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Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination > Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement > Operations Research > Market Analysis, Demand Forecasting Or Surveying

Market Analysis, Demand Forecasting Or Surveying

Market Analysis, Demand Forecasting Or Surveying patent applications listed are from June 2005 to current and include Date, Patent Application Number, Patent Title, Patent Abstract summary and are linked to the corresponding patent application page.

11/23/06 - 20060265276 - Value driven integrated build-to-buy decision analysis system and method
A value-driven build-to-buy decision analysis system and method is provided that addresses and integrates the system analysis for multiple parts of the build-to-buy business cycle. The system and method of the present invention includes a demand component and a supply component. The demand component includes decision analysis components for one ...

11/23/06 - 20060265275 - Systems and methods for managing a hierarchical structure
Systems, methods, and computer-readable mediums, consistent with principles of some embodiments of the present invention provide for managing information including providing a location data table including information relating to a plurality of members, providing a grouping data table including information related to the location data table wherein the grouping data ...

11/23/06 - 20060265274 - Balanced, multi-stud hold-down
A hold-down for securing first and second support members in a portion of a building to an anchoring device extending from another portion of the building. The hold-down may include a first flange having securement apertures therethrough configured to receive fasteners adapted to secure the first flange to the first ...

11/23/06 - 20060265273 - System and method of facilitating the sale of a component of a product
Systems and methods of facilitating the sale of a component of a product are provided. In one embodiment of the present invention, a turnkey nutritional product is provided by an ingredient supplier to a manufacturer of a nutritional product that incorporates that ingredient. The ingredient supplier also includes with the ...

11/23/06 - 20060265272 - System and methods for re-evaluating historical service conditions after correcting or exempting causal events
A system and methods for determining an operational characteristic of a business process associated with a network. An operational characteristic of the business process is determined. An action is taken to modify a parameter associated with a change in the operational characteristic of the business process. The operational characteristic of ...

11/16/06 - 20060259350 - System and method for identifying a market by projecting demand and identifying supply
A market for used vehicles is identified for a particular vehicle category. A group of dealers are selected who have a high likelihood of buying units of the products. To identify a market, inventory data is collected from each of a group of dealers within a region on a recurring ...

11/16/06 - 20060259349 - In-queue jobs information monitoring and filtering
A remote monitor technique based on a client/server model is provided for a distributed computing system having a plurality of computing nodes. The remote monitor includes a server application for collecting jobs information on jobs in a queue of the system and a client application for presenting or employing the ...

11/16/06 - 20060259348 - System and methods of calculating growth of subscribers and income from subscribers
The subject invention provides a first method for estimating the number of subscribers to a service. The first method calculates the number of subscribers based on a rate of additional subscribers and a rate of departing subscribers, where the rate of departing subscribers is recursively depending on the number of ...

11/16/06 - 20060259347 - Automatic gathering of customer satisfaction information
Automatic customer feedback gathering systems and methods are described that provide a switch array in one or more areas of a service provider outlet by which a customer indicates a level of satisfaction with his/her service. The switch array may include two or more touch-sensitive areas that each correspond to ...

11/16/06 - 20060259346 - Trolley tracker
A plurality of transponders are attached to a plurality of trolleys and/or shopping baskets. Each of the transponders has a unique identity encoded therein. At least one detector is located in the store, the detector being adapted to detect the location of the plurality of transponders in the store at ...

11/16/06 - 20060259345 - User input interpreter and a method of interpreting user input
A user input interpreter (2) for interpreting user input to enable a user to provide a data processor (3) with a user command for controlling an operation to be carried out on an object presented to the user by a user interface of the data processor has: a data model ...

11/09/06 - 20060253316 - Consumer to business data capturing system
Methods and apparatus of the present invention collect data associated with a consumer through generation of a consumer feedback communication via a wide area network. A business to which the consumer feedback communication is directed is identified in response to input from a consumer via the wide area network. Feedback ...

11/09/06 - 20060253315 - Dynamic selection of groups of outbound marketing events
A database system and method for ordering marketing events for offering to candidates. The database system comprises a first database structure storing a first list identifying marketing events, a second database structure storing a second list of candidates, and a database manager software application stored on a computer readable medium. ...

11/02/06 - 20060247966 - Messaging system having recipient profiling
An information system includes a plurality of messaging systems, a data center and a control system. The plurality of messaging systems process respective messages intended for recipients. The data center is in operative communication with the plurality of messaging systems and stores transaction data associated with each respective message. The ...

10/26/06 - 20060242001 - Method for assembling and assessing events for extracting structured picture of anticipated future events
Disclosed is a method of mapping structured anticipated future events in a domain. The method comprises: assembling an event field to comprise a depository of events related to the domain, assessing the events from the event field to formulate at least one subset having high probability anticipated future events, and ...

10/26/06 - 20060242000 - System and method for capturing and consolidating leads
The present invention is directed to a system and method for capturing and consolidating a plurality of leads, each lead comprising a potential consumer customer. The method for capturing and consolidating a plurality of leads includes the steps of sourcing the plurality of leads, capturing consumer data related to the ...

10/19/06 - 20060235743 - System and method for determining profitability scores
A method for marketing a product to one or more customers includes retrieving a profitability score for the customer from a customer database. The product is selectively marketed to the one or more customers based on the profitability score. In a particular embodiment, a plurality of products can be bundled ...

10/19/06 - 20060235742 - System and method for process evaluation
A method, apparatus, and system are disclosed for process evaluation. In one exemplary embodiment, a method for process evaluation includes accessing, with a computer, a set of process quality metrics; categorizing, with the computer, a set of processes based on the set of process quality metrics; and identifying, with the ...

10/19/06 - 20060235741 - Systems and methods for monitoring and reporting
Systems and methods for monitoring and reporting data collected from a remote location are disclosed. A work order, defining a target to be inspected at a remote site and including an inspection plan for collecting target inspection information, is generated on a base-station system and transferred to a portable computing ...

10/19/06 - 20060235740 - System and method for calculating service staffing
A technique is provided for automatically calculating an estimate of demand for field and for remote customer service, such as based on historical service data. A forecast may then be calculated based upon the estimate of demand and on a staffing plan allocating service personnel between field and remote assignments. ...

10/12/06 - 20060229934 - Information delivery system for providing senders with a recipient's messaging preferences
An information delivery system includes a web server in operative communication with a plurality of recipients and a plurality of senders, the plurality of senders desirous of generating messages intended for the plurality of recipients, respectively. The web server includes a plurality of recipient preference profiles corresponding to the plurality ...

10/12/06 - 20060229933 - Systems and methods for exclusively capturing quality of service
Systems and methods for developing exclusive rights to providing informational feedback relating to a quality of service received from a professional, delivering an authorized request for feedback submission, receiving informational feedback, and selectively compiling the informational feedback received for reporting purposes. A computer system is configured to receive exclusive informational ...

10/12/06 - 20060229932 - Intelligent sales and marketing recommendation system
Systems and methods for generating intelligent promotional recommendations and reports are disclosed. The systems and methods utilize longitudinal patient or physician level data and longitudinal data regarding sales and marketing techniques and approaches employed to train intelligent processing elements such as collaborative filters, neural networks, and combinations thereof. Intelligent recommendations ...

10/12/06 - 20060229931 - Device, system, and method of data monitoring, collection and analysis
A device, system and method for data monitoring, collection and analysis. A method may include creating one or more context insight records representing an indication of a behavior of a service based on raw footprint data related to use of said service by a population of users, and analyzing said ...

10/12/06 - 20060229930 - Method to generate advertising revenue based on time and location
A method and apparatus to facilitate targeted advertisement and listing services to customers using a shopping system. The shopping system may be an interactive television system. The targeted advertising allows for improved targeting by allowing advertisers to bid on advertising space based on the time a user is shopping and ...

10/05/06 - 20060224439 - Method of and apparatus for forecasting item availability
A method and apparatus is described for determining the probability that an item will be available at a particular location at an expected time of transaction for the item. Variances for both reported and unreported sales rates of the item may be calculated. Probability distributions may be generated for these ...

10/05/06 - 20060224438 - Method and device for providing information
The objects of the present invention are, in connection with the provision of information mainly through images to the general public or to individuals, to detect whether the user or users who is or are at a place from where he, she or they can observe the image is or ...

10/05/06 - 20060224437 - Systems and methods for customer relationship evaluation and resource allocation
Customer relationships, particularly in a business-to-business environment, are evaluated and enhanced by generating actionable inferences through the measurement and analysis of both customer satisfaction and customer importance. Customer satisfaction information is captured from both an internal channel comprising key internal customer contacts or boundary employees, as well as an external ...

10/05/06 - 20060224436 - It resource management system, it resource management method, and it resource management program
An IT resource management system for managing a plurality of IT resources owned by a plurality of operating entities includes a supply condition accumulating part for accumulating a supply condition of a surplus IT resource, a demand condition accumulating part for accumulating a demand condition of an insufficient IT resource, ...

10/05/06 - 20060224435 - Method and system for quantifying relative immediacy of events and likelihood of occurrence
A method and system for quantifying market research. In one embodiment, a method of quantifying a likelihood of a plurality of events occurring within a specified time frame includes receiving a plurality of qualitative data corresponding to each one of the plurality of events. The method also includes quantifying the ...

10/05/06 - 20060224434 - Human data acquisition and analysis for industrial processes
A method for optimizing an industrial process using human performance data is disclosed. The method includes collecting human performance data from at least one sensor element associated with at least one human and verifying the human performance data collected. The method further includes analyzing the human performance data collected for ...

09/28/06 - 20060218033 - Method for optimizing net present value of a cross-selling marketing campaign
The present invention applies a novel iterative algorithm to the problem of multidimensional optimization by supplying a strict, nonlinear mathematical solution to what has traditionally been treated as a linear multidimensional problem. The process consists of randomly selecting a statistically significant sample of a prospect list, calculating the value of ...

09/28/06 - 20060218032 - Real-time customer service assistance using collected customer life cycle data
A computer-implemented method is performed during an online chat session between a customer service representative (CSR) of a merchant, and the merchant's customer. Conversational text of the session is analyzed to determine a mood of the customer. Previously collected information about the customer is accessed, from a database that stores ...

09/28/06 - 20060218031 - System and methodology for collecting autobiographical data concerning use of consumer products or exposures to substances
A system and method for implementing a computer-aided event history calendar includes computer component systems for storing, processing, displaying, and entering the event history calendar data. Recall of retrospective, autobiographical use of consumer products or substance exposure is facilitated in the context of an event history calendar whereby a respondent ...

09/21/06 - 20060212341 - System and method for profiling jurors
A jury profiling system and method. A profiling system is provided that includes: an attributed jury pool database for storing a set of attributed juror records; an interface for retrieving an attributed juror record from the database for a prospective juror; a system for modeling a profile of the prospective ...

09/21/06 - 20060212340 - Method and apparatus for product management
A method for selecting products for a product portfolio includes identifying a set of customer orders including a set of ordered products, a total order benefit and a penalty multiplier and identifying one or more subsets of the ordered products each having a subset order benefit and a penalty multiplier. ...

09/21/06 - 20060212339 - Method of producing a consensus forecast
Methods are provided for producing a consensus forecast. An adjusted consensus forecast for a plurality of economic indicators is produced by compensating for forecasters who miss a monthly forecast and by adjusting for unchanged forecasts from the prior monthly survey and by compensating for a lack of dynamism in the ...

09/21/06 - 20060212338 - Method and apparatus for identifying candidates for a position
A method and apparatus for identifying candidates for a position is provided where the position is defined in a campaign for the position. Preferably, the method includes steps of and/or apparatus performs steps of sending campaign information to a plurality of contacts, receiving a candidate referral from at least one ...

09/21/06 - 20060212337 - Method and system for automatic assignment of sales opportunities to human agents
A method (and system) of assigning a sales opportunity, includes creating an assignment model based on clustering historical sales opportunities, and providing a scoring mechanism on a plurality of sales agents for automatically optimizing an assignment of at least one sales opportunity to at least one of the plurality of ...

09/14/06 - 20060206372 - Systems and methods for protecting confidential information through geodemographic information aggregation
Systems and methods for providing demographic information for a geo-demographic cluster area within a predefined geographic region are disclosed. An illustrative method may include the steps of associating selected data entries from multiple databases with parcels of land in a predefined geographic region, generating household-specific demographic profiles for each parcel ...

09/14/06 - 20060206371 - Method of facial coding monitoring for the purpose of gauging the impact and appeal of commercially-related stimuli
A method of assessing consumer reaction to a marketing stimulus, involving the steps of (a) exposing a sample population to a marketing stimulus for a period of time, (b) interviewing members of the sample population immediately after exposure of the members to the marketing stimulus, (c) videotaping any facial expressions ...

09/07/06 - 20060200378 - Purchase selection behavior analysis system and method
A market research method is provided, the method including analyzing shopper path data representing a plurality of shopper paths through a store. The analysis typically include, at predetermined time intervals, for each of a plurality of shoppers traveling through the store, and for each of one or more displays positioned ...

09/07/06 - 20060200377 - Affiliate network cross-publication system and method
A cross publication tool and its method of use is described. The tool allows affiliate network system clients to easily publish offers to one another. Copying a cross published offer from one client to another occurs automatically upon the approval of the publishing client. Lead and sale tracking is also ...

09/07/06 - 20060200376 - Method of and apparatus for generating a demand forecast
A method of forecasting demand comprises the steps of providing a database containing information regarding a plurality of parts, accessing the database to create a first demand forecast for at least one of the plurality of parts, identifying a group from the plurality of parts, and accessing the database to ...

09/07/06 - 20060200375 - Zoom interface component for integrated rating system
A zoom in/out interface to a ratings system provides navigation to users for inspection and interaction with prescribed indicators underlying an integrated rating of a company's performance. The interface presents at various different depths in a hierarchy of the prescribed indicators the multivariate relationships that exist among the indicators, expressed ...

08/31/06 - 20060195353 - Lead generation method and system
A method of lead generation includes receiving a question from a consumer and forwarding the question to one or more subscribers to the system. One or more of the subscribers may respond to the question. The subscribers may review the questions from the consumers and decide whether to respond to ...

08/24/06 - 20060190319 - Realtime, structured, paperless research methodology for focus groups
A methodology for realtime paperless research in focus group generating valid actionable feedback and data before, during or within a very short period of the session. The methodology includes collection, processing mapping, analyzing and recognizing patterns of data points using multiple iterations in order to generate and output the valid ...

08/24/06 - 20060190318 - System and method for identifying and measuring performance discrepancies among sales territories
A system for measuring performance discrepancies (101). The system (includes a display). (102), such as a monitor, which permits a user to view data, to interact with the process and to view the results of the process. The system includes a system processor (103), for processing data according to instructions ...

08/17/06 - 20060184415 - Business statistical analysis reporting module and method for client application systems
A method, system, and computer program product for collecting data for business statistical analysis from an information technology provided solution is provided. In one exemplary embodiment, business critical processes are determined and from the identities of these business critical processes, business critical collection points are determined. The business critical processes ...

08/17/06 - 20060184414 - Business management tool
The present invention includes a business management tool that is configured to receive and process both first and second data sources for planning, performance and forecasting purposes. The business management tool of the present invention is further configured to utilize essential data including key performance indicators. The foregoing data sets ...

08/10/06 - 20060178929 - Projection factors for forecasting product demand
Projection factors are used to project product sales data from sample retail outlets to the universe of outlets. Weekly forecasts of market conditions and product demand are generated based on the projected product sales data. The projection factors and the weekly forecasts are updated during the course of the forecasted ...

08/10/06 - 20060178928 - Innovation capture system
Disclosed are a method, system and computer software tool for capturing innovation. The software tool comprises means for entering an innovation into a database, and a system for evaluating said innovation. The software tool further comprises means for completing a business plan for implementing said innovation, and means for mapping ...

08/10/06 - 20060178927 - Demand forecast system and method
A demand forecast system and method. A planning module normalizes historical forecast data, and generates a forecast error interval according to the historical forecast data and a Grey forecast model. An adjustment module adjusts a target forecast value of a target-planning bucket according to the forecast error interval and/or the ...

08/03/06 - 20060173730 - Adjusting resource activation based on a manufactured date of a computer
A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that, in an embodiment, adjust a resource capable of being activated at a computer based on whether the elapsed time since the manufactured date of a computer is greater than a threshold. The threshold may be fixed or variable. In various embodiments, the ...

08/03/06 - 20060173729 - System and methods for managing a volunteer organization
A system and method for managing a volunteer organization such as a political campaign has a merit based recognition system, a centralized contact and task database. The system awards recognition or impact points to volunteers based on their participation in or completion of tasks, and also awards point to sponsors ...

08/03/06 - 20060173728 - Adaptive product configuration model
The adaptive product conditioning is a computer-implemented method for identifying product configurations that can be provided to customers in reaction to supply imbalances. The methodology uses data mining techniques to collect and analyze business level meta data to coordinate supply and sales goals in terms of optimizing profits or managing ...

07/27/06 - 20060167742 - Categorizing and analyzing sales of particular products
A system and method for identification and notification of elevated over-the-counter medication sales is disclosed. Localized alerts of elevated sales of specified over-the-counter medications and graphical views of historical sales intensity by medication category are provided. Intervention instructions to manage responses to factors causing the elevation of sales are provided. ...

07/27/06 - 20060167741 - System and method for designing a supply chain
A system, method and apparatus are provided for designing and evaluating a supply-chain architecture and strategy, and communicating the architecture to concerned parties. The supply chain is designed by combining business strategies and analytical modeling in a well-defined process. Key product and market attributes are combined with defined supply-chain processes ...

07/27/06 - 20060167740 - System and method for processing objectives
A method, system, and computer program product for processing objectives of an organization. Included is a computerized system having: an objective creation system for defining new objectives and setting associated target values for a defined time period; an objective linking system for linking a set of source objectives to a ...

07/20/06 - 20060161472 - Method and system for ranking research providers
A method of rating a research provider includes determining, for each of a plurality of research providers that provide equity research within a securities sector, one or more research coverage quantifiers. At least one of the research coverage quantifiers is indicative, at least in part, of the specialization of the ...

07/20/06 - 20060161471 - System and method for multi-dimensional average-weighted banding status and scoring
Method and system for generating summary scores from heterogeneous measures retrieved from multi-dimensional data structures for monitoring organizational performance. Scorecards are created for each group of tree-structured measures branching from Parent nodes to child nodes based on Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Scores for each parent node may be obtained by ...

07/20/06 - 20060161470 - Method and system for creating and maintaining customer tailored marketing plans
A method and system for creating a customer-specific marketing plan includes obtaining customer-specific information in response to a series of queries, weighting the customer-specific information in accordance with a predetermined weighting system, and generating date-specific marketing plan, that includes tools and other aspects. ...

07/13/06 - 20060155596 - Revenue forecasting and sales force management using statistical analysis
The invention is directed to statistically quantifying sales opportunities in order to forecast revenue and generate solution-oriented sales plans. The system includes a database of business opportunities and associated conditions. The database represents a mathematical model, such as a Bayesian model, where the conditions and business opportunities are represented as ...

07/06/06 - 20060149616 - Systems and methods for forecasting book demand
Systems and methods for forecasting demand for a test book. One method according to the present invention includes dividing books into a plurality of categories with each of the categories having a unifying concept, developing a demand forecast model for each category by selecting a plurality of variables and, for ...

07/06/06 - 20060149615 - Methods and systems to effect comprehensive customer relationship management solutions
A business solution development process having one or more pre-definition stages and one or more post-deployment stages is disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, data pertinent to an understanding of a business is analyzed and a future state of the business is envisioned. One or more desired ...

07/06/06 - 20060149614 - Dynamic brand evaluation information processing apparatus and method
A model format storing unit stores a model format representing a cyclic process of brand knowledge creation. Arrangement of dynamic evaluation parameters obtained by factor analysis of several indices for brand-creation process evaluation is set in the model format. A target brand parameter acquiring unit acquires dynamic evaluation parameters for ...

06/29/06 - 20060143073 - Process and system for integrating information from disparate databases for purposes of predicting consumer behavior
A process and system for integrating information stored in at least two disparate databases. The stored information includes consumer transactional information. According to the process and system, at least one qualitative variable which is common to each database is identified, and then transformed into one or more quantitative variables. The ...

06/29/06 - 20060143072 - Method and apparatus for collaborative filtering of card member transactions
The disclosed system allows a credit or charge card issuer to provide its card members with a list of merchants, products, services, vacation destinations or other offerings that might be of interest based on the purchases of similar card members. In one instance, this process looks at all card members ...

06/29/06 - 20060143071 - Methods, systems and mediums for scoring customers for marketing
Methods, systems, and mediums for calculating a score that predicts customer activity in the future such as whether the customer will make a purchase, visit a store, etc., or how much money the customer will spend, how many times the customer will shop, etc., are provided. In certain embodiments, these ...

06/29/06 - 20060143070 - Lubricants product management system
The invention includes a method for lubricating oils product management including: inputting alphanumeric data into one or more data structures, the data structures configured and adapted for storing, updating, modifying, deleting, and searching data including historical lubricant management costs, historical lubricants volume consumption, projected lubricants volume consumption, projected lubricant management ...

06/29/06 - 20060143069 - Method of designing a desirable customer experience
A method of designing a desirable customer experience is disclosed. The method includes identifying a target customer. Also, the method includes determining the desirable customer experience. In determining the desirable customer experience, the desires of the target customer are identified at each stage of a customer lifecycle, wherein each stage ...

06/29/06 - 20060143068 - Vendor-driven, social-network enabled review collection system
The embodiments of the present system include a review engine that is connected to support modules and databases that receive, store and retrieve reviews, based upon the subject and the users' relationship to the authors of the reviews. The review engine comprises a social network engine, a rate and rank ...

06/29/06 - 20060143067 - Vendor-driven, social-network enabled review system with flexible syndication
The embodiments of the present system include a review engine that is connected to support modules and databases that receive, store and retrieve reviews, based upon the subject and the users' relationship to the authors of the reviews. The review engine comprises a social network engine, a rate and rank ...

06/29/06 - 20060143066 - Vendor-driven, social-network enabled review syndication system
The embodiments of the present system include a review engine that is connected to support modules and databases that receive, store and retrieve reviews, based upon the subject and the users' relationship to the authors of the reviews. The review engine comprises a social network engine, a rate and rank ...

06/22/06 - 20060136288 - Multi-size tire filling apparatus and method
A tire filling apparatus preferably includes a support and seal arrangement on which a wheel-tire combination is supported in a horizontally lying orientation, a tire filling plate, and a plurality of differently-sized tire filling rings. Based on the diameter of the wheel-tire combination to be filled with air, a properly ...

06/22/06 - 20060136287 - Method and apparatus for creating a list for marketing
The method may entail reviewing a source of entries wherein the source is stored electronically, selecting a subset of entries from the source of entries and storing the subset of entries as a list wherein the list comprises a first order object. ...

06/22/06 - 20060136286 - Method and apparatus for marketing using templates, lists and activities
The method may include creating a marketing campaign, selecting a list to receive the marketing campaign, allowing the user to modify the list selected, allowing the user to add a work item to the marketing campaign and executing the marketing campaign. ...

06/22/06 - 20060136285 - Tiered on-demand location-based tracking service and infrastructure
A location-based service includes detecting the relative motion of an on-site resource, detecting the absolute position of the on-site resource, and tracking the position of the on-site resource. The position is tracked by deriving a deduced position based on the detected relative motion and adjusting the deduced position as a ...

06/22/06 - 20060136284 - Recommendation system
A technique for recommending products to a user (110a). According to the technique, the user requests (110a) a recommendation from a recommendation system (200). The recommendation system (200) generates a recommendation using a technique whose time complexity is less than O(m·n). The generated list is then presented to the user ...

06/22/06 - 20060136283 - Assessing survey presentations
Measurement errors arising from presentation aspects of a survey are detected and can be corrected, based upon responses from a selected set of respondents to different survey presentations. The survey presentations are different not in their information content, but in their presentation, such as using a different order of questions. ...

06/22/06 - 20060136282 - Method and system to manage achieving an objective
A method to manage achieving an objective may include collecting data related to the objective and determining a set of drivers related to the objective. The method may also include calculating a gap for each driver between a baseline and a goal for the objective. The method may further include ...

06/22/06 - 20060136281 - Method, system, and storage medium for assessing and implementing an organizational transformation
A method, system, and storage medium for assessing and implementing an organizational transformation. The method includes identifying at least one process area for each management area targeted for assessment and evaluating at least one solution for the at least one process area. A pairing of a solution to a process ...

06/15/06 - 20060129447 - Methods and software arrangements for sales force effectiveness
A business planning solution for sales force effectiveness in promoting products in a target market is provided. The planning solution analyzes sales and market data to identify target market segments that are likely to respond to sales force activity. Business resources can then be allocated to optimize sales force activity. ...

06/15/06 - 20060129446 - Method and system for finding and aggregating reviews for a product
The embodiments disclosed herein include new, more efficient ways to collect product reviews from the Internet, aggregate reviews for the same product, and provide an aggregated review to end users in a searchable format. One aspect of the invention is a graphical user interface on a computer that includes a ...

06/08/06 - 20060122877 - Systems and methods for measuring consumption of entertainment commodities
Systems and methods for measuring consumption of entertainment commodities distributed through at least two distribution channels by at least one distribution network operator to one or more media receivers. The methods include collecting consumption data from at least one distribution network operator. The at least one distribution network operator distributes ...

06/08/06 - 20060122876 - Method and apparatus for information surveying
A method and apparatus are presented with which to conduct information surveys. Contemporary methods of accessing and exploiting information resources, including search techniques and category browsing, have become less effective and efficient at these tasks due to the growing infoglut and the widening knowledge gap between the content, structure, and ...

06/01/06 - 20060116922 - Efficient and flexible business modeling based upon structured business capabilities
The present invention extends to efficient and flexible business modeling based upon structured business capabilities. A computer system receives a plurality of business modeling attributes representing different layers of a business. The computer system extracts business capability attributes from among the received plurality of business modeling attributes. The computer system ...

06/01/06 - 20060116921 - Methods and systems for profile-based forecasting with dynamic profile selection
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for profile-based forecasting with dynamic profile selection. Some method embodiments may comprise determining a reference set of profiles from a source set of profiles, and using the reference set of profiles to generate a forecast. The reference set determination comprises at least comparing a ...

06/01/06 - 20060116920 - Methods and systems for forecasting with model-based pdf estimates
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for forecasting with model-based PDF (probability density function) estimates. Some method embodiments may comprise: estimating model parameters for a time series, calculating a PDF for the time series, and generating a forecast from the PDF. The model parameters may comprise a variance for a ...

06/01/06 - 20060116919 - Efficient and flexible business modeling based upon structured business capabilities
The present invention extends to efficient and flexible business modeling based upon structured business capabilities. A computer system receives a plurality of business modeling attributes representing different layers of a business. The computer system extracts business capability attributes from among the received plurality of business modeling attributes. The computer system ...

05/25/06 - 20060111966 - Supplier performance reporting
A system and method is provided for improved reporting of supplier performance. A system receives and processes data to enable reporting of on-time performance relative to a plurality of order start points and a plurality of order end points. Buyers and suppliers report on-time performance for system processing using the ...

05/25/06 - 20060111965 - Methods and system for marketing a commitment symbol and related method for engendering community recognition of same
A method of marketing a symbol of commitment is provided. The method includes identifying a symbol that can be recognized as a showing of a predetermined type of personal commitment. The also includes providing at least one design of the symbol. Additionally, the method includes determining at least one retail ...

05/25/06 - 20060111964 - Project evaluation metric, methods of using the same, and programs for generating and using the metric
A method for evaluating projects for a product under development by generating a Project Traction Index based upon a market relevance criterion, a technical uniqueness criterion, and a plan for commercialization criterion. The Project Traction Index is functionally related to the numeric confidence level assigned to each factor considered. Each ...

05/25/06 - 20060111963 - Product demand forecasting
Embodiments include a system for forecasting demand data for new products. The system and method may include generating a phase-in group profile based on similar products. The phase-in group profile may have multiple demand profiles for low, medium and high demand variations. These demand profiles may be applied to new ...

05/25/06 - 20060111962 - Survey system and method
A survey system and method are disclosed for conducting targeted surveys of purchase decisions. Participants are registered and demographic information is stored in a database. Each participant has an RFID tag which is used to locate the participant at particular locations in a store. When a participant is detected at ...

05/25/06 - 20060111961 - Passive consumer survey system and method
A passive tracking system and method are disclosed which use RFID tags carried by participants. RFID readers are positioned at the entrances to stores which are part of the study or analysis. Data relating to the visits of participants of the stores are recorded in a participant database. The data ...

05/25/06 - 20060111960 - Performance prediction service using business-process information
Performance prediction techniques are provided that utilize business-process information such as transaction history and log information. For example, in one aspect of the invention, a computer-based technique for providing a performance prediction service comprises the following steps/operations. First, business-process information associated with a business is obtained. Then, a performance estimation ...

05/25/06 - 20060111959 - Surveying apparatus and method for compensation reports
A method and apparatus for providing targeted online compensation reports that accounts for unique individual characteristics, such as related to a job, by using dynamic profiles is described. The preferred embodiment uses a survey engine (247) having a collaborative filtering engine that determines appropriate questions to ask the user during ...

05/25/06 - 20060111958 - Study/development investment securities sales method
A study/development is objectively evaluated for introduction of share for investors so as to provide an investment chance to the study/development and pay dividend. A processing unit reads in study plan information, study result information, study cost balance information, and expected result information for each of the study theme identification ...

05/18/06 - 20060106669 - Estimating base sales volume using a low-pass filter approach
Within each iteration of an iterative process: (1) a low-pass filter is applied to an actual sales volumes series to extract low frequency components representing a base sales volume series for the iteration; and (2) a locally optimal base sales volume series is determined. A globally optimal base sales volume ...

05/18/06 - 20060106668 - Method for creating an on-line leads marketplace
A method is presented for obtaining and selling contact information electronically. The method comprises obtaining contact information from visitors to web sites sponsored in pay-per-click links and automatically categorizing the contact information based on the keywords used to get the pay-per-click link. The system further comprises including additional leads for ...

05/18/06 - 20060106667 - System and method for determining compatibility
A system and method for generating an indication of compatibility between individuals and groups includes accessing first response data from a first user as well as desired first response data from the first user. A first weighing factor is associated with each of the desired first response data. Second response ...

05/18/06 - 20060106666 - Method, system, and storage medium for implementing a multi-stage, multi-classification sales opportunity modeling system
A method for implementing a multi-stage, multi-classification sales opportunity modeling system. The method includes receiving operational data relating to past sales activities and receiving parameters identified as being relevant in determining a likelihood of whether exploitation of a sales opportunity will be successful. The method also includes generating a multi-stage ...

05/18/06 - 20060106665 - Computer-based analysis of affiliate web site performance
A performance analysis engine analyzes the performance of affiliate web sites that provide links to specific items in an electronic catalog, and identifies catalog items that can be listed by such affiliate web sites to improve performance. An association mining component analyzes transaction data attributable to specific categories or types ...

05/18/06 - 20060106664 - Workflow management device
A method, system, and storage medium for developing a forecast of goods or services. The method includes identifying current or previous goods or services that have characteristics similar to those of a new or replacement good or service to be forecasted. The method further includes obtaining delivery data associated with ...

05/11/06 - 20060100918 - Modeling operating efficiency based on rates of unresolved problems
Modeling operating efficiency based on rates of unresolved problems. Embodiments of the present invention describe a tool that model operating efficiency be examining the impact of unresolved problems in an enterprise. An inventory of unresolved problems is determined based on at least some of, a beginning inventory of problems, an ...

05/11/06 - 20060100917 - Takt calculator for use in operationalizing process excellence
Takt calculator for use in operationalizing process excellence. A takt time calculator tool can help facilitate a six sigma and/or lean methodology that can operationalize process excellence. The takt calculator can determine an amount of time needed to produce a unit of output subject to demand in both an “as-is” ...

05/04/06 - 20060095314 - Method for approving a new supplier
A method of approving a new supplier is disclosed, which is used in an electronic dealing system (EDS) having an operating interface of a web page. At first, fields in a questionnaire are inputted and a plurality of electronic examination documents by a supplier candidate is uploaded. In response to ...

05/04/06 - 20060095313 - Evaluating input ambiguity in a work system
A method is provided for evaluating input ambiguity in a work system. The method includes receiving a response to a questionnaire from a person. The questionnaire includes a plurality of questions related to an input ambiguity characteristic. The questions include: whether inputs to a work task are available; whether the ...

05/04/06 - 20060095312 - Method, system, and storage medium for using comparisons of empirical system data for testcase and workload profiling
Systems and methods for using comparisons of empirical system data, (e.g., performance, accounting, software module or function frequency), for testcase and workload profiling are provided. Instead of asking a customer what he does, simply asking for some set of empirical data that can be formatted, reduced, and analyzed. By gathering ...

04/27/06 - 20060089868 - System, method and computer program product for analyzing and packaging information related to an organization
A computer-implemented method includes generating a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI includes information related to an organization, and includes performance measures and a performance composite that are each associated with a value. The organization information, performance measure(s) and performance composite in the GUI include elements of an information hierarchy, ...

04/20/06 - 20060085248 - System and method for collection and analysis of electronic discussion messages
A system and method for collecting and analyzing electronic discussion messages to categorize the message communications and the identify trends and patterns in pre-determined markets. Electronic messages are collected and analyzed according to characteristics and data inherent in the messages. Objective data is collected by the system for use in ...

04/20/06 - 20060085247 - System and method for analyzing analyst recommendations on a single stock basis
A system and method for measuring and creating a score for the performance of one or more contributor recommendations on a single stock. According to one embodiment, the score may be derived via a payoff function that depends on a variety of factors. For example, the factors may include one ...

04/20/06 - 20060085246 - Responsive promotion replenishment planning
Embodiments include a system for adjusting forecast demand data in light of actual sales of a product. The system and method may include forecasting demand for a time period then adjusting the demand forecast over that period of time based on sales feedback data. Forecasted demand may be distributed over ...

04/13/06 - 20060080162 - System and method for collection and analysis of electronic discussion messages
A system and method for collecting and analyzing electronic discussion messages to categorize the message communications and the identify trends and patterns in pre-determined markets. The system comprises an electronic data discussion system wherein electronic messages are collected and analyzed according to characteristics and data inherent in the messages. Objective ...

04/13/06 - 20060080161 - System and method for collection and analysis of electronic discussion messages
A system and method for collecting and analyzing electronic discussion messages to categorize the message communications and the identify trends and patterns in pre-determined markets. The system comprises an electronic data discussion system wherein electronic messages are collected and analyzed according to characteristics and data inherent in the messages. The ...

04/13/06 - 20060080160 - Annotation of data in an operating plan data aggregation system
In an embodiment a method is provided. The method includes receiving forecast information in a computer from a first group of users. The method also includes integrating the forecast information into a database and corresponding OLAP cube accessible by the computer. The method further includes receiving comments on specific entries ...

04/13/06 - 20060080159 - Method, program and system for the implementation of cognitive business processes in a sales enterprise
A cognitive business process (CBP) for use by an enterprise in selling its products or services to a company. A sales knowledge engine and sales knowledge base are used by a salesperson when information is received regarding a potential sales objective. The sales knowledge engine uses the information about the ...

04/06/06 - 20060074742 - Scent delivery devices and methods
A method is described for enhancing multimedia advertising, sales or product promotion, public relations, entertainment or instructional systems by incorporating scent. The method includes steps of selecting a product or service, and delivering a multimedia advertising, sales promotion, public relations, entertainment, brand awareness or educational campaign which appeals to the ...

04/06/06 - 20060074741 - Operating plan data aggregation system with real-time updates
A method and apparatus for forecasting data with real-time updates is described. In one embodiment, the invention is a system. The system includes an analysis server including an OLAP cube. The system also includes an information database coupled to the analysis server to support the OLAP cube. In an alternate ...

03/30/06 - 20060069606 - Store modeling-based identification of marketing opportunities
Modeled data (12) regarding a plurality of consumer retail outlets is provided (11) and used (15) to identify at least one unleveraged marketing opportunity with respect to increasing sales of at least one consumer commodity via at least one of the plurality of consumer retail outlets. In a preferred approach, ...

03/23/06 - 20060064344 - Supply chain architecture
A supply chain network where customers, suppliers, logistics providers, carriers, and financial institutions are all connected to a centralized supply chain server. The server receives forecasts from the customers detailing the orders that the customers desire. These forecasts are analyzed by the supply chain server to ensure that they conform ...

03/23/06 - 20060064343 - Automated feedback cancellation in a network-based transaction facility
A request to cancel feedback pertaining to a transaction in a network-based transaction facility is generated when a user submitting the feedback has not participated in a dispute resolution process or other process of the facility. In another embodiment, a request to cancel such feedback is generated when a user ...

03/23/06 - 20060064342 - Internet based qualitative research method and system and synchronous and asynchronous audio and video message board
A system and method for conducting an online research study from a host machine over a distributed computer network. Through their computers participants attend the online research study conducted over a distributed computer network and our in communication with a moderator using a participant interface having an audio/video captive mechanism ...

03/23/06 - 20060064341 - Internet based qualitative research method and system
A system and method for conducting an online research study from a host machine over a distributed computer network. Through their computers participants attend the online research study conducted over a distributed computer network and our in communication with a moderator using a participant interface having an audio/video captive mechanism ...

03/23/06 - 20060064340 - System and method for generating, capturing, and managing customer lead information over a computer network
A customer lead management system that relates to a system and method for collecting and organizing customer-marketing data, which is then made available to business representatives to assess. Specifically, using a computer network and, data on a potential customer's Budget, Authority, Needs, Timeline, and other related customer lead data is ...

03/16/06 - 20060059036 - Method and system for managing a supply chain of a commodity class
A method of managing a supply chain of a commodity class includes inputting one or more performance measures for a selected member of the commodity class into a data store; inputting one or more characteristics of the selected member into the data store; comparing the one or more characteristics of ...

03/16/06 - 20060059035 - Mobile sales online manager for handheld devices
The present invention provides a method and system for giving users of various handheld devices access to mobile sales software online. The functionality accessed by users is provided by individual development components (DCs). Use of individual development components allows users to turn off certain components and also customize components without ...

03/16/06 - 20060059034 - Measuring customer service levels
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for measuring how well interactive components of a service facility that are accessible to users through a communication network perform in serving users, the interactive components being a proper subset of all of the interactive components of the service facility, and using the ...

03/16/06 - 20060059033 - Interaction object
The present invention provides a system and method for providing customer relationship management by tracking customer interactions. Customer interactions include contact with customers using asynchronous communications such as e-mail, short message service (SMS) text messages from mobile phones, letters and FAXes. The system and method of the present invention include ...

03/16/06 - 20060059032 - System, computer program product, and method for enterprise modeling, temporal activity-based costing and utilization
A method of temporal, activity-based cost modeling for an organization is provided. The method includes the steps of (a) determining a plurality of data types contributing to costs related to one or more activities of the organization; (b) capturing data elements corresponding to the data types; (c) Creating an ontological ...

03/16/06 - 20060059031 - Risk management
A method of performing risk assessment for a service provider, includes creating a sales prospect. The method also includes determining conflicts and risks for the prospect based on answering a plurality of questions relating to the prospect. The method further includes determining whether or not the prospect should be allowed ...

03/09/06 - 20060053045 - System and method for targeted marketing to scientific researchers
A marketing system comprising a receiving means for receiving a request for researcher characteristics from a database comprising an array of researcher characteristics, a filtering means for filtering the array of researcher characteristics in order of relevance to the requested characteristics, and delivery means for delivering the relevant filtered researcher ...

03/02/06 - 20060047564 - Estimating an economic parameter related to a process for controlling emission of a pollutant into the air
An economic parameter estimator is provided for a process that has multiple process parameters (MPPs) and is performed to control emission of a pollutant into the air. The performance of the process is associated with one or more economic factors (EFs). The estimator includes either a neural network process model ...

03/02/06 - 20060047563 - Method for optimizing a marketing campaign
A method for optimizing a marketing campaign is provided. Initially, an analysis of a client's transaction data is performed. Campaign objectives are selected based upon the findings of this analysis. Rules are selected for each campaign based upon the rules' ability to achieve the selected objectives. Based on the rules, ...

03/02/06 - 20060047562 - Method and apparatus for planning marketing scenarios
A tool is proposed for planning marketing scenarios. Information is received that describes marketing elements, each of which is associated with a predicted result. Information is also received that groups the marketing elements into competitive scenarios. A comparison of predicted results is calculated and output for scenarios that are based ...

03/02/06 - 20060047561 - Systems and methods for providing operational risk management and control
Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a framework for operational risk management and control. In the disclosed systems and methods, roles and responsibilities may be defined for at least one function of an enterprise, and at least one control objective may be defined to identify at least one operational ...

03/02/06 - 20060047560 - Methods and systems for integrated market account planning
Methods and systems consistent with the present invention provide for performing integrated market account planning. A first server calculates promoted volume information reflecting an estimated quantity of a product sold to a retailer during a trade promotion. The first server also receives, from a second server, non-promoted volume information reflecting ...

03/02/06 - 20060047559 - Managing an inventory of service parts
An inventory of service parts may be managed by assessing a company's capability, optimizing the inventory and implementing a management program based on the assessment and optimization. Optimizing target stock levels for the inventory of parts may be accomplished by calculating an inventory baseline for understanding information about the currently ...

02/23/06 - 20060041466 - Methods and systems for performing an availability check for a product
The invention relates to a method of performing an availability check for a product to determine whether the product is available for a customer at a predetermined time. The method comprises providing a processor device; storing an original forecast for a period of time up to and including the predetermined ...

02/23/06 - 20060041465 - Methods and systems for generating a demand plan for a configurable product
The invention relates to a method of generating a demand plan for a configurable product in a managed supply chain using a computer, wherein the product comprises an assembled component. The method comprising: providing a processor device; accessing master data in a primary profile planning table for the configurable product, ...

02/23/06 - 20060041464 - System and method for developing an analytic fraud model
A system and method is provided for developing an analytic fraud model to predict likelihood that a transaction is fraudulent comprising a first database storing a log of credit transaction information comprising requests for credit reports and including application information used by a credit requestor. A second database stores deleted ...

02/23/06 - 20060041463 - Order forecast system, order forecast method and order forecast program
An object of the present invention is that calculates a suitable quantity of inventory based on forecast information. In the present invention, at first the conversion coefficients that are ratios of required quantities contained in the past forecast information to corresponding actual order quantities are calculated (S1, S2), the standard ...

02/16/06 - 20060036479 - System and method for designing secure solutions using patterns
A system and method for generating an information technology solution. A system for generating a runtime model is provided, comprising: a system for selecting a business pattern; a system for providing a management integration table, wherein the management integration table includes a plurality of cells, each representing at least one ...

02/09/06 - 20060031114 - Interactive personal information system and method
The interactive personal information system and method delivers personalized information to users by having a publisher, or a multilevel structure of primary and secondary publishers, collect information items into at least one database for periodic delivery of collections of information items to users as personalized information. The collections are selected ...

02/09/06 - 20060031113 - Apparatus and method for creating a marketing intiative
An apparatus and method for creating or presenting marketing initiatives in a sales manager system. A user inputs offer parameters for a new initiative. The offer parameters includes an initiative time period and an initiative description. After the parameters have been entered, customer selection criteria is associated with those parameters. ...

02/09/06 - 20060031112 - Business simulator method and apparatus based on clinical workflow parameters
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for simulating a medical facilities utilization of technical medical equipment. Comparisons of patient workflow for different equipment and software configurations can be performed and comparisons of workflow and other performance factors can be made between a particular medical facility and other medical ...

02/09/06 - 20060031111 - Multi-market broadcast tracking, management and reporting method and system
A method of analyzing multi-market broadcasts of commercial advertisements, has unique identifiers are assigned to a plurality of expected commercial advertisements, information regarding the plurality of expected commercial advertisements and respective unique identifiers is recorded in a computer database, electronic detections of a plurality of actual market-broadcast instances of a ...

02/02/06 - 20060026057 - Collaborative organization analysis
An apparatus for evaluating organization efficiency, a method for evaluation service of organization efficiency, an apparatus for generating communication frequencies, a method for generating communication frequencies, and programs and recording media of the same, quantitatively evaluate efficiency of an organization structure. The present invention provides an apparatus for evaluating organization ...

02/02/06 - 20060026056 - Method and system for information retrieval and evaluation of an organization
An information retrieval and evaluation system for receiving information about an organization and evaluating the organization based on that information. The information typically includes data retrieved from one or more data bases and organization-related data obtained in a manual fashion by an evaluation system operator. The information can be evaluated ...

02/02/06 - 20060026055 - Longitudinal performance management of product marketing
Longitudinal performance management solutions are provided for enhancing the effectiveness of product marketing efforts in dynamic market conditions. The solutions are configured to assess market conditions by analyzing multiple interacting market factors, which collectively influence product market performance. The analysis involves non-linear multivariate algorithms which can identify critical performance indicators, ...

02/02/06 - 20060026054 - Method, apparatus, and program for implementing an automation computing evaluation scale to generate recommendations
An automation assessment tool is provided that defines autonomic technology, processes, organization, and skill sets that apply to autonomic computing. The automation assessment tool provides educational material about autonomic computing and a scale of maturity levels, which is used to assess on-demand preparedness. The automation assessment tool presents a survey ...

01/19/06 - 20060015391 - Automated voter registration campaign management
An automated voter registration campaign management system and method includes collecting information and determining of one or more parameters of registrations per hour, phone number percentages for new registrants, volunteer recruitment percentage, contact rate and verification rate. Next the determined parameters is compared against predetermined targets; and a variance report ...

01/19/06 - 20060015390 - System and method for identifying and approaching browsers most likely to transact business based upon real-time data mining
The present invention is directed to a system and functionality that removes the guess work out of trying to determine which browsers on a web site are more likely to end up with a good disposition. One approach introduced by the present invention is to first make sure the sales ...

01/12/06 - 20060010032 - System, method and computer program product for evaluating an asset management business using experiential data, and applications thereof
A method, system and computer program product for evaluating and quantifying the risk, performance and potential of an asset management business are disclosed. Experiential data generated by the business' processes is extracted and used as source data in evaluating the business. Experiential data includes both qualitative and quantitative information compiled ...

01/12/06 - 20060010031 - System and method for computer resource marketing
A computer resource marketing system using LPAR (logical partitioning) technology that divides a computer resource into a plurality of logical partitions, including a lending server with a logical partition control unit 3 that designates at least one logical partition as a lendable partition, a client system that can borrow a ...

01/12/06 - 20060010030 - System and method for modeling shopping behavior
A system and method are provided for modeling shopper behavior in a store. The system may include an analysis program executable on a computing device, configured to receive product position data and shopper path data gathered from a plurality of stores, each having a different shape represented in a corresponding ...

01/12/06 - 20060010029 - System & method for online advertising
A system and method for determining and identifying clusters/kernels of linkings in communities of online users. The analysis is based at least in part on an entropy analysis, such as by dividing a population into cyber neighborhoods, which can be geographic based and/or logically related. ...

01/12/06 - 20060010028 - Video shopper tracking system and method
A system and method are provided for video tracking of shopper movements and behavior in a shopping environment. The method typically includes displaying on a computer screen of a computing device a video recording of a shopper captured by a video camera in a shopping environment. The method may further ...

01/12/06 - 20060010027 - Method, system and program product for measuring customer preferences and needs with traffic pattern analysis
A method, system and program product for determining movement data of a customer or customers in a store to analyze customer decisions and optimize product presentation and customer service in response to the analysis. The movement of customers through a store may be correlated with various environmental and economic factors ...

01/12/06 - 20060010026 - Transaction polymorphism
A system and method to provide an interface to access transaction management services. The interface is declared and the transaction management services are bound to the interface. The transaction management services provide services for managing related transactions executing on remote nodes in an enterprise system. The transaction management services are ...

01/05/06 - 20060004625 - Method and system for determining market demand based on consumer contributions
The present invention provides a method and a system to determine a market need before any monies are spent to produce and commercialize an artist. A method and system for determining the market demand for an artist comprising: receiving user input to determine which artist to select from a pool ...

01/05/06 - 20060004624 - Forecast and replenishment analytics
The present invention includes methods, system, and apparatus. A method of the present invention may include collecting and storing replenishment data, calculating a performance indicator using the collected and stored replenishment data, transmitting the calculated performance indicator to a first database, flagging the calculated performance indicator within the first database ...

01/05/06 - 20060004623 - System and method for online professional services networks
Online professional services networks that create and provide access to professional service provider databases where the professionals are linked to others based on their referral relationships. The networks allow users, e.g., network members and other consumers (e.g. patients, clients) to search/identify, evaluate and select professionals based on their trusted relations ...

01/05/06 - 20060004622 - System, method, software and data structure for independent prediction of attitudinal and message responsiveness, and preferences for communication media, channel, timing, frequency, and sequences of communications, using an integrated data repository
The present invention provides a system, method, software and data structure for independently predicting attitudinal and message responsiveness, using a plurality of attitudinal or other identification classifications and a plurality of message content or version classifications, for a selected population of a plurality of entities, such as individuals or households, ...

01/05/06 - 20060004621 - Real-time selection of survey candidates
A method of evaluating a candidate for participation in a survey by obtaining, over an electronic network, information describing the candidate, categorizing the candidate, determining if adding the candidate would increase the population in a group beyond a specified threshold, and conditionally excluding the candidate. Otherwise, allowing the candidate to ...

01/05/06 - 20060004620 - Method and tool for estimating a ship date profile for a business
A method and tool for estimating a ship date profile for a business (e.g., a business that is not in operation), includes simulating a plurality of dynamic events to estimate the ship date profile for the business. The plurality of dynamic events may include, for example, at least one of ...

12/29/05 - 20050288993 - Demand planning with event-based forecasting
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided that include techniques for forecasting demand. One method includes identifying event data associated with a demand forecast. The method further includes determining a first portion of a demand forecast using the event data. The method further includes determining a second portion ...

12/29/05 - 20050288992 - System and method for selection of development processes needing corrective action
A system and method for selection of development processes that require corrective action is presented. A process improvement lessons learned procedure classifies and assigns priority rankings to improvable development processes. A process improvement lessons learned procedure includes several stages of list expansions and reductions that consider the probability of poor ...

12/29/05 - 20050288991 - Collecting preference information
In order to allow a first presentation application to utilize tracked information collected by a second presentation application, the tracked information being how digital content is presented in user equipment, the information is collected by user equipment into a presentation application independent ratings data file. ...

12/29/05 - 20050288990 - Computer-implemented method, system and program product for modeling a consumer decision process
Under the present invention information corresponding to a purchase decision is qualitatively collected (e.g., through in-depth interviews) from a first set of consumers. The information is used to determine the complete set of elements that impact the purchase decision. Thereafter, a process map is developed that incorporates the elements and ...

12/29/05 - 20050288989 - Methods and systems for synchronizing distribution center and warehouse demand forecasts with retail store demand forecasts
A method and system for forecasting product order quantities required to meet future product demands for a retail distribution center or warehouse. The method includes the steps of determining for each one of a plurality of retail stores, a long range order forecast for a product sold by said retail ...

12/29/05 - 20050288988 - Order reception prediction system, order reception prediction method, and order reception prediction program
An object of the present invention is to make high-accuracy order forecasts based on forecast information. In the present invention, quantities of orders are forecasted based on forecast information indicating required quantities for a plurality of scheduled delivery dates or scheduled delivery periods. First, conversion coefficients that are ratios of ...

12/22/05 - 20050283395 - Enhancements to business research over internet
Enhancements to a business method for performing research over the internet are presented. In one aspect, a user is requested to select a ratable object. The user is then requested to select a color to associate with the selected ratable object, after the selected ratable object has been viewed by ...

12/22/05 - 20050283394 - Automated user evaluation and lifecycle management for digital products, services and content
A user in an identified adoption group is periodically queried regarding use of a product. Results of the querying are received and evaluated. The evaluating includes aggregating the results by category, computing a proportion of total results for each category, and generating a first user emphasis vector based on the ...

12/15/05 - 20050278212 - Methods for the linear clustering and display of information
Systems, methods, and structures are described to support enhanced population analysis are discussed. The population includes individuals with each individual including a set of properties. The system of the present invention is useful for exploring population structure including individuals with missing values, individuals that are documents in databases, and individuals ...

12/15/05 - 20050278211 - Methods and systems for integrated promotion planning
Methods and systems consistent with the present invention provide for performing integrated promotion planning. A first sever receives baseline demand information from a second server. The baseline demand information is an estimate of consumer demand for a specified product from a specified retailer. The first server calculates incremental information reflecting ...

12/15/05 - 20050278210 - Computerised planning system and method for sales to clients in the hospitality, travel and leisure industries
A computerised system and method for planning sales to clients in the hospitality, travel and leisure industries, by a sales team of at least one salesperson, comprising database software enabling or method steps of input and display of client data for each client; allocation of client data for each client ...

12/08/05 - 20050273380 - Business planner
A method and system for predicting the profit attributable to a proposed sales promotion of a product, wherein the product has a wholesale price and a manufacturing cost per unit sales, including establishing a base volume for sales of the product in the absence of promotions; determining a sales lift ...

12/08/05 - 20050273379 - Systems, methods and computer program products for modeling uncertain future demand, supply and associated profitability of a good
A method is provided that includes modeling future demand and/or future supply for a good at one or more segments of a period of time. In accordance with the method, future demand/supply at a respective time segment is modeled based upon a price sensitivity distribution of a unit purchase of ...

12/08/05 - 20050273378 - System and methods for electronic commerce using personal and business networks
Electronic commerce over a publicly accessible computer network such as the Internet is facilitated and leveraged by a computer system that forms a community of computer user parties based on personal and business connections of the parties involved. Personal connections are created between users by invitation and mutual acceptance. Business ...

12/08/05 - 20050273377 - System and method for modeling customer response using data observable from customer buying decisions
A computer system models customer response using observable data. The observable data includes transaction, product, price, and promotion. The computer system receives data observable from customer responses. A set of factors including customer traffic within a store, selecting a product, and quantity of selected product is defined as expected values, ...

12/08/05 - 20050273376 - System and method for modeling affinity and cannibalization in customer buying decisions
A computer system models customer response using observable data. The observable data includes transaction, product, price, and promotion. The computer system receives data observable from customer responses. A set of factors including customer traffic within a store, selecting a product, and quantity of selected product is defined as expected values, ...

12/01/05 - 20050267795 - Dynamically assembling business process models
Apparatus and methods for dynamically assembling a business process model. An apparatus is configured in a company terminal connected with a network, and has a model building unit for building a business process model for the company, characterized in that the apparatus further includes: a retrieving unit for retrieving to ...

11/24/05 - 20050261954 - System and method for distribution chain management
A system for supply chain management is provided. The system includes two or more manufacturer systems receiving order data, such as data identifying goods that have been ordered for each of two or more warehouses, and generating first and second shipment data, such as data identifying the actual amount of ...

11/24/05 - 20050261953 - Determining design preferences of a group
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for conducting market research and developing product designs. The methods involve generating and presenting, typically electronically, generations of design alternatives to persons participating in the design, selection, or market research exercise. The participants transmit data indicative of their preferences among or between the presented design ...

11/24/05 - 20050261952 - Computer-implemented method and system for modeling and estimating vehicle sales
Data representing known vehicle sales and data representing vehicle registrations corresponding to the known vehicle sales are received at a computing system and processed to create a model of vehicle sales as a function of vehicle registrations. The model is applied to vehicle registration data for vehicles having unknown or ...

11/24/05 - 20050261951 - Method and apparatus for processing marketing information
A system and method (FIG. 2) for processing marketing information obtained through various sources. Marketing information, for example, a sales lead can be stored in a database (50), allowing access and manipulation of the sales leads and its associated data by multiple users (20). Further, the system and method facilitates ...

11/17/05 - 20050256760 - System, method, and software for short term forecasting using predictive indicators
A computer implemented method, system, and software of making a short term forecast using tactical predictors, includes collecting predictor data related to the short term forecast, wherein the collecting predictor data includes identifying driver data that drives the forecast from a group consisting of demand drivers, supply drivers, competitive drivers, ...

11/17/05 - 20050256759 - Sales history decomposition
A statistical system and method for filters sales history to yield two demand series—one that is time insensitive (i.e. function of price and promotional activities only) and another that is price & promotional activities insensitive (i.e. function of temporal factors only). Once this task is completed, then specialized econometric techniques ...

11/17/05 - 20050256758 - Method of manufacturing and method of marketing gender-specific absorbent articles having liquid-handling properties tailored to each gender
Methods of manufacturing and methods of marketing gender-specific absorbent articles having liquid-handling properties tailored to each gender are disclosed. In certain embodiments, the properties of one or more fluid handling components used in disposable absorbent articles adapted for use by males is different than the properties of the corresponding component ...

11/17/05 - 20050256757 - Method of manufacturing and method of marketing gender-specific absorbent articles having liquid-handling properties tailored to each gender
Methods of manufacturing and methods of marketing gender-specific absorbent articles having liquid-handling properties tailored to each gender are disclosed. In certain embodiments, the properties of one or more fluid handling components used in disposable absorbent articles adapted for use by males is different than the properties of the corresponding component ...

11/17/05 - 20050256756 - System and method for utilizing social networks for collaborative filtering
A novel system and method of predicting a user's rating of a new item in a collaborative filtering system is described. The invention incorporates social network information in addition to user ratings to make recommendations. The distance between users in the social network is used to enhance the estimate of ...

11/17/05 - 20050256755 - System and method for providing automobile marketing research information
A system and method for providing customized reports regarding pre-sale auto interest is enclosed herein. The reports are configured to provide pre-sale marketing research information about potential shoppers of particular auto models. The reports are also configured to provide information about competitors' auto models. The reports are also configured to ...

11/10/05 - 20050251440 - System and method for promoting commerce, including sales agent assisted commerce, in a networked economy
A personal communication and electronic commerce sy