Product development is critical for many firms, because in many industries the development of products has become a primary source of competitive advantage. To manage this process many firms use management controls, but the effect of those controls on product development is not clear. Recent research in the product development field suggests that the role of management control is to reduce uncertainty rather than the traditionally-assumed focus of promoting goal congruence, and that organisation members use management controls in an interactive style rather than in the traditionally-assumed diagnostic style. The objective of this thesis is to provide empirical insight into management control practices in product development with particular reference to the interface between organisation members across different functions and hierarchal levels within the organisation. It examines both the role of management controls; either to promote goal congruence or to reduce uncertainty, and the style in which management controls are used; either interactively, diagnostically, to set boundaries, or influence beliefs during the activities that take place during the product development process for different types of product development project. To better understand how this takes place this thesis reports on the boundary objects (i.e. numbers, documents and models) that organisation members use during the product development activities to accomplish management control in practice. Empirical field material was collected during a nine-month intensive longitudinal field study, informed by practice theory (ethnomethodology), which was carried out at a large Australasian multinational company within the consumer foods industry. A participant observation approach was used to collect material from a wide range of sources within the company, including interactions and meetings involving executive managers, functional managers, and product development project teams who were members of the technology, marketing, sales, operations and finance departments. The empirical results indicate that the role of management control changes during the product development process alternating between reducing uncertainty and promoting goal congruence. The style in which management controls are used also differs depending on the stage of the product development process and the nature of the product development projects. Finally, management control was accomplished through the use of different boundary objects for each type of product development project. / The Tertiary Education Commission through an Enterprise Scholarship with Fonterra Brands

The broad objective of this thesis is to extend our understanding of radical new product development (NPD) beyond degree of customer orientation (CO) by assessing the role and influence of both customers and other external influencers (OEIs). While a number of studies have investigated the relationship between CO and NPD outcomes, such studies typically focus on incremental NPD. The role of customers is also typically investigated using numerical scales to understand degree of CO, and fails to consider the important implementation issues of which, when and how customers are involved through the NPD process. In addition to customers, other external influencers (OEIs) such as investors, suppliers, distributors, competitors, universities and advisors are also increasingly involved in radical NPD, but the roles and actual influence of these different groups is unclear. To address these gaps in the literature this thesis adopts a network approach to investigate the role of customers and OEIs in the development of six radical new products. Six retrospective case studies are conducted, all involving the development of radical ICT products targeted at industrial markets. To provide further insight, three of these cases involve successful new products while the remaining three involve unsuccessful products. Analysis of case data involves qualitative and quantitative network analysis as well as thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Clear differences are found between the ways in which the successful and unsuccessful cases involve customers and OEIs. For example, firms developing successful products focus on existing customers with whom they have strong previous relationships, while developers of unsuccessful products do not. Furthermore, the successful cases all involve customers actively as co-developers of the product, while none of the unsuccessful cases take this approach. These findings are presented in detail and discussed in relation to the existing literature. A set of empirically-based propositions are outlined as a foundation for future research.

Product development is critical for many firms, because in many industries the development of products has become a primary source of competitive advantage. To manage this process many firms use management controls, but the effect of those controls on product development is not clear. Recent research in the product development field suggests that the role of management control is to reduce uncertainty rather than the traditionally-assumed focus of promoting goal congruence, and that organisation members use management controls in an interactive style rather than in the traditionally-assumed diagnostic style. The objective of this thesis is to provide empirical insight into management control practices in product development with particular reference to the interface between organisation members across different functions and hierarchal levels within the organisation. It examines both the role of management controls; either to promote goal congruence or to reduce uncertainty, and the style in which management controls are used; either interactively, diagnostically, to set boundaries, or influence beliefs during the activities that take place during the product development process for different types of product development project. To better understand how this takes place this thesis reports on the boundary objects (i.e. numbers, documents and models) that organisation members use during the product development activities to accomplish management control in practice. Empirical field material was collected during a nine-month intensive longitudinal field study, informed by practice theory (ethnomethodology), which was carried out at a large Australasian multinational company within the consumer foods industry. A participant observation approach was used to collect material from a wide range of sources within the company, including interactions and meetings involving executive managers, functional managers, and product development project teams who were members of the technology, marketing, sales, operations and finance departments. The empirical results indicate that the role of management control changes during the product development process alternating between reducing uncertainty and promoting goal congruence. The style in which management controls are used also differs depending on the stage of the product development process and the nature of the product development projects. Finally, management control was accomplished through the use of different boundary objects for each type of product development project. / The Tertiary Education Commission through an Enterprise Scholarship with Fonterra Brands

The broad objective of this thesis is to extend our understanding of radical new product development (NPD) beyond degree of customer orientation (CO) by assessing the role and influence of both customers and other external influencers (OEIs). While a number of studies have investigated the relationship between CO and NPD outcomes, such studies typically focus on incremental NPD. The role of customers is also typically investigated using numerical scales to understand degree of CO, and fails to consider the important implementation issues of which, when and how customers are involved through the NPD process. In addition to customers, other external influencers (OEIs) such as investors, suppliers, distributors, competitors, universities and advisors are also increasingly involved in radical NPD, but the roles and actual influence of these different groups is unclear. To address these gaps in the literature this thesis adopts a network approach to investigate the role of customers and OEIs in the development of six radical new products. Six retrospective case studies are conducted, all involving the development of radical ICT products targeted at industrial markets. To provide further insight, three of these cases involve successful new products while the remaining three involve unsuccessful products. Analysis of case data involves qualitative and quantitative network analysis as well as thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Clear differences are found between the ways in which the successful and unsuccessful cases involve customers and OEIs. For example, firms developing successful products focus on existing customers with whom they have strong previous relationships, while developers of unsuccessful products do not. Furthermore, the successful cases all involve customers actively as co-developers of the product, while none of the unsuccessful cases take this approach. These findings are presented in detail and discussed in relation to the existing literature. A set of empirically-based propositions are outlined as a foundation for future research.

Product development is critical for many firms, because in many industries the development of products has become a primary source of competitive advantage. To manage this process many firms use management controls, but the effect of those controls on product development is not clear. Recent research in the product development field suggests that the role of management control is to reduce uncertainty rather than the traditionally-assumed focus of promoting goal congruence, and that organisation members use management controls in an interactive style rather than in the traditionally-assumed diagnostic style. The objective of this thesis is to provide empirical insight into management control practices in product development with particular reference to the interface between organisation members across different functions and hierarchal levels within the organisation. It examines both the role of management controls; either to promote goal congruence or to reduce uncertainty, and the style in which management controls are used; either interactively, diagnostically, to set boundaries, or influence beliefs during the activities that take place during the product development process for different types of product development project. To better understand how this takes place this thesis reports on the boundary objects (i.e. numbers, documents and models) that organisation members use during the product development activities to accomplish management control in practice. Empirical field material was collected during a nine-month intensive longitudinal field study, informed by practice theory (ethnomethodology), which was carried out at a large Australasian multinational company within the consumer foods industry. A participant observation approach was used to collect material from a wide range of sources within the company, including interactions and meetings involving executive managers, functional managers, and product development project teams who were members of the technology, marketing, sales, operations and finance departments. The empirical results indicate that the role of management control changes during the product development process alternating between reducing uncertainty and promoting goal congruence. The style in which management controls are used also differs depending on the stage of the product development process and the nature of the product development projects. Finally, management control was accomplished through the use of different boundary objects for each type of product development project. / The Tertiary Education Commission through an Enterprise Scholarship with Fonterra Brands

The broad objective of this thesis is to extend our understanding of radical new product development (NPD) beyond degree of customer orientation (CO) by assessing the role and influence of both customers and other external influencers (OEIs). While a number of studies have investigated the relationship between CO and NPD outcomes, such studies typically focus on incremental NPD. The role of customers is also typically investigated using numerical scales to understand degree of CO, and fails to consider the important implementation issues of which, when and how customers are involved through the NPD process. In addition to customers, other external influencers (OEIs) such as investors, suppliers, distributors, competitors, universities and advisors are also increasingly involved in radical NPD, but the roles and actual influence of these different groups is unclear. To address these gaps in the literature this thesis adopts a network approach to investigate the role of customers and OEIs in the development of six radical new products. Six retrospective case studies are conducted, all involving the development of radical ICT products targeted at industrial markets. To provide further insight, three of these cases involve successful new products while the remaining three involve unsuccessful products. Analysis of case data involves qualitative and quantitative network analysis as well as thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Clear differences are found between the ways in which the successful and unsuccessful cases involve customers and OEIs. For example, firms developing successful products focus on existing customers with whom they have strong previous relationships, while developers of unsuccessful products do not. Furthermore, the successful cases all involve customers actively as co-developers of the product, while none of the unsuccessful cases take this approach. These findings are presented in detail and discussed in relation to the existing literature. A set of empirically-based propositions are outlined as a foundation for future research.

Product development is critical for many firms, because in many industries the development of products has become a primary source of competitive advantage. To manage this process many firms use management controls, but the effect of those controls on product development is not clear. Recent research in the product development field suggests that the role of management control is to reduce uncertainty rather than the traditionally-assumed focus of promoting goal congruence, and that organisation members use management controls in an interactive style rather than in the traditionally-assumed diagnostic style. The objective of this thesis is to provide empirical insight into management control practices in product development with particular reference to the interface between organisation members across different functions and hierarchal levels within the organisation. It examines both the role of management controls; either to promote goal congruence or to reduce uncertainty, and the style in which management controls are used; either interactively, diagnostically, to set boundaries, or influence beliefs during the activities that take place during the product development process for different types of product development project. To better understand how this takes place this thesis reports on the boundary objects (i.e. numbers, documents and models) that organisation members use during the product development activities to accomplish management control in practice. Empirical field material was collected during a nine-month intensive longitudinal field study, informed by practice theory (ethnomethodology), which was carried out at a large Australasian multinational company within the consumer foods industry. A participant observation approach was used to collect material from a wide range of sources within the company, including interactions and meetings involving executive managers, functional managers, and product development project teams who were members of the technology, marketing, sales, operations and finance departments. The empirical results indicate that the role of management control changes during the product development process alternating between reducing uncertainty and promoting goal congruence. The style in which management controls are used also differs depending on the stage of the product development process and the nature of the product development projects. Finally, management control was accomplished through the use of different boundary objects for each type of product development project. / The Tertiary Education Commission through an Enterprise Scholarship with Fonterra Brands

The broad objective of this thesis is to extend our understanding of radical new product development (NPD) beyond degree of customer orientation (CO) by assessing the role and influence of both customers and other external influencers (OEIs). While a number of studies have investigated the relationship between CO and NPD outcomes, such studies typically focus on incremental NPD. The role of customers is also typically investigated using numerical scales to understand degree of CO, and fails to consider the important implementation issues of which, when and how customers are involved through the NPD process. In addition to customers, other external influencers (OEIs) such as investors, suppliers, distributors, competitors, universities and advisors are also increasingly involved in radical NPD, but the roles and actual influence of these different groups is unclear. To address these gaps in the literature this thesis adopts a network approach to investigate the role of customers and OEIs in the development of six radical new products. Six retrospective case studies are conducted, all involving the development of radical ICT products targeted at industrial markets. To provide further insight, three of these cases involve successful new products while the remaining three involve unsuccessful products. Analysis of case data involves qualitative and quantitative network analysis as well as thematic analysis of interview transcripts. Clear differences are found between the ways in which the successful and unsuccessful cases involve customers and OEIs. For example, firms developing successful products focus on existing customers with whom they have strong previous relationships, while developers of unsuccessful products do not. Furthermore, the successful cases all involve customers actively as co-developers of the product, while none of the unsuccessful cases take this approach. These findings are presented in detail and discussed in relation to the existing literature. A set of empirically-based propositions are outlined as a foundation for future research.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2002. / Härtill 5 appendix.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Alnarp : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.