Product Development Decisions Research Articles

Evolving Product Information in Aligning Product Development Decisions across Disciplines

Today's product development is fragmented across various disciplines all with their own fields of expertise. Maintaining overview in consequences and implications of decisions is difficult, since many stakeholders are involved. To optimise the product development, many methods are developed based on optimising the process of information exchange, which is required in analysing consequences and implications of potential decisions. This information exchange is often by means of communication between stakeholders. This paper describes an approach that is not based on the process, but on the product information itself, since the final product system is key in product development. The suitability of employing the Actor-Artefact network in aligning decisions across different disciplines by focusing on the evolving product information is investigated.

HEADROOM APPROACH TO DEVICE DEVELOPMENT: CURRENT AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS.

The headroom approach to medical device development relies on the estimation of a value-based price ceiling at different stages of the development cycle. Such price-ceilings delineate the commercial opportunities for new products in many healthcare systems. We apply a simple model to obtain critical business information as the product proceeds along a development pathway, and indicate some future directions for the development of the approach. Health economic modelling in the supply-side development cycle for new products. The headroom can be used: initially as a 'reality check' on the viability of the device in the healthcare market; to support product development decisions using a real options approach; and to contribute to a pricing policy which respects uncertainties in the reimbursement outlook. The headroom provides a unifying thread for business decisions along the development cycle for a new product. Over the course of the cycle attitudes to uncertainty will evolve, based on the timing and manner in which new information accrues. Within this framework the developmental value of new information can justify the costs of clinical trials and other evidence-gathering activities. Headroom can function as a simple shared tool to parties in commercial negotiations around individual products or groups of products. The development of similar approaches in other contexts holds promise for more rational planning of service provision.

A Method for Proposing Valued-Adding Attributes in Customized Housing

In most emerging economies, there has been many incentives and high availability of funding for low-cost housing projects. This has encouraged product standardization and the application of mass production ideas, based on the assumption that this is the most effective strategy for reducing costs. However, the delivery of highly standardized housing units to customers with different needs, without considering their lifestyle and perception of value, often results in inadequate products. Mass customization has been pointed out as an effective strategy to improve value generation in low-cost housing projects, and to avoid waste caused by renovations done in dwellings soon after occupancy. However, one of the main challenges for the implementation of mass customization is the definition of a set of relevant options based on users’ perceived value. The aim of this paper is to propose a method for defining value adding attributes in customized housing projects, which can support decision-making in product development. The means-end chain theory was used as theoretical framework to connect product attributes and costumers’ values, through the application of the laddering technique. The method was tested in two house-building projects delivered by a company from Brazil. The main contribution of this method is to indicate the customization units that are most important for users along with the explanation of why those units are the most relevant ones.

Making sense of 3-D printing: Creating a map of additive manufacturing products and services

Given the attention around additive manufacturing (AM), organizations want to know if their products should be fabricated using AM. To facilitate product development decisions, a reference system is shown describing the key attributes of a product from a manufacturability stand-point: complexity, customization, and production volume. Complexity and customization scales enable the grouping of products into regions of the map with common levels of the three attributes. A geometric complexity factor developed for cast parts is modified for a more general application. Parts with varying geometric complexity are then analyzed and mapped into regions of the complexity, customization, and production volume model. A discrete set of customization levels are also introduced. Implications for product development and manufacturing business approaches are discussed.

Impact of Glass Corrosion on Drug Substance Stability

The delamination of glass contact surfaces because of hydrolytic instability has been well documented. However, the lack of glass surface integrity can also lead to other undesirable outcomes prior to visible glass delamination. This work shows how the early stages of delamination, namely, glass corrosion, can influence the chemical stability of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) solutions contained within a glass container, even prior to the observation of visible delamination. Multiple containers, all constructed of glass classified as USP Type I, were evaluated for hydrolytic stability and how they influence the chemical stability of the API in question. The glass composition of these analytical consumables, the vendor source, and presumably manufacturing process were examined. The implications of glass container durability on product development decisions, the influence on analytical results, and the practice of like-for-like glass container interchangeability are considered.

Strategic decision-making in NPD projects according to risk: Application to satellites design projects

In this paper we present a method for making strategic decisions in New Product Development (NPD) projects based on risks. In NPD the complexity of the process depends both on the nature of the design problem and the difficulties associated with managing the project (activities, risks). To design a complex product several different teams, having different competencies, work on the project. Not one among them controls the entire process. The interactions between product subsystems in NPD often lead to technological arbitration between alternative solutions.In selecting one solution over another, the risk management concerns and the overall project plan are affected. Therefore, the objective is to give the project manager the means to evaluate the effects of strategic decisions, including those that influence the selection of technological solutions for the project plan as well as those for risk treatment strategies.We propose an integrated process that comprises design, project management and risk management. It takes into consideration the design activities and risk activities to generate a design project planning where design activities and risk activities are folded into the overall design project plan. During the process of project design two different types of strategies are required: one relates to the problem design, the other to the assessment of project risks. Each strategy leads to different possible scenarios. We present a decision tree that shows the decision steps and possible project scenarios. A generic decision support system is proposed. We demonstrate its applicability by applying it to a satellite design project.

Establishing shared understanding of product use through collaboratively generating an explicit frame of reference

Recent studies have shown that there is a need to improve usability-related decision-making in product development teams to prevent usability problems in the final product. Those decisions are heavily influenced by the knowledge those teams have of future use situations and expected usability issues. Our previous research showed that design team members often implicitly hold this type of knowledge, but do not share it within the team. This lack of a shared understanding of product use negatively influences the decision-making process. In this paper we present the iterative development of a set of guidelines to support design teams in sharing knowledge of product use through the generation of flexible, explicit and evolving frames of reference. A series of studies in which the guidelines were evaluated suggest that particularly the activity of collaboratively creating the explicit frame of reference contributes to a shared understanding of product use.

Cost data modelling and searching to support low-volume, high-complexity, long-life defence system development

This article presents a data modelling and a semi-automatic data searching method to support cost estimation in the product development process, particularly for low-volume, high-complexity and long-life products typified by defence products and systems. This article covers a literature review in the area of cost estimation in product development, the data sets needed to perform cost estimation, the method of modelling the data and the techniques of supporting cost data searching. The proposed method will be used to support cost estimation of product development decisions for defence electronic products. To compare with the traditional approach, the method has demonstrated that by creating a centralized environment such as the ‘databases and using a data-driven’ approach. The system is made more efficient by reducing the number of processes in carrying out cost estimation, and thus, this provides more information to make an informed concept design decision during the product development process based on the system’s competence of instant cost estimation feedback.

Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life cycle assessment.

In the modern economy, international value chains--production, use, and disposal of goods--have global environmental impacts. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) aims to track these impacts and assess them from a systems perspective, identifying strategies for improvement without burden shifting. We review recent developments in LCA, including existing and emerging applications aimed at supporting environmentally informed decisions in policy-making, product development and procurement, and consumer choices. LCA constitutes a viable screening tool that can pinpoint environmental hotspots in complex value chains, but we also caution that completeness in scope comes at the price of simplifications and uncertainties. Future advances of LCA in enhancing regional detail and accuracy as well as broadening the assessment to economic and social aspects will make it more relevant for producers and consumers alike.

Preferences for a potential longer-acting injectable contraceptive: perspectives from women, providers, and policy makers in Kenya and Rwanda

Between 1995 and 2005, injectable use doubled worldwide. However, discontinuation rates remain high, partly because of side effects but also because of missed appointments for reinjection. A longer-acting injectable (LAI) may improve compliance by reducing the required number of reinjection visits, thereby reducing unintentional discontinuation. This study examined acceptability of LAI characteristics comprising the target product profile (TPP). In 2012, we conducted qualitative case studies in Kenya and Rwanda, consisting of 19 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 177 current, previous, or never users of injectables and 46 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with providers, program implementers, and policy makers. FGDs and IDIs assessed current injectable experiences; attitudes toward potential LAI products; and perceptions of TPP attributes, including ranking preferences for the most and least important characteristics. In addition, we obtained completed electronic surveys from 28 international family planning opinion leaders about the perceived need for an LAI, important product characteristics, and challenges to LAI development or introduction. Many FGD participants and interviewees spontaneously expressed strong interest in an LAI, but there was some variation in TPP preferences. The majority of participants ranked effectiveness as the most important TPP attribute. Providers were generally more concerned about side effects than potential users; some potential users suggested that side effects were related less to the product than to their own body chemistry and that side effects were acceptable as long as they did not last a long time or disrupt daily activities. Women and providers, especially in Kenya, preferred a method with a predictable return to fertility. Some participants associated amenorrhea with delayed or reduced fertility. Most women and providers preferred delivery of the LAI in a single, prepackaged, disposable injection system to facilitate injections by providers and to reduce the risk of pain or discomfort for women. While providers and policy makers ranked cost as one of the most important issues, it was among the least important issues for most potential users. Many Kenyan, but few Rwandan, participants appeared willing to pay for an LAI, with some presuming cost savings from reduced menstruation and fewer clinic visits. Some TPP preferences for an LAI have implications for product development decisions about formulation, delivery mechanism, or presentation, while others point to the need for tailored communication and counseling approaches to ensure acceptability and adherence within clinical trials and beyond.

Value Perceptions and Value Orientations Among Young Adult Consumers in Bangalore, India

Values are commonly regarded as the most deeply rooted, abstract formulations of how and why consumers behave as they do. Values exert a major influence on the consumer’s decision making in any situation where a conflict of choice exists. This paper throws insight upon the value perceptions and value orientations of young adult consumers in Bangalore, India. The variables under study are ten values adapted from Kahle’s List of Values - LOV (1983). The total sample for the present study is 1478 respondents who are young adults in the age group 18-25 years residing in Bangalore, India. The paper also analyses the influence of gender and regional background on the value orientations of young adult consumers. Information regarding the personal values that are important to the target market, which influences their purchase behaviour, would be valuable to the manufacturers and the marketers in the product design, development, positioning and advertisement decisions.

Conversion Ability as a Driver of New Product Development Decisions

Performance comparisons play a key role in driving firm behavior in organizational learning models. However, in some industry contexts, conventional measures of performance such as profitability or revenues do not facilitate accurate comparisons between firms. We argue that novel performance indicators are essential to understand the dynamics of firm behavior in such contexts. We introduce a new measure of performance feedback based on conversion ability, defined as a firm-level ability to turn new ideas into successful products. We employ this measure to analyze decisions to develop products in new versus existing market segments (i.e. exploration vs. exploitation) in the biotechnology industry. Our results suggest that managerial assessments of conversion ability are a key input to decision- making when new product development is lengthy, costly and risky.

Timing Decisions in New Product Development for International Markets: A Review and Directions for Empirical Research

Marketing ZFP is a platform for the academic dialog between marketing science and marketing practice. It offers critical depictions of the newest developments in the central areas of marketing science and marketing practice. Thereby, Marketing ZFP dedicates itself particularly to the transfer of methodological knowledge into practice.

An Integrated Decision Making Framework for Automotive Product Development with the Supply Chain

It is evidenced that manufacturing firms in order to be more competitive in market, must continuously update their product offers in order to better satisfy the customers’ requirements. Management should use the supply chain features more frequently, as the increased rate of product introductions, demands more from a business and needs more efforts to deliver the new products effectively and efficiently. To deliver the products at the targeted cost, time, and quality, the supply chain must be aligned with New Product Development (NPD) decisions. This will allow the manufacturing firm to overcome problems such as (partially) failed product launches due to the lack of product availability because of insufficient capacities. The integrated NPD-Supply Chain Management (SCM) enterprise has the benefit of increased supply chain capability, thus increasing the effectiveness of new product introductions and improves enterprise's performance. This research mainly focuses on automotive sector due to its supply chain environment being the subject of extensive research within its product development integration. The research also introduces the development of a framework that integrates flow of activities within the manufacturing enterprises and shows that this contributes all the business functions. It also aims to focus on using current modelling tools to represent the product development processes of its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and its suppliers. Through this research, the aim is to link the product development (PD) within a SCM context for an extended enterprise and to investigate the effect of the integration of SCM with NPD. The possible integration points will provide baseline guidelines to identify the key decision making points within the entire supply chain.

Clothing the naked emperor

Evaluation and usability as a practice area has diversified its approaches, broadened the spectrum of UX issues it addresses, and extended its contribution into deeper levels of product-development decision making. This forum addresses conceptual, methodological, and professional issues that arise in the field's continuing effort to contribute robust information about users to product planning and design. David Siegel and Susan Dray, Editors

What Keeps Managers Away from a Losing Course of Action? Go/Stop Decisions in New Product Development

The purpose of this experimental study is to test whether specific approaches can reduce escalation of commitment—namely, decision‐makers' tendency to persist with an innovation project despite negative feedback that the initial investment has not reached its goals. This study focuses on the decision process for 137 research and development managers who must decide whether to abandon previously chosen courses of action or to continue in the face of probable and increasing losses in a stage‐gate system. The results show that visual decision aids and consultant advice reduce managers' decisions to continue funding a losing course of action. The results also show that using both approaches simultaneously has the strongest effect. Finally, the study reveals that the escalation of commitment issue can be reduced more effectively before an innovation project is commercialized while using both approaches.

The Impact of Product Portfolio Strategy on Financial Performance: The Roles of Product Development and Market Entry Decisions

Innovation is one of the most important issues facing business today. The major difficulty in managing innovation is that managers must do so against a constantly shifting backdrop as technologies, competitors, and markets constantly evolve. Managers determine the product portfolio through key decisions about product development and market entry. Key strategic questions are what portfolio strategies provide the greatest reward. The purpose of this study is to understand the relative financial values of each component of a product portfolio. Specifically, the paper examines the short‐term and long‐term financial impacts of product development strategy and market entry strategy. These strategies reflect two critical tensions that must be balanced in product portfolio decision making and essentially determine a firm's product portfolio. In doing so, the paper also investigates how a firm's capabilities drive each component of a product portfolio.From the empirical analyses in the context of the biomedical device industry, the paper found important insights regarding product portfolio strategies. First, a large product portfolio helps a firm's financial performance. In particular, the pioneering new products have strongest impacts on short‐term performances, and nonpioneering mature products do not provide significant contribution. Second, the results indicate a persistent first‐mover advantage. The first‐to‐market new products yield not only an immediate effect, but also persistent long‐term effects, suggesting that it is important to be first in the market even though there may be short‐term losses. Third, the results suggest the need to balance between “mature” and “new” products. Also, firms need to balance “first‐to‐market” and “late‐entered” products. Because a new or pioneering product requires more resource, it may hurt other products in the portfolio. Thus, without support from mature or follower products, new products and pioneering products alone may not increase firm sales or profit. Fourth, from a long‐term perspective, the paper found that the financial market only rewards a firm's overall capability to deliver new products first in the marketplace. Thus, short‐term performance is mainly driven by product‐level innovativeness, whereas firm‐level innovativeness enhances forward‐looking long‐term performance. Fifth, the paper also found that pioneering new products are driven by integrating both primary and complementary technological capabilities. And nonpioneering new products are mainly driven by the capabilities in primary technology domain. These results provide important insight into the relative value and timing of return on investment in radical versus incremental innovation and alternative market entry strategies. By understanding the performance trade‐offs of these different factors in the short and long term, one can develop better guidelines for optimizing innovation strategies, and their dependence on both external and internal environmental conditions.

Responsibility allocation for child injury: victim age and positive vs. negative framing of manufacturer's safety policy

Two experiments examined allocation of responsibility in the context of a fictitious, but realistic, product-use scenario in which a young girl suffers serious brain injury after consuming a product with a non-obvious hazard (marshmallows). The research investigated whether the responsibility allocated to the various parties would depend on the age of the child and whether the manufacturer took, or failed to take, precautions. Scenarios given to participants stated the age of the girl as 1½ years, 4 years, 8 years, or 16 years and had positive, negative, or no supplemental information about the manufacturer and its safety practices. Both experiments showed that the parents were considered most responsible for a young child's injury, but the allocation decreased with the older child. When negative information about the manufacturer's safety practices was given, allocations of responsibility for the girl's injury to the manufacturer increased significantly. In Experiment 2, the presence of warnings in the positive supplemental information condition reduced the manufacturer's responsibility for the oldest (16-year old) child. Negative impressions due to poor safety practices by manufacturers can lead to increased levels of responsibility allocated for injury. Primary caretakers are responsible for the safety of young children, but as they get older, children are viewed as being more responsible for their own safety. These results have implications for product-development decisions including labelling. They also point out a role for human factors professionals before and during product-related forensic litigation.

Product-Generation Transition Decision Making for Bayer's Hemophilia Drugs: Global Capacity Expansion Under Uncertainty with Supply-Demand Imbalances

We present an application of decision analysis to global production capacity expansion under uncertainty for Bayer Group's proposed new biotechnology drug to treat hemophilia A. This decision analysis developed an improved approach to Bayer's decision for product-generation transition and global production capacity expansion that more realistically addresses potential regional supply shortages and overages due to demand and supply uncertainties that can result in supply-demand imbalances. With the added confidence provided by this more realistic approach, Bayer's executive leadership team acted on the recommendation from the decision analysis in contrast to an earlier analysis that had not resulted in management action. The paper makes two major contributions: First, it describes the details of what is involved in conducting applied decision analysis in a real-world setting in more detail than what is typically in textbooks on decision analysis. Second, the paper illustrates the important role of economic modeling in a large-scale applied decision analysis. The approach is applicable to other product-generation transition decision making for expanding global production capacity under uncertainty in a supply-constrained environment, especially for new product introductions and new product development decisions when supply is limited.

Search …and find

This article focuses on different software tools that give engineers a quick access to product information. Software tools help access data generated during the product development process. Known as a search-based application or as unified information access, these tools use elements of semantic technology—machine-based recognition of meanings and relationships in text—to find information stored throughout a company’s multiple sources of data, including computer-aided design files and product lifecycle management systems. These software tools perform three functions: search, discover, and analyze. Search applications reduce the risks of using incomplete information when making product development decisions. Another type of search technology to consider is geometric-based search that pinpoints relevant parts based on shape. A company’s software selection criteria must encompass the informational needs of all product development activities throughout the enterprise. These activities include design engineering, manufacturing process planning, and quality control.