Business Commons^™

The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those involved with research and development (R&D) programs and employed virtual teams to create the greatest competitive advantage from limited labor are increasing. Global and localized virtual R&D teams are believed to have high potential for the growth of SMEs. Due to the fast-growing complexity of new products coupled with new emerging opportunities of virtual teams, a collaborative approach is believed to be the future trend. This research explores the effectiveness of virtuality in SMEs’ virtual R&D teams. Online questionnaires were emailed to Malaysian manufacturing SMEs and 74 usable questionnaires were …

This case assesses a company’s product line mix relative to two marketing environmental factors and explores four product line growth strategies using a product portfolio analysis approach. The case provides a history of the Apple Computer Company and its key product lines. An approach to analyzing a company’s product portfolio is reviewed and applied to Apple’s product lines. The case shows how each Apple product line fits within the portfolio analysis tool and will be asked questions relative to possible strategies for Apple’s product portfolio. The case illustrates one approach to making decisions about a company’s line of products. The …