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8
Demand Modeling
8.1 Introduction
The general consensus in the engineering design community is that the
main motivation for an engineering rm’s activities is to make money.
There is nothing necessarily unethical about this notion, though. As
Hermann and Schmidt (2006) argue, prot-making enterprises generate
employment, manufacture products, and serve the community in the pro-
cess. Arguably, the contribution to society is greater than the burden, since
we do buy their products, which enrich our lives. This decision to purchase
also allows the customers to decide the fate of a product, and eventually
the company. Of course, the inverse prob ...