SET+factors+and+Product+Opportunity+Gaps

=Identifying the Opportunity I - SET Factors and Product Opportunity Gaps= Wednesday January 25, 2012 <>

Topic overview:
The focus of today's class will be identifying and understanding Product Opportunity Gaps (POGs). A POG is defined by Cagan and Vogel as //the gap between what is currently on the market and the possibility for new or significantly improved products that result from emerging trends// [CV02]. We will extend this definition a bit to include gaps that arise not just from emerging trends, but any gaps that arise from customers' needs, wants, and desires not being properly met by product and service offerings available on the market.

We will begin the class with an exercise that builds on the SET factor work we did at the end of the last class. From there we will look at some of the other tools for identifying market opportunities based on the '10 Clues to Opportunity' paper by Donald Sull.

By the end of class today, you should:
 * Be able to use the SET factor model to identify and understand opportunities created by Product Opportunity Gaps (POGs)
 * Understand the 10 clues to opportunity proposed by Donald Sull, and be able to recognize when they might be appropriate to apply in your search for new market opportunities.

Preparation for class:
Read "10 Clues to Opportunity" by Donald Sull on Booz&Co's strategy+business journal: @http://www.strategy-business.com/article/11304 (free registration required).

Our in-class exercise will build on the research you have previously done in transportation. We will be looking for Product Opportunity Gaps that the Honda Motor Company of Japan should explore for new product and service offerings in the GCC. Please take some time before class today to browse through Honda's website (www.honda.com) to understand the core lines of business that they offer and the scale and focus of their business.

Reference materials:
Slides:

We will view two short videos by the Honda Corporation as a starting point for our in-class exercise today. You do not need to review these before class but if you want to revisit them after class, the links are here:

The Impossible Dream advertisement (on YouTube): @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjYkYQDweVg

Mobility in 2088 video: http://dreams.honda.com/#/video_mo

Results of group SET analyses:
Please post the list of at least 20 important Social, Economic, or Technology trends that your group came up with in and after Wednesday's class here. Please note which group members contributed to each list.

1) Encourage walking through global urban design. 2) Increase in number of people moving to cities. 3) Increase in the use of water taxis in areas next to the sea. 4) Increase in the availability of public transportation options. 5) Increase in the price of fuels. 6) Increased awareness level of the harmful effects of current transportation methods. 7) More focus given by governments on focusing on a health lifestyle through sports and activities. For instance, provide more public space to exercise. 8) Increase in the usage of motor bikes around cities. 9) Countries are growing economically. Thus, more alternatives are available. 10) Global warming effect on the weather changing people's perception on current weather. 11) Increasing traffic making it hard to find parking spaces. Thus, more car pooling. 12) Increase in the level of obesity in countries. 13) Increase in number of online shoppers reducing the percentage of actual shopping. 14) People are busier with work wanting fast transportation. 15) More women are driving, increasing traffic. <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">16) Increase in the number of expats in gulf countries creating diverse choice of cars. <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">17) More education available. Thus, people are more aware of the market and the technology available. <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">18) An increase in number of cars per household. One car per person in a family. <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">19) Increase in number of car accidents. Thus, more restrictions are being implemented. <span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">20) Continuous changes in city structure to allow more car usage.
 * Social**:

Drafted by: Firas Bata, Amal Osman, and Ayah Abujarbou

1- expanding railways development in Qatar. 2- increase in joint projects among GCC countries which will lead to a connected network of railways. 3- the increase in projects that aim to connect the GCC countries together for example the Qatar-Bahrain Bridge. 4- advanced in the technology of cooling open and semi-open spaces. 5- improving accuracy of digital maps. 6- advancing technology of making hydrogen fuel cell cars. 7- advancing batteries technology which lead to the use of electric cars 8- increase use of light weight material. 9-advances in the technology of self-driving cars. 10- advances in intelligent systems which results in improvements in speed, safety and efficiency. 11- increasing efforts put in studies about how to get to no friction which increase vehicles’ speed tremendously. 12-advancing studies in using biodiesel as an alternative fuel to run vehicles. 13- increasing use of ethanol as a source of energy. 14- New high-tech car radar technology will contribute to decreasing the number of accidents resulting from reckless driving. 16- Voice recognition, and knowledge navigator smart-phone applications such Siri will help drivers focus more on the road, and hence, it will decrease the casualties resulting from reckless driving. 15- The GCC shall develop a centralized ticketing system, in which speeding tickets and other fines can be given to drivers even if they broke the traffic rules and regulations outside their country. 17-The Introduction of the car sharing business model--which worked well in the states and Europe--will add a new, flexible dimension to the car rental market in Qatar, and the GCC. 18- With the improvements in WIFI technology, people will start to listen to radio stations from around the globe. <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">19-Innovative parkings like the ones in this page:
 * Technology**:

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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Will help solve the car traffic problems that urban GCC cities are expected to face.

Group members: Marwa Al-Fakhri and Mohammed Dauleh,

Trends in the Economy that are related to personal transportation:
 * Economic**:
 * 1) Increase in the level of skills needed to manufacture a personal vehicle due to the innovative features added to the vehicles
 * 2) Increase in the need for supporting/related industries to the vehicle manufacturers. A car manufacturer needs other industries such as touch screens and entertainment industries
 * 3) Increase in the competition between car manufacturers due to new manufacturers and cars with similar features offered at lower prices
 * 4) Increase in the need for more types of cars that are specialized and serve specific purposes/needs. For example a car that is specifically made for long distance travel by large families and is equipped with entertainment tools.
 * 5) Increase in the economic freedom of many countries made it easier for car manufacturers to distribute different tasks of making a car into different countries of the world which reduce cost and increases quality. For example, engineers are in Europe and parts are made in Korea and assembled in China.
 * 6) NGO’s are working on improving working conditions/wages in the developing countries which imposes constraints on the firms taking advantage of the cheap labor and that might lead to an increase in the costs of making cars.
 * 7) Pollution is becoming more expensive. Financially, taxes are imposed on the pollutants factories emit. Socially, people and organizations are becoming more aware of environmental issues and are calling for further actions against pollution by factories and cars. This trend might affect the way cars are manufactured to make the process and the product itself more environmentally friendly.
 * 8) Increase in the companies working on producing clean renewable sources of energy. This trend makes car manufacturers take these companies’ research into consideration when making cars for the future.
 * 9) The increase of the prices of materials and resources for making a car.
 * 10) Introducing new types of transportation other than traditional vehicles; like the Maglev Train and others, which might result in a decrease in traditional transportation.
 * 11) Buses are becoming more innovative with more services provided such as Wi-Fi and loyalty programs. This trend might make more people use buses than personal vehicles.
 * 12) Increase in the skills level demanded will lead to a subsequent increase in wages to the highly skilled labor.
 * 13) Increasing income levels in the GCC makes more people capable of buying a personal car
 * 14) Increase in hosting international and local events for cars fans in the GCC such as motor shows and the Formula One.
 * 15) Oil prices are increasing which causes people to consider how efficient a car is using oil.
 * 16) Increase in the living standards in China and India which are huge markets. Real hourly incomes almost doubled in India and China’s GDP growth rate is over 11% for the last 10 years.
 * 17) Decrease in the international trade barriers and the increase in the economic freedom provides access to new markets.
 * 18) Increase in the instability of the economy with greater chances of recessions might change the behaviour of the consumers and manufacturers
 * 19) Decrease in people’s willingness to get in debt after the recession and increase in the tendency to save money
 * 20) Increase in online jobs, online business communications and online transactions decreases the need to travel across cities.

Group: Fatema Akbar, Hamsa Al-Massri and Hussain Hejji