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Technological developments and new customer expectations of immediacy have driven businesses to adopt on-demand service models. The purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics of a range of on-demand services in order to better understand the meaning of “on-demand” and its implications for service management. This enables the on-demand service logic to be applied to other service contexts, where it may add value for customers.

The study starts with a focused literature review and continues with a multiple case study methodology, as the on-demand service concept is in the early stages of theory development. Seven cases were studied, based on a maximum variation sampling strategy.

The results show that on-demand services are characterized by three interrelated characteristics: being highly available, responsive and scalable. Analysis further reveals that on-demand services display differences within the conceptual boundaries of these characteristics, i.e. they vary in terms of their availability, responsiveness and scalability.

Drawing on these findings, the study contributes to the service literature by being the first to specifically conceptualize and define the on-demand services concept and reveal three key characteristics that clarify the distinctive nature of this service type. Accordingly, on-demand services are clearly differentiated from other services. Additionally, the paper discusses the variety within on-demand services and develops an on-demand service continuum that gives detailed insights into the conceptual variations within such services.

As the use of electronic library resources increases, the demand for online support also multiplies. Information literacy and 24/7 customer support are some of the urgent issues related to research in an electronic environment that many libraries are trying to address today. This article describes an approach in meeting these challenges, the Let‐It‐V (Learning E‐Resources Through Instructional Technology Videos) project at the Texas A&M University Libraries. This study combines the use of screen‐captured videos and a streaming media encoder to produce topic‐specific videos for task‐oriented demands. It is visual, interactive, and seeks to provide just‐in‐time solutions at a point of need. On‐demand streaming is a viable, cost‐effective alternative for low bandwidth delivery of video‐enabled library instruction. The technologies involved, key development issues, lessons learned and their implications for distance learning are discussed.

Jim Keyes, CEO of Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc., was facing the biggest challenge of his career. In March 2010 Keyes was meeting with Hollywood studios in an effort to negotiate better terms for the $1 billion worth of merchandise Blockbuster had purchased the year before. In recent years, Blockbuster's share of the video rental market had been sharply decreasing in the face of competitors such as the low-cost, convenient Redbox vending machines and mail-order and video-on-demand service Netflix. While Blockbuster's market capitalization had dropped 47 percent to $62 million in 2009, Netflix's had shot up 55 percent to $3.9 billion that year. The only hope for Blockbuster, as Keyes saw it, was to shift its business model from primarily brick-and-mortar physical DVD rentals to increased digital and mail-order video delivery. In Keyes's favor, the studios were more than willing to provide him with that help. Hollywood wanted to see Blockbuster win the video-rental wars. Consumers still made frequent purchases of DVDs at its store—purchases which were much more profitable for studios than the rentals that remained Blockbuster's primary business. Blockbuster had made efforts at making its business model more nimble, but the results had been disappointing, and its debt continued to skyrocket. By the end of 2009, the company's debt had climbed to $856 million, its share of the $6.5 billion video rental business had fallen to 27 percent, and its revenues had tumbled 23 percent to $4.1 billion.

The objective of this case is to discuss how different business models and supply chain structures impact the financials of the firms in the DVD rental business. In particular, the goal is to convey that the characteristics of the movie (recent/big hit or old/eclectic) affect whether it is best rented from a centralized or decentralized model. In addition, as streaming gains market share, the impact will be different for movie types and business models.

Interactive television is something that is becoming quite widely talked about these days. In the United States they are going to have 500 television channels but not all of them will be interactive. I understand that there is one called the fish channel, or fish net, or something like this, and it just consists of fish swimming round in front of your eyes for nearly 24 hours out of 24; so it might be very relaxing but I do not know if you can really interact with them much, unless you just open your mouth in the same way they do. Our speakers are going to talk about interactive television. They are going to tell us what it is exactly. They are going to tell us about the transmission technologies that you are able to use, how you actually interact with the programmes. They are going to talk about who is involved in interactive television, and why, and they are going to talk about potential services that one can have available with these devices. Our very first speaker is going to tell us about what interactive television is — Judith Jeffcoate. She is an independent consultant specialising in new markets for information technology, she was the lead author on a report by Ovum on interactive television multimedia, and she has just written a book on introduction to multimedia technology and applications.

This paper examines the design and evaluation of a TV on Demand (TVoD) system, consisting of a globally accessible storage architecture where all TV content broadcast over a period of time is made available for streaming. The proposed architecture consists of idle Internet Service Provider (ISP) servers that can be rented and released dynamically as the client load dictates. This paper examines issues of resource management and content placement within this Video Content Distribution Network (VCDN). The existing placement algorithm is computationally expensive and in some cases, infeasible to execute within any reasonable length of time. This work proposes a number of new placement heuristics each of which attempts intelligently to reduce the search space so that only the best proxies are considered for replica placement. An extensive evaluation of these placement algorithms is carried out to identify a good placement algorithm without being computationally expensive.

The case study illustrated strategic, marketing, financial and operational challenges faced by Netflix in India's growing SVoD market. This case is appropriate in courses such as Strategic Management, Business Strategy, Marketing Management and International Marketing for postgraduate MBA students, other graduate-level management programs and undergraduate-level students. The case was developed to raise awareness among students, to understand the complex nature of the technology-driven industry, to survive in the highly competitive market, to set up a company that serves the huge Indian market. This case delves into the dynamics of marketing on the Indian market, characterized by unorganized players such as local cable television; torrent downloads and organized and established players, low digitalization rates, language barriers, low internet penetration, lack of infrastructure, price-sensitive consumers. Due to up-gradation in technology, internet penetration, an increase in smartphone users, and the market has undergone a notable amount of change, due to a lot on new entrants, competitions, substitutes. The case states various obstacles, for a multinational company while entering the market such as India and how they are required to strategize, mold their marketing mix, need to analyze en-cash their strength, overcome their weakness, take maximum advantage of opportunities and modify their strategies to face huge challenges. The specific learning outcome of the case will help students to understand the strategy that multinational companies can adopt to sustain, compete in emerging countries such as India and within that emerging market such as streaming videos on demand (SVoD). This case will help students to understand the importance of internal and external resources, which help multinational companies to make strategies based on these resources. The case study offers learners the opportunity to explore the strategy in a dynamic environment. This case also highlights the critical issues that should be addressed by multinational companies when entering into a foreign market. The case highlights the importance of analyzing the competitive environment in which it’s going to compete and sustain. It can be used to introduce Ansoff’s growth matrix, internal and external factor analysis and porter’s five forces in the delivery of course for both regular and executive programs. The case should be offered in the middle term periods of the course. Additionally, the case could be used in marketing courses to indicate the importance of scanning the business environment in marketing activities for any organization. The case illustrates the strategies that companies can undertake to expand the market, introduce new products, as per the requirement of business environment and concerns linked with innovating approaches to support the organization to satisfy a larger number of price-sensitive consumers from varied backgrounds.

Netflix has been optimistic about the potential growth of the Indian market. It will grow slowly and gradually and become profitable. The SVoD market in India has been price sensitive. There are no plans for cheaper prices. Netflix had a long way to go. The pricing model of Netflix was a hurdle in its growth, but the future of Netflix in India was bright. There have been numerous challenges in terms of government regulations, pricing structure and an increase in the number of competitive players on the market. Netflix believed that Indian audiences enjoyed “Bollywood” film productions but watched low-quality soap opera content on television. Television audiences were a massive untapped market for their brand of original, exclusively produced content. Can Netflix come up with a marketing and growth strategy, or else they might be looking to lose market share and revenue. Should a new product such as Amazon and MI fire stick be introduced in the existing market like their competitors? Should they enter the existing market with existing products, or should they seek a new market in India, such as the rural market, the Pyramid market, the Tier II market and the City III market? Should they diversify into a new market with new products? How Netflix should plan its market communication if it wants to launch a new product or if it wants to reposition its existing product. Netflix had to rethink its strategies and also needed to address these issues so that they could travel smoothly on Indian roads. High marketing budget and aggressive promotions helped Netflix India to make a profit in its first year.

Postgraduate MBA students, other graduate-level management programs and undergraduate-level students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

NHS Direct Digital was available to almost exactly the same number of users in both Hull and London via two different transmission DiTV companies: Kingston Interactive Television (KIT) and HomeChoice. This paper employs metrics based on server generated logs to compare use and user differences between the two services. Server logs that record user activity on a real‐time and continuous basis were made available and used to make comparisons between the two services. The data were collected for both services over a similar period, February 2002 to May 2002. During this period the NHS Direct Digital service was visited by approximately 3,000 people and more than 5,000 NHS Direct videos were viewed. Making the study probably the largest analysis of health videos ever conducted.

The CIBER group at University College London are currently evaluating a distance education initiative funded by the Department of Health, providing in‐service training to NHS staff via DiTV and satellite to PC systems. This paper aims to provide the context for the project by outlining a short history of distance education, describing the media used in providing remote education, and to review research literature on achievement, attitude, barriers to learning and learner characteristics.

Literature review, with particular, although not exclusive, emphasis on health.

The literature shows little difference in achievement between distance and traditional learners, although using a variety of media, both to deliver pedagogic material and to facilitate communication, does seem to enhance learning. Similarly, attitudinal studies appear to show that the greater number of channels offered, the more positive students are about their experiences. With regard to barriers to completing courses, the main problems appear to be family or work obligations.

The research work this review seeks to consider is examining “on‐demand” showing of filmed lectures via a DiTV system. The literature on DiTV applications research, however, is dominated by studies of simultaneous viewing by on‐site and remote students, rather than “on‐demand”.

Current research being carried out by the authors should enhance the findings accrued by the literature, by exploring the impact of “on‐demand” video material, delivered by DiTV – something no previous research appears to have examined.

Discusses different electronic systems and their exploitation for distance education, and cross‐references these with several aspects evaluated in the literature: achievement, attitude, barriers to take‐up or success, to provide a holistic picture hitherto missing from the literature.

Outlines the technological problems which make it hard to deliver high quality video over the internet, e.g. insufficient bandwidth, clients’ machines etc.; and considers how they might be solved. Describes how digital video, audio presentations and animations can be streamed to a computer and the ways in which various US sectors are actually using streaming media at the moment. Discusses the future for multimedia applications in corporate training, e‐business and higher education; and predicts they will be very widely used as the technology improves.

Provides a summary of a Department of Health funded research study investigating performance and impact of four pilot digital interactive television services in the consumer health field. These were launched in various locations in the UK in 2001. Text and video, interactive and transactional services were featured. Pilots were investigated using a combination of research methods. The four pilots’ performance varied, but overall there was sufficient evidence to suggest that consumer health digital interactive television has a healthy future.