New Products — Strategies and Risks for Smaller Firms
Despite the attractions and high profit or growth potential of expansion by new products into new markets, smaller firms, particularly the specialist resource and general sub‐contractors, should think very carefully before committing a high proportion of their resources into developing new products that lead them into new market areas beyond their current experience. The skills of the small marketer—the goal of many new product introductions—can take a long time to acquire.
The Uk Government Small Business Model-a Review
A model, in a very general sense, can best be defined as any device which attempts to provide a simplified representation of reality. The symbolic models used by economists have three major functions pedagogic, explanatory and predictive. Economic models used by government are only concerned with the explanatory and predictive functions. Consequently, any model of the small business sector being used to underpin policy-making in this area, should be judged by its ability to provide clear and systematic insights into current behaviour and by its usefulness as a predictive tool. This approach presupposes two questions. The first question is &dquo;can we deduce an official model of the small business sector?&dquo; The second
Application of resource allocation optimisation to provide profitable options for dairy production systems
A linear program (LP) model analysed resource use on a 100 ha dairy farm. A single optimum-profit combination was established for resources which were either optimised or constrained. It was found that, with a fixed herd of 320 milking cows, when production increased from 305 kg milksolids per cow (kg MS/cow) to 415 kg MS/cow, cash profit increased by 65%. This required additional supplements. If, however, feed demand and supply were optimised at 415 kg MS/cow, the LP reduced milking cow number rather than buy in feed to meet the increased feed demand from higher production per cow. At all production levels chosen between 305 and 415 kgMS/cow, it was most economic to dry off and cull cows early in dry summers to optimise feed demand vs. feed grown; use nitrogen (N) fertiliser to avoid a feed deficit only when response rates of better than 10 kgDM to 1 kg N could be expected; not use N for growing supplements to harvest. Pasture cover, within defined constraint levels, provided a buffer for feed demand and supply fluctuations. The study highlights the importance of assessing production, income and cost in an integrated framework to identify the point at which individual resources become limiting.