CMS Research, a Toledo, Ohio, interactive voice response (IVR) research service bureau, has licensed ARCS, an IVR data collection and recruiting system from DBM Associates, Whitehouse Station, N.J. DBM Associates and CMS Research will administer conference satisfaction surveys at the Advertising Research Foundation Convention and InfoPlex show on March 15-17 at the New York Hilton.

NFO Worldwide, Inc., Greenwich, Conn., has implemented a new structure to manage its global operations. The company has been organized into three strategic segments - North America, Europe, and AustralAsia & The Middle East - with a separate president responsible for each segment. In addition, the operations of the segments will be coordinated and harmonized by a newly appointed executive committee. (See this month’s Names of Note section for more information on the individual appointments.)

Clearwater Research, Inc., Boise, Idaho, reported total billings for 1998 at just under $3.6 million, up 70 percent from 1997. In the last eight years, annual growth has been over 50 percent each year.

BAIGlobal, a Tarrytown, N.Y., research firm, has branded its qualitative research division under the name of Qualitative MarketView. BAIGlobal designed the brand based on input from its qualitative clients. Qualitative MarketView will also serve as the qualitative division of Market Facts Inc., BAIGlobal’s parent company.

ACNielsen Corporation, Stamford, Conn., reported 1998 operating income, net income and earnings per share each increased by more than 50 percent. Net income rose 59.4 percent, to $57.2 million, while diluted earnings per share reached $0.96, an increase of 54.8 percent over the prior year. Reported earnings include an after-tax expense of $9.2 million, or $0.15 per share, for Year 2000 system modifications, and a negative after-tax impact of $8.1 million, or $0.14 per share, from foreign currency translation.

A new research firm, Global Quest Inc., has opened at 50 Portugal Cove Rd., St. John’s, Newfoundland, A1B 2L9, Canada.

Principia Products, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of optical mark reading technology for survey processing, has moved to 16 Industrial Blvd., Suite 102, Paoli, Pa.

Total Research Corporation,  Princeton, N.J., announced secondquarter and six-month results for the periods ending December 31, 1998. The firm reported record revenues of $9,625,625 for the second quarter and net income of $539,486, or diluted earnings per share of $.04. This compared to net income of $407,525, or $.03 per share on revenues of $8,749,086 for the same quarter in the prior year. Net income grew 32 percent and revenues by 10 percent over the same three-month period of the previous fiscal year. Net income for the first six months was a record $1,060,419, or diluted earnings per share of $.08, on revenues of $19,695,071 as compared to net income of $760,040, or diluted earnings per share of $.07, on revenues of $16,991,111 for the corresponding sixmonth period of Fiscal 1998. This represents a 40 percent growth in net income and a 16 percent growth in revenues over the same six-month period of the prior year.

Publications Resource Group, Inc., North Adams, Mass., has received $500,000 in an initial round of venture capital funding from Berkshires Capital Investors (BCI) to fund the future gowth of the company. PRG is a retailer of business information, with more than 3,000 market research reports and industry newsletters available at www.prgguide.com and through the PRG Guide catalog. The funding will be used to add additional publishers to the 180 which now make up the PRG library, as well as enhance PRG’s marketing efforts.

Delaware Research Co., Wilmington, Del., has a new e-mail address and a new Web address (www.concentric.net/-scrapsl3/del.htm).

Polaris Marketing Research, Atlanta, has installed an automated interactive voice response system and an Internet survey system. In addition, the firm has upgraded its CATI hardware and software.

SPSS Inc., Chicago, has announced its development plans for Clementine, the flagship data mining product of recently acquired Integral Solutions Ltd. Upcoming releases in the Clementine product line will add the ability to work effectively with larger databases in a client/server environment; the ability to export models that include related data management functions as well as calculations and predictions; and additions to the statistical capabilities of Clementine via both the addition of algorithms and tighter integration with SPSS. "Clementine plays a key role in our future plans," says SPSS president and CEO Jack Noonan. "We see Clementine as a rapid analysis environment - a ’workbench’ for people to create models that deliver on the promise of data mining. With these plans, we expect Clementine’s unique and highly visual user interface and underlying architecture will become an interactive front-end to an increasingly rich set of analytical methods. In addition, improvements to scalability mean that customers will be able to work even more effectively with the very large data volumes in today’s data warehouses. Lastly we plan to provide both enhanced and new deployment vehicles which will give users greater ability to deploy the models they develop to transform their organizations."

MasterCard, Purchase, N.Y., has launched a new company, Transactional Data Solutions (TDS), which will provide aggregate and other non-consumer specific marketing information from anonymous card transactions for use by merchants in better managing their businesses. This "benign" use of transactional data can help a merchant measure performance, plan marketing, conduct mass media advertising and better understand customers by using focused demographics. Rather than using individual name and address information, the new discipline of transactional research collects anonymous information from previously conducted transactions to aggregate buying behaviors based on demographic, lifestyle, and media preferences. TDS’ first information product, Merchant Advisor, uses data that does not connect cardholder names, addresses, phone numbers or e-mail addresses to any transactions. Merchant Advisor will be available in the first quarter of 1999. TDS is a joint venture of MasterCard International and Symmetrical Resources Inc., Deerfield Beach, Fla.