Innovation remains an arduous and painful process for many companies, doing untold damage to brands, profitability, and careers. Some have used line extensions to mitigate risk, but all too often they have ended up extending the core brand into oblivion. Others have used test markets to help gauge opinion before a national rollout, only to have competitors snatch ideas and undermine results. Given the problems with conventional approaches, it's not surprising that 90% of new products and services fail. Market New Products Successfully is the definitive guidebook for using simulated test marketing (STM), a technology that can help companies dramatically improve the odds of introducing a successful new product or service. The book examines why STM is important, what the differences are between the major systems, how to do a simulation, and what insights it offers a marketing plan. It is the ultimate guidebook for any smart marketer looking to improve the financial outcome of the innovation process.

This book provides an understanding of desert environments, their climatic conditions, and unique physical beauty - using the five American deserts of the southwestern United States as an example. Through considerable research, sensitivity, and practical experience, the author provides insight into how built environments are designed and installed in order to cope with the harsh, unforgiving physiographic area. Bridging the gap between professional jargon and common sense, Desert Landscape Architecture displays detailed information for every facet of landscape design, environmental concerns, water issues, cultural issues, and plant material use. This unique, thorough book: Provides information applicable to any desert region of the world Supplies a plant compendium with extensive plant lists comprising more than 750 species Examines desert flora and fauna as well as the fragile ecosystems they occupy Reviews human use areas Investigates grading from an aesthetic and practical standpoint Explains the significance of adequate site drainage Discusses schematic, preliminary, and working drawing plans Lists types of site furnishings and their specific purposes Describes how various hardscape elements are drawn and specified Explains plant growth in detail Discusses the dynamics of plant communities and their function in larger ecosystems Reviews the factors affecting plant selection in the design process Identifies desert planning zones Emphasizes the critical nature of irrigation design in the desert landscape architecture - explaining it as an environmental necessity, not a technical issue Outlines the basic principles of hydrology related to system design Discusses water conservation and presents alternatives for reducing water consumption Examines types of light and suitable applications Describes lighting design concepts and explores how lighting is graphically depicted on plans Examines the role of initial programming for the success of the project Describes project bidding and field observation process Reviews maintenance components such as pruning and fertilization List of plates include: World Deserts and Geography North American Deserts Southwest U.S. Deserts Design Process Design Elements Solar Orientation Contour Interpretation Gradients Drainage Structures Roadway Design The Outdoor Room Human Dimensions Water Features Tree Physiology Plant Physiology Plant Reproduction Plant Orders Micro Planting Zones Macro Planting Zones Native Vegetation Backflow Prevention Conventional System Equipment Emitter System Equipment Electrical Components Lighting Techniques Tree Maintenance Shrub Maintenance

Seit dem Erscheinen des 1. Bandes (Behandlungsleitlinie Schizophrenie) der Praxisleitlinien in Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie 1998 hat sich die Diskussion uber die Notwendigkeit und Qualitat von Leitlinien intensiviert. Leitlinien orientieren sich am Referenzbereich diagnosti- scher und therapeutischer Evidenz; sie sollen den Arzt nicht binden, drucken aber doch eine gewisse Verbind- lichkeit aus. Sie muss en dem jeweiligen Stand des Wis- sens angepaBt werden und sollten sich - in Anlehnung an 70 SGB V -auf das Ausreichende und ZweckmaBige beschranken, das Notwendige nicht uberschreiten und den Kosten/Nutzen-Aspekt nicht auGer Acht lassen. Es gehort zu den genuinen Aufgaben der medizi- nisch-wissenschaftlichen Fachgesellschaften, Leitlinien zu entwickeln und ihren Praxis transfer zu gewahrleisten. Urn die Vielzahl - zum Teil von verschiedenen Organisa- tionen - entwickelter Leitlinien in ihrer Qualitat zu si- chern und zu optimieren, hat die Arztliche Zentralstelle Qualitatssicherung (AZQ) eine Clearing stelle eingerich- tet. Die entwickelte Checkliste zur Beurteilung von Leit- Iinien stellt das formale Bewertungsinstrument dar (AZQ 1998). Mit Hilfe dieser Bearbeitungskriterien, die auch von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wissenschaftlich Me- dizinischer Fachgesellschaften (AWMF) anerkannt wer- den, konnen die von den zustandigen Fachgesellschaften entwickelten Leitlinien fur spezielle Krankheitsbilder und Behandlungsformen auch selbst evaluiert werden. Die Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Psychiatrie, Psychothe- rapie und NervenheiIkunde (DGPPN) arbeitet intensiv VI Vorwort an der Entwicklung des konzeptuellen und instrumentel- len Rustzeugs fur die Einfuhrung qualitatssichernder MaBnahmen in Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie.

Why does American business seem to sputter along where it ought to thrive? What is the source of the current plague of downsizing, disappearing companies, dot-com crashes, and here-today-gone-tomorrow advertising campaigns? Why do more products flop than ever before? Marketing experts Kevin J. Clancy and Peter C. Krieg have the answers. In Counterintuitive Marketing, Clancy and Krieg trace the high rate of business failure back to bad marketing strategy, and the even worse implementation of that strategy. Excess testosterone, they argue, compels senior managers to make decisions intuitively, instinctively, quickly, and, unfortunately, disastrously. In this informative and enlightening book, Clancy and Krieg confront these "over-and-over-again" marketers, who don't have time to do it right the first time, but endless time and a company bankroll to do it wrong over and over again. The authors draw from their decades of consumer and business-to-business marketing experience to describe the intuitive decision-making practices that permeate business today, and demonstrate how these practices lead to disappointing performance. Chapter by chapter, Counterintuitive Marketing contrasts how marketing decisions are made today with how they should be made. The authors give equal treatment to targeting, positioning, product development, pricing, customer service, e-commerce, marketing planning, implementation, and more as they present counterintuitive ideas for building and introducing blockbuster marketing programs. Readers will discover in this iconoclastic treasure chest hundreds of penetrating insights that have enabled the authors' firm, Copernicus, to transform companies and become a "brand guardian" to the Fortune 500 and emerging businesses around the world. The tools to create exceptional marketing programs really do exist, and they are all here in Counterintuitive Marketing, the ultimate practical guide for any company of any size.