As you can imagine, companies are looking for ways to lower costs, but still be able to engage with customers during the early phases of the sales process. We’re hoping to help in that department…

It’s great being a girl sometimes!! Wait, I mean “sometimes it’s great being a girl!”

Thanks for pointing out these other resources and your MBA work. Folks like you and me who communicate for a living must always be careful what we write and how we write it, since 80% of the non-verbal communication is missing.

Regards,

Harry

I am very happy to see that you are writing about one of my favorite topics - the misuse and abuse of email. During my MBA work two years ago, I had an opportunity to do research on this topic during a course on Organizational Communications. One of the more interesting references I found was this:

A 5-step process to use in situations where conflict escalation could occur
[From Grandgenett & Grandgenett (2001)]. To construct e-mail for collaborative problem solving, they recommend following these 5-steps, using each question as a guide to constructing effective e-mail:
1. What is the problem? – keep to a single major issue.
2. What makes it a problem? – explain unemotionally.
3. What can be done? – suggest options.
4. What should be done? – say which option is preferable.
5. What will be done? – provide a bottom line, professionally stated, of what will or must be done.

If you are interested, you can check out a complete summary of my research at my project website: “The Impact of Globalization and Communications Technology on Conflict Management”

In my research, I also found this site that you might find interesting: “Email Happens”

Regards,
Mike Demler
“http://synopsysoc.org/analoginsights”

They are shooting to be able to produce prototype RAMs for their crossbar architecture in 2009.

For more info, check out the EE Times Article and Steve Leibson’s EDN Blog.

Most EDA tools is that they were created with one customer in mind and adapted (patched) over and over to make it usefule to others. As explained to me many times, every EDA company was targeting only 10-15 customers 10 years ago. Due to consolidation, that number is now 5 -10 customers. Many of the tool users are overseas in countries that do not follow international patent laws and will not pay full price for EDA tools. EDA companies, rather than try to create new markets, are constantly working to steal market share AND budget share from a shrinking pool of customers. The financial gains seen in EDA over the past five years are negated by the falling dollar in Europe and Asia, so there is no growth. The EDA industry is constantly reducing marketing efforts and throwing what remaining money is left into shrinking trade shows that charge higher and higher fees.

EDA, from the financial side, is a shrinking market, with questionable valuations, facing increasing development and economic pressures worldwide, with flat revenues now in in the foreseeable future, little third-party scrutiny (i.e. press) and an aging management, all chasing shrinking budgets.

Technology, corporate culture and product overlap are all microeconomics. The macroeconomics are scary.