A growing number of software firms now rely on public beta testing to improve the quality of their products before commercial release. While the benefits resulting from improved software reliability are well recognized, some important market-related benefits have not been studied. Through word-of-mouth, public beta testers can accelerate the diffusion of a software product after its release. Additionally, because of network effects, public beta testers can increase users' valuation of a product. In this study, we consider both reliability-related and market-related benefits, and develop models to determine the optimal number of public beta testers and the optimal duration of testing. Our analyses show that public beta testing can be profitable even if word-of-mouth and network effects are the only benefits. Furthermore, when both benefits are considered, there is significant “economies of scope” -- the net profit increases at a faster rate when both word-of-mouth and network effects are significant than when only one benefit is present. Finally, our sensitivity analyses demonstrate that public beta testing remains highly valuable to software firms over a wide range of testing and market conditions. In particular, firms will realize greater profits when recruiting public beta testers who are interested in the software but unable to afford it.

The business ecosystem within Asia is undergoing a transformation post COVID-19. Green issues, inclusion, and strategic disruptors in companies and economies have become rising topics in Asian businesses, causing such a change. This has the potential to be an evolution for Asian businesses, creating new business models for economic growth in Asia. The Handbook of Research on Big Data, Green Growth, and Technology Disruption in Asian Companies and Societies presents a rich collection of chapters exploring and discussing the emerging topics, challenges, and success factors in business, big data, innovation, and technology in Asia. This book will explore the changes made in the transition towards greener and sustainable societies and economies. Covering topics including information technologies, open innovation, and green issues, this book is essential for researchers, academicians, students, politicians, policymakers, corporate heads of firms, senior general managers, managing directors, information technology directors and managers, and libraries.

“Whether consulting, working on projects, or teaching, whenever I need credible, detailed, relevant metrics and insights into the current capabilities and performance of the software engineering profession, I always turn first to Capers Jones’ work. In this important new book, he and Olivier Bonsignour make the hard-headed, bottom-line, economic case, with facts and data, about why software quality is so important. I know I’ll turn to this excellent reference again and again.” —Rex Black, President, RBCS Poor quality continues to bedevil large-scale development projects, but few software leaders and practitioners know how to measure quality, select quality best practices, or cost-justify their usage. In The Economics of Software Quality, leading software quality experts Capers Jones and Olivier Bonsignour show how to systematically measure the economic impact of quality and how to use this information to deliver far more business value. Using empirical data from hundreds of software organizations, Jones and Bonsignour show how integrated inspection, structural quality measurement, static analysis, and testing can achieve defect removal rates exceeding 95 percent. They offer innovative guidance for predicting and measuring defects and quality; choosing defect prevention, pre-test defect removal, and testing methods; and optimizing post-release defect reporting and repair. This book will help you Move beyond functional quality to quantify non-functional and structural quality Prove that improved software quality translates into strongly positive ROI and greatly reduced TCO Drive better results from current investments in Quality Assurance and Testing Use quality improvement techniques to stay on schedule and on budget Avoid “hazardous” metrics that lead to poor decisions

Getting to Market with Your MVP: Small Business and Entrepreneur Success is a book to assist college students, new entrepreneurs, and current business owners in their understanding of how to bring a concept, product, or new business to market. The minimum viable product (MVP) is the foundation of the business and the staple for sustainable growth. Many businesses fail due to the inability of establishing a core concept, or primary product to introduce to the market. This book is intended to provide a concise method of developing a business strategy for successful entry into the market while eliminating the frustration of trial and error. Through this work, readers learn the difference between the purpose of a business plan, market analysis, and a feasibility study. Readers will also understand the difference between a good idea and a great business model. This book serves as a tool for increasing the opportunity for success when launching a product, service, or a business.

What happens when the bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture go away and everything becomes available to everyone? "The Long Tail" is a powerful new force in our economy: the rise of the niche. As the cost of reaching consumers drops dramatically, our markets are shifting from a one-size-fits-all model of mass appeal to one of unlimited variety for unique tastes. From supermarket shelves to advertising agencies, the ability to offer vast choice is changing everything, and causing us to rethink where our markets lie and how to get to them. Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it, from DVDs at Netflix to songs on iTunes to advertising on Google. However, this is not just a virtue of online marketplaces; it is an example of an entirely new economic model for business, one that is just beginning to show its power. After a century of obsessing over the few products at the head of the demand curve, the new economics of distribution allow us to turn our focus to the many more products in the tail, which collectively can create a new market as big as the one we already know. The Long Tail is really about the economics of abundance. New efficiencies in distribution, manufacturing, and marketing are essentially resetting the definition of what's commercially viable across the board. If the 20th century was about hits, the 21st will be equally about niches.

This book provides the knowledge necessary for succeeding in a world where companies increasingly work side-by-side with customers to create new products and services. It is a pivotal navigation tool that helps cruise the ocean of customer integration methods and explains how the methods work, when to choose which, and how to seize advantages while avoiding pitfalls.This title is an essential read for research and development managers, marketing professionals, and other practitioners who are involved in new product development to apply customer integration methods effectively and efficiently to drive new product development success. While the application of methods is no guarantee of success, knowledge of the correct selection and appropriate application increases the probability of new product and service development success. Rich in theoretical frameworks, research findings, and practical information about customer integration methods, Innovation Heroes will help the reader appreciate the value of customers as an innovation resource and ways to profit from them.