Design of A Product Configuration System by the Object-Oriented Approach

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate, in detail, an unsuccessful food development project that took place in 2008-2010. The case is studied from the viewpoint of an interpretive paradigm. This article concentrates on constructing the critical elements that led to a food development project failure. The plan was to have a traditional Finnish dish updated and introduced as a mass produced high-end convenience food. The project included new convenience food development, packaging design, consumer market research and a sensory study to back up the food product development on behalf of a newly established company. Theoretical grounds for the case are based on the new product development (NPD) research process in the food sector. Design/methodology/approach – The method applied is an explorative single within-case study. The research data were mainly obtained from qualitative materials that ranged from marketing plans to case study field notes compiled by the researchers. Quantitative data were also obtained from various types of materials but to a lesser extent. Findings – The results of the study show that the failure of new product development was connected to the factors identified in classic NPD research. In addition, five phenomena that contributed to product development failure were constructed: path-dependency; “information condensations”; the illusion of mutual knowledge and understanding; practices of problem definition; and window-of-opportunity effects. The results are presented in a form of analytical generalisation that can be applied, with certain restrictions, to other contexts for new food product development. Originality/value – Failure rates of NPD have remained the same for the last 30 years in the food sector. Failed NPD projects can be valuable assets for the food industry when properly analysed. Examination of successful NPD projects has provided valuable lists of success factors, but knowledge on phenomena having an effect on NPD failure is needed.

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the role of interorganizational cost management (IOCM) as a control mechanism in the new product development (NPD) process. IOCM extends target costing and kaizen costing to suppliers, turning NPD more effective and efficient. Design/methodology/approach A two-step research method was used, including the Delphi method and semi-structured interviewing. The data, both quantitative and qualitative, was obtained from a panel of 37 specialists and 7 companies from the automotive components industry. Findings IOCM is a fundamental control mechanism in NPD, turning the buyer–supplier relationship more effective and extending target and kaizen costing throughout the entire supply chain. Research limitations/implications This research was focused on IOCM practices in NPD but both can be approached from different perspectives and conceptual frameworks using additional empirical data which may corroborate or extend our conclusions. Practical implications IOCM is important for effective buyer–supplier relationships and this paper presents some of its most important approaches and tools, according to the literature and practical experience of the companies. Social implications Effective NPD processes and buyer–supplier relationships are fundamental for sustainable supply chains from a triple bottom-line perspective, that is, economic, environmental and social. Originality/value This research contributes to shedding light on cost management in NPD in general and IOCM, in particular, which asks for both rich and adequate empirical evidence and theoretical conceptualization.

It is widely acknowledged that new product and new service development are critical to the survival and performance of firms today. New Product Development (NPD) research emphasises the importance of employing models that aim to reduce new product risk and increase the likelihood of success. The bulk of this theory comes from traditional manufacturing enterprises, however, more recently researchers have begun to investigate whether these well established models and NPD practices are applicable to services (Johne and Storey 1998). While there has been a great deal of research into the manufacturing industry, little is known about product development processes within firms that are characterised by high pressure, dynamic markets and intense competition. This research investigates new product development processes within the software industry. This industry has, at face value, very different characteristics from traditional manufacturing firms. Through in-depth interviews with a range of stakeholders in the software industry, this research found that common, linear NPD models are not appropriate in the development of new software. The development of new products was identified as requiring a more iterative and, at the same time, organic or unstructured procedure than that commonly presented in NPD models.

The role of design and designers in new product development (NPD) has always been problematic and complex in its approach and in the extent of its involvement (Leenders et al., 2007; Murray and O’Driscoll, 1996; Veryzer and Borja de Mozota, 2005). As the industrial design profession seeks to confront the challenges of a recessionary environment, both the designer led ‘intuitive’ approach to NPD, and the marketer led ‘systematic’ approach become outmoded (Cross, 2001; Martin, 2007). There is shortcoming, even ambivalence, in the NPD and design management literature as to how design is involved in NPD (Cooper et al., 2003; Olson et al., 1998). Perks et al. (2005) suggest the designer’s involvement is moving from merely functional expertise to broader leadership activities. The research reported in this paper seeks to contextualise the fledgling position of design as NPD leader, and to understand the nature and level of design and designer involvement in NPD. Using a case study approach, the researchers sought to investigate these issues in Ireland’s largest industrial design consultancy. The firm, established 25 years ago, employs 30 design professionals. It handles projects for a range of well-known, international clients in mature, consumer product categories, for example, Palm, Terraillon and Logitech. The lead researcher spent six weeks embedded in the firm in summer 2009, carrying out quasi-ethnographic observation and semi-structured interviews with designers and management. Further interviews were conducted at the European studio of an international consultancy to enable a broader comparison. The firm was found to be in a period of flux, moving from a situation where the client called the shots, often based on uni-dimensional market research, towards one where the design studio sought to win greater involvement in NPD. A studio in such a predicament has yet to be empirically examined in the literature. Reorientation from a passive, and often late, role in NPD towards one of fuller leadership and greater input is a central feature of this research. A significant amount of conventional design work was gradually gravitating towards business analysis and marketing conceptualisation. Designers engaged in a high level of analysis on product, user and brand, and offered direction to clients through a range of activities. In many regards, they embraced the language and craft of the marketer. The company’s new mantra was to “manifest our clients’ brand through great product design”. This shift marks the division between the designer’s role as a mere service provider versus design authority. The extent to which leadership could be successfully offered depended, in a large part, on the relationship between designer and client. This relationship determined the extent and timing of involvement of designers in NPD. Different types and intensities of relationships were observed. For example, constant dyadic communication facilitated intense relationships where typical design briefs were extremely informal. However, an asymmetry in consultancy-client relationship, provoking vulnerability and internal tension, was uncovered. This revealed the transitional ground that the studio currently inhabits. This study charts in detail a move by a well-established design consultancy to take greater ‘ownership’ of NPD. In shaping this process, the constellation of the designer-client relationship is critical. A model of designer-client involvement in NPD, hinging around project classification and designer input, is developed. This model is predicated on three important insights from the research: (i) a broadened designer remit; (ii) extensive and early NPD involvement on the part of designers; and (iii) increased ownership of the NPD process by the consultancy designers. As the design profession transitions, as designers increasingly sell a greater range of expertise and provide greater value to clients, it is suggested that the model provides relevant insight to both design consultancies and client firms in the NPD process.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the felt need for new products in organizations, the nature of the new product development (NPD) discipline, and the usefulness of NPD education, in order to show the importance of the paper's analysis of the dearth of NPD courses in AACSB‐accredited schools. It seeks to offer suggested changes for both academics and practitioners.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis of AACSB‐accredited institutions' online catalogs determined a scarcity of NPD courses. Z‐tests and t‐tests revealed some differences among the types of schools offering NPD courses.FindingsThere is a scarcity of NPD courses, with only 9 percent of schools offering one. Regarding the likelihood of offering a NPD course, no differences were found between public and private schools or between doctoral‐ and non‐doctoral‐granting schools. Comparing schools offering and not offering a NPD course, no difference was discovered in the number of marketing courses available, number of marketing electives available, and number of full‐time marketing faculty.Research limitations/implicationsAnalysis was based on catalog titles and course descriptions; specific course content was not ascertained. Hence, courses including significant NPD content might remain unidentified. This descriptive research only speculates on reasons for the paucity of NPD courses. Additional research should determine influences on educators to offer a NPD course and identify specific actions to increase the adoption of NPD courses. A number of recommendations for overcoming impediments to instituting NPD courses are offered.Originality/valueThis is the first study to empirically verify the low availability of NPD courses and to recommend rectifying courses of action for both academics and NPD practitioners.

New product development (NPD) is essential for business success and growth. High- to medium-technology manufacturing sectors have introduced standard models. The adaptation of these systematic NPD procedures supported by appropriate decision support tools has provided significant benefits in production cost, product quality and supply chain availability. However, the challenges involved in NPD of food are rapidly increasing due to consumer demand for organic and healthy diets, in particular, more nutritious low-calorie food, and preference for customised and personalised food products. This has resulted in a proliferation of new varieties, types and shapes of food products that are constantly introduced. Most of these new products are developed based on company-specific ad hoc NPD procedures, within small to medium enterprises that form the biggest proportion of food producers in most developed countries. This highlights a need for further research into novel NPD methods and tools in the food sector. This communication provides an overview of the NPD processes, analyses their strengths and shortcomings and outlines critical missing capabilities for food manufacturers in specific.

New product development (NPD) is widely recognized as an important source of being a competitive advantage. It can bring considerable returns to an organization but can also be considered a risky process, such as making wrong decisions in the project selection or suffer consequences from using inexperienced project teams. This study aims to develop a risk management model to help NPD teams in managing risks with their projects. The conceptual framework is developed from three sources of publications; systematic literature review of academic research during year 2002-2012, the project management body of knowledge from a professional association and the international standards related to risk management. The model consists of risk identification and the risk analysis process to use for the prioritization of risk factors. Thirty-nine risk factors were identified during the study and the risk breakdown structure (RBS) for food NPD with twenty risk categories have been developed and used for risk identification. The model has been validated by four case studies of NPD projects in the food industry of Thailand. The major risks found in these case studies were the quality of raw materials, trade barriers for export, understanding of customer requirements, inconsistency of raw material costs, communication problems between R&D and the manufacturing team, NPD team knowledge in project management, human resource constraints and product formulation for scale-up.Refined risk assessment models have been used to develop risk assessment tool, consisting of risk identification by RBS and a risk checklist, and risk analysis by fuzzy inference systems. Some suggestions for risk response strategies have been studied and discussed in this research. This integrated tool can be further developed and commercialized as suggested in a business plan to use by NPD teams as a roadmap and process work-flow for risk management of a NPD project in the food industry. The user acceptance test for prototype of a risk assessment tool from research showed results of a 90.5% acceptance rate by users in the NPD team.

Managing for variety in the order acquisition and fulfilment process: The contribution of product configuration systems

This study explores the relationship between the level of e-Branding and the Development of new products or services through regression analysis.The results show an extremely strong and statistically significant connection between these factors.Specifically, each increase in the level of e-Branding leads to a proportional increase in the level of Development of new products or services, with an estimate coefficient of (0.89) and a p-value of less than (0.0001).The high t-value (33.70) and standardized beta coefficient (0.897) indicate that the level of e-Branding is a key factor in predicting the level of Development of new products or services in the market, while the VIF value (1) eliminates the possibility of multicollinearity.These results underline the importance of the level of e-Branding in modern business and suggest that companies actively investing in digital marketing strategies, such as social media, SEO, and e-commerce, are more likely to achieve market success.The study provides valuable insights for managers and marketing professionals, highlighting the need for the continuous development of e-Branding as a fundamental tool for improving market position and competitiveness in the Development of new products or services.

New product development (NPD) is one of the important operations for the sustainable company, and the performance of NPD is a very serious concern for the company profit making. Properly evaluating NPD project performance could greatly benefit the NPD process. During NPD, design changes from inside or outside of the project team will have great influences on the project performance. The negative influences of those changes on performance could be reduced through proper project management actions. This thesis performs a case study analyzing operating data and the influencing factors in different NPD projects to provide reference for future NPD project practices. The main outcomes of the study include the need for the combined considerations on the source and content of design change, the project type, and the stage of project while researching the relationship between design change and project performance. In addition, properly implementing project management actions including communication and coordination, knowledge and problem solving, and organization management abilities could reduce the negative influences of the design change on project performance during NPD.

Since 1990, the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) has sponsored best practice research projects to identify trends in new product development (NPD) management practices and to discern which practices are associated with higher degrees of success. The objective of this ongoing research is to assist managers in determining how to improve their own product development methods and practices. This paper presents results, recommendations, and implications for NPD practice stemming from PDMA's third best practices study, which was conducted in 2003. In the eight years since the previous best practices study was conducted, firms have become slightly more conservative in the portfolio of projects, with lower percentages of the total number of projects in the new‐to‐the‐world and new‐to‐the‐firm categories. Although success rates and development efficiencies have remained stable, this more conservative approach to NPD seems to have negatively impacted the sales and profits impact of the new products that have been commercialized. As formal processes for NPD are now the norm, attention is moving to managing the multiple projects across the portfolio in a more orchestrated manner. Finally, firms are implementing a wide variety of software support tools for various aspects of NPD. NPD areas still seriously in need of improved management include idea management, project leadership and training, cross‐functional training and team communication support, and innovation support and leadership by management. In terms of aspects of NPD management that differentiate the “best from the rest,” the findings indicate that the best firms emphasize and integrate their innovation strategy across all the levels of the firm, better support their people and team communications, conduct extensive experimentation, and use numerous kinds of new methods and techniques to support NPD. All companies appear to continue to struggle with the recording of ideas and making them readily available to others in the organization, even the best. What remains unclear is whether there is a preferable approach for organizing the NPD endeavor, as no one organizational approach distinguished top NPD performers.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical investigation on the new product development (NPD) practices in Indian manufacturing industries. The NPD best practices constructs are identified from the literature and then an effort have been made to statistically establish the underlying principal components of NPD practices by checking their reliability and validity for the case of Indian manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach – In all, 96 NPD best practices constructs are identified from literature articles published between 1998 and 2009. Principal component analysis (PCA) is conducted to establish the seven components of NPD practices. Cronbach's α values are computed to measure internal consistency or reliability of the established components of NPD practices. Further, confirmatory factor analysis is conducted on the established measurement model to test a hypothesized factor structure through construct validity, convergent validity and divergent validity. Findings – The PCA of NPD best practices identified the seven underlying components (latent variables) namely “NPD strategy,” “NPD support system,” “product portfolio management,” “NPD team,” “NPD tools,” “product launch” and “concept generation.” In NPD strategy, Indian manufacturing companies are highly inclined toward cost reduction, cycle time reduction, competitive advantage and fast follower strategies. All NPD support system constructs are information technology dependent tools which require hardware, software and databases to support it. Indian manufacturing organizations are fundamentally concentrating on right balance of portfolio through improvements in the current products, cost reduction and additions to existing lines by using modular architectures and the reliable and valid NPD tools are FMEA, six sigma/quality management, DFMA/DF’X and QFD. Originality/value – To the best of the author's knowledge, this research represents the first attempt to investigate empirically the NPD practices in Indian manufacturing industry.

The strongest correlate of new product success is understanding of market requirements early in the new product development (NPD) process. This is true in high technology environments where rapid change and chaotic market conditions prevail. Although a firm's salesforce is viewed as one of many sources of new product ideas and market information, the involvement of salespeople in NPD activities varies widely across firms. This study examines salesforce involvement in a firm's NPD predevelopment activities, i.e. idea generation and screening, preliminary market assessment, and concept evaluation. Because of the limits of existing research in this area, a two-phase research design was used. The first phase developed a scale for measuring salesforce involvement in NPD predevelopment activities. This scale was incorporated into a study model. The second phase tested the study model, a linkage of salesperson involvement level to organization and individual salesperson attributes. The scale-development sample consisted of 136 sales professionals. The resulting scale was a nineteen item, multi-dimensional measure incorporating three factors of involvement: involvement initiated by the salesperson, involvement initiated by NPD-Organization, and a salesperson's cognitive interest in NPD involvement. In the second phase of the study, a sample of 248 salespeople from nineteen companies completed self-administered written surveys. At the organization attribute level, the length of the NPD cycle was significantly associated with involvement subscale measures. In particular, the longer a firm's NPD cycle for product improvements, the less involvement the salesforce has in NPD-headquarters initiated involvement activities. A similar significant relationship exists between a firm's new product cycle time and the level of involvement in salesforce-initiated NPD predevelopment activities. At the study model's salesperson level, a series of factors were associated to NPD team-initiated and salesforce-initiated involvement subscales. These factors are a salesperson's: customer orientation, location distance from NPD, level of feedback from NPD, membership on NPD teams, knowledge of where to send NPD-related information, and belief that information communicated to NPD will be appropriately used. Study findings suggest that organizations can affect the degree of involvement that their salesforce or individual salespeople has in early phases of NPD.

Product design is a knowledge intensive activity and unstructured decision-making process; designers must make correct decision according to a great amount of uncertain information for a successful product development. That leads to the unsuccessful rate of new product development (NPD) is higher than 30%. This article is a contribution to a new decision-making method based on multiple neural networks for NPD from the early stage of product development. First, we describe an evaluation index system which considering every aspect for NPD. Then, how to apply the rough set theory to simplify the index system is described. Thirdly, according the complexity of NPD decision-making, the technology of multiple neural network (MNN) is proposed to support NPD decision-making, and the MNN structure of NPD decision-making is described. Finally, the core of MNN application for NPD decision-making is highlighted.

The following case study evaluates the New Product Development (NPD) techniques utilized by Forest City Technologies, Incorporated (FCT). Through insight gathered via interviews conducted with the company's product development and materials purchasing management teams, and supported by literature, this study attempts to show how Forest City Technologies, Inc. integrates specific components into its product development process to: 1. Meet its NPD goals, and 2. Achieve better supplier and customer relationships. This study focuses on the components of: NPD models employed by FCT, early customer and supplier involvement, NPD-innovation integration techniques, demand change factors during the NPD process, and risk-mitigation strategies implemented by FCT during the NPD process. The study is segmented into three main sections: Introduction to NPD and FCT, the components of FCTs new product development process, and NPD implications on FCTs supplier and customer relationships.