Lakemond,N., Berggren, C. 2006. Co-locating NPD? The need for combining project focus and organizational integration (original) (raw)
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R&D Management, 2007
Given industry competitiveness, how do firms' new product development (NPD) process designs differ when responding to an innovation mandate? How do NPD design elements differ across firms when implementing NPD processes? These design elements are strategic business unit (SBU) senior management involvement, business case content, customer interactions, and cross-functional integration. What are the consequences of different combinations of NPD process design elements for innovation productivity? We explore these questions via a collective case study of newly implemented NPD process designs at three different SBUs of a major US-based international conglomerate, 1 year after receiving the mandate to grow through innovation. Our analysis suggests that industry competitiveness and firm characteristics influence the NPD process design as SBUs employ distinct combinations of NPD design elements. The differential emphasis on design elements leads to variation in process design and divergence in innovation productivity.
An Examination of Collaboration in High-Technology New Product Development Processes
Journal of Product Innovation Management, 1998
For more than a decade, researchers have explored the benefits of eliminating organizational boundaries between participants in the new product development (NPD) process. In turn, companies have revamped their NPD processes and organizational structures to deploy cross-functional teams. These efforts toward interfunctional integration have produced a more responsive NPD process, but they don't represent the endgame in the quest for more effective NPD. What's next after the interfunctional walls come down? Pointing out that many high-tech firms have already taken such steps as integrating customers and suppliers into the NPD process, Avan Jassawalla and Hemant Sashittal suggest that such firms need to go beyond integration and start thinking in terms of collaboration. Using information from a study of 10 high-tech industrial firms, they identify factors that seem to increase cross-functional collaboration in NPD, and they develop a conceptual framework that relates those factors to the level of cross-functional collaboration achieved in the NPD process. Compared to integration, collaboration is described as a more complex, higher intensity cross-functional linkage. In addition to high levels of integration, their definition of cross-functional collaboration includes the sense of an equal stake in NPD outcomes, the absence of hidden agendas, and a willingness on the part of participants to understand and accept differences while remaining focused on the organization's common objectives. Collaboration also involves synergy-that is, the NPD outcomes exceed the sum of the capabilities of the individual participants in the NPD process. Their framework suggests that structural mechanisms such as cross-functional teams can provide significant increases in NPD-related interfunctional integration. However, high levels of integration do not necessarily equate to high levels of collaboration. Characteristics of the organization and the participants also affect the level of collaboration. For example, achieving a high level of collaboration depends on participants who contribute an openness to change, a willingness to cooperate, and a high level of trust. Their framework also points to key organizational factors that affect the level of collaboration-for example, the priority that senior management gives to NPD and the level of autonomy afforded to participants in the NPD process.
The role of the Network Lead Company in integrating the NPD process across strategic partners
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2005
In today's network world, advancement in new product development (NPD) is being driven by different types of networks, joint ventures, alliances, outsourcing and mergers. Managing the integration of an NPD process in this increased organisational complexity requires a sophisticated organisation design to facilitate and support the coordination of activities and the flow of information across the networks. This paper investigates the impact of the organisational design of the 'network lead company' (the main company in the network) on the integration of the NPD process across a network of strategic partners, and the subsequent effects on project performance. We adopt the project level of analysis and focus on NPD project organisation. Our conceptual model suggests that four organisational attributes -hierarchical levels, centralisation, formalisation and team empowerment -have an effect on the integration elements (communication and coordination), which ultimately improve project performance.
Structural factors of NPD (new product development) team for manufacturability
International Journal of Project Management, 2009
We explore whether structural factors of NPD (new product development) team such as its physical co-location and team composition are still relevant and important in enhancing manufacturability as part of NPD performance in this highly virtualized coordination era as much as in the past before the Internet. We also examine how the analysis result is affected by the product's innovativeness as well as other control variables like project duration and product type. In order to answer the research questions, we collected data on 127 projects of new product development at a global consumer electronics company. Based on our analysis, we conclude that whether the NPD members are physically co-located throughout the product development process and whether the team membership is balanced have profound implications for enhancing manufacturability.
In today's network world, advancement in new product development (NPD) is being driven by different types of networks, joint ventures, alliances, outsourcing and mergers. These business trends have resulted in complex organisations and development projects that cross location, company, country and cultural boundaries. The key success is no longer integrating the company's units and activities, but integrating the NPD process across a network of strategic partners. Managing the integration of an NPD process in this increased organisational complexity requires a sophisticated organisation design to facilitate and support the coordination of activities and the flow of information across the network. The research investigates the impact of organisational design of the network lead company (the main company in the network) on the NPD project's integration process elements with external partners and the subsequent effects on performance. The "integration process elements" in this research are: "communication and coordination." I focus on the R&D organisation in the network lead company. Within the R&D organisation, I adopt the project level of analysis and answer the main research question: How can the network lead company design its R&D organisation to support the NPD project's communication and coordination activities with the project strategic partners and improve project performance? The research centres on the integration with strategic partners in whom the network lead company has equity investments (minority holdings). Using data collected from three in-depth case studies of high-tech NPD projects conducted by three network lead companies from different industries, I attempt to extend and merge the knowledge of NPD management and the organisation theory by proposing a contingency model and developing a condition of fit between contextual conditions that characterise the high-tech NPD project and the organisation design of the network lead company. The model suggests that the efficient performance of the development project (shortest, cheapest, and highest quality possible) is contingent on how well the actual intensity levels of communication and coordination fits the required intensity levels. The research also indicates that the required intensity of communication and coordination between the network lead company and the project strategic partners in uncertain and complex project is dominated by The Role of the Network Lead Company in Integrating NPD Processes across Strategic Partners iv the development cycle time (DCT) of the project. Conversely, the actual intensity of communication and coordination between the NPD project team of the network lead company and its project strategic partners is enabled by differentiated combination of R&D organisational attributes: centralisation, formalisation, number of hierarchical levels, team empowerment, and power of the leadership.
2013
Effective interaction across organisational boundaries is a critical success factor in new product development (NPD). However, few studies have investigated how different mechanisms enable effective interaction across organisational and particularly hierarchical boundaries. This study explores how the formality of the NPD process influences the nature of interactions across different organisational boundaries and specifically identifies interaction mechanisms used across hierarchical boundaries. Cross-sectional interviews were conducted in nine firms. Findings highlight that in firms with a formalised NPD process, interactions tend to have a transactional/managerial bias. In contrast, in firms where the NPD process is flexible, interactions have a more social objective.