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This thesis explores how successful start-up innovators handle the early stage of web product development, contributing to academic knowledge on agile software development (ASO) and the fuzzy front end (FFE) of innovation. For exploration of the FFE behaviour, a multiple case study of 10 successful start- up innovators was conducted. Data from personal open-ended interviews with the innovators were analysed to uncover common themes. Results reveal that start-up innovators are agile in their product concept development, and use activities and process phases that differ from the existing FFE models. The participants created working prototypes, conducted alpha tests, and collaborated with customers to develop alpha-tested prototypes rather than written product concepts. The author developed an agile concept development (ACO) model to illustrate this concept. The research also unveils potential risks of ACO. A lack of systematic analysis, intuitive decision-making, and a missing business plan potentially increase the risk of commercial failure, while a poorly defined product concept and potentially.unsustainable development practices can lead to challenges in later stages of software development. Web product companies shall encourage ACO to create innovative web products. They should seek to attract innovators because they are the driving force behind the process. Implementing support systems in areas of low innovator attention and active portfolio management may lower the risk exposure of web product companies. More research on ACO, the characteristics of start-up innovators, and the early stages of other types of Internet products (e.g., mobile apps or games) must be conducted.

Product quality is a topic of significant industrial importance and has been the subject of ongoing research over many years. However, the study of non-conformance reduction in the pre-production stage of product development has received only limited attention. Although products undergo chronological and rigid assessments, there are still non-conformances which are detected late in development stages particularly in pre-production. Furthermore, these non-conformances are problematic when rectification cannot be found rapidly and these problems are then carried over into production. The research, which is based on consumer electronic product, addresses product nonconformance in the pre-production. The work reported in this thesis focuses on the identification and control of non-conformances to facilitate improved product validation and aids the pre-production team in product assessment and decision making.

The thesis aims to examine and explore NPD activities within China and establish whether Western interpretation of NPD is appropriate to indigenous Chinese companies, engaged an economy which is entering an era of globalisation. The research is based on ten case studies undertaken within five industrial sectors: lighting (light fabrication), watches (personal consumer products), white goods, automotive and telecommunications.

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Considerable resource has been expended in restructuring organisations to optimise product development performance. Researchers and practitioners have concentrated on changing formal organisational structures often to make them more project-focused and have introduced formal processes and procedures for developing new products. The problem of structuring product development, especially in terms of the trade-off between individual project performance and organisational learning, has been identified and individual company specific solutions have appeared. What has not been generated is a wider approach to these problems that allows any company to identify the issues involved and to establish an effective organisation for product development. Through its explicit recognition and exploitation of informal organisational networks, this research fills a gap in the literature and offers a novel perspective on alternate mechanisms to significantly improve product development performance.