inbound open innovation seems to be a widely adopted mode in SMEs from various sectors. A European study with more than 1500 SMEs indicates that SMEs engage with a variety of different external innovation sources including customers, suppliers, universities, and long-term complementary partners, to access new ideas and technologies [19; 20]. Further, Lee at al. (2010) argue that SMEs need to open up their innovation processes in the later stages, namely in the commercialization phases, rather than only in the early stage of the open innovation funnel [9]. Rather than entering the market for ideas, case studies on value constellations depict that SMEs form new value creation relationships in the commercialization phase to exploit their internal ideas [21].

2.3

Performance impact of open innovation for SMEs

A central question in research is whether open innovation can influence a firm?s ability to innovation and to appropriate the benefits from it. Case studies on large technology-oriented firms such as Procter & Gamble suggest that open innovation may improve a firm?s innovation performance (according to Procter & Gamble its open innovation strategy ?Connect & Develop? has contributed to an increase of the firm?s R&D productivity by nearly 60 %) [22]. In their influential article Laursen and Salter (2006) provide a more reliable empirical evidence of the performance impact of open innovation. Based on large quantitative study of manufacturing UK firms, they statistically explain the impact of openness, measured as breadth of external innovation sources, on a firm?s income from innovation [5]. Following recent research results, open innovation may also impact the performance of SMEs [6; 20]. A recent large scale quantitative study on European SMEs indicates that SMEs engage in boundary spanning innovation activities going beyond transactional relationships in inter-organizational networks (?social embeddedness?) that improve their innovation performance when doing so. SMEs

that engage with a variety of different external partners can achieve a higher innovation performance than those that remain closed and wall off their innovation activities. However, it matters with whom SMEs are interacting in their innovation activities. The study shows that the combination of different innovation sources rather than the total number of sources define how SMEs engage in external idea sourcing and benefit from it. Some SMEs engage in inventive sourcing and R&D collaborations to get access to new technological knowledge. Others work closely with partners along their value chain and combine input from suppliers and customers. Recent research indicates that there are SMEs that engage in eco-system wide open innovation activities and involve complementary partners in addition to R&D partners and supply-chain partners [19]. Overall complementary network partners and established co-development relationships are an important external source for non-pecuniary inbound activities and also outbound activities. They offer well-functioning interaction channels that are crucial to combine and transform inputs from different knowledge domains. They also offer access to complementary assets that are critical to create value from an idea [23]. Some external partners may actually represent a risk. For example, the interaction with universities is somewhat risky for SMEs. If SMEs search in highly pre-commercial domains, they may get locked in and may struggle with turning ideas into value [20].

3

THE JANUS FACE OF OPENNESS: INTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES FOR MANAGING OPEN INNOVATION

Openness and inter-organizational interaction pose new managerial challenges. Despite its growing importance, many firms experience several challenges to actively manage the processes of open innovation [3]. Research on large firms highlights that open innovation requires internal organizational complements that facilitate the absorption of external ideas and knowledge and to capture the value from it [5]. As already pointed out in the seminal work of Cohen and Levinthal (1990), internal organizational practices and resources for innovation are important antecedents of a firm?s ability to benefit from external knowledge [24]. Internal activities are critical because open innovation usually does not result

in a complete outsourcing of innovation activities [3]. For this reason internal investments in R&D and open innovation are complements rather than substitutes [2]. Further, established managerial practices for innovation are important antecedents of its absorptive capacity and may act as facilitators of open innovation. Results confirm the notion that both formal and informal managerial practices are important to capture the value from openness in SMEs: investment into innovation potential, innovation strategy and planning, innovation development processes, innovation control, and culture for innovation represent organizational antecedents of a firm?s ability to successfully search, transform and exploit external innovation inputs. In general, formal operational routines for measuring the performance of innovation activities from the inception of the idea to the commercialization phase are extremely important. Indeed, SMEs need to have discipline throughout the innovation value chain to integrate external and internal innovation. However, to create value from openness operational proficiency in managing innovation internally is not sufficient. Strategic coordination, financial dedication towards innovation, and a culture for innovation should be successfully in place [20]. The shift towards open innovation requires firms - both large and small firms - to implement new managerial practices and structures, in terms of ?how to do open innovation? [25]. First anecdotal case studies on firms that evolve from a closed towards an open innovator indicate that these firms implement new managerial capabilities for open innovation at different managerial levels [8]. Finally, to establish these new capabilities firms need to go through an organizational change process with different stages [25]. However, the transformation process in SMEs ? from closed to open innovation ? is little understood [25]. Thus, the following case study will provide new insights into the managerial levels of open innovation and the transformation process towards open innovation in SMEs.

4 4.1

RESEARCH DESIGN: CASE STUDY - CAS SOFTWARE AG Case study research method

As discussed above, there is a lack of understanding of how SMEs successfully manage open innovation [see also 28]. Thus, our research aims to investigate in detail the internal managerial systems for open innovation in SMEs and to understand the organizational change processes required to shift from a closed to an open innovator. As our research aim is exploratory in nature, we have chosen an explorative case study approach [29, 30]. A case study approach is an appropriate methodology for a holistic, in-depth investigation [31]. It facilitates researchers to get direct insights in and reflections of innovation practice as well as the design of an appropriate open innovation system. According to recommendation of Yin the researchers followed a methodology including four stages [29]: (1) design the case study, (2) conduct the case study, (3) analyze the case study evidence, (4) and develop the conclusions, recommendations and implications. This case study relies on multiple data sources including expert interviews with key informants at CAS, secondary data on internal organizational structures and processes (e.g. process blueprints), and company reports. Data were collected in the time period 2009 - 2011. Within the design stage the researcher developed an interview guideline based on state-of-the-art literature on open innovation and determined the required skills and position of the interview partners at CAS. To conduct the case study the research team worked in close collaboration with the representatives of CAS. An interview with the head of strategy, innovation and business design provided essential data to the following in-depth case analysis. Semistructured interviews were conducted face-to-face. The analysis of the comprehensive interview protocol was carried out according to the method of qualitative content analysis. On the basis of the structured data the researchers developed conclusions, recommendations and implications for innovation management in practice.

4.2

Single case study firm: CAS SOFTWARE AG

CAS is market-leader in the field of customer relations management (CRM) software for SMEs in Germany. The company was founded in 1986 and employs approximately 430 people today. Nowadays more than 200,000 people, in more than 7,500 companies and organizations, are using

software solutions from CAS. In recent years the company has won numerous innovation awards and is one of the most successful innovators in small and medium-sized businesses in Germany today. In 2006 and 2011 CAS was the overall winner of the ?Innovator of the year? award in the prestigious German TOP 100 innovation competition [26]. In this competition CAS defeated its competitors within five categories: innovation-friendly senior management, climate of innovation, innovative processes and organization, innovations marketing and successful innovations. Altogether these categories give a valuable overview of the general innovation ability of CAS. In terms of innovation performance and business growth the company has shown outstanding performance in recent years. The success rate of innovation projects which aim at ?innovations in small steps? is about 90%. Five out of eight ?radical innovation projects? initiated by CAS, had been realized successfully in the past years. At corporate level CAS is characterized by a steady doubledigit growth rate of employees. In respect of sales, CAS showed similar positive results. Regarding its product business, CAS reported constant growth rates of up to 30% in recent years. Keeping in mind long term shareholder value as main objective, CAS invests to a great extent in future innovations and product development. CAS defines itself as a networked enterprise and as an open innovator according to the above specified open innovation paradigm (see section 2). CAS is aware of its customers, suppliers, complementors, competitors, intermediaries [27] and uses its network both for commercialisation of products (i.e. operations) and for innovation management. Against this background the researchers of this research paper analyse the innovation system of CAS that facilitates open innovation in a successfully way. The second objective of the research paper will be the investigation of the prosperous transformation of CAS from ?closed? towards an ?open innovator?.

4.3

Business model of CAS Software AG

CAS emphasizes that innovations only can be successful along with an appropriate business model. For this reason the company has designed its business model based on the principles of modularity. CAS has developed an integrated software system consisting different in-house as well as external software applications. CAS holds necessary basic technologies to integrate these applications via

interfaces to a total system. On the basis of its technologies, product portfolio and partner network CAS is able to combine existing and innovative solutions to a customer oriented bundle of products and services. By doing so, CAS can act as an innovator in the market for CRM software by itself. Figure 1 provides an overview of the diversity of over 100 currently available applications and solutions for the product ?CAS genesisWorld? which are offered and distributed by CAS together with over 200 partners in more than 24 countries [32].

Figure 1 goes here

CAS aspires to expand its market leadership from Germany to all over Europe in the next few years. To achieve this challenging goal together with its business partners, CAS invests heavily in new product development and innovation management. Annually the company spends about 30% of its revenues in research and development. Investments in further education of employees and costs for relationships management (e.g. in respect of research institutes and universities) are not considered in that spending. Equity holdings secure access to strategic key technologies. Overall CAS aims a high degree of innovation. Following a ?first-mover?-strategy, CAS sees itself as a ?product and business model innovator?. As a business model innovator, CAS dares new ways of commercialisation - both autonomous and in cooperation with partners. Despite the fact that CAS innovates in a turbulent environment (i.e. shortening innovation life cycles, complex technologies, a high degree of competition in the ICT-sector) CAS perceives itself in a good position to cope with business challenges in future. In an open and networked innovation landscape [27] its innovation system provides CAS necessary benefits and serves as barriers to failure.

5

MANAGING OPEN INNOVATION IN SMES: MANAGERIAL SYSTEM FOR OPEN INNOVATION OF CAS SOFTWARE AG

The case study analysis indicates that CAS has successfully opened its innovation processes for crosscompany innovation with various external network partners [27].

The innovation system of CAS facilitates collaborative innovations and new product development in a systematic and profitable way. It fosters absorption of value-adding contributions from different external actors throughout the whole innovation process. Information, knowledge exchange and collaboration with universities, research facilities and partner companies increase CAS?s innovation potential. Without having the market power of global players like IBM and SAP, CAS also builds up downstream partnerships to increase sales potential. The reduction of innovation risk and innovation costs is not a main objective of CAS for collaboration in innovation management. The analysis of the innovation system of CAS within the research project was based on an explorative framework that differentiates six dimensions: strategy, culture, corporate structure, cross-company network structure, process and IT-support - see figure 2. Based on this rough framework the researchers identified different requirements for the design of a successful open innovation system:

Figure 2 goes here

Strategy: In order to successfully accomplish open innovation in practice, the concepts of inbound and outbound innovation (see section 2) have to be established in innovation and corporate strategy. Only on the basis of a vision strategic plans and concrete objectives for single open innovation processes can be developed. In summary, the following implications for the design of an open innovation system could be identified: ? ? ? Consideration of open innovation in innovation and corporate strategy Alignment of open innovation strategy and company-specific product and service life cycles Balance between innovation ?in small steps? and ?radical? innovations within innovation

networks (ambidexterity) ? Flexible innovation strategy: Adaptable innovation objectives for taking advantage of current (i.e.

?Quick-Wins?) and future opportunities

Culture: The overcoming of the not-invented-here syndrome [33] and an ?open innovation culture? are key requirements for successful open innovation management in practice [34]. Only if employees

are willing to consider external ideas and knowledge and apply external technologies in internal processes success in innovation management can be achieved. Same applies to the willingness of outbound activities (e.g. external commercialization, licensing, franchising of internal ideas, inventions and concepts). Overall, the following implications had been identified for the creation of an open innovation culture: ? Recruitment of open-minded and ?sociable? staff with individual social (business) networks (e.g.

in the field of research) ? Creation of a role model for openness and collaboration in innovation management/ strong

commitment of top management ? Strengthening entrepreneurship in SMEs (i.e. participation of employees in innovation and

company success) ? Counteract harmful fear of wrong decisions in terms of openness in the innovation processes (i.e.

establish a friendly climate for open innovation)

Corporate structure: The dimension of corporate structure focuses on actors in respect of task and people coordination within innovation processes. Different implications could be specified for the design of an open innovation system: ? Implementation of a relationship promoter (i.e. in addition to champions, power promoter) to

facilitate cross-company innovation within networks ? Establishment of a steering committee as an organizational tool to promote openness, the

development of strategic plans and for coordination and prioritization of innovation projects in a multi-project landscape ? Setting up customer-focused and flexible business units with flat hierarchies

The establishment of customer-focused and flexible business units is part of the innovative company structure of CAS (see figure 3) which has been implemented in 2011. This efficient network organization is based on a biological role model (i.e. ?organizations as organisms?) and is called SmartEnterprise.

Figure 3 goes here

Small, specialized company units make CAS more flexible, agile and enable the company to make the most of innovation opportunities. It consists of different specialized units (so called SmartUnits). These units allow CAS to react quickly and remain adaptable to market and sectoral requirements.

SmartCompanies focus on specific customer segments and pursue the goal of becoming the innovation and market leader for those segments. Within the CAS SmartEnterprise only SmartCompanies deal with the external customers. Other company units support SmartCompanies in handling the day-to-day operations. One objective of CAS is that new SmartCompanies should be operative and equipped with the necessary resources for business (e.g. own company management, own vision and market presence, own product and customer management) within a matter of days only. Company strategy and goals are defined and developed by the CAS Software Board of Directors. The Board is also involved in the coordination of the optimal distribution of available resources among the company units. Agreements on obligations and expectations govern the overall activities of the company units within CAS SmartEnterprise.

Cross-company network structure: A further requirement for the design of an open innovation system is the configuration of an adequate cross-company network structure. It is crucial to maintain strong partnerships and close business relationships as well as informal contacts and loose relationships with different actors in innovation networks [27]. So CAS gains different innovation contributions from different network nodes and different innovation networks. While strong ties (e.g. to exclusive partners, lead customers and complementors) foster knowledge transfer and joint innovations, weak ties facilitate the identification of new trends, innovation potentials and opportunities for future businesses. The following recommendations for the design of cross-company network structure could be pointed out:

?

Setup a network of informal contacts ?linking?) and close relationships (?fitting?) to take

advantage of various forms of relationships [27] ? Creation of diversity within innovation networks to facilitate the potential of new ideas, concepts,

innovations and new businesses

IT-support: Complex and distributed innovation processes with a multitude actors call for modern information and communication technologies as supporting factors for virtualization and collaborative innovation management (see e.g. "toolkits for user innovation and co-design" [35]). The following supporting factors for open innovation had been identified within the case study of CAS: ? ? Use of professional software tools for relationship management (?CRM becomes xRM?) Open and semi open wiki platforms for communication and knowledge management with

customers and partners ? Weblogs for collaborative product development and problem solving in innovation processes

Process: A systematic and structured process model is a further basic requirement for efficient open innovation management. Based on a standard process model for example benchmarks, technologyscouting, customer and competitor analysis, feasibility studies and market analysis can be conducted. The following implications for the design of an open innovation process could be derived: ? ? Generation of a structured process model and systematic involvement of actors across companies Overview of ongoing innovation projects and establishment of a professional multi-project

management with clear objectives and responsibilities based on a shared ?innovation agenda? ? Transparency in innovation processes (e.g. in respect to technology, market and business

strategy) ? Establishment and systematic use of a backlog for (partial) results, concepts and ideas in

innovation management ? Building up routines for inter-company collaboration, project work and networked innovation

management

6

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: MATURITY LEVELS OF OPEN INNOVATION AT CAS SOFTWARE AG

In addition to open up their innovation processes for collaboration with external partners within networks SMEs have to build up internal capabilities and routines for open innovation management. In doing so, SMEs in general undergo fundamental changes. By means of a maturity model the development of such capabilities and routines and respectively the transformation of CAS towards open innovation can be illustrated. Figure 4 shows the specific maturity levels of CAS from a closed innovator to a successful open innovator, based on highly self organizing company units (?smart units? ? see section 5).

Figure 4 goes here

More than fifteen years ago CAS had started to selectively build up research partnerships with universities and research institutions. Objectives of this first level of open innovation have been the acquisition of research results, technology scouting and learning. Till this day CAS is highly interested in knowledge exchange and stimuli in the way of a ?technology push? by external partners. Finally the relationships to research institutions play an important role for the recruitment of highly skilled employees.

In a second level of maturity CAS intensified collaboration with various partners and customers. CAS started interacting more closely with its complementors, which offer complementary products and services to customers [36], and also with its competitors [37]. Driving forces for collaboration with sales partners, customers and complementors for example had been expectation of a wider market access as well as access to relevant information about customer needs (?market push?). Also opportunities in respect of a higher innovation potential and flexibility had been mentioned as driving forces for collaboration in innovation management. Starting point for openness in the first and second maturity level always had been single success stories of CAS in form of joint projects, developments or collaborative marketing measures. Trust

building and collective experiences seem to be most important factors for implementing openness in innovation management. For example the collaboration with universities and research institutions had been gradually intensified. At the initial phase universities only were consulted in order to obtain information in respect of specific technical issues. Within an ongoing relationship universities gained an increasingly important position within the innovation ecosystem of CAS. Meanwhile, CAS receives a broad spectrum of innovative contributions from universities. Thereby, also free revealing of knowledge in respect of long-term partners plays an important role for future developments.

The third maturity level of open innovation at CAS comprises standardisation and IT-support. It includes for example the implementation of a standard innovation process model for efficient collaboration (i.e. innovation agenda, backlogs, standardized innovation roadmaps), the establishment of structures for cross-company processes (e.g. steering committees, innovation teams) as well as the development of adequate software applications for networked innovation (i.e. xRM as a further development of CRM software).

At the current maturity level CAS aims for optimisation and continuous improvement of existing innovation structures and processes. For example CAS has institutionalized its business design for a more efficient lead to market. Simultaneously CAS strengthened both its top-down and bottom-up approach in innovation management. The overall objective of CAS is the establishment of a highly self-organized business and innovation system. By restructuring the organization towards a SmartEnterprise (i.e. a highly flexible network structure with business and service units ? see section 5) CAS has already made the next key step to achieve its challenging objective.

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CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

This paper studies open innovation in SMEs and focuses on managerial capabilities for open innovation in particular. Thus, we try to overcome a major gap in existing literature on managerial challenges for open innovation in SMEs. In studying the journey of an SME from a closed towards an open innovator, we provide detailed and rich information on the managerial system for open

innovation established over time and also the change process to move from closed towards an open innovator. To this aim, we first provide a brief overview of existing research on open innovation in SMEs and potential performance impact. Our paper contributes to the ongoing research on Open Innovation in two dimensions. Firstly, we make a contribution to existing literature on internal managerial capabilities for open innovation. Prior research has indicated that internal organizational processes and systems represent important antecedents of a firm?s ability to ?absorb? external knowledge [19, 20, 24]. However, in open innovation firms need additional capabilities that go beyond absorptive capacity and systems supporting it. Open innovation implies interactions between internal and external knowledge, and thus, firms need new capabilities such as a ?connective capacity? to retain external knowledge and manage knowledge within partnerships and alliances [7]. Our case study highlights that managing open innovation in SMEs implies new processes and systems at the strategy, process, structure, IT-support, culture and inter-firm level in order to embedded open innovation supporting both inbound and outbound innovation. Secondly, our analysis indicates that transformation towards open innovation management requires fundamental changes of SMEs to move from closed to open innovation and, thus, also new managerial capabilities in managing change. The paper highlights key factors shaping a successful transformation process (e.g. trust, common experiences, and step-by-step procedure). On the one hand successful change management calls for holistic thinking and rational problem solving as well as awareness of interdependencies that may prevent failure of transformation processes. On the other hand irrationalities (e.g. the unforeseen) and people management (trust, willingness, and capabilities) are at the heart of change management. Against the background of people management, communication and motivation activities should emphasize the advantages of open innovation management in order to reduce resistance. Based on our in-depth analysis and interpretation of the CAS single case study we suggest that the transformation process related to open innovation implies a balanced approach of change management that follows a rational design paradigm (rules, norms, procedures like unfreezingmove-freezing) as well as realistic comprehension (e.g. learning from good practices like CAS). Change management interventions should follow a paradigm of a guided evolution (i.e. combination

of a strict transformation and evolution approach) that corresponds to the idea of cultivating change [38]. Our analysis also provides first insights on the peculiarities of change towards open innovation in SMEs: In generally, innovation management in SMEs is less formalized and standardized than in large firms. The body of knowledge in innovation management is more likely tacit (i.e. people-bounded) than explicit (i.e. information in innovation handbooks and data basis). For this reason, SMEs need to establish fundamental managerial capabilities first before moving into open innovation. In contrast to large firms SMEs usually do not have specific internal company units for change management (e.g. change management offices, department for business development) and professional centralized units that offer necessary change-services during transformation: HR-services (e.g. recruiting, training, workshops), IP-services (e.g. consulting, patenting), IT-services (e.g. implementation of new software tools for co-creation) [39]. For this reason SMEs have to build up cross-company relationships to external partners in transformation processes more likely than large firms. In general this is accompanied by specific challenges for SMEs and may come along with higher transaction costs (i.e. for searching, initiation, negotiation, execution, adaptation and controlling). This case study opens up a range of new research questions related to open innovation in SMEs and organizational change. Additional research is required to provide more in-depth insights into the journey of SME form a closed to open innovator.

8

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