After over 25 years of decline, the global poverty rate has started to increase driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, taking millions back into poverty, most of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Low-income consumers are underserved and do not have the means to pay for or access to goods or services which are required for a minimum standard of living. These consumers struggle to find essential goods, the products do not always meet their needs or are too expensive for them to afford and the products' benefits are not easily understood. Yet the spending power and demand from consumers at the bottom of the economic pyramid in emerging markets and developing countries are motivating for global consumer goods companies. Not only does the opportunity presents financial benefit but is a social obligation to democratise new product innovations across markets. The 4As Framework (Affordability, Acceptability, Availability and Awareness) encompass factors which help manufacturers to better reach and serve low-income consumers. This framework is applied in this research to understand products meet their needs of low-income consumer across these four factors; and how designers employ human centred design to design products for low-income consumers against these factors. Human Centred Design has been employed to develop solutions to complex problems with great empathy to users and stakeholders for many years but has been gaining popularity with business and social ventures since the early 2000s. By interviewing consumers and designers, this study delved into understanding (1) the motivations and challenges of designing products for low income consumers, (2) how human centred design was being employed in the design of consumer goods for this group against the 4As framework and (3) how products currently meet the needs of low-income consumers, against the 4As framework. It was found that designers were consistently motivated by designing products for this consumer group which they believed served them. However, the constant evolution of needs, and needing to design for an affordable price were challenges. It was also found that some human centred design practices were prominent but there was more consistency needed in application, particularly when dealing with acceptability, affordability and awareness.

No description available.

The first phase of new product development (NPD) is today commonly referred to as the Front End (FE) of NPD. The phase has received a decent amount of attention during the recent years, nevertheless insufficient considering its ability to influence a project’s outcome. The phase begins when an idea is born, and ends when a formal meeting decides whether to invest in the idea or not. The investment then leads the project to enter a formal phase. During the FE, a large number of issues occur, which are believed to be the result of deficient processing of information. If the issues are not managed correctly, the NPD procedure will not be efficient. When information is being processed into knowledge, sometimes an uncertain, equivocal, or complex situation arises, which leads to delays, additional costs, and wasted efforts. These information processing problems (IPPs) need to be managed by firms in order to reduce their negative repercussions. Depending on a firm’s perception of the novelty towards a product, the project is considered to be either radical or incremental. Depending on that novelty, it is theorized that the IPPs will have different dispersions, and pose differently significant challenges to the project. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the differences of the significance and dispersion of the IPPs, during the FE, when comparing radical and incremental NPD projects. For this purpose, a case study approach was deemed appropriate. In order to collect data concerning the IPPs, seven case studies were conducted. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, with respondents that possess' an extensive experience from working with NPD within Swedish firms. The data analysis from the seven interviews proved that indeed there is a difference in how the IPPs vary, dependent on whether the project is of a radical or incremental nature. All the IPPs showed higher levels of significance in the FE in radical projects, than in incremental ones. Uncertainty proved to be the IPP that differed the most and therefore possessed the greatest significance difference. This means that differentiated approaches in radical respective incremental projects are needed in order to reduce uncertainty. Equivocality represented the IPP with the least difference in significance, meaning that the FE in radical and incremental projects require rather similar design in how to prevent equivocal problems. By understanding the differences in dispersion and significance, one can create differentiated management approaches during the FE, that fit the level of novelty of the product at hand. For some products, preventive actions must be taken to a larger degree compared to others. By doing so, the lead time of the FE can be shortened as less problems will arise, creating a faster and smoother process. The resources saved could be spent on improving activities, instead of being wasted on repairing unnecessary problems. The study contributes to the research field of NPD by adding newknowledge, aiding the collective effort of increasing firm’s proficiency in how to manage the FE.

高科技產業本身所具備的高風險、快速變動、產品生命週期短的特質，促使置身高科技產業中的企業必須具備更快速的因應能力，方能在競爭激烈的環境中生存。 有鑑於研發活動重要性日漸提高，市場上新產品的競爭狀況越演越烈，在台灣不論什麼產業都需不斷致力於發展新產品的活動。而列為國內首屈一指高科技國防武器研發單位的中科院；其新產品的研發績效，是一值得探討的課題。 本研究遂以組織特性及新產品發展過程，探究新產品開發所產生的影響效果，以中科院大型武器系統研發為研究對象；採用個案研究的方式，進行結構性深度訪談。本研究採用組織特性中的組織對創新的鼓勵、主管支持、資源、時間壓力等四個變數；將新產品發展過程分為產品創意、產品概念、產品雛形、最終產品、行銷計畫五個構面；探究對於新產品開發績效包括：「財務績效」、「市場績效」、「機會窗口」等之影響，作為研究架構。 主要研究目的為以下三點： 1. 探討組織特性與新產品發展過程之關係。 2. 探討組織特性與新產品發展過程對新產品開發績效之影響。 3. 探討中科院的組織特性與新產品發展過程對新產品開發績效之影響。 研究主要發現為： 1. 新產品發展過程中，不管是組織鼓勵、主管支持或是充裕的資源皆有助於提高員工的創造力；組織鼓勵與主管支持與激勵員工內在的動機有較大的關連，但是充裕的資源對員工創造力的提升可能會帶來最直接的立即效果。 2. 由研究的個案資料中發現，中科院在新產品發展過程中的阻礙有兩項因素：(1)產品生命週期較長，故不需要不斷的創新或發展新的產品；(2)因為有特定市場及需求顧客，所以沒有去注重行銷計畫。 / High-tech industry itself possesses high risks, combined with fast fluctuation, short product life cycles. High-tech enterprises thus have to own the flexibility to deal with such situation and enable to survival in the most competitive environment. In the light of increasingly important Research & Development activities and more competitive new products on the market, industries in Taiwan have all require being committed to activities for developing new products. Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology, an eminent institution developing national defensive weapons, deserves to be explored in its performances of new products development. This research explores the effects of organization characteristic and new product development process on the performance of new product development, and takes large-sized weapon system of Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology as the research object; the research is carried out in the way of the case study, conducting in-depth interviews in structure. The research uses four variables in the organization characteristic, such as encouragements for creativity, supervisor’s support, resources and time pressure; the new product development process contains five stages, which are product creativity, product concept, product prototype, final product and marketing plan; New product development performances to be explored in their influences include financial performance, market performance, window of opportunity as the framework of the research. The purpose of the research focuses on the following three points: 1. It explores the relations between organization characteristic and new product development process. 2. It explores the effects of the organization characteristic and new product development process to new products, 3. It explores the effects of the organization characteristic and new product development process to new products in Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology Important findings: 1. On the process of developing new products, either organizational encouragements or superiors’ supports or ample resources have been beneficial to the increase of employees’ creativity; organizational encouragements, superiors’ supports and employee stimulation have greater links with employees’ inner motive; however, ample resources may bring direct effect on employees’ creativity. 2. Case study reveals that there are two hindrance factors on the process of developing new products at Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology: (1) the product life cycle is longer, so it required less continuing innovation nor new product developments; (2) it has certain markets and fixed customers, so marketing strategies have not been particularly emphasized. / 第一章　緒論---------------------------------------------------------------------1 　　　第一節　研究背景與動機---------------------------------------------1 　　　第二節　研究目的------------------------------------------------------3 第三節　研究範圍------------------------------------------------------5 第四節　研究流程------------------------------------------------------5 第二章　文獻探討---------------------------------------------------------------7 　　　第一節　組織特性------------------------------------------------------7 1-1 組織特性與創新之關係-------------------------------9 1-1-1組織鼓勵與創新之關係------------------------------9 1-1-2主管支持與創新之關係-----------------------------11 1-1-3資源與創新之關係-----------------------------------12 1-1-4時間壓力與創新之關係-----------------------------14 　　　第二節　新產品發展過程--------------------------------------------14 2-1 創新的定義---------------------------------------------15 2-2 創新的類型---------------------------------------------16 　　　 2-3 新產品之定義與分類---------------------------------20 　 2-4 新產品發展過程---------------------------------------25 第三節　新產品開發績效--------------------------------------------35 第三章　研究方法--------------------------------------------------------------43 　　　第一節　研究方法-----------------------------------------------------45 　　　第二節　研究架構-----------------------------------------------------46 　　　第三節　研究假設-----------------------------------------------------47 　　　第四節　研究限制-----------------------------------------------------47 第五節　訪談問卷設計-----------------------------------------------47 第四章　個案研究--------------------------------------------------------------50 　　　第一節　研究對象-----------------------------------------------------50 　　　第二節　訪談內容彙整及分析--------------------------------------51 第五章　研究發現與命題-----------------------------------------------------59 第六章　修正研究架構與管理意涵-----------------------------------------62 　　　第一節　修正研究架構-----------------------------------------------62 　　　第二節　管理意涵-----------------------------------------------------62 第七章　結論與建議-----------------------------------------------------------64 第一節　結論-----------------------------------------------------------64 第二節　研究建議-----------------------------------------------------65 參考文獻--------------------------------------------------------------------------66 附錄一　個案研究及其種類--------------------------------------------------70 第一節　個案研究及其特徵-----------------------------------------70 第二節　個案研究的種類--------------------------------------------70 第二節　個案研究的實施步驟--------------------------------------71 附錄二　訪談問卷--------------------------------------------------------------74 附錄三　問卷訪談之完整內容-----------------------------------------------80 圖　目　錄 圖1-4-1　 研究流程圖---------------------------------------------------------5 圖2-1-1　 組織創新能力及創新組成理論---------------------------------8 圖2-2-1　 創新架構------------------------------------------------------------19 圖2-2-2　 實用創新矩陣------------------------------------------------------20 圖2-3-1　 新產品的種類------------------------------------------------------21 圖2-4-1　 部門階段模式------------------------------------------------------28 圖2-4-2　 新產品發展過程---------------------------------------------------31 圖3-2-1　 本研究之觀念性架構圖------------------------------------------46 圖6-1-1 修改後觀念性架構圖---------------------------------------------63 表　目　錄 表2-2-1　創新能力的組織影響因素--------------------------------------7 表2-2-2 創新之分類--------------------------------------------------------16 表2-3-1　各學者對新產品發展類型之分類-----------------------------24 表2-3-2 各學者對新產品開發績效衡量的構面與指標--------------41 表3-5-1 訪談問卷表--------------------------------------------------------48 表3-5-2　訪談問卷表--------------------------------------------------------48 表4-1-1　受訪者背景資料表-----------------------------------------------50 表4-2-1　訪談問卷壹、組織特性/(一)、組織鼓勵/1.【支持創新文化】之統計-------------------------------------------------------51 表4-2-2　訪談問卷壹、組織特性/(一)、組織鼓勵/2.【組織獎酬】之統計-------------------------------------------------------------52 表4-2-3　訪談問卷壹、組織特性/(一)、組織鼓勵/3.【承擔風險的意願】之統計----------------------------------------------------52 表4-2-4　訪談問卷壹、組織特性/(二)、主管支持/1.【支持的程度】之統計-------------------------------------------------------53 表4-2-5　訪談問卷壹、組織特性/(三)、資源/1.【資源充足性】之統計----------------------------------------------------------------54 表4-2-6　訪談問卷壹、組織特性/(四)、時間壓力/1.【工作時間】之統計------------------------------------------------------------54 表4-2-7　訪談問卷貳、新產品發展過程/(一)、產品創意之統計 ---------------------------------------------------------------------55 表4-2-8　訪談問卷貳、新產品發展過程/(二)、產品概念之統計 ----------------------------------------------------------------------55 表4-2-9　訪談問卷貳、新產品發展過程/(三)、產品雛型之統計 ----------------------------------------------------------------------56 表4-2-10　訪談問卷貳、新產品發展過程/(四)、最終產品之統計 -----------------------------------------------------------------------57 表4-2-11　訪談問卷貳、新產品發展過程/(五)、行銷計畫之統計 -----------------------------------------------------------------------57 表4-2-12　訪談問卷參、新產品開發績效之統計----------------------58

Product development process (PDP) architecture holds the key to the management of New Product Development (NPD). A lot of care is exercised in managing the NPD to reduce risk and uncertainties. There exists potential scope for improvement both in initial planning as well as execution of the NPD program by studying the PDP architecture. This research work seeks to taps this potential and presents an analytical tool to aid the NPD Managers. In this research work Design Structure Matrices (DSM) are used to represent the PDP architecture. The Work Transformation Matrix (WTM) is a kind of DSM and it was introduced for the analysis of concurrent task structures. However a generalized task structure has not been studied analytically in the literature. In order to study a generalized task structure we add two new matrix types to the WTM set to represent the task network interconnections and the task interdependence. First we study the pure sequential task iteration structure for NPD and show that it has lower engineering effort (cost and time) than the concurrent task iteration structure previously discussed in literature. Next we study the generalized task iteration structure and derive the expressions for total work and cost vectors. This is a major research contribution since only simulation based methods are currently available for studying generalized task iteration structures. The optimization of sequencing interdependent tasks is a well known NP hard problem in NPD literature. For small sized task sets, exhaustive enumeration of all possible sequencing and their corresponding time or cost vectors can be computed to determine the optimal sequence. However for large sized task networks, only heuristic methods are deployed. Using the closed form expression for cost and time vectors for a pure sequential task iteration structure derived earlier in this research work, we attempt to devise a method to optimally sequence the design tasks. We develop new matrix combining both the node and link weightages of task network. Using the time vector relationship between sequential and concurrent task structures, it is shown that the optimal task sequence corresponds to the reordering of this combined matrix whose “Dominance index” (sum above the diagonal) is minimum. Finally, we use some of the standard test cases from the PDP literature to demonstrate our research findings.

No description available.

In an attempt to increase opportunity and quality of life for people living in poverty,governments and non-government organisations (NGOs) sell and donate products to developing countries. Typically, these are essential household items such as cook stoves, water filters and solar lighting. However, to date there has been limited research into the uptake and long term effectiveness of these products and few methods or tools are available to guide the product development process. This has resulted in a number of well documented product failures as a result of poor design choices. To overcome this problem and provide guidance to future or existing designers and NGOs this research investigated the factors required for long lasting and effective product design. This was carried out through the use of a literature review, the analysis of 64 products, a survey, interviews with product designers, and a case study with a Social Enterprise in Myanmar (Burma). The information gathered was analysed and used to create a framework consisting of various tools to guide designers and NGOs. Specifically, the research focused on the creation of a taxonomy of products designed for developing countries and an assessment method consisting of eight critical indicators for product success. These were presented as a website, set of cards and book which guides and assists designers during the process to ensure that future products are appropriate and to prevent current unacceptable levels of waste. Following the creation of the framework it was evaluated by students, practitioners and existing product users in Myanmar. The findings revealed that participants felt the assessment method and indicator cards were beneficial during the design process and assisted them in the development of more suitable and appropriate products.

Firms developing new products often face the challenge of making investment decisions under uncertain input-cost conditions due to the price volatilities of the materials they use. These decisions need to be made long before the final products are launched on the market. Therefore, firms who invest in the opportunity to switch materials in a timely manner will have the flexibility to react to material price changes and realize competitive advantages. However, volatile material prices may also cause a firm to delay investment. Using real-options reasoning, this article studies the influence of input-cost fluctuations on the timing decision to start new product development (NPD) and thus create the follow-on opportunity to later replace an existing product. A model that combines waiting and switching options to derive influencing factors of the flexibility value which triggers the investment is developed and tested on a sample of material substitution projects from manufacturing firms. The results show how price uncertainty of the new and the old material, their joint price development, the expected project duration, and competitive preemption are related to the propensity to delay the start of NPD. The findings provide new insights on how timing in adopting materials can be used to hedge exposure to volatile material prices. The insights are relevant for adopters and producers of new materials, as well as for policy makers who strive for supporting the diffusion of new materials. (authors' abstract)

Who provides better inputs to new product ideation tasks: problem solvers with expertise in the area for which new products are to be developed, or problem solvers from "analogous" markets that are distant but share an analogous problem or need? Conventional wisdom appears to suggest that target market expertise is indispensable, which is why most managers searching for new ideas tend to stay within their own market context even when they do search outside their firms' boundaries. However, in a unique symmetric experiment that isolates the effect of market origin, we find evidence for the opposite: Although solutions provided by problem solvers from analogous markets show lower potential for immediate use, they demonstrate substantially higher levels of novelty. Also compared to established novelty drivers, this effect appears highly relevant from a managerial perspective: we find that including problem solvers from analogous markets vs. the target market accounts for almost two thirds of the well-known effect of involving lead users instead of average problem solvers. This effect is further amplified when the analogous distance between the markets increases, i.e., when searching in far vs. near analogous markets. Finally, results indicate that the analogous market effect is particularly strong in the upper tail of the novelty distribution, which again underscores the effect's practical importance. All this suggests that it might pay to systematically search across firm-external sources of innovation that were formerly out of scope for most managers. (authors' abstract)

<p> The purpose of this study is to identify the suppliers’ involvement in innovation and New Product Development (NPD) of wind turbine manufacturing. In this thesis we analysed the sources of innovation and also explored the benefits that the companies derive when they involve the suppliers in the process of innovation and NPD. We present results from the study of 31 wind turbine producers across the globe including, small, medium and large companies. The conclusions are that most of the companies claimed that they involve suppliers in innovation and NPD. In the theory chapter, we have presented different techniques of suppliers’ involvement in innovation: <strong><em>to</em></strong>, <strong><em>with</em></strong> and <strong><em>by</em></strong> (Wintelism) the suppliers. Most of the companies use ‘’<strong><em>to</em></strong>’’ the suppliers technique when they involve suppliers in innovation. Improved quality, lower cost and utilising the suppliers’ knowledge & expertise are the main benefits that companies receive when they involve suppliers in innovation and product development.</p>