Mapping the strategic objectives between new product development and product design in Taiwan's information industry

Abstract

This study explores the strategic groups developed from the new product development strategies of various firms in the Taiwanese information industry. The product design strategies of the surveyed companies and the mappings the strategic objectives between product design and new product development are discussed. Based on the questionnaire survey and interviews, in terms of the new product development strategy for dealing with global marketing competition, enterprises in the Taiwanese information industry can be divided into four groups: prospector, analyser, defender, and reactor groups. Companies in different strategic groups employ different product design strategic objectives, and mappings exist between product design and new product development, particularly for features such as enterprise scale, business type, and product development category. Furthermore, in terms of product design strategic objectives, companies in the prospector group tend to be aggressive innovators, those in the analyser group exhibit innovation in applications engineering, those in the defender group are technologically innovative, and those in the reactor strategic group are progressive innovators.