The ongoing globalization of companies has resulted in a highly competitive business climate where companies have to be cost-effective but still flexible with fast response to customer feedback and present in the international scene. In order to meet the fast paced technological development from the competition and changing demand of the customers, companies focus on creating new products and reducing their time-to-market with an early product launch to gain profits from increased market shares. However, in order to maintain profitability of the new product, it becomes even more important for the company to quickly deploy a full-scale production of the product, also known as the production ramp-up phase. Despite being known as a major cost driver in new product development projects, production ramp-up is a research area which have yet received sparse attention compared to research on product launch and time-to-market in new product development projects. However, with shorter product life-cycles and higher market competition it has resulted in a need to shorten the length of a new product’s ramp-up time without making any trade-off to the cost-effectiveness of the ramp-up project and the end product’s final quality. The study identifies the common problems in volume production of a contract electronics manufacturer and their sources of disturbances from the new product introduction process. It also identifies the factors influencing the new product introduction process at the company and how these factors are connected different sources of disturbances. To identify these findings, a single case study was designed and performed at Orbit One AB, a contract electronics manufacturer with a low-volume production of products. The data collection course was executed in an iterative manner over a period of four months through interviews, observation and internal documentation and was backed up and analyzed with a literature study. The data collection through interviews was carried out in two separate rounds, where the first round of interviews was focused on identifying the common problems in volume production and the second round was focused on the factors influencing the output from the new product introduction process. The discoveries from the interviews were analyzed together with the other sources of collected data to reach a conclusive analysis. The results of the study showed that the most common problems in volume production of the company could be traced to six different sources of disturbances: Product, Production System, Design-Production Interface, Quality, Resource Management, and Personnel. The most common problems could also be summarized as: Problems with manufacturability of product; High variation of process performance, Poor correctness of information, Quality issues with products, and High workload on resources. The factors identified in the findings of the study shows that there are multiple and connected factors which affects the final output of the new product introduction process which corroborates with earlier studies and research in the area of production ramp-up. The study did identify two factors which has not been identified by other ramp-up studies, these were: Lack of organizational project culture and customer flexibility.

Aquesta tesi intenta descobrir els elements del pensament estratègic individual que proposen Bonn (2001, 2005) i Liedtka (1998), però que no s'havien demostrat empíricament, i la relació entre aquests elements en el seu rol com a facilitadors de la capacitat d'absorció organitzacional -reconceptualitzada per Zahra i George (2002)- en el context d'un projecte de desenvolupament de productes.A aquest efecte, la tesi ha seguit un enfocament qualitatiu, amb el marc metodològic de l'estudi del cas. La tesi comprèn quatre estudis del cas de desenvolupament de productes, en quatre filials llatinoamericanes d'una empresa farmacèutica multinacional. Seguint l'enfocament metodològic de Yin (2003a, 2003b) per als estudis del cas, i el mètode de comparació constant de la teoria fonamentada (grounded theory) de Glaser i Strauss (1967) i d'Strauss i Corbin (1998) per a l'anàlisi de dades, aquesta tesi aprofundeix els elements del pensament estratègic individual i la seva relació amb la capacitat d'absorció potencial (adquisició i assimilació de coneixements) i amb la capacitat d'absorció realitzada (transformació i aplicació de coneixement) de Zahra i George (2002).Aquesta tesi ha trobat que els principals elements relacionats amb el pensament estratègic individual són: creativitat individual, perspectiva holística i visió. Aquest descobriment concorda amb el model de Bonn (2005) sobre la matèria. També s'ha descobert que hi ha una relació facilitadora d'aquests elements (entre d'altres) sobre la capacitat d'absorció realitzada que proposen Zahra i George (2002) i, al seu moment, sobre l'èxit de projectes de desenvolupament de productes.Des del punt de vista teòric, els resultats d'aquesta dissertació contribueixen també amb un model de fluxos de coneixement que interrelaciona els elements del pensament estratègic individual, junt amb altres elements que s'han descobert en la recerca, amb la capacitat d'absorció organitzacional de l'equip, que faciliten l'èxit de projectes de desenvolupament de productes. Des del punt de vista pràctic, aquesta tesi ofereix als gerents la possibilitat de fer atenció al desenvolupament sistematitzat dels elements del pensament estratègic individual, com també als membres dels equips que tenen al seu càrrec projectes de desenvolupament de productes, per tal d'obtenir-hi més èxit. / Esta disertación, intentó descubrir los elementos del pensamiento estratégico individual, propuestos por Bonn (2001, 2005) y Liedtka (1998), pero no probados empíricamente; y la relación entre esos elementos en su rol como facilitadores de la capacidad de absorción organizacional - reconceptualizada por Zahra and George (2002) - en el contexto de un proyecto de desarrollo de productos.Para ese propósito la disertación usó un enfoque cualitativo con un marco metodológico del caso estudio. La disertación comprende cuatro casos estudio de desarrollo de productos, en cuatro subsidiarias latinoamericanas de una empresa farmacéutica multinacional. Usando el enfoque metodológico de Yin (2003a, 2003b) para los casos estudio; y el método de comparación constante del grounded theory de Glaser and Strauss's (1967) y Strauss and Corbin (1998) para el análisis de la data; esta disertación profundiza en los elementos del pensamiento estratégico individual y en su relación con la capacidad de absorción potencial (adquisición y asimilación de conocimiento) y con la capacidad de absorción realizada (transformación y aplicación de conocimiento) de Zahra and George's (2002).Esta disertación encontró que los principales elementos asociados al pensamiento estratégico individual son: creatividad individual, perspectiva holística, y visión. Este descubrimiento concuerda con el modelo de Bonn (2005) sobre el tema. También se descubrió que existe una relación facilitadora de esos elementos (entre otros) sobre la capacidad de absorción realizada propuesto por Zahra y George (2002) y en su momento, sobre el éxito de proyectos de desarrollo de productos.Desde el punto de vista teórico, los resultados de esta disertación contribuyen también con un modelo de flujos de conocimiento que interrelaciona los elementos del pensamiento estratégico individual, junto con otros elementos descubiertos en la investigación, con la capacidad de absorción organizacional del equipo, que facilitan el éxito de proyectos de desarrollo de productos. Desde un punto de vista práctico, esta disertación ofrece la posibilidad para los gerentes de prestar atención al desarrollo sistematizado de los elementos del pensamiento estratégico individual, en los miembros de los equipos a cargo de proyectos de desarrollo de productos, para lograr aumentar el éxito de dichos proyectos. / This dissertation attempted to uncover the individual strategic thinking elements proposed, but not empirically tested, by Bonn (2001, 2005) and Liedtka (1998); and the relationships between those elements and its role as facilitator of the team's absorptive capacity - as reconceptualized by Zahra and George (2002) - that a team develops within the context of NPD project.For that purpose this dissertation used a qualitative approach within the case-study methodology framework. The study comprises four case studies amidst New Product Development (NPD) projects in four Latin American subsidiaries of an American Multi-National Company (MNC) within the pharmaceutical industry. Using Yin's (2003a, 2003b) methodological approach to case studies as framework, and Glaser and Strauss's (1967) and Strauss and Corbin (1998) constant comparative method from the grounded theory as the data analysis tool, this dissertation deepened in the elements of individual strategic thinking and their relationship with Zahra and George's (2002) Potential Absorptive Capacity (knowledge acquisition and knowledge assimilation) and Realized Absorptive Capacity (knowledge transformation and knowledge application).This dissertation found that the main elements related to individual strategic thinking were: individual creativity, holistic perspective, and vision. This finding supports Bonn's (2005) model on the topic. Those elements were found to have a role as facilitators (among other elements) of Realized Absorptive Capacity proposed by Zahra and George (2002) and in turn, as an enabler of NPD project's success improvement.From a theoretical point of view, this dissertation also contributed with a framework of knowledge flows as present in a NPD project that interrelate individual strategic thinking elements, and other elements uncovered by the study, with the team's absorptive capacity facilitating the NPD success. From a practical stand point, this dissertation provided the possibility for managers to pay attention on a systematic development of the individual strategic thinking skill through its elements, among the members of a team in charge of a NPD project, in particular within the pharmaceutical industry.