transforming innovation concepts into an outcome ph d_v_basile
DESCRIPTION
“Transforming innovation concepts into an outcome”: Analysis of New Product Development process case studies in ICT Industry. Despite the fact that innovation is considered critical to success in business today, often even profitable and modern companies are not designed to aim to unlock the value contained within innovations. Indeed frequently it is not clear how a particular organization can articulate and embed the necessary behaviour patterns, structures and processes needed to make good-practice New Product Development (NPD) work. This thesis studies the NPD process, specifically addressing the case of the ICT industry. The purpose is to gain insight into the activities leading to successful new products, developing an understanding of the success factors characterizing the process and recognizing how the practical stages enable the transformation of a product innovation into a concrete outcome. Starting from the Schumpeter approach, the research question aims to address the following research question: “How can the NPD process be modelled from the origin to the outcome phase?”. The applied methodology draws on the existing innovation and NPD literature, identifying the main NPD conceptual models, and supporting the research through two case studies to give real knowledge and concreteness to the study. The final output of this work is to outline a new NPD process taking into account the collected evidence.TRANSCRIPT
Seconda Università degli studi di Napoli
Facoltà di Economia
Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in
Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione
“Transforming innovation concepts into
an outcome”: Analysis of New Product
Development process case studies in
ICT Industry
Student: Vincenzo Basile
Tutor Prof. F. Izzo
XXV Ciclo - Settore scientifico disciplinare SECS-P/08 – 2010/2012
2Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
1 Introduction - Research Objectives
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Case Studies
5 Cross Case Synthesis & Findings
6 Conclusions
Contents
3Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Many companies struggle to obtain the desired outco mes in the innovation process
Source: The Global Innovation 1000 - Why Culture Is Key, Booz&co
1 Introduction – Innovation importance
To maintain consistent and effective competitive ad vantages a firm should know how to adopt and use a structured innovation processes
2010 Top Innovators Key Findings
A. There is no statistically significant relationship
between financial performance and innovation
spending , in terms of either total R&D dollars or R&D
as a percentage of revenues*.
B. The BCG Innovation survey (2005) states that over
half the respondents reported their company as being
weak or very weak in bringing innovations to
fruition, or realizing the value contained within
innovation
1
2
3
4
Innovation Ranking
R&D Spending Ranking
70th
34th
86th
32th
4Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Focus of this study is to gain insight into the activities leading to s uccessful new products, developing an understanding of the succes s factors characterizing the process and recognizing how the practical stages enable the transformation of a product innovation into a concrete outcome - Chapter 1
1 Research Objectives – Goals of the study
� Modeling the path of innovation , in particular the NPD process , through the
event sequence from inception to completion or abandonmen t, identifying
any patterns or common practices that typify and identify the management of
transforming innovation.
� Determining any patterns and practices associated with successful, value-creating outcomes in the NPD process in the ICT ind ustry , with special focus on:
– the idea generation process
– the NPD business process, conceived as a high level overview of the NPD process involving the whole company to get the product to the market
NPD process
Successfulpatterns
and practices
Introduction - Chapter 1
5Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Literature Review - Chapter 2 Methodology - Chapter 3
Case Studies and significant findings - Chapter 4/5
� What is meant by innovation ?
� Which forms of innovation have been identified?
� How is NPD process developed?
� Which supports and barriers to implement
NPD innovations literature pinpoints?
� Which type of research analysis has been utilized?
� How the research analysis has been performed?
� Which NPD business processes have been identified?
� Which supports and barriers have been identified in the companies?
� Which commonalities and differences have been identified in the case studies?
The following questions will be addressed in the ne xt sections
1 Research Objectives – Question addressed
AddressedQuestions
Conclusions - Chapter 6
6Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
1 Introduction - Research Objectives
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Case Studies
5 Cross Case Synthesis & Findings
6 Conclusions
Contents
7Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Three main areas of study have been objective of in vestigation through literature
Innovation New Product Development (NPD)Methodology of research
� Christensen, C. introduced the idea of disruptive technologies and disruptive innovation to a generation of managers (The Innovator's Dilemma, 1997)
� Hansen, M. & Birkinshaw J. introduced the innovation value chain concept (The Innovation Value Chain, 2007. Harvard Business Review)
� Drucker, P., Tidd J. and Bessant J. for their work on innovation and entrepreneurship (Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 1987 & 2007)
� Porter M . famed for its core competency on competitiveness and company strategy (The Competitive Advantage of Nations, 1990)
� Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. for their work on organizational core competencies (Competing for the future, 1994)
� Cooper, R.G. & Edgett, S. as the world’s foremost experts in the field of product innovation (Stage-gate systems: a new tool for managing new products, 1990; Portfolio management for new products, 2002)
� Takeuchi, H., & Nonaka, I. for their work on different approaches on the management of new product development (The new new product development game, 1986)
� Trott, P. as author of a book on innovation management and new product development (Innovation management and new product development, 2008)
� Schilling, M. A., & Hill, C. W. for their contribution on the new product development process (Managing the new product development process: strategic imperatives, 1998)
� Yin, R. K. for its comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the case study method -- from problem definition and design to data analysis and reporting (Case Study Research - Design And Methods, 1984; Applications of case study research: Applied social research methods series, 1993)
� Stake, R. E. for its studies on case study research and qualitative data analysis (Qualitative case studies, 2005)
� George, A. L., & Bennett, A. for their research programmes on the use of case studies to build and test theories in social sciences (Case studies and theory development in the social sciences, 2007)
� Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., & Mead, M.for their articles on case research strategy and qualitative methods (The case research strategy in studies of information systems, 1987)
� Baxter, P., & Jack, S. for their article on study design and implementation of qualitative case studies (Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers, 2008)
2 Literature Review – Areas of investigation
Scope of Research
Reference Framework – Main Authors
8Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Innovation meaning and forms have been extensively explored
Source: Schilling, M. A., & Hill, C. W. (1998). Managing the new product development process: strategic imperatives
2 Literature Review – Definition of Innovation
Innovation Forms
Innovation Definition
“Innovation can be defined as a process that provide s added value and a degree of novelty to the organization and its suppliers and customers through the development of new procedures, solutions,
products and services as well as new methods of com mercialization ”
(McFadzean, O’Loughlin & Shaw; 2005).
IncrementalInnovation
Radical Innovation
Services
Degree of Tangibility
Degree of Customer Contact
Processes
Product
According to degree of tangibility and the degree of customer contact
According to innovation impact
9Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Formal new product processes involving new ways to manage, control and measure new product programs have been extensively discusse d in literature
2 Literature Review – NPD process in literature
New Product Process : a formal blueprint, roadmap, template or thought process for driving a new product project from the idea stage through to market launch and beyond.
The first generation NPD Process Stage-Gate Systems1 2
� Developed by NASA in the 1960s, the PPP (phased project planning ), today often called Phased Review Process, is an elaborate and detailed scheme for working with contractors and suppliers on various space projects
� PPP broke development into discrete phases : funding for the next phase was conditional to the fact that certain prerequisites had been met
� Methodology designed to ensure that the project was proceeding as it should
� Designed to deal solely with technical risks and not on the entire process from idea to launch
� Stage-gate systems recognized that product innovation is a process
� Applied process-management methodologies to the innovation process
� The process is sub divided into a number of stages or work stations. Between each work station or stage, there is a quality control checkpoint or gate
� A set of deliverables is specified for each gate , as is a set of quality criteria that the product must pass before moving to the next work station
� Information about the new product becomes better and better, so risk is managed.
Source: Cooper, R. (1994) Third-generation new product processes
10Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Standard stage gate system may be used as point of departure for custom processes
2 Literature Review – Stage Gate model
Initial Screen
Second Screen
Decision on Business Case
Post-Development
Review
Pre-Commercialization Business Analysis
Preliminary Assessment
Detailed Investigation (Business Case)
DevelopmentTesting & Validation
Full Production & Market Launch
Stages
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Gates
Post Implementation
Review
Initial Screen & Preliminary Assessment
Second Screen & Detailed Investigation
Business Case & Development
Post dev. Review & Testing and Validation
Business Analysis & Market Launch
1 2 3 4 5
� First decision to commit resources to the project
� Strategic assessment of the opportunity (market value, technical feasibility etc.)
� Financial criteria are not part of this first screen
� The stage prior to heavy spending
� Includes market research, competitive analysis and concept testing
� A detailed technical appraisal must focus on the "do-ability" of the project
� The results of the financial analysis are an important part of this screen
� A number of key items must be agreed such as target market, product concept and positioning
� Outcome is the product development
� Check on continued attractiveness of the product and project
� Tests the entire viability of the project: the product itself; the production process; customer acceptance; and the economics of the project
� This final gate opens the door to full commercialization: financial projections play a key decisional role
� Passed the gate it involves implementation of both the mktg and the operations plan
Stage-Gate Systems Model
Source: Cooper, R. (1994) Third-generation new product processes
Idea
11Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
The effectiveness and efficiency of the new product development depends on five strategic issues to be addressed
2 Literature Review – NPD Strategic issues
Organizational Context
Teams
ToolsTechnology
Strategy
Process
Successful NPD Outcome
Innovation Management
Identify, develop, and nurture those technologies that will be crucial for the long run competitive position of the company
Develop a context aimed at reducing innovation production cycle time and achieving a fit between customer requirements and new product
Focusing on the right process solutions through:• Appropriate project valuation
mechanisms• Development of process schemes• The involvement of customers and
suppliers in the development process
Create teams to increase the likelihood of project success:• Match structure to project type• Include a diverse range of
functions• Match team leader attributes to
type of team
Use the available tools to expedite the NPD process and maximize the product's fit with customer requirements
Source: 1) Schilling, M. A., & Hill, C. W. (1998). Managing the new product development process: strategic imperatives 2) Internal elaborations
12Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
1 Introduction - Research Objectives
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Case Studies
5 Cross Case Synthesis & Findings
6 Conclusions
Contents
13Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Multiple case studies and qualitative research meth ods are considered appropriate models to approach specific issues and develop deep under standing of a certain phenomena
� Social science research uses case studies for
organizational studies (Kohlbacher, 2005) as they
facilitate a better understanding of (company) culture
and values: the influence of less tangible
aspects.
� A group of cases is studied and enables the
researcher to explore differences within and
between cases. The goal is to replicate findings
across cases
� Through case studies data from multiple sources are
collected, analyzed, compared and summarized,
allowing an holistic view of a certain phenomenon
Case Studies
3 Methodology – Research models
� Qualitative research methods utilizes experience
and interpretation of events by actors with widely
differing stakes and roles
� Qualitative research methods are valuable in
providing rich descriptions of complex
phenomena
� The literature indicates that is worth using qualitative
methods when the phenomenon is not well known
or understood with the aim of generating new
theories
� The use of a quantitative approach was
considered a limitation as collection of statistical
and numerical data would not provide the critical
descriptive detail required for this study
Qualitative Research
14Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Multiple case study strategy and protocol developme nt are typically based on a three stage process
Source: Yin, R. K., “Case Study Research”, 2003b, p. 50
Methodology Overview
Developtheory
Select cases and
design data collection protocol
ConductCase Study
1
Conduct Case Study
2
Write individual
case reports
Write individual
case reports
Draw cross-case
conclusions
Modify theory
& Develop policy
implications
1 2
3.1
3.2
4.1
4.2
5 6
A. Design
B. Fieldwork &
Analysis
C. Conclusions
3 Methodology – Overview
� Develop theory : build a consistent framework from an extensive literature and documents
� Select cases and design data collection protocol : select companies and the procedures for executing investigations
� Conduct case studies: use semi-structured questions carefully designed to provide adequate coverage for the purpose of the research.
� Write individual case reports , reviewing all relevant documents and all interview/survey data
� Draw cross-case conclusions , analyzing similarities and differences between cases and listing similarities and differences.
� Modify theory and develop policy implications utilizing provided information to verify hypothesis and refining theory.
1
2
3
4
5
6
15Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
The case study has been constructed through the use a semi-structured interviews with key personnel of the firm
3 Methodology – Interviews
To reinforce the use qualitative methods, standardi zation techniques and consistency checks have been performed during the research
Interviews
� Explicit data were gathered using semi-structured interviews conducted with key personnel involved with innovation activity in each company
� This approach has been chosen rather than a structured because it offers adequate flexibility to approach diverse respondents differently while still covering the same areas of data collection
� Literature (Tellis, 1997; Umit, 2005; Yin, 2004) advocates open-ended questions in the interviews facilitating free discussion and suggests its use when it is desirable to know what is being thought by people and if the ideas are intricate or problematic to express
� Literature emphases the significance of interviews needing to be reliable, consistent and have validity, with questions structured and responses collected in order to provide effective information for the purpose of the study
� Known as “elite interviewing ” (Marshall & Rossman, 1999), starting with each company’s most senior person gave access to the overall knowledge of the company’s innovational activities
� The suggested employees were considered suitable by the senior person as having extensive involvement witheach company’s innovation realization processes
16Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Two company of the ICT industry have been selected as case study reference
3 Methodology – Criteria for company selection
� A sector recognized as both innovation-aware and innovation-driven was requested for this research
� ICT was chosen because innovation is regarded as a critical requirement for operating in the industry’s rapidly changing environment
� Competitive forces are felt more keenly than in some other industries with innovative activity at the forefront of management actions in ICT firms.
Industry Selection
Criteria for Companies Selection
Companies Overview
� The companies were selected through information available in the public domain (media releases, industry resources) as demonstrating successful innovation activities
� The companies chosen for this study exhibit NPD innovation practices , indicating that innovation systems of some form exist in the organizations
� The selection of two companies as an appropriate number allowed for some variation (similarities and differences) within the scope of the study and within the time constraints
� The two companies are all technology-based , yet provide similar services and do not compete with each other, operating in different countries
� The two companies who agreed to be case study subjects are all privately owned
� The two companies are perceived as successful members of the technology industry
� The companies demonstrate relevance to the general industry rather than being unique or extraordinary, supporting replicability and generalization
17Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
The methodology and its application have some short comings to be considered
3 Methodology – Limitations of Research
Limitations of Methodology Research
� The scope of this study was delimited to two companies that have established innovation-to-outcome systems in the
ICT industry. Although multi-case studies are considered more robust than single cases, the selection of two has to be
considered as a minor sample potentially reducing general applicability
� This industry was expressly selected as providing indicators to innovatively successful companies as innovation
agility is a pre-requisite for continuing growth in this highly competitive environment
� The employment of the ICT industry and its distinct nuances may limit generalization to companies outside of the
industry
� Qualitative data are subjective to researcher bias , as are interviews . The assumed limitation of qualitative
methods is that they presumably allow more room for the researcher’s subjective and arbitrary judgment. They are
often seen as less rigorous than quantitative approaches are.
18Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
1 Introduction - Research Objectives
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Case Studies
5 Cross Case Synthesis & Findings
6 Conclusions
Contents
19Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
An italian and a british company were choosed for t he case studies
4 Case Studies – Selected Companies
� One of the top mobile telecommunications companies in Italy, offering the full range of telecommunications services
� A leading actor in introducing multimedia services in the Italian market
Company Overview
Company Key Numbers
Interviewed People
Company A Company B
� Established in 2002
� Firm’s turnover in excess of $2 billion
� More than 2.000 employees
� The General director
� The CTO (Chief Technology Officer)
� The Marketing director.
� A UK company operating in the mobile telecommunication industry
� Developed the first commercial UK video mobile network
� Voted as Best Network for Mobile Broadband in a survey more than once
� Established in 2003
� Firm’s turnover in excess of $2 billion
� More than 1.500 employees
� The Senior Marketing manager
� The ICT development manager
� A project manager
20Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
From the idea generation the NPD process selection follows a sequence of steps to identify:
� If the project is worth of concept refining and if the high level business case holds
� which process typology utilize (Fast Track, Rapid Adjustment of Full NPD) before detailing the business case
� different approval responsibilities according to the required investments
Idea Generation
Idea Sharing
Manager Approval
Concept Refining
High Level Business Case
Yes
No
No Yes
Incremental
Radical
Fast Track RequiringNon
Fast Track Requiring
Fast Track
Rapid Adjustment
Full NPD
Detailed Business Case
Board Approval
No
> 200 k€investment
Yes
Manager Approval
No
No
Implement
Yes
Implement
Yes
4 Case Studies – Company A NPD Process Selection
The NPD selection process addresses different proce sses according to the deeper analysis needed for different kind of innovations a nd consequences on the company
NPD Process Selection
NPD Process Typologies
Full NPD Rapid Adjustment Fast Track
The complete process used for the introduction of new products and radical NPD
innovations
A simplification of the NPD Full process, used for new
products utilizing yet existing platforms
The process for urgent new products requiring shorter
time development
21Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
From the idea generation the NPD process selection follows a sequence of steps to identify:
� If the project is worth of a concept refining and if the high level business case holds
� which process typology utilize (Basic NPD, Resource Requiring and Radical Impact) according to the required investments
� different approval responsibilities according to the required investments
4 Case Studies – Company B NPD Process Selection
Company B NPD selection process addresses different processes according to the required investments and impacts on the company
NPD Process Selection
NPD Process Typologies
Basic NPDResource Requiring
A simplified process involving NPD incremental activities
requiring limited investments
A slightly simplified process involving mostly NPD
incremental activitiesrequiring up to Euro 300,000
Basic NPD
Idea Generation
Idea Sharing
Manager Approval
Concept Refining
High Level Business Case
Yes
No
No
Resource Requiring Radical Impact
Yes
> 30 k€investment
Manager Approval
No
Implement
No Yes
Detailed Business Case
Executive Board
Implement
No Yes
ShareholdersApproval
Implement
No Yes
> 300 k€investment
No
Yes
Radical Impact
For the introduction of completely new products or
radical innovations requiring more than Euro 300,000
22Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
1 Introduction - Research Objectives
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Case Studies
5 Cross Case Synthesis & Findings
6 Conclusions
Contents
23Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
• NPD typology• Top Management
Prioritization
Company A Company B
Process SelectionRatio
Investment Threshold
Detailed Business Case Timing
Process Selection Responsibility
• < € 200,000• > € 200,000
• < € 30,000• > € 30,000 and < 300.000€• > € 300,000
• After the process selection
• Before the process selection (except Basic NPD)
• NPD typology vs. investment required
• Functional Manager • Board of Directors
• Functional Manager • Executive Board• Shareholders
5 Case Studies & Findings – NPD Process Selection Comparison
NPD Process Selection Comparison
Differences in NPD Process Selection of the two com panies exist in all the four categories highlighted
24Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
NPD Business Process Comparison
5 Case Studies & Findings – NPD Business Process Comparison
Both companies have three NPD process typologies de spite organized differently according to NPD typology
RadicalNPD
IncrementalNPD
Ful
l NP
D
Fas
t Tra
ck
Rap
id
Adj
ustm
ent
Company Aprocess typology
Fast Track is used for prioritized new products
Rad
ical
Res
ourc
e R
equi
ring
Bas
ic
Company Bprocess typology
Economical thresholds do not strictly determine selection
between RR and Radical NPDClarifications:
NP
D ty
polo
gy
� The figure illustrates the different typologies of innovation each process addresses
� Different kind of process may be used as a risk management tool to face different expected impacts on the company
� Both companies consider also the possibility to introduce 3rd Parties products or their involvement in the process,
25Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Concept Definition
Product reqand
feasibility
Tech analysisand
planning
System Analysis and dev
Integration testing
Commercial Roll out
Ideation, concept and requirements creation
Product Development
Opportunity/Idea
Req, Feasibility and planning definition
Development & Test
Marketing Trial &
Full Scale Launch
Idea & Concept Development Product Development
Concept/ Macro
Planning
Com
pany
A
Com
pany
B
NPD Business Process Comparison
5 Case Studies & Findings – NPD Business Process Comparison (1/3)
The number and division of the activities of the NP D business process sub phases is a possible but not relevant source of differentiation between the two companies
2 sub phases in the initial part of the process for
company B
2 sub phases in the concept development
and requirement definition for company A
Sub phases
Sub phases
vs.
2 sub phases in the Product Development for the company B: different division of the activities
6
5
+
In house activities
26Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Com
pany
A
Det
aile
d P
roce
ss
Com
pany
B
Det
aile
d P
roce
ss
Com
pany
A
Det
aile
d P
roce
ss
Also governance and operational responsibilities pr esent mismatches between the two companies
5 Case Studies & Findings – NPD Business Process Comparison (2/3)C
ompa
ny A
D
etai
led
Pro
cess
Distinctive Characteristics of the Business processes
Project manager
Project review board*
Project sponsor
Opp./ IdeaConcept/
Macro planningRequirements, Feasibility and Planning
Definition
Product Req. Doc
(PRD)
Proj def doc
(PDD)Project delivery manager
Dev Team (BA IT)
Go/No go
Req. definition
Det. Project
planning
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Go/ No go
Req. analysis
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Macro planning
up to DB3
Proj init doc
(PID)
Go/No go
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Other functions
Sys analysis & high level
design
Dev and testing
SRSSDS
Product dev manager (Mktg)
Product brief
Development&Test
Internal trial
Integr testing
Market trial & Full Scale Launch
Customer trial
D&B1 D&B2 D&B3 D&B4 D&B5
Go/ No go
Go/ No go
*In the D&B1 NPD Process Selection rules apply
∼4 weeks(cumulative: 6 weeks)
∼4 weeks(cumul: 10 weeks)
∼2 weeks ∼10 weeks(cumul: 20 weeks)
∼2 weeks(cumul: 22 weeks)
∼3 weeks(cumul: 25 weeks)
Product &Services
Marketing/web studio
Other ITA Functions (Legal, Regulatory, Admin, CRM, Sales…)
CTO:Services, IT, Network,Terminals
Go/No go
Review board
Concept definition Product req and feasibility
Concept (PDB)
Project Sponsor
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Go/No go
Tech analysis and
planning
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Approvedoc
Proj def doc
(PDD)+ Bus case
Conceptfeasible?
Gate 3: strategic and financial attractiveness; resources
availability according to the planning; project score
Gate 2: requirements stability, product feasibility and High Level Bus Case
attractiveness
Proj Initiation
Doc
Gate 1: strategic and tech fit; gross margin; resources for analysis.
Decide process
Go/No go
Det.Tech. Analysis
Sys. analysis, dev & internal testing
Integration Testing
Commercial roll-out
SRSSDS
Internal test
Product SW Integration
testReady?
Approve
Go/No go
Gate 4: readiness for commercial roll-out;
consistency with concept and focus groups feedback
Contact center
doc
Content provider
Commercial plan
Launch?
Gate 5: readiness for launch
Draft Content
Final Content
User Acceptance
Test
Media plan; brochure
Product plan
Approvedoc
Demo
Mock-up & focus groups Approve
storyb
Analysis
Analysis
Business case
Product req
(PRD)
Storyboard
The full range of governance and operational responsibilities described in the previous section present some differences between the companies:
� Project review board : company A has two different board arrangements depending on which gate of the NPD process is; differently company B has the same board for all gates. Additionally Company B board meets regularly (weekly appointment) for projects updates.
� Project Sponsor : In the company A this role is held by the Marketing department while for company B it is performed by the Product & Services function. In the first and in the last Gate in the company A the sponsor has the responsibility for the Go/ No Go of the new product development/ launch on the market.
� Project Manager : In the company A it is a person of the Product & Services with the responsibility for the end to end project management of the initiative; in the company B the project manager is the head of the project team, and belongs to the function mainly responsible for the execution of the product innovation (Tech./P&S)
27Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
According to interviews the overall commonalities a bout success factors and obstacles overcame differences between the two comp anies
5 Case Studies & Findings – NPD Business Process Comparison (3/3)
Differences Commonalities
� Company A prioritizes the Innovation process
� Company A has the capability of allowing the parallelizing of development activities
� Company B is focused on financial measurement
� Company B is more focused on Portfolio management
� Presence of a structured technology strategy
� Perceived flexibility to different NPD needs
� Company values , necessary to stimulate openness of communication
� Capacity to prepare and plan the upfront activities
� The importance of quality in the development, aiming at differentiated and superior products
� The need for a champion in resource demanding or complex innovations
Similar issues with barriers overall, despite isolated cases regarding:
� Company A too confident attitude towards complex problems which could lead to wrong estimations or extra work
� Possible bottleneck or delay to define the Project Manager (functional organization) for Company B
� Existence of too many projects and not enough resources . This could outline a generalized lack in the capacity of the two companies in fixing priorities
� Too Hurry . This, like the former, could be caused by strategy management issues, as well as from management practices
Suc
cess
Fac
tors
Obs
tacl
es
28Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Important findings may be highlighted following the case studies on the two companies
5 Case Studies & Findings – Key Findings
Key Findings
� Results reveal that the case study companies have similar types of NPD innovation systems and patterns
� Monetary threshold are used as guidelines to address the innovation approval responsibilities
� Well defined governance roles (for the NPD project selection and approval responsibilities) provide greater control on
projects and structured decision points
� The importance of access to decision makers and culture open to innovation are recurring features to unlock new
value
� High level business case may permit quick decisions in case of minor product innovations
� The use of dedicated cross-functional task forces is a good workaround solution when timeliness is critical, as well
as fast prototyping methodologies
� Both companies have arranged their process to enable the introduction of 3rd parties in the new product development
29Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
1 Introduction - Research Objectives
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
4 Case Studies
5 Cross Case Synthesis & Findings
6 Conclusions
Contents
30Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
A framework for successful patterns and practices managing NPD innovation is drafted subsequently to literature and case studies analysis
6 Conclusions – Emerging NPD Process
Emerging successful patterns and practices in NPD P rocess
Technology Strategy
Organizational Context
Process Teams Tools
Suc
cess
Fac
tors
to
be
inco
rpor
ated
�Strategy in accordance to point of strength and marketing needs
�Seek differentiated and superior products
�Plan and resource market launch
�A defined a Governance board should govern and control the long term new product innovation
�Simplify the governance for “easy” products
�Keep the innovation instinct
� Involve customers and suppliers
�Appropriate project management structure
�Different typologies of NPD business process for different innovational impacts and specific needs
�Use parallel stages� Implement Fuzzy
gates� Invest your time in
preparation
� Implement cross-functional team working
� Involve Decision Makers in the teams
�Allow the use of task forces to fast track the development activities
�A New Product Committee should produce an operational plan
� Involvement of executive champions
Implement:� Rapid prototyping � Decision making
tools and to transform user demands into better processes and products
� Software for the NPD process facilitation
31Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Purpose of this study was to gain empirical evidenc e on how the NPD process transforms innovational concepts from origin to out come
6 Conclusions
� Investigated various literature on the innovation subject
� Dedicated a major focus to the NPD processes literature
� Introduced success factors and existing obstacles to a successful NPD
Literature Review Chapter 2
� Explored the qualitative methodologies utilized for the case studies
� Provided a theoretical framework for the analysis, describing the rationale used for interviews, company selection, data gathering
� Presented results of interviews and analysis, described the NPD systems used by companies, the detailed processes and the key influences
� Outlined the key findings resulting from the case studies
� Provided successful patterns and practices managing NPD innovation
Methodology Chapter 3
Case Studies and significant findings Chapter 4/5
App
roac
h A
dopt
ed
Future areas of Improvement
� From structured process to NPD smart System , allowing conditional, situational, and focused decisions
� Major recurrence to NPD Process Outsourcing and Externalization
� NPD process informatization
Suggestions for Further Research
� Similar analysis on firms of different industries� Including the laggards in the NPD process analysis
� Evaluation of innovational performance over time after the introduction of structured NPD process
� Understanding the levers to maintain the innovative capabilities while implementing operational improvements
32Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca in Imprenditorialità ed Innovazione – Vincenzo Basile
Thank You