Product Development Organizations Research Articles

Formation of Product Development Organization and Engineers' Career of Electric Company in China

Formation of Product Development Organization and Engineers' Career of Electric Company in China

Adoption of lean principles in software development projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain insights about the applicability of Lean principles in software industry along with the Lean implementation issues. Design/methodology/approach Exploratory case studies have been carried out in five software companies. Data were collected by observation and semi-structured interviews with project managers. In this paper, case organizations are categorized as product vs project software development (SD) organization. Findings It is found that although Lean principles are being adopted in SD projects, application of all Lean principles is not visible. This research reveals that value and flow are more relevant in SD organizations, while value stream, pull and perfection are not conspicuous. Originality/value This paper would prove invaluable to lean practitioners and researchers to gain knowledge in lean SD. The paper puts forward the key issues that should be addressed for successful adoption of lean in SD. This study set out to determine the practitioners’ perception of the applicability of lean principles in SD projects. It provides a sound basis for further empirical research on adoption of lean principles in SD organizations.

Impact of usability on process lead-time in information systems: A case study

Technological advancements have started to demand the need for information systems to survive in the business world. There is an inherent need to be fast and efficient to conquer the market. In order to reduce time to market there is a need to shorten the lead-time in design and development process of products. Hence, lead-time is a significant performance metric for a product development organizations having information systems. It is important to explore the factors which affect the process lead-time in information systems. The objective of this study is to explore the impact that usability (one of the factors that may affect the process lead-time) has on process lead-time. This paper presents a case study involving qualitative and quantitate data from Volvo Group, which uses an information system called KOLA for their design and development process. Data was collected through 29 interviews, 17 think aloud sessions, 5 document studies, and 73 responses from a survey. This study identifies which usability factors and heuristics that have an impact on process lead-time. Moreover, the results show that the users level of experience determines the effective utilization of accelerators and thereby affecting the process lead-time. Finally, usability plays an important role in shortening the process lead-time in information systems.

Assessing the impact of requirements review on quality outcomes

AbstractStudies demonstrate that differences in how product development organizations and product realization organizations interpret requirements can lead to poor‐quality outcomes. Other research shows that in comparison to communicating requirements inside an organization, communicating requirements in buyer‐supplier relationships can be more difficult and has been identified as a source of rework, poor quality, and increased costs. The Raytheon Company identified misaligned requirements interpretation between the company and its suppliers as a source of program performance inefficiency and therefore instituted a collaborative requirements review process between the company and its critical suppliers. This study examines the impact of these requirements reviews on quality outcomes and demonstrates that these reviews result in positive quality outcomes. In addition, correlation analysis shows a relationship between conducting the requirements reviews and a reduction in failure modes that are characterized by high detection and remediation effort. Considered broadly, our methodology can be applied to other program performance improvement efforts to test their impact on quality outcomes and to reveal related failure modes.

Organizational Enablers for NPD Portfolio Selection

Despite substantial research that advocates the “right” portfolio of new product development initiatives for the firm, one important aspect has been overlooked: Creating a portfolio of new product development initiatives is not equivalent to choosing from a menu of initiatives. Rather, these initiatives are defined by and within the organization. Thus, portfolio selection rests upon two challenges: 1) the cross-functional nature of collaborative tasks; and 2) the role of explicit and implicit incentives on innovative outcomes. This paper explores how these factors ultimately determine the initiatives an organization pursues. We abstract a new product development organization as two functional managers who report to senior management and analyze the strategic interactions between all three stakeholders. Senior management decides whether to empower the functional managers to define the initiative and how to reward them contingent on the outcome. We evaluate how the asymmetry of information regarding each function's capability, and the explicit and implicit rewards and penalties imposed on the functional managers affect the upfront resource allocation. We find a profound effect of the information asymmetry: the set of initiatives the firm deems profitable is reduced, thus impeding the organization's potential to innovate. To counter such a shortcoming, senior management may optimally misalign the objectives of the stakeholders.

Characteristics of self-managing teams in rapid product development projects

Product development organisations are facing an increasing amount of rapid, small-scale development projects to fulfil market and customer needs. Self-managing teams have been proposed as effective means in creating new radical innovation, but their use has not been widely studied in smaller and faster product development projects, which are increasing in numbers. A multiple-case study was conducted to analyse seven business-to-business companies' product development models and the use of self-management in their rapid product development teams. The findings indicate that the companies use very similar characteristics of self-management to support rapid product development projects, but all characteristics of self-management do not support rapid product development teams. Notable success factors for rapid product development were dedicating competent developers for rapid projects, co-locating the development team, effective face-to-face communication and implementing a defined, but flexible workflow for rapid product development.

Characteristics of self-managing teams in rapid product development projects

Product development organisations are facing an increasing amount of rapid, small-scale development projects to fulfil market and customer needs. Self-managing teams have been proposed as effective means in creating new radical innovation, but their use has not been widely studied in smaller and faster product development projects, which are increasing in numbers. A multiple-case study was conducted to analyse seven business-to-business companies' product development models and the use of self-management in their rapid product development teams. The findings indicate that the companies use very similar characteristics of self-management to support rapid product development projects, but all characteristics of self-management do not support rapid product development teams. Notable success factors for rapid product development were dedicating competent developers for rapid projects, co-locating the development team, effective face-to-face communication and implementing a defined, but flexible workflow for rapid product development.

Enhancing creativity for development of automation solutions using OTSM-TRIZ: A systematic case study in agronomic industry

The article describes a method to stimulate users’ creativity within constraint-based scenarios and OTSM-TRIZ, which allows to define the problems and partial solutions to be solved during the design process in an appropriate manner. The proposed method aims to overcome constraints and problems defined within product development and related organization resources. Indeed, if these constraints are not properly taken into account, the risk of generating unsuccessful and even ineffective solutions can be high. In this work, a method has been defined, based on the OTSM-TRIZ theory: it guides the users toward the problem solution through a mapping of both the problem to solve and the relationships existing among the problems and constraints. A step-by-step approach is used to describe and propose a systematic structure, allowing to link the conceptual solution with specific solution criteria in the automation field. The validation of the proposed method corresponds to a real case study, that is, the necessity of increasing the productivity of an operational plant for the palletizing process has been selected to discuss the method implementation. Finally, the results of the case study were considered successful, because it was not necessary to introduce high investments for solution development and implementation.

A theory of openness for software engineering tools in software organizations

ContextThe increased use of Open Source Software (OSS) affects how software-intensive product development organizations (SIPDO) innovate and compete, moving them towards Open Innovation (OI). Specifically, software engineering tools have the potential for OI, but require better understanding regarding what to develop internally and what to acquire from outside the organization, and how to cooperate with potential competitors. AimThis paper aims at synthesizing a theory of openness for software engineering tools in SIPDOs, that can be utilized by managers in defining more efficient strategies towards OSS communities. MethodWe synthesize empirical evidence from a systematic mapping study, a case study, and a survey, using a narrative method. The synthesis method entails four steps: (1) Developing a preliminary synthesis, (2) Exploring the relationship between studies, (3) Assessing the validity of the synthesis, and (4) Theory formation. ResultWe present a theory of openness for OSS tools in software engineering in relation to four constructs: (1) Strategy, (2) Triggers, (3) Outcomes, and (4) Level of openness. ConclusionThe theory reasons that openness provides opportunities to reduce the development cost and development time. Furthermore, OI positively impacts on the process and product innovation, but it requires investment by organizations in OSS communities. By betting on openness, organizations may be able to significantly increase their competitiveness.

An alter-centric perspective on employee innovation: The importance of alters’ creative self-efficacy and network structure.

While most social network studies of employee innovation behavior examine the focal employees' ("egos'") network structure, we employ an alter-centric perspective to study the personal characteristics of employees' network contacts-their "alters"-to better understand employee innovation. Specifically, we examine how the creative self-efficacy (CSE) and innovation behavior of employees' social network contacts affects their ability to generate and implement novel ideas. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 144 employees in a U.S.-based product development organization. We find that the average CSE of alters in an employee's problem solving network is positively related to that employee's innovation behavior, with this relationship being mediated by these alters' average innovation behavior. The relationship between the alters' average innovation behavior and the employee's own innovation behavior is strengthened when these alters have less dense social networks. Post hoc results suggest that having network contacts with high levels of CSE also leads to an increase in ego's personal CSE 1 year later in cases where the employee's initial level of CSE was relatively low. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

製品アーキテクチャの変革と開発組織の動態的適応に関する研究 : 自動車産業におけるセンターパネル・モジュールの事例分析から

製品アーキテクチャの変革と開発組織の動態的適応に関する研究 : 自動車産業におけるセンターパネル・モジュールの事例分析から

Service quality in product development companies: a study using the SERVQUAL tool

In order for a new product to achieve the expected success, it is necessary that the author of the project’s design be able to offer a service with quality and in accordance with what the client expects. However, due to the unique characteristics of the services, it is difficult to measure their quality. Due to this difficulty, the SERVQUAL tool was developed, aiming to quantify the quality of the service provided by comparing expectations and perceptions of customers. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the quality of the services provided by a product development organization using the SERVQUAL tool. Therefore, through a case study, 37 of the studied company clients received a questionnaire. The main results of the research were the validation of the use of the SERVQUAL as a tool to evaluate the quality of the services of a product development company, the reliability dimension has the greatest discrepancy between expectations and perceptions, and the empathy dimension represents the strength of the organization studied.

A game theory perspective on product development project charters: the project manager - project sponsor relationship as an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma

The product development processes of many firms include a project charter - a document that formally authorises a product development project, establishes expectations and success criteria, and provides a project manager with authority and resources. Neither the project sponsors nor the project manager have complete and perfect knowledge; thus the project charter is the outcome of negotiation, estimation, and forecasting by stakeholders with partially aligned and partially differing incentives - a situation that game theorists characterise as a 'mixed-motive game'. This article develops a conceptual game theory model of the project manager - project sponsor relationship, then draws on past research on analytic game theory, evolutionary game theory, and behavioural game theory to develop propositions about cooperation on project charters and implications for theory and practice. The model and propositions developed from the model contribute to our conceptual understanding of cooperation within product development organisations and the theoretical underpinnings of project management.

New Product Development and Innovation in the Maquiladora Industry: A Causal Model

Companies seek to stand out from their competitors and react to other competitive threats. Making a difference means doing things differently in order to create a product that other companies cannot provide. This can be achieved through an innovation process. This article analyses, by means of a structural equation model, the current situation of Mexican maquiladora companies, which face the constant challenge of product innovation. The model associates three success factors for new product development (product, organization, and production process characteristics as independent latent variables) with benefits gained by customers and companies (dependent latent variables). Results show that, in the Mexican maquiladora sector, organizational characteristics and production processes characteristics explain only 31% of the variability (R2 = 0.31), and it seems necessary to integrate other aspects. The relationship between customer benefits and company benefits explains 58% of the variability, the largest proportion in the model (R2 = 0.58).

Barriers to and Enablers of Usability in Electronic Consumer Product Development: A Multiple Case Study

This study identified practitioner-reported barriers to and enablers of usability in the development of electronic consumer products. Barriers and enablers are properties, situations, or conditions in the product development process, team, or context that negatively or positively influence the usability of a product. Based on a review of literature on user-centered design and exploratory expert interview, central concepts for studying usability in practice were identified. This was used as input for the case study, which was conducted at 5 product development groups in large multinationals, making (a) portable audio/video players, (b) personal navigation devices, (c) cell phones, (d) laundry care products, and (e) home control products. Data were primarily collected through interviews with 31 product development practitioners. Based on the data collected, case descriptions were created and more than 1,500 barriers and enablers were identified, categorized, and analyzed. The results of the study are 23 sets of barriers and enablers, of which it is indicated in which of the cases they occur, and accompanied with illustrative quotations from the interviewees. In barriers and enablers, a predominantly “outside–in” relation was observed, from the more external properties of companies (market, company organization) to the more internal (process, team, project). This seems to indicate that the user-centeredness of a product development process is highly influenced by the context in which it is executed. The results also lead to the conclusion that if the goal is to make usable products, one cannot only address activities that are generally considered typical of user-centered design, such as conducting user research and user testing. One also has to take into account how these activities are integrated with and supported by the rest of the product development process, which in turn has to be supported by the product development organization.

Micro-Foundations of Product Interfaces and Their Implications on Product and Organization Design

Despite the importance of product interfaces for product development organizations, little is known about how product interfaces manage component interdependencies. In order to answer this question, we make one of the initial attempts to define micro-foundational interface properties by building on and extending the seminal works of Simon (1962) and Parnas (1972) on which the literature on modularity and product architecture is built. Rather than being simple linkages, we show that interfaces exhibit a core-periphery structure by underlining the importance of functional interdependencies managed by interfaces in addition to structural interdependencies. Our theoretical reasoning illustrates that the differentiation and integration role of interfaces and the functional and structural interdependencies managed by product interfaces inform three interface properties: structural thickness, functional thickness and conductivity of interfaces for the interface core and periphery. We illustrate the congruence of...

Common Third Parties and Coordination Disruptions in New Product Development Organizations

This conceptual article builds on existing research on network analysis to examine the possibility that the self‐organizing tendencies of communication networks may endogenously affect the likelihood of informal communication between interdependent teams in new product development organizations. Although informal communication between teams emerges out of those teams' effort to coordinate their task interdependencies, the presence of common third parties in the communication network may shape the behavior of teams in ways that makes this communication network depart from the underlying network of technical interdependencies between the teams. In some cases, the presence of a common third party may reinforce the predisposition of interdependent teams to exchange information. In others, it may drive teams to enter exchanges without an apparent technical need to do so. Finally, and more importantly, the presence of a common third party may induce interdependent teams to neglect exchanging information on their technical interdependencies. This possibility is more likely when coordination between two interdependent teams and a common third party can result in cyclic exchanges that can trigger design oscillations affecting the work of the common third party. While these oscillations may be undesirable, efforts to prevent them can result in coordination disruptions that are also undesirable, because they can affect the performance or durability of the affected components and subsystems.

The Governance of the Automotive Product Development Organization : A Focus of A Company’s Pilot Center

The Governance of the Automotive Product Development Organization : A Focus of A Company’s Pilot Center

Identifying Suitable Projects For Rapid Development: Some Proposed Selection Criteria

The use of rapid development techniques allows building high quality systems in short timeframes while reducing project costs and adding flexibility to the development process so it can be easily adapted to meet customer needs in a volatile market. In order to obtain the benefits of implementing rapid development methods, the development organization and the processes utilized need to be congruent with rapid development methodologies and techniques. A problem encountered by product development organizations is how to identify which projects are suitable for the rapid development approach. An extensive academic research about the implementation of rapid development techniques in Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) processes resulted in the identification of selection criteria for the determination of project suitability for rapid development methods. The selection criteria identified by this research are essential elements that must be present in every rapid development environment in order to obtain the benefits of implementing rapid development techniques.

Why do users speak more positively about Mac OS X but are more loyal to Windows 7?

Users seek a more complete experience with software products, an experience that not only achieves well-defined goals, but also involves the senses and generates affective response. There is therefore a need to develop product characteristics that provide both instrumental and hedonic value to users of even utilitarian software products. But software product development organizations will be motivated to provide these features only if enhances business outcomes such as User Loyalty (UL) and positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM). Keeping this context in view, this study investigates how utilitarian product characteristics, as measured by perceived usefulness, and hedonic product characteristics, that generate perceived enjoyment and playfulness, impact UL and WOM. The results of the study show that hedonic and utilitarian product characteristics have distinctive impacts on UL and WOM with hedonic characteristics positively and significantly impacting WOM while utilitarian characteristics positively and significantly impacting UL. The reasons for this rather unexpected findings are discussed.