Reorganizing for product development: Evidence from Japanese automobile firms

Abstract

In the automobile industry Japanese companies have been regarded as a role model for their new product development processes and performances. In the early nineties American and European firms proved to be able to recover their capabilities and improve the overall performance of their new product development process. To find new elements of competitiveness Japanese firms are revising their product development model which was based upon a product variety strategy. This model proved to be effective in the pre-1990 period of continuous growth of the Japanese economy. In order to develop a new perspective, the origins and the performances of the model based on a product variety strategy is analysed. Product variety is studied in relation to the dimensions of market, production and product development. Particular attention is also paid to the evolution of the automobile product structure in relation to the introduction of the platform concept. The new model which is being developed gives much more importance to a multiproject management perspective. For this reason the strategic and organizational implications of multiproject management are analysed.