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GGI RapidNews R&D Product Development eZine: Volume 4, Issue 1, January 10, 2002
GGI RapidNews is published approximately once a month.

In This Issue

NEWS AND NOTES - Happy New Year 2003

BOOK REVIEW - 60 Trends in 60 Minutes (part two of three)

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY - R&D Funding

NEW BIENNIAL SURVEY - 2002 RD&E Survey Results available soon

TELEVISION EVENT - Alexander Haig's World Business Review

NEW WEB CONTENT - New GTKs - ISO 9000 and Logistics Services, Updated Calendar

NEW I-STORE ITEMS - New Articles and Technical Papers

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NEWS AND NOTES

New Year 2003 Wishes: The staff here at GGI wishes all of you a very happy and healthy new year. We extend to you our wishes for a prosperous and fulfilling 2003 in all of your pursuits.

BOOK REVIEW

60 Trends in 60 Minutes, by Sam Hill. John Wiley & Sons; August, 2002, 1st edition. 282 pages.

Marketing guru Sam Hill explains the trends that will have the biggest effects on marketing, brand management and product development. This book will help you to move from merely observing trends to understanding and profiting from them, through trend analysis. Trend analysis "means systematically dismantling a trend to understand what is behind it, why it is or isn't important, how it will manifest itself in the day-to-day world, and when it will break into the mainstream." The book also describes the "Trendblasting" process, a workshop to get at the heart of a trend and develop opportunities rapidly.

Trends from this book will be presented in three installments. This month's trends fall into the categories of "Social trends" and "Consumer trends."

60 Trends, Part Two:

Social trends
1. Polytheism: Only 20 percent of Americans attend church regularly
2. Post-nuclear families: Five million households are unmarried couples
3. Retribing: People are forming new, nontraditional communities of common interests
4. The trust deficit: Only 12 percent of Americans trust the evening news
5. Driving the SUV to the recycling center: We're using more, not less, energy
6. The never-ending traffic jam: Drivers in LA spend 56 hours a year in traffic jams
7. You talking to me? Each person makes eight phone calls a day
8. Instant polling: Technology is making polling faster
9. Lawyers, Guns, and Money: Civil cases up a third since 1984
10. Screw you very much: 89 percent of Americans think rudeness is a problem


Consumer trends
1. Peter-Panism: 10 percent of health club members are over 55
2. Pre-Maturity: Kids are becoming adults younger and younger
3. Escalating expectations: Consumers return $100 billion in goods each year
4. The concrete consumer: 91 percent of viewers can't name brand after TV ad
5. Faux authenticity: Retro Thunderbird makes car of the year
6. Born to be wired: 60 percent of new toys have computer chips
7. Nibble and nap: We're snacking more and sleeping less
8. Buy now, pay never: Household debt is $7.5 trillion
9. Upscaling: Average home is 50 percent larger than in 1970
10. The frugal rich: The rich aren't buying up scale
11. Plumposity: 61 percent of Americans are overweight

Next month, look for Business and Workplace trends.

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY

R&D Funding

Battelle and R&D Magazine have just published their annual R&D Forecast, which delivers interesting results, in line with the state of the economy. "Total R&D expenditures in the United States are expected to increase about 3.4 percent to nearly $302 billion in 2003," according to the forecast, as reported in Battelle's News Release dated January 2, 2003. Industrial support for R&D continues to provide nearly two thirds of all R&D funding, but this year industry will barely increase its contribution (less than 1 percent) as compared to 2002. Federal R&D spending is expected to increase 10.5 percent, and universities and other non-profits project an increase of about 7 percent.

Certainly the events of the past year and a half have had a huge impact on R&D spending, beginning with the September 11 attacks and the resulting focus on security and defense, and trudging through the continued economic downturn and the accounting scandals of last year. These factors have strongly contributed to the increase in levels of government R&D funding and the decline in industry R&D spending.

Of great concern is the decline in industry R&D spending, since funding R&D demonstrates an investment in the future of a company and its commitment to product innovation. Many companies are struggling to keep R&D funding constant in the face of declining sales. InformationWeek reported in their Oct. 25, 2002 issue, however, that Microsoft and Sun Microsystems have made aggressive plans to increase R&D spending - by as much as 20 percent - over the next few years. Sun's executive VP and chief strategy officer, Mark Tolliver, stated (in the InformationWeek article), "As the economy improves, corporations that have maintained their focus on innovation and new product development will be the ones that accelerate the tech-industry recovery."

It still remains to be seen when the economy truly will improve and how long the recovery will take. Even so, states the Battelle/R&D Magazine study, "the events of the recent past do not represent a speed bump: they create a detour, one which may not return the system to a more predictable path for several years to come." We can expect to see changes such as the reorganization of the government (already under way, for example with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security), and a restructuring of the entire financial reporting system in industry, all of which will affect research and development for years to come.

For more details, check the links below.

Battelle's News Release summarizing the R&D Forecast:
http://www.battelle.org/news/03/01-02-03_RDFunding.stm

R&D magazine (reprints of the full forecast will be available at the end of January and posted on-line at a later date):
http://www.rdmag.com

InformationWeek article:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021025S0003

Industrial Research Institute, Inc.:
http://www.iriinc.org/webiri/index.cfm

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Guide to R&D Funding Data:
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/guitotal.htm

National Science Foundation's Division of Science Resources Statistics:
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm

NEW BIENNIAL SURVEY

2002 RD&E Survey - Resource & Capacity Management: The composite results of this year's Product Development Metrics Survey were first presented to the public by Brad Goldense at Management Roundtable's Metrics Conference on October 29, 2002 in Chicago. The 3 versions of the survey results reports that we offer for sale to the public (the text-only Highlights report, the Summary report of composite results, and the detailed Results report (with "special cuts" which are segment results)) are now in their final stages. Completing these reports has taken longer than anticipated, but we are now certain that they will be available in February. You will then find them in the Market Research section of GGI's iStore (http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/iStore/store.html ). We will notify you when these become available.

TELEVISION EVENTS

Alexander Haig's World Business Review: Brad Goldense has made several appearances on Alexander Haig's World Business Review. We want to thank all of you who sent kind feedback on the show that aired on December 15, 2002. Streaming video is not yet available for that segment, but we expect it by the end of this month. The two previous shows (from August 4 and September 29, 2002) are available on streaming video. See below for details.

One final broadcast of the September 29 In-Studio interview, a 22.5 minute program, will be shown on the PBS Business and Technology Network (a subscription service) and on Tech TV (for digital cable subscribers) sometime in February or March, 2003. We will let you know the specifics in next month's RapidNews.

August 4th On-Location at GGI (3.5 minutes): This On-Location field report is now available in streaming video on GGI's website. To see the program, go to:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr1

The web page includes links to download a streaming video player, if you do not currently have one installed on your computer.

September 29th In-Studio with Alexander Haig (22.5 minutes): This In-Studio program aired nationwide and internationally on the PBS Business and Technology Network (a subscription service) and on Tech TV from September 29 through October 13. Streaming video for this segment (as well as the entire 30-minute show) is now available at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr2

December 15 In-Studio with Alexander Haig (7.5 minutes) on CNBC paid programming: This In-Studio interview aired nationwide on Sunday, December 15. Streaming video for this segment will be available soon. For more information, go to:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr3

For more information on any of Brad's appearances on television, go to:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml.

NEW WEB CONTENT

GTK-Gateways To Knowledge: Your resource for industry and product development related information and contacts offers thousands of links to providers of technologies and services for line management functions. The main entrance to GTK can be found at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/index.shtml

One of our top 3 MEGA Gateways is the Calendar of Industry Events MEGA Gateway, a listing of links to conferences, seminars and distance learning opportunities. The Calendar has just been updated with dozens of new listings for 2003. It's sure to be an interesting spring, judging by the conferences and other events that are coming up. Be sure to check here for new listings. The Calendar of Industry Events MEGA Gateway is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/calendar3.shtml

Another of our top 3 MEGA Gateways is the Service Providers MEGA Gateway, a listing of hundreds of links to firms that provide services ranging from Accounting or Advertising to CAD, Market Research or Venture Capital. The Service Providers MEGA Gateway is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/serv.shtml

ISO Consultants: Find it in the Service Providers MEGA Gateway. This NEW Gateway offers links to over 250 companies that provide ISO consulting services. The URL is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/serv_isoconsultants.shtml

ISO Registrars: Find it in the Service Providers MEGA Gateway. This NEW Gateway offers links to more than 75 companies that provide ISO registration services. The URL is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/serv_isoregistrars.shtml

Logistics: Find it in the Service Providers MEGA Gateway. This NEW Gateway provides links to nearly 100 companies that provide logistics and transportation services. The URL is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/serv_logistics.shtml

NEW GGI I-STORE PRODUCTS

New Items: GGI's iStore has now been updated with 6 new Published Articles and 2 new Technical Papers & Presentations. See details below, or go directly to GGI's iStore storefront:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/cgi/catalog.cgi

New Published Articles:

A43 - "2002 RD&E Study Indicates Resource & Capacity Management Practices Are Improving" Best Practices Report, Management Roundtable, Inc. December 2002 [2 pages]

A42 - "Resource & Capacity Management In Product Development" 2PLM e-zine, John Stark Associates. December 30, 2002 [3 pages]

A41 - "Resource & Capacity Management in Product Development" 2PLM e-zine, John Stark Associates. August 12, 2002 [2 pages]

A40 - "The Evolution of Engineering: 3D/CAD/CAE/CAM or CAX?" Best Practices Report, Management Roundtable, Inc. August 2002 [2 pages]

A39 "What Top Managers Should Know About the State of R&D Measurement," inKNOWvations, Sopheon PLC. April 25, 2002 [3 pages]

A38 "Early 21st Century Development Practices: The Fifth Generation Is Here" Best Practices Report, Management Roundtable, Inc. April 2002 [2 pages]

New Technical Papers and Presentations

T33 "Metrics For Managing RD&E Resources & Capacity: A Survey of North American Manufacturers and High-Tech Companies [Presentation Slides]," Innovate 2002 Conference, Worldwide Business Research. December 6, 2002 [84 Pages]

T32 "Proactive & Predictive R&D Metrics: A Primer [Presentation Slides]," Winning Practices For Product Development - Webinar Series, Sopheon Corporation. October 22, 2002 [71 Pages]

For detailed descriptions of each item and information on how to order them, go to GGI's iStore:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/cgi/catalog.cgi

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GGI RapidNews is an e-mail publication from Goldense Group, Inc (GGI). Its subject matter includes survey findings, company news, book reviews, key industry conferences and R&D information of interest to clients and associates. Please send communications to rn(at)goldensegroupinc.com. Thank you.