No abstract

Preparation of myocommata and endomysium fractions Myocommata and endomysium fractions were prepared from the different parts of body muscle of carp and spotted mackerel. Both type I and V collagens were detected in the myocommata and endomysium fractions of both fish. The relative concentration of type V collagen to type I collagen was higher in the endomysium fraction than in the myocommata fraction. Both type I and V collagens were less soluble in the endomysium fraction than in the myocommata fraction. These results indicated that the biochemical property of the collagen in the pericellular connective tissue was different from that of the collagen in the interstitial connective tissue of fish.

No abstract

Effective new product development (NPD) is one of the most important processes firms should undertake in order to achieve a competitive advantage This paper will analyze the NPD process and explore organizational capabilities by presenting two case studies of the material industry. These analyses demonstrate that it is significant for material suppliers to evaluate not only material specifications but also the production process of their users and the performances of the users' products (system products). We call this "evaluating capabilities" and propose that knowledge beyond the business domain is necessary to achieve a competitive advantage.

Regarding disruptive innovation, Christensen and Raynor (2003) assume that there are two types of customers: overshot customers in existing markets and entirely new nonconsumers in other markets. In the case of large-scale casting market within the casting industry, customers demand high quality casting surfaces. The new method of casting termed full mold casting (FMC) could only achieve low quality results compared with existing wood pattern-based sand mold casting, which had sufficiently high quality in its casting surfaces. Even in that market, however, the casting of metallic molds for automobiles had particular requirements because casting surfaces were later dealt by mold companies. Thus, customers welcomed shorter delivery times even with lower quality casting surfaces. Kimura Chuzosho Co., Ltd. first acquired certain customers who desired shorter delivery times, and then improved casting surface quality and productivity over the course of doing business with them. Eventually, they became successful in capturing more than half the market for automobile metallic mold castings. Improving a) School of Business, Aoyama Gakuin University, 4-4-25 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, takamatsu@busi.aoyama.ac.jp b) Faculty of Business Administration, Toyo University, 5-28-20 Hakusan, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, tomita@toyo.jp A part of this paper was originally published as Tomita and Takamatsu (2013) 110the quality of casting surfaces led to market share gains for single castings used in machine tools, which demanded higher mid-range casting surface quality. Moreover, by fully mechanizing numerical control (NC) processing, the company was able to acquire market share in castings for high-end mass-produced machine tools, which demanded high-end casting surface quality and was an area that was considered difficult for FMC. In this manner, by keenly focusing on the specific requirements of their customers, Kimura had secured orders from customers who were neither nonconsumers nor overshot customers. As business continued, the company became successful in steadily improving overall quality, cost, delivery (QCD), and FMC became an example of disruptive innovation vis-à-vis existing wood pattern-based sand mold casting. The logic behind occurrences of disruptive innovation is simpler than the analysis of Christensen, Anthony, and Roth (2004): Even if a company can acquire only a small portion of customers with particular, specific requirements using QCD-related technologies, which are perhaps even toy-like in comparison with existing technologies, such company will have opportunities to improve the overall QCD as its business continues.