Business Development

New business development concerns all the activities involved in realizing new business opportunities, including product or service design, business model design, and marketing. When splitting business development into two parts, we have: ‘business’ and ‘development’. The first things that come into mind when looking at business are: economics, finance, managerial activities, competition, prices, marketing, etc. All of these keywords are related to risk and entrepreneurship and clearly indicate the primary scope of the term ‘business development’. Development is very abstract and can be linked with some of the following keywords: technological improvement, cost reduction, general welfare, improved relations, movement in a (positive) direction, etc.

In the traditional definition of Business development, Business Development is mostly seen as growing an enterprise, with a number of techniques. The mentioned techniques differ, but in fact all of them are about traditional marketing. The main question in these issues is: how to find, reach and approach customers and how to make/keep them satisfied, possibly with new products. (Kotler, 2006) Since this definition is limited and lacks some essential factors in business developing, a complete new definition of Business Development will be introduced. Of course, the theory on “traditional” marketing is still correct and can be adopted from the old definition. When supplying a solution, it is important to focus on the total offering you give instead of only focusing on the product or service. An offering is a package consisting of different proportions of physical product, service, advice, delivery and the costs, including price that are involved in using it. Hereby the advice, adaptation to the customer and the costs are the most important factors to get the right combination within the offering. (Ford et al., 2006; Hakansson et al., 2004) Drawing on contingency theory, an idea central to new business development is that different product-market- technology combinations can require different marketing strategies and business models to make them a success (Tidd et al., 2005). To chart the factors that are involved and create synergy between them, new business development draws heavily upon the fields of technology and business networks. The new business development process is to recognize chances and opportunities in a fast changing technological environment. Often uncertainty arises because of new technology and their new markets.

Technology

New business development is all about new and innovative technology. For a company it is important to keep products and processes up to date in order to stay competitive (Ford et al., 2006). Continuous investment in innovation for both products and processes makes it more difficult for others to offer a large technological functionality advantage (Schilling, 2003). In short technological development is essential for a company to stay competitive. Technological development can occur through making decisions about acquiring, exploiting and managing technologies. These decisions should be made by involving the functions of R&D staff, purchasing staff and marketers. (Ford et al., 2006) However, customers should not be forgotten (Schilling, 2003; Ford et al., 2006).

Furthermore technology can be analyzed by the concept/framework of value configuration as introduced by Stabell Fjedstad (1998). The framework consists of three value configurations, which are an extension of the value chain model by Porter: the value chain (transformation of inputs in products), the value shop (solving customer problems) and the value network (linking customers). These configurations overcome some of the issues with the traditional value chain model, which is only helpful for traditional manufacturing companies. In practice firms are not pure instances of a single distinct value configuration, multiple combinations of configurations can be found within one firm (Stabell & Fjeldstad 1998).

The value creation process can also be understood from the perspective of Schilling. Schilling talks about value in the sense of technological functionality, installed base and complementary goods of a product. (Schilling, 2003). It may be clear that technology plays an important role in this value creation process, and in general contributes to the process of renewing the match between problem and solution.

Business networks

Traditional marketing is usually based on economic models (Williamson, 1975). In those pure economic models there is no room for negotiations and special treatments for different companies. A technological environment however can be very uncertain and therefore competitors have to rely heavily on their business networks. It is then that special treatments and negotiations are necessary.

It is important to recognize the effect social relations have on economic action, including business development (Ford et al., 2006). Granovetter also argues that social relations in a network lead to trust between partners, an important factor for stable development in a dynamic environment. By focusing on these new activities, it becomes difficult to keep every activity up-to-date and to maintain the competitive advantage (Ford et al., 2006). Companies therefore increasingly concentrate their investment and their activities on only a few activities which they believe to be their core business, otherwise their competitive advantage is easily lost. Because they concentrate on just a few activities, they need business relations for the other activities (Ford et al., 2006).

Relationships are usually based on resource ties, activity links and/or actor bonds (Ford et al., 2006). A company should therefore analyze their firm itself, their relationships and their business networks in terms of activities, actors and resources. In this way, a company can determine where there are new opportunities for relationships and where resources, technologies and/or skills can be developed, integrated or exploited from other companies (Ford et al., 2006). In this way, business development can be established with help of this business network.

Nowadays, marketing is about the exchange of heterogeneous resources between dynamic, cooperating partners in network-like structures (Hakansson et al., 2004). It is about relationships, not about selling products. So, business marketers should be busy finding, developing and managing of relationships within the complex network that surrounds them (Ford et al., 2006). Blois (2004) provides three ways in which a firm can evolve from market to network mechanism. These are entrepreneurial alertness (being alert to value-creating opportunities), path dependence (historical events cause solutions to problems and become “locked in”) and replaceability (irreplaceable contributors get much attention of others trying to influence them).

It is still questionable to what extent these networks are involved by social relations, since the mentioned authors don’t agree on this. Therefore, enterprises have to cope with the problem of how to maintain their network contacts.

Conclusion

In today’s business development, companies should constantly be on the look-out for opportunities to strengthen their market position. They have to create value for customers, be innovative and make the right technological decisions. In strengthening the market position, companies should engage in relationships with suppliers, customers and possibly competitors in order to exchange skills, resources, technologies and thereby help each other out.

The traditional definition of Business Development gives a good starting point for discussing the subject, but is much too focused on traditional marketing and thus misses the importance on business networks and technology.

ABOUT IRVINE:

City of Irvine
Motto: Innovation. Integrity. Professionalism. Flexibility. Responsiveness.
Location of Irvine within Orange County, California.
ZIP code	92602, 92603, 92604, 92606, 92612, 92614, 92616, 92617, 92618, 92619, 92620, 92623, 92697, 92709, 92710
Area code(s)	714/949
FIPS code	06-36770
GNIS feature ID	1660804
Area notes Sphere of Influence 25.6 miles Misc. Information City flower Lily of the Nile City tree Camphor City insect Western Swallowtail Butterfly City vegetable Asparagus
Website	http://www.cityofirvine.org/

Irvine is an incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the 69.7 square mile (180.5 km˛) city has a population of about 209,806 (as of January 1, 2008). It has annexed in the past an undeveloped area to the north, and has also annexed the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, most of which is planned to be converted into the Orange County Great Park.

Because of its good schools, jobs and housing, the city was chosen in 2008 by CNNMoney.com as the fourth best place to live in the United States. In June 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that Irvine had the lowest violent crime rate (four homicides, 17 rapes, 50 robberies and 55 aggravated assaults in 2006) among cities in the United States with populations of more than 100,000, and in August 2008 the Census Bureau ranked Irvine as having the seventh highest median income among cities in the United States with populations of more than 65,000.

Irvine is home to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Concordia University, the Orange County Center of the University of Southern California, and the Irvine campuses of Alliant International University, California State University Fullerton, and Pepperdine University. Irvine Valley College, a community college, is also located in the city.

Irvine is home to a number of corporations, particularly in the technology sector.

A planned city

The layout of Irvine was designed by Los Angeles architect William Pereira and Irvine Company employee Raymond Watson, and is nominally divided into townships called villages. The townships are separated by six-lane streets. Each township contains houses of similar design, along with commercial centers, religious institutions and schools. Commercial districts are checker-boarded in a periphery around the central townships.

Pereira originally envisioned an Atlantis-like circular plan with numerous man-made lakes and the university in the center. When the Irvine Company refused to relinquish valuable farmland in the flat central region of the ranch for this plan, the University site was moved to the base of the southern coastal hills. The design that ended up being used was based on the shape of a necklace (with the villages strung along two parallel main streets, which terminate at University of California, Irvine (UCI), the "pendant") . Traces of the original circular design are visible in the layout of the UCI campus and the two man-made lakes at the center of Woodbridge, one of the central villages.

All streets have landscaping allowances. Rights-of-way for powerlines also serve as bicycle corridors, parks and greenbelts to tie together ecological preserves. The greenery is irrigated with reclaimed water.

The homeowners' associations which govern some village neighborhoods exercise varying degrees of control on the appearances of homes. In more restrictive areas, houses' roofing, paint colors, and landscaping are regulated. Older parts of the Village of Northwood that were developed beginning in the early 1970s independent of the Irvine Company, have the distinction of being a larger village that is not under the purview of a homeowners' association. As a result, homeowners in the older Northwood areas do not pay a monthly village association fee; and its neighborhoods are generally not as uniform in appearance as those in other villages such as West Park and Woodbridge, the latter which, however, generally offer more amenities such as members-only swimming pools, tennis courts, and parks.

In addition to association dues, homeowners in villages developed in the 1980s and later may be levied a Mello-Roos assessment, which came about in the post-Proposition 13 era. For homeowners in these areas, the association dues coupled with the Mello-Roos assessment may add significantly to the cost of living in the city.

The Irvine Ranch played host to the Boy Scouts of America's 1953 National Scout Jamboree. Jamboree Road, a major street which now stretches from Newport Beach to the City of Orange, was named in honor of this event.

The Villages

Each of the villages was initially planned to have a distinct architectural theme.

 

Economy

The majority of the Irvine's economic development is coordinated through the Destination Irvine program run by the Chamber of Commerce. The program provides information and assistance on business-related incentives, demographics, development standards and various services such as affordable housing and childcare, schools.

Irvine is also used as a location for film projects. The city government grants free or low-cost filming permits and offers location information to prospective productions.

 

Top employers

Name	Sector	Employed
University of California, Irvine	Education	7645
Irvine Unified School District	Education	3707
St. John Knits	Clothing	2616
Irvine Company	Real Estate	2600
Parker Hannifin	Aircraft	1985
Allergan	Pharmaceutical	1922
Freedom Communications	Media	1875
Parker Aerospace	Aerospace & Defense	1825
Option One Mortgage	Mortgage & Finance	1801
Edwards Lifesciences	Health	1723
Washington Mutual	Financial	1700
Verizon Wireless	Communications	2100
Albertsons - Sav-On	Grocery & Pharmacy Retailer	1508
Claim Jumper	Restaurant	1400
Broadcom	Semiconductor	1313
Western National Group	Apartments	1100
In-N-Out Burger	Restaurant	1041
General Electric	Consumer Finance, Infrastructure	900

 

Business

The following companies are headquartered in Irvine:

• Allergan, Inc.
• AskMeNow Inc.
• ATEN Technology, Inc. (a division of ATEN International, Inc.)
• BAX Global
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Broadcom Corporation
• Claim Jumper
• CorVel Corporation
• Edwards Lifesciences LLC
• eMachines
• Epicor Software Corporation
• Felt Bicycles
• Fisker Coachbuild
• GameSpy (a division of IGN Entertainment, Inc.)
• Gateway, Inc.
• iLounge
• K2 Network
• Kofax
• In-N-Out Burger
• LA Fitness
• Linksys (a division of Cisco Systems)
• Maruchan, Inc. (a division of Toyo Suisan)
• Meade Instruments Corporation
• Mossimo Corporation
• O'Neill, Inc.
• Obsidian Entertainment
• Point of View, Inc.
• Printronix
• Quartics
• Ready at Dawn
• Red 5 Studios
• St. John
• Standard Pacific
• Superformance, LLC
• Taco Bell (a division of Yum! Brands, Inc.)
• Ultimate Ears

The following international companies have their North American headquarters in Irvine:

• Atlus
• BenQ Corporation
• Kia Motors
• Marukome
• Mazda Motor Corporation
• NHN
• Samsung Group
• Shimano
• Toshiba Corporation