| Activities and Drivers in the Radical Product Development Process |
| | McDermott, Christopher M. | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | mcderc@rpi.edu | (518)-276-4816 |
| | Coates, Theresa Taylor | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | taylot@rpi.edu | (518)-276-4861 |
| | This study explores the process of technology and radical product innovation in large organizations and observes how the process occurs within these firms. We develop a model of the radical product development process which identifies a number of common activities and drivers in which project participants' engaged. The activities (technology, market, and design development) were initiated to decrease the technological and market risk, while increasing the technical knowledge and continuing to move toward a business plan. Although the ultimate aim of the radical product innovation process was to develop a commercialized product, the process also aimed to satisfy intermediary needs (drivers) of legitimizing the project and finding a project home. These projects undertake different approaches than incremental product innovation to gain acceptance within the firm as well as gather knowledge about the application's development. We document other activities which differentiate between the process of developing a radical product from that of an incremental product. We found that the radical product innovation process is non-linear, but rather is overlapping and reiterative. This contrasts traditional stage-gate development process surrounding incremental innovations. The recursive nature of the radical product development process helps reduce the uncertainty of the technology, design, and market development. Our findings suggest that firms need to formally acknowledge the difference between radical product development and incremental and manage them accordingly. Most of these projects existed in spite of their firm's existing policies and procedure rather than with the help of their organization. |
| | Keywords: Product Development; Innovation |
| Determinants of New Product Manufacturability |
| | Swink, Morgan | Michigan State U. | swinkm@pilot.msu.edu | (517)-353-6381 |
| | The manufacturability of new products is thought to be influenced by certain challenges inherent new product development, and by efforts to integrate manufacturing and other functional concerns into the product design process. This research tests the direct and interacting effects of these influences via a survey of 137 completed NPD projects representing a variety of manufacturing industries. The analysis of data from discrete product industries supports many of the hypothesized relationships. Few hypotheses were supported by data from process intensive industries.
An environment conducive to development team integration exerts a substantial positive influence on new product manufacturability. Strong management commitment and supplier influence are also positive determinants. Program complexity, increased levels of design outsourcing, and technological uncertainty are associated with poorer product manufacturability. However, early manufacturing involvement, strong management commitment, and heavy supplier influences moderate these negative impacts of these factors, sometimes even reversing their effects. Early manufacturing involvement and high management commitment also moderate the detrimental influence of project acceleration on product manufacturability. By exposing these relationships this study suggests the need for contingency-oriented research exploring the benefits and limitations of design integration approaches. The research also alerts managers to NPD conditions that pose greater threats to product manufacturability. |
| | Keywords: Product Development; Design Integration; Design for Manufacturability |
| Successful Execution of Product Development Projects: The Effects of Project Management Formality, Autonomy and Resource Flexibility |
| | Tatikonda, Mohan V. | U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | mohan_tatikonda@unc.edu | (919)-962-0050 |
| | Rosenthal, Stephen R. | Boston U. | srrosent@bu.edu | (617)-353-4288 |
| | This paper investigates the effectiveness of project management methods used during the execution phase of new product development projects. This paper differs from most project management literature in operations management through its focus on mechanisms employed during the project, rather than on detailed network approaches to planning and scheduling. Based on our prior field observations, organizational theory and extant literature on product development, we pose specific hypotheses regarding the effectiveness of the project execution methods of formality, project management autonomy and resource flexibility. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis is used in a confirmatory fashion to test the hypotheses. A cross-sectional survey sample of 120 completed new product development projects from a variety of assembled products industries is employed. We found that the project execution methods are positively associated with project execution success, and that firms should adopt high levels of these approaches. Further, these methods are effective singly and collectively, suggesting that firms can indeed |
| | Keywords: product development; project management; empirical research |