Innovative New Product Development Research Articles

How is innovation empowered by design thinking for new product development? a case study in Taiwan

ABSTRACT Innovation is vital for sustainable competitiveness and a process that can be trained and managed. Design thinking is an effective approach that helps create innovative solutions and contributes to new product development (NPD). When applied to NPD, how the involvement and intensity of design thinking offers benefits to firms with distinct organisational cultures remained unclear. This study investigates the effect of the use of design thinking in NPD. A hybrid method approach is adopted. First, 35 senior managers from diverse industries in Taiwan are participated in a set of design thinking workshops hosted by the present study. The participants were interviewed after the workshops to investigate design thinking's influences on organisational creativity capacity. This study highlights two key successful factors to enable an effective NPD by design thinking: 1) clarifying bottlenecks against innovation and 2) establishing an open cooperate culture of innovation. Further, a quantitative study was conducted to validate the proposition, stating that by adopting design thinking, firms can improve their innovation in NPD. The correlation between design thinking and organisational culture by industrial types is examined.

Imitation or innovation? New ventures’ NPD strategies in emerging markets

ABSTRACT New product development (NPD) plays a pivotal role in the survival, growth, and performance of new ventures; existing studies, however, have paid scant attention to new ventures’ trade-offs between imitative and innovative NPD strategies, particularly in emerging markets. This study explores the relative impact of innovative and imitative NPD on new venture performance and their contingency across different entrepreneurial motivations and institutional environments in China. The findings based on a multilevel dataset from China indicate that innovative NPD has a stronger positive effect on new venture performance than imitative NPD. In addition, opportunity-motivated entrepreneurship and privatisation enhance the effect of innovative NPD whereas attenuate the efficacy of imitative NPD.

Opening up early or late? The effect of open innovation before and after product launch on new product market performance

Despite a growing literature on open innovation in new product development (NPD), little is known about when openness is most beneficial during the innovation process. This study investigates the effectiveness of opening up NPD projects early or late, or before or after product launch, leading to four intertemporal NPD strategies: closed-closed, closed-open, open-closed, and open-open. Utilizing novel data of product innovation and market performance of 536 digital games, the authors study the effects of intertemporal NPD strategies on new product market performance under moderating effects of technological capability, marketing capability, and project complexity. The results indicate that the early open (open-closed) NPD strategy outperforms the late open (closed-open) strategy. Furthermore, the positive effect of open NPD strategies is stronger when technological capability is high, but weaker when marketing capability is high and when projects are complex. This study contributes to the literature by proposing a typology of NPD strategies that conceptualizes open innovation before and after product launch, and by demonstrating that NPD benefits from early openness, although firms decide to close the NPD project after launch. Managerially, this study offers empirical evidence that open NPD strategies with a consideration of project contingencies are important predictors of new product success.

Interteam Learning in Multiteam New Product Development Programs

Learning is a fundamental aspect of innovative new product development (NPD), and research shows that failures are a source of learning in NPD programs. However, little is known about the role of learning from successful experiences. We develop a model for learning from both success and failure, based on the characteristics of multiteam systems (MTS) and product complexity. Quantitative analysis of 167 NPD programs organized as MTS suggests that learning from success is crucial for NPD innovation at all levels of product complexity, while the effectiveness of learning from failure diminishes with increasing product complexity. Qualitative interviews provide further insights.

English

Sorghum, sesame seeds and baobab fruit are commercially viable, underutilized crops in sub-Saharan Africa with potential for use in development of high-quality value-added products for food and nutritional security. This study evaluated effects of processing methods on the nutritional and sensory attributes of a ready to eat snack bar developed from sorghum supplemented with sesame and baobab fruit pulp powder. The moisture content ranged between 6.38 and 10.28%, total fiber content ranged between 5.59 and 10.455 g/100 g while protein and fat content ranged between 11.28 and 16.74 g/100 g and 9.65 g/100 g and 18.58 g/100 g, respectively. The carbohydrates content in the snack bars ranged between 46.37 and 60.31 g/100 g, while energy content averaged 426.33 kcal/100 g for raw materials and 414.38 kcal/100 g for formulated snack bars. Concentrations of iron, calcium and zinc ranged between 5.46 and 14.611 mg/100 g, 82 and 246 mg/100 g, and 1.377 and 4.98 mg/100 g, respectively. Sensory evaluation of the bars formulations was based on a 5-point hedonic scale and revealed significant differences (p<0.05) in color, taste and overall acceptability. The aroma and crunchiness of the snacks were not significant. The study found underutilized crops have the versatility to improve the range of products and spur innovation in new product development.   Key words: Sorghum, sesame, baobab, malting, roasting, fermentation, supplementation.

The impact of digitalization on the future of the PSM function managing purchasing and innovation in new product development – Evidence from a Delphi study

Bringing innovative products to markets is essential for companies, especially in competitive environments. One of the driving forces for successful new product development (NPD) is the inclusion of the functions that form part of the process such as purchasing and supply management (PSM). While extensive research has been conducted on the role of procurement in promoting innovation, insufficient research on the future of the PSM function in NPD has been conducted. This study addresses this gap, considering increasing digitalization and its effect on the future PSM function managing purchasing and innovation. To explore the future of PSM in NPD, a Delphi survey with 91 experts from industry, academia, and politics or associations was performed. The results reveal that digitalization will influence the PSM function in NPD across different time horizons and forms depending on the subject area. While in many areas, an interplay between digital technologies and human PSM professionals is expected, in certain domains the PSM function is likely to lose added value compared to digital technologies. Furthermore, digitalization is expected to be a potential enabler of a stronger key innovation role for PSM in NPD but to also introduce new requirements such as data science capabilities.

Knowledge Integration Across Industry Boundaries: Which Firms Leverage Other Industry Experience

In the modern ‘gig economy’, firms increasingly develop innovative new products using temporary one-off project teams that comprise individuals with intra-industry and cross-industry knowledge. Drawing on the knowledge integration literature and using an extensive database spanning two industries, we show that the type of firm experience (complementary vs. own industry experience) and the role structure of project teams influences the development of innovative new products. Greater experience in a complementary industry intensifies the effect of cross-industry knowledge on the development of innovative games, when firms employ 'boundary spanning' roles in their project teams. Meanwhile, firms’ greater “own industry” experience increases the effect of intra-industry knowledge on the development of innovative games, primarily for those firms that rely on hierarchical roles in their project teams. Keywords: Knowledge integration, Firm experience, Innovation, New product development, Project teams, Gig economy

Leveraging social media in new product development: organisational learning processes, mechanisms and evidence from China

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to investigate how social media can provide important platforms to facilitate organisational learning and innovation in new product development (NPD) process.Design/methodology/approachUsing a multiple case-study approach, this study assesses qualitative data collected via 56 interviews from 13 world-leading Chinese companies in the high-technology industry.FindingsThe study identified three distinct types of organisational learning mechanisms for firms to extract potential innovation inherent in social media. It further determined various organisational enablers that facilitate the connections between these mechanisms and NPD performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to the emerging literature on digital product development and organisational learning. The cases were conducted in the Chinese context, hence, the results may not be fully generalisable to other organisations, industries and countries without appropriate re-contextualisation.Practical implicationsThe empirical evidence showcases the various mechanisms adopted by managers in different NPD phases. It identifies several technological and organisational adaptations that managers can apply to smartly scale their social presence and facilitate NPD.Originality/valueDespite the exponential growth of social media use in identifying and interacting with external stakeholders, managerial practice and academic research have paid little attention to how social media can be leveraged for NPD. The value of this research comes from applying a qualitative method to gain in-depth insights into the mechanisms for leveraging social media to facilitate innovation in NPD.

How can we generate innovative ideas for new product development

Competition is fierce and intense in the contemporary global marketplace. Companies today face immense pressure to innovate when they seek to develop and introduce new products in order to fight competition and ensure business survival. However, generating new ideas is not easy and the continued capability and capacity to do so is even more challenging. In light of these challenges, this paper endeavours to shed light on how companies can generate innovative ideas for new product development. In particular, this paper makes clear that innovation in new products and services helps companies in meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Generation of ideas for innovation in new product development may come from a number of sources and by applying a number of creativity techniques. Companies may generate innovative ideas by interacting with customers, employees, outsiders, and other stakeholders. Ideas may also be generated by analysing competitors. Companies may adopt a number of creativity techniques like brainstorming, role-playing, forming forced relationships, morphological analysis, reversing of assumptions about usage of products, mind mapping of individuals, and lateral marketing for generating innovative ideas. Companies are encouraged to apply these techniques and create a culture of innovation to generate ideas, implement them, exceed customer expectations, and succeed in the competition.

Do product imitation and innovation require different patterns of organizational innovation? Evidence from Chinese firms

While organizational innovation is considered crucial for firms performance, its role as a type of intangible innovation in new product development remains under-explored in the literature. As such, this paper explores the impacts of organizational innovation on both product innovation and imitation for Chinese manufacturing firms based on original survey data. Latent class analysis is used to identify the classification of organizational innovation and their various characteristics. The results indicate a five-pattern of organizational innovation that range from low to high levels for the sample firms. Further, the multinomial treatment effects estimation suggests that middle- to high-level organizational innovation has a significant impact on product imitation intensity, demonstrating that knowledge management and standardization play important roles in facilitating product imitation. However, only a superior level of organizational innovation shows a significant effect on the intensity of product innovation, implying that the transition from product imitation to innovation requires a comprehensive improvement in organizational design.

Managing and Applying Innovation in New Product Development - Strategies and Initiatives

Companies require introducing new products in the market and manage product innovation properly to remain ahead in the competition. Innovative firms should adopt a customer-centered approach towards managing innovation. They require understanding individual differences of customers in their readiness to accept innovation and roles of product characteristics in adoption of innovation among customers. Managing innovation requires collaboration and proper coordination. Top management support is imperative for new product development. Firms should adopt an approach of team-based innovation. Also, firms should handle innovation in a systematic rather than in a haphazard manner. Innovative companies should also consider opportunities during turbulent times and invest wisely to utilize those opportunities. Firms may also benefit by targeting individuals at the bottom of the pyramid with innovation. Companies require considering all these approaches towards managing innovation in new product development to perform and excel in the competition.

Evaluating combined project management models: strategies for agile and plan-driven integration

The combination of agile and traditional practices is important for greater innovation in New Product Development (NPD). This paper analyzes ten combination proposals found in the literature, using the systematic bibliographical review method. Four of them did not show features associated with the combination. Four proposals recommend using agile project management associated with NPD process. Two proposals recommend using a general project plan, prepared through Work Breakdown Structure, scheduling, and integrated with agile iteration planning. The evaluation of these proposals indicated a shortage of recommendations and revealed two classes of combination strategies, namely bottom up and top down.

A multi-dimensional approach for managing open innovation in NPD

PurposeThis paper explores openness within new product development (NPD) projects. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of breadth, depth and partner newness on product innovativeness and product competitive advantage. The authors also seek to examine the contingent effects of the appropriability regime. The authors make suggestions to academics and practitioners based on the findings.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a structured survey instrument producing an empirical analysis of 205 NPD projects in the manufacturing sector in the UK. The authors use an ordinary least squares regression model to test hypothesised relationships between openness (breadth, depth and partner newness), product innovativeness, product competitive advantage and the appropriability regime.FindingsThe authors find that each of the three dimensions of openness, depth, breadth and partner newness, have a significant but differing impact on product innovativeness. Specifically, the study indicates that breadth has a positive effect but only in the presence of a strong appropriability regime, partner newness has a direct positive effect, and depth a direct negative effect. The authors also find that product innovativeness has a positive impact on product competitive advantage.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research should focus on replicating the findings in other countries, search for further moderating factors, such as the stage of the NPD process, and analyse the longitudinal impact of openness within NPD projects.Practical implicationsOrganisations are encouraging managers to be more open in their approach to NPD. The authors’ findings suggest that managers need to think about the three dimensions of openness, breadth, depth and partner newness. Their engagement with each of these dimensions depends on the desired outcomes of the innovation project and the strength of patents.Originality/valueThe research extends the extant supplier involvement in new product development literature to examine the effect of up to 11 types of external actor in NPD projects. The authors test a new multi-dimensional measurement scale for the openness construct. The authors show that each dimension has a different relationship with product innovativeness.

The role of cross-functional integration in new product development: differences between incremental and radical innovation projects

The literature on new product development (NPD) contains several studies of management practices involved in different types of innovation. However, few studies focus on how cross-functional integration affects incremental and radical innovation product projects. The purpose of this study is to explore this aspect, from a qualitative perspective, through case studies of four high-tech firms in Brazil. Eight NPD projects were studied. The findings suggest that radical and incremental innovation NPD projects require different management practices in the studied cases. In incremental NPD projects, greater integration efforts may not be necessary. However, the following practices should be adopted in projects involving radical innovation product projects: intense involvement of technical teams, flexibility in the early stages of NPD, and geographical separation between the development team and other departments of the firm. Moreover, the application of these same practices in projects of incremental innovation in NPD may not bring positive results.

On designers’ use of biomimicry tools during the new product development process: an empirical investigation

ABSTRACTAs technological problems and societal challenges become increasingly complex, designers are urged to recombine knowledge from different sources in order to innovate. In this article we question how nature may be the key source of inspiration and whether it can impact the new product development (NPD) process. We shed new light on whether designers and researchers are: first, familiar with biomimicry tools; second, aware of their characteristics; third, in favour of using biomimicry tools in the NPD process; and fourth, able to assess the impact of biomimicry tools on the NPD performance. By analysing survey data, counterintuitive results emerged concerning both the awareness of the biomimetic tools and their impact on the NPD innovation outcomes.

A conceptual framework on the role of creativity in sustaining continuous innovation in new product development

If creativity and innovation are viewed as assets in any business, they represent for some a key survival factor imposed by their industry on a daily basis. In such a context of continuous innovation, the pace of innovation is accelerated. This paper focuses on how creativity helps sustain continuous innovation in new product development. We develop a conceptual framework that highlights the key factors that lead to continuous new product development: information management, project management, and the integration of the two distinct processes of creativity and innovation. Using the context of the video game industry, we then show how this framework can clarify the key concerns held by industries that operate under intense pressure to sustain continuous innovation. Lastly, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of this study.

Modelling Human Activity in People-Oriented Programming with Metamodels

People Oriented Programming (POP) is a new paradigm for developing individual-oriented software applications and associated devices that entails four defining elements. The first three elements call upon, respectively, the individual user: 1. As the central focus of a customised software artefact addressing their heterogeneous needs, described as ‘markets of one'. 2. As a self-ethnographer administering and using Cultural Probes, sensors, personal Role Models and Scenarios to gather their own data and requirements. 3. As end-user developers, coming up with their own solutions to match their personal needs, utilising user-friendly computer languages, development environments and software toolkits designed to make the user the centre of innovation in new product development. The fourth defining element of POP is the cognitive and emotion-led modelling behind the tools, techniques and frameworks upon which the user toolkits are built. The models are drawn from two perspectives that rely on Psychology: the Agent-Oriented paradigm and its connection with Cognitive Task Modelling; and from Emotion-led Modelling for requirements gathering. POP draws upon research from the analysis, design and development paradigms of software development, software engineering and from within HCI (Human Computer Interaction) including Task Analysis. Many user-friendly tools and coding environments exist that can service POP developers. However further research is needed to provide a broad selection of tools to cater for everybody interested. After defining the four elements of POP this paper concentrates on cognitive and emotion-led modelling of people's activities, examining meta-models drawn from Task Analysis and the Agent-Oriented paradigm. The meta-models are of interest in the service of the third element: to be used as foundational structures in building new, highly usable and well-engineered development tools for end-users to code or configure solutions that service their own needs. The ShaMAN meta-model is described and presented as a potential foundational structure.

Targeting the transitions: applying stage-gate® thinking in strategic environmental assessment

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practitioners have a tendency to emphasize assessment phases over the linkages between the phases. Explicitly addressing the transitions between stages could add rigour to SEA processes and make them more structurally robust. There is a considerable body of research on project management practices used by corporations during new product development (NPD). The stage-gate® model is presented as an example of a successful and innovative NPD approach that is frequently used by various industries, and which addresses the links between assessment phases. Stage-gate theory treats connections between project stages as gates which must be passed. The philosophy behind the stage-gate model is explored as a macro-process that could support current practices in SEA and other types of impact assessment. The stages and gates designed for a proposed Nova Scotia SEA framework are presented to show how stage-gate thinking can be adapted for use in SEA processes. The paper concludes that SEA processes could become more efficient and effective by integrating a philosophy of gated assessments.

A study on technological capability among product-based telecom start-ups in India: role of technological learning and bricolage

The present work explores accumulation of technological capabilities among telecom start-ups in India engaged in the development of innovative new products. This paper weaves together literature on RBV, innovation, bricolage, technological learning and technological capability to further our understanding of technological capability among the start-ups, in a high-tech and knowledge intensive setting. Drawing on rich data collected from multiple case studies, we conceptualise differing degree of innovation (creation, modification and extension) as possible manifestation of varying levels of technological capability. Our work proposes a process model for the evolution of technological capability as a result of complex interplay between existing knowledge, two complementary stages of bricolage, and new knowledge acquisition through differing modes of technological learning. The paper further identifies explorative learning, gap focused learning and market focused learning as the three dominant learning mechanisms and also highlights differences in capabilities among the start-ups and established firms.

Value proposition for designers - VP(d): a tool for strategic innovation in new product development

The construct 'value proposition' is becoming evident in the world of design, as business and marketing intersect with the processes of design. Value proposition can be a powerful way of modelling ideas for products, rather than the actual realisation of those products. The paper offers a brief overview of literature referencing value proposition, found in relevant fields of business and innovation. The paper details a primary investigation of the usage of value proposition by design companies. This is conducted through an analysis of industrial design firms' websites across six key countries. The findings are that value proposition is still a minor component of the offerings of design firms. However, it was found that larger companies do utilise similar forms of 'idea modelling'. The paper goes on to propose a structured method of building and communicating a value proposition for designers - VP(d). This offers a bridge between various pre-product and post-product states. An implication is that it strengthens design and designers' role in business and strategic innovation.