The Fuzzy Front End of New Product Development for Brazilian Technology-Based Companies in the Medical Device Industry: a Causal Model

Glauco H S Mendes,José Carlos Toledo

doi:10.4322/bjopm.2011.005

Abstract

The Fuzzy Front End (FFE) is considered the first stage of New Product Development (NPD).The fuzzy front end decisions have great impact on product quality, costs, and time spent onnew product projects. This paper seeks to identify which fuzzy front end activities and practicescontribute the most to new product success of Brazilian Technology-Based Companies (TBCs)in the medical device industry and to provide a causal model for the fuzzy front end of newproduct development. The data were obtained by a survey carried out in 30 small companiesincluding 49 new product projects. The companies were requested to choose new successful andunsuccessful product projects. The results demonstrate that successful projects are distinguishedfrom unsuccessful projects due the follow practices: marketing orientation, the companycompetence to translate client needs into product characteristics, proficiency in idea generation,the interface between Marketing and RD process; organization; and leadership.

Highlights

New Product Development (NPD) is considered a complex business process since it includes a great number of activities and decisions
Researchers and managers involved in the NPD have Focuse on the Fuzzy front End (FFE) of NPD due to its impact on the product quality, time spent to develop the project and development costs
This paper aims to identify which fuzzy front end activities and practices really contribute to new product success of Brazilian Technology Based Companies (TBC) in the medical device industry and to provide a causal model for this NPD stage

Summary

Introduction

New Product Development (NPD) is considered a complex business process since it includes a great number of activities and decisions. Researchers and managers involved in the NPD have Focuse on the Fuzzy front End (FFE) of NPD due to its impact on the product quality, time spent to develop the project and development costs. Reinertsen and Smith (1991) were the first authors to use the term “fuzzy front end”. It is considered the first stage of NPD process and it covers the period and activities between the idea generation and the decision as to whether or not to invest resources in the further development of the new product. The fuzzy front end is known as predevelopment phase of NPD

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