Incorporating electronics and software systems into manufactured goods is becoming very common in manufacturing companies. New technical functions, increased flexibility, and compensation for mechanical design weaknesses are some key drivers of this technological change in our everyday products. The automotive industry exemplifies this trend, since approximately 80–90% of new functions in cars are based on electronics and software, and it is expected that at least a third of the total cost of a car will eventually be accounted for by electronics and software. However, one of the main downsides of this technological trend is the increasing number of quality issues related to these new technologies, something usually claimed to be a result of the increased product development complexity. Previous research into product development management has mainly concentrated on either physical products or software systems, but not concurrently on both. Additionally, much of the research has concentrated on issues of integrating marketing, R&D, and manufacturing in these companies, and has treated the engineering disciplines in R&D as a homogenous group. Motivated by this change in technology content and the lack of research into complex product development and especially into integration between engineering disciplines, the present work investigates how to increase operational performance in multidisciplinary engineering organizations. This work has especially focused on interdisciplinary integration and the feasibility of various so-called integration mechanisms, such as building common physical facilities, job rotation programs, the implementation and use of information and communications technology, and computer-aided engineering tools. Both qualitative and quantitative research has been performed, involving 11 different companies and over 300 respondents. Supported by the present findings, it is demonstrated that interdisciplinary integration is a crucial factor to consider, and it is concluded that certain integration mechanisms stand out as more important than others. Organizational structure, work procedures and methods, training, social systems, and computer-aided engineering were the five types of mechanisms that displayed the greatest potential for improvement. It is further concluded that the ability to successfully match the body of practices to current products is essential, since there is a high risk of current practices becoming out-dated with respect to the technology content. Furthermore, inadequate identification of or managerial ability to establish the currently most important interfaces complicate the choice of trade-offs between various technologies that are found to be essential to cope with the inherent dynamic complexity. The organizational powerbase is often re-positioned in the studied organizations, and the loss of decisive power can result in a demoralizing ignorance of newly established disciplines and their design practices. Additionally, rigid structures and counterproductive traditions can reduce the potential gains accruing from new boundary-spanning innovations, so organizational responsibilities and mandates must be declared unambiguously, in many cases differently from how they have been in the past. Based on these conclusions, it is suggested that managers in organizations like those studied must be able to do the following: cultivate software knowledge in all parts and levels of the product development organization; reassess their recruitment strategies; organize for interdisciplinary collaboration; articulate and communicate the technology fusion strategy to all disciplines; and realize and disseminate the fact that product launches do not only concern manufacturability. / QC 20100621

Title SpotBox: The Concept Development of a Digital Jukebox   Authors Guilherme Gomes & Pauline Droz   Supervisor Jean-Charles Languilaire   Level Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, Marketing   Key words Marketing, Concept Development, New-Product Development, NPD, Jukebox, Music, Spotify, Customer-Oriented business,Live streaming, mp3, Customer-Oriented Music System.   Purpose To Turn the new-product idea of the digital jukebox called SpotBox into a product concept.   Method In the method we explain the process to develop our concept. Based in three phases, we started by combining secondary data and primary data through a focus group in order to understand better the potential consumers of our product, then personal interviews are made with our customers and the technical requirements are measured in the end through an interview.   Theoretical framework Kotler´s and Cooper´s approach about New-Product Development are first introduced. Then the Concept Development theories of both authors are explained which allow us in a last paragraph to build and present our own approach of the process of concept development.   Conclusions The SpotBox concept developed through this work is presented and explained in detail: A digital jukebox in a futuristic shape which allows users to share, listen and program songs in a new, convenient and exciting way, giving to the music market a new customer-oriented dimension.

根據Griffin(1997)所述，任何一個企業的起點都是成功地將一項新產品上市開始，而為了維持企業長期的獲利，企業必須持續開發及商業化其他成功的商品，或是至少也應該改良現有產品使其更符合顧客的需要。而上述這些行動都是屬於新產品設計與開發管理。由此可知，新產品設計開發與管理的重要性，不僅影響企業當下的競爭能力，更是關係企業長期的獲利能力，顯然新產品的設計開發與管理對於企業永續的生存發展十分重要。有鑒於此，本研究乃依循此重要觀念而進行，本研究乃從新產品開發的管理行動、個案公司對新產品開發的管理現況、未來管理模式與機制等三方向進行分析，以期益於個案公司新產品設計開發的管理績效與整體營運成長之目的。除此，本研究亦期經由本個案公司的深入探討，可提供學術研究與企業實務相關的參考，而利於光學產業與新產品設計開發與管理的研究領域之發展。

The purpose of this study is to better understand the functioning of knowledge sharing in the supply chain of Taiwan IT industry and face the current practice of modular component outsourcing with a theoretical threat of architecture change and modularity trap. Today, modularity and component outsourcing became almost an prerequisite for an successful IT company. Product architectures are widespread and well defined. It is however the question nobody dares to ask – what if this changes? How can the Taiwan suppliers make sure, that they will still be in the game even if the rules change? How can they assure that their position as the cutting edge component providers won`t be taken by someone else? The basic premise of the research is, that the relationship management of supplier and buyers often seen in countries with Confucian tradition can overcome this threat thanks to deeply rooted trust and good and opened communication patterns. This paper first introduces the Supplier-buyer relationship theory and background on its functioning within the New Product Development (NPD) area. The study also touches on the issue of Early Supplier Involvement (ESI) into the New Product Development. Next the theory on Modularity and Modularity Trap are introduced. Based on the literature review, I construct an research framework, consisting of two bodies: The architecture as a variable and Buyer-supplier relationship and NPD. The major conclusions of this study are (1) The architecture of the product to be developed is an important driver on the supplier-buyer relationship creation. (2) To build the relationship with buyers is important step for the suppliers, but it can only be build around technology that is important for the buyer. (3) Supplier`s understanding of architecture knowledge of its buyers is crucial. (4) The main reason to invite supplier into New product development is buyers technological distance between what they can have and what they want to have. (5) Product Complexity (number of parts and their interconnections within the product) have a positive influence on the supplier role creation. (6) All buyers have a rather good component knowledge. (7) The management alignment will be greatly influenced byt architectural attributes of the product to be developed.

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: to, with and by (Wintelism) the suppliers. Most of the companies use ‘’to’’ 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.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide taxonomy of risk management (RM) in new product development (NPD) research and, based on that, to develop a research agenda for this field of study. The review was based on a systematic review which not only concentrates peer reviewed journal papers but also conferences and a book chapter. A total of 58 academic sources have been retrieved published within the period of 1980-2012 and were classified into various purposeful themes. The review reveals that research on RM in NPD is mostly theoretical in nature and lacks empirical foundations. It also argues that while there has been written a lot on how risk should be managed in NPD process (prescriptive type), the other aspect of how risk is being managed (descriptive type) is not very well addressed. Based on this, various research gaps are identified from different developed themes. The review is limited in several ways. First, research cannot be regarded as complete or comprehensive literature review in the field of RM in NPD, although every effort has been made to include the articles relevant to review question. The themes selected for classification of articles could have been structured in many different ways. The research accomplishes an identified need for exhaustive classification of literature. It identifies discrepancies among theoretical and empirical knowledge and thus tries to bridge a gap between both types of knowledge.

The business environment is changing rapidly, becoming very competitive and challenging for all firms, and particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As innovation and new product development represent valuable sources for SMEs’ future sustainability and development, making these processes more effective is essential. Previous literature, with the focus on large firms, underlined the importance of efficiently managing the early period of new product development (NPD), as this can reduce the product’s time to market and increase its performance. For this reason, contributing to a developed understanding of the challenges of medium-sized firms in managing this phase, the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of NPD, is the aim of this study. The theoretical framework of this study combines prior theories that relate to the difficulties, shortcomings, challenges that SMEs meet during the whole NPD process, including FFE, and theories that resulted from research on FFE in large firms. The structure is based on four elements referring to managing the idea generation process, new product development team, evaluation of product concept feasibility, and the organization of FFE. A qualitative strategy and a research design with two case studies on high-tech, medium-sized manufacturing firms were used in reaching the purpose of this study. This methodology choice reflects the explorative purpose of this research. The empirical data are mainly primary data, collected during three interviews with development managers and a product developer, completed as well with secondary data like general company information, collected from companies’ websites. The analysis of empirical findings revealed some relevant conclusions, which can bring value to the research area, and also to the practice. Our findings show that lack of communication with customers during the whole FFE phase, collecting limited or inaccurate information to be processed during this phase, finding the right formalization degree of FFE activities, determining the complexity of the product concept, and assessing external technology and expertise, represent the main challenges faced by medium-sized firms in the FFE of NPD. The study’s practical relevance consists in the advices and solutions suggested to managers for overcoming the challenges of the FFE phase and improving their results in the development projects. The theoretical implications reflect the importance of organizational size variable in association with the challenges of FFE. The sample of only two cases and the quality of the empirical data collected from two high-tech Swedish manufacturing firms which have a large focus on innovation are the main limitations of this study, as these medium-sized firms have gained some experience to face the specific challenges of FFE of NPD and the data they provide may be influenced by this aspect.

Due to the globalization trend, the internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has become a common practice in the last decades. The New Product Development (NPD) is recognized as innovative value creating effort that has become important in the high-risk, globally competitive environment, and small firms seem to be more effective in utilizing product design and manufacturing involvement, while large firms standardize and formalize the product development practices. Thus, the main focus of this research study is the NPD capabilities and the internationalization process. The main research question focuses on whether and how the NPD capabilities influence the internationalization process of the companies in the health industry. A qualitative study is carried out to answer the research question by interviewing three Swedish companies in the health industry. The empirical findings and analysis conclude that the NPD capabilities and the internationalization process go along with each other and they are both dependant. There is a positive relationship between the NPD capabilities and the internationalization process, but it is not yet defined which one has a greater influence.

Microfinance is the provision of credit/loans to poor individuals for the purpose of income generation. The Sub-Saharan African region which is among the poorest areas in the world is thought to be one of the regions where the microfinance industry is dynamic and growing in terms of acceptance and patronage. Even though microfinance in the Sub-Saharan Africa region has received a lot of research attention, most have focused largely on the financial performance whilst there is no available information on project management practices in new product development.Since project management is considered to be an effective means of managing new product development, the purpose of this work was to investigate the practice of project management in new product development in microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and to assess which project management methods, and tools and techniques are used.A case study was adopted and a semi-structured interview through telephone/Skype was conducted on eight senior management staff from different microfinance institutions. The respondents comprised five Non-governmental organizations, two Non-Bank financial institutions and one Commercial Bank, operating in Angola, Gambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia and Kenya.The empirical findings were that six of the microfinance institutions are involved in new product development whilst two of the institutions which are Non-governmental organizations are not. The main product that is developed by these microfinance institutions is credits/loans. The reason for new products development was to meet clients’ needs even though competition and the need to be innovative was also a factor.This research also shows that the six microfinance institutions that are into new product development organize product development through projects. Project management is the means through which new products are developed. In addition, projects are managed either solely by each microfinance institution or done in collaboration with other institutions.A further indication based on project management steps suggests a flexible practice of project management in developing new products as project management steps are not tightly followed. The project management methods that are used in developing new products in all these institutions was the in house method as all the respondents considered it an effective way because this method is adapted to their institutional structure.In addition, the commonly used tool and technique among all the institutions was the progress reports which contained necessary information for monitoring and evaluating of the projects.

The Front End of innovation (FEI) or early innovation presents one of the greatest opportunities for improving an entire innovation process in any firm. The purpose of this thesis is to study how customers can be involved in the early phase of innovation in the IT industry. In this study, we did analyze the customer types, their methods of involvement and key elements within the early innovation process or front end of innovation. In accordance with theoretical concepts, this study shows that all fifteen (15) companies working within the I.T industry in Sweden agreed working with innovation/NPD and, equally involve customers in their front end of innovation (FEI). In the I.T industry, innovation comes mainly from the users (customers) and from within the companies (R&D). To a lesser extend, from technological trends, market and suppliers. Amongst the identified phases (elements) of the front end of innovation, Opportunity Identification was found to be the dominant phase for customer involvement. Normal customers, lead, empathic design customers and virtual customers, proved the most dominant customer types integrated within the front end of innovation in the I.T industry.