Step 4.1

Identify and approach key Co-Development partners, again under signed Non-Disclosure Agreements. Ask them to answer the key question from Step 1.3: Why does envisioned solution to problem not yet exist?

Primary findings

Secondary findings

Primary findings

Barriers

Lower incentives for universities to form relationships with small or medium sized enterprises compared to larger firms.
Author reasons that Small and Medium Sized Enterprises frequently do not have adequate personnel or financial resources to invest in a university relationship.
(View full citation)

Outsourcing expertise in NPD is difficult to implement in two ways. First, the danger of hollowing out the internal knowledge base so that the organization loses the core competence in key areas. Second, the firm loses the ability to integrate expertise from within the firm and across the supply chain. The firm may realize short-term cost savings but risks losing core competence to external sources.
Corporate case study.
(View full citation)

Carriers

A research project steering committee with equal representation from the research organization and key stakeholders can help with the creation of a project vision, deliberation strategies, and promotional activities. Together, members commit to a goal established by the committee and coordinate action in the direction of that goal.
Project-based learnings.
(View full citation)

An organization can designate Boundary Spanners — staff who establish effective communication protocols between the internal and external sources of expertise. The Boundary Spanners keep the internal units involved in the same activities as the external suppliers, by way of dry runs, shadow engineering, or patenting in the supplier's domain. Organizations gain the speed and cost efficiency of outsourcing, while maintaining and updating core competencies.
Corporate case study.
(View full citation)

Choose product development team members who trust, respect and are loyal to each other because this will create effective relationships and increase information flow. Also look for longevity of product developer relationships, shared common backgrounds and wider social contexts.
Survey. Positive correlations were found between effective product development relationships and trust, respect, loyalty, longevity, common backgrounds and social contexts at the .01 level.
(View full citation)

Independent research project advisory boards, with equal representation from community and academic institutions, can help to draw out relevant policy and practice implications of research findings.
Project-based learnings.
(View full citation)

Researchers can benefit from establishing ongoing partnerships with key knowledge users (stakeholder groups). As a researcher gets to know a stakeholder group, there is the potential to develop a trusting relationship, which can lead to greater openness and opportunities to better understand the issues that drive the stakeholder group and the kinds of important questions that remain unanswered and remain open to research.
Lessons learned from close researcher-stakeholder partnerships.
(View full citation)

When external researchers are embedded in an organization (especially in a team-based setting), it can be extremely helpful to have an internal champion that has sufficiently senior standing and operational knowledge and is able to make commitments regarding forms of collaboration and data/resource sharing.
Lessons from a health research network evaluation.
(View full citation)

Models

The outcome of this exercise is that the researchers were then able to create the ‘Interactions Model’ which maps the ‘current’ situation of interactions or issues pertinent to the Telco–Distributor and Comtic–Supplier interface. Findings from the ‘Interactions Model’ emphasize the sensitivity of the interface and the key role which the partners (distributors and suppliers) have come to play in an extended enterprise.
The data has been collected by the researcher from within the company from a wide variety of sources ranging from NPD documentation, archival records and interviews with various people working on the R&D process.
(View full citation)

Methods

Assigning broad tasks, as opposed to specialized tasks does not reduce development time significantly.
Meta analysis of 4 studies
(View full citation)

Compose an efficient project team; make sure that it is cross functional, includes gatekeepers, and its members have moderate tenure, i.e., have neither a too short nor too long a history together. This is to ensure increased information sharing and flow both internally and externally.
Authors report significant and robust link [link 1] between this method and product development speed in the integrated model. Actual results not reported. Clark & Fujimoto, 1991; Dougherty, 1992; Zirger & Maidique, 1990; Allen, 1971, 1977.
(View full citation)

Consider a firm's strategic approach to information when selecting a partner: Highly innovative firms use information conceptually to to enhance both new product performance and new product creativity outcomes. More conservative firms relying on incremental improvements enhance both product performance and outcomes through incremental use of information. Firms that innovate to some degree while protecting existing product markets, benefit from conceptual use but detract from performance and outcomes when applying information instrumentally.
Survey of 150 software development firms.
(View full citation)

Create and maintain high levels of integration between Marketing and Research & Development functions and product prototype development, product launch and cycle times will all have increased proficiency. Market forecast accuracy and technological core competency fit will also be improved with function integration. Be sure to implement integration at step 4.1.
Survey. A multiple regression analysis revealed significance between integration and: product prototype development proficiency (F=70.80); product launch proficiency (F=122.74); product development cycle time (F=13.84), market forecast accuracy (F=75.65); and technological core competency fit (F=39.64), all interactions significant at the p<.001 level.
(View full citation)

Facilitate group process; Build team cohesion by encouraging frequency of Internal and external communication by team members in order to increase amount of information and ensure fast product development
Authors report significant and robust link [link 2] in the integrated model, between this method and product development speed and subsequently, financial success. Actual results not reported.
(View full citation)

Organizations should carefully study prospective suppliers to identify an ideal candidate. Increasing a buyer's knowledge of a supplier leads to higher levels of trust, which in turn lead to more information sharing and involvement. Some criteria to consider include ability to achieve goals, ramp-up abilities, innovation and technical expertise, training requirements, and resource commitment from top management.
Survey of 84 companies.
(View full citation)

Process and product improvement resulting from the use of university-based industrial extension services help to: maintain a steady flow of income into a region from non-local sources, retain local industrial jobs, promote the use of best practices in manufacturing, enhance the credibility of local organizations via certifications such as ISO and TQM.
Survey data.
(View full citation)

Six general themes for NPD best practice are described: (1) Instill a strategic, long-term orientation toward NPD. (2) Have a formal portfolio management process. (3) Implement a formal NPD process supported by a discipline to adhere to this process. (4) Conduct market research proactively. (5) Use cross-functional teams. (6) Utilize standardized criteria and metrics.
Generated from published studies on benchmarking data.
(View full citation)

Technology Acquisition — Companies have finite resources and cannot afford to pursue all technologies in-house. Hence, organizations face the dilemma of deciding whether to develop technologies internally or to acquire them from a third-party. Further, as technologies become more complex, acquisition is increasingly regarded as a principle path for delivering new solutions. Technology acquisition helps bridge the technology gap in areas of expertise where the organization lags behind.
Literature review, author's industry experience with case study.
(View full citation)

The decision to engage in inter-organizational relationships should balance the advantages of accessing new knowledge, new opportunities, and sharing of risk and cost, against the potential problems of losing control over knowledge involuntarily.
Analysis of survey data from 557 firms across five industries in Europe.
(View full citation)

The primary drivers of performance appear to be: 1. Cross-functional Involvement and good interfacing between those involved in undertaking NPD. 2. Developing a profile of defined product/market arenas to direct new product ideation and investment in R&D and marketing capabilities. 3. Provision of adequate resources for undertaking NPD. 4. Leadership and organization of projects including the use of product champions and enabling managers the flexibility to make decisions relating to NPD activities. 5. A strong market orientation that links both customer and competitor insights into the NPD process for improved decision-making. 6. A high level of senior management involvement in order to illustrate to employees that management is committed to successful NPD outcomes. 7. Undertaking up-front homework including appropriate project screening and evaluation activities, concept development and testing, and preliminary market and technical testing.
Survey. Results from questionnaire analysis.
(View full citation)

The range of participants in R&D is broad and requires someone to oversee the integration of all the elements that constitute the innovation process. All of the external actors that create value or knowledge may join in R&D, including customers, suppliers and distributors, with all due consideration of the span of control and confidentiality issues.
Author analysis of prior literature and application within an industrial setting.
(View full citation)

The relationship established between academia and industry determines the flow of benefits and incentives. For example, Research Partnership relationships are cooperative R&D activities with high academic and industry incentives, but less focus on specific deliverables. In contrast, Research Service relationships (i.e., contract research or consulting), have lower academic incentives but tend to focus on specific deliverables (see Table 1).
Review of 49 articles identified through search of literature from 1990 to present using thirty key terms.
(View full citation)

Voice of the Customer Information as a Best Practice for the NPD process: 1) Market and buyer behavior studies are a valuable source of information for planning the market launch. 2) Market research as a tool to help define the product. 3) The customer or user ought to be an integral part of the Development process. 4) Identification of customers or users real or un-articulated needs and their problems, is considered fundamental to voice-of-the-customer research, and should be a key input to product design. 5) Working with highly innovative users or customers.
A quantitative survey of 105 business units, supported by team's experience in NPD modeling, consultation, application and analysis.
(View full citation)

When seeking partners consider — in order — technological alignment (technical ability, technical resource and market knowledge complementarity, and overlapping knowledge bases); strategic alignment (motivation correspondence and goal correspondence); and relational alignment (compatible cultures, propensity to change, and long-term orientation).
Narrative analysis of case studies and literature review.
(View full citation)

Tips

A collaborative work environment is positively associated with NPD project efficiency. Collocation of project members reduces the physical distances between them. The removal of distance as a barrier should improve overall project efficiency, as information transactions and other communications are made easier.
Survey of 137 completed NPD projects. Managers’ perceptions of a collaborative environment were significantly higher on average for efficient projects as opposed to Inefficient projects, supporting one hypothesis.
(View full citation)

Another primary contributor to product success is strategic focus. Firms should choose projects that build upon the firm's existing technological, marketing, and organizational competencies. When new ventures are undertaken, the firm must consider and perhaps minimize where possible one or more dimensions of newness.
Survey of 172 electronics products
(View full citation)

Assemble cross-functional teams consisting of key players within the company. Make it clear to the entire organization that these individuals are assigned to the project and the entire team is accountable for the end results.
Authors' research experience. More high productivity companies use these practices than low productivity companies.
(View full citation)

Effectively reviewing information from past new product development projects while integrating marketing and research and development will significantly influence product launch proficiency, design change frequency and technological core competency fit.
Survey. Significant interaction for product launch proficiency (F=4.49, p<.05), design change frequency (F=4.32, p<.05) and technological core competency fit (F=5.22, p<.05).
(View full citation)

High quality teams lead to higher new product success. They should include a team leader dedicated to a single project and frequent communication between members. Decisions made by people outside of the team should be made quickly and efficiently.
Survey of 161 business units.
(View full citation)

Include personnel from manufacturing in visits with customers to give customers confidence that the product will meet their needs.
Interviews with four high-tech firms.
(View full citation)

Involve functional managers within new product development projects, especially if your company is smaller.
Survey. Companies who used the matrix form or functional type of project organization found the use of functional managers to be positive or inconsequential.
(View full citation)

Involvement of customers with strong past ties will result in the development of products with higher competitive performance than those that involve customers with no or few past ties. However, this practice is most effective when developing incremental products, rather than highly innovative products.
Survey of 137 new product development projects.
(View full citation)

Managerial excellence is critical to product success. Products are more likely to be successful if they are planned and implemented well. Project planning should include all phases of the development process; research, development, engineering, manufacturing, and market introduction. Development does not have to be a linear process. The process should be regularly and formally monitored throughout the life of the project.
Survey of 172 electronics products.
(View full citation)

Matching new product development tasks to employee interests and strengths helps to ensure that those tasks will be appropriately handled. Employees who possess traits associated with inventors thrive in R&D environments; those who act as champions do well during the opportunity recognition phase; those who are project implementers are best placed in project execution roles; while serial innovators do well throughout the entire process.
Survey data.
(View full citation)

Participate in a Research Center within a University to help find new ideas, gain access to scientists and to recruit new graduate students.
The longitudinal evaluation of the National Science Foundation's Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Programs found both Universities and Industries to be satisfied with the Centers and felt their expectations were being met.
(View full citation)

Project performance will increase for teams that have a heavyweight leader with a great deal of organizational influence.
Meta analysis of 4 studies
(View full citation)

Research execution: Establish a stakeholder-representative Advisory Committee to act as project champions and to receive timely project updates and provide authoritative advice regarding project productivity, risk and budget.
Applying integrated KT in Mental Health research.
(View full citation)

Researchers are usually required to obtain advance approval from independent ethics boards prior to engaging in research that involves human subjects. Knowledge users (stakeholder groups) are often unfamiliar with requirements associated with informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, data access and data management. Ensure these requirements and their implications for participation, process and practice are understood at the beginning of the project.
Lessons learned from close researcher-stakeholder partnerships.
(View full citation)

Researchers can benefit from establishing ongoing partnerships with key knowledge users (stakeholder groups). To avoid interruptions that could result from the departure of specific stakeholder group members, researchers should establish group- or institutional-level linkages.
Lessons learned from close researcher-stakeholder partnerships.
(View full citation)

Shared knowledge was clearly valuable on the margin, and the degree of shared knowledge seemed, based on qualitative analysis of the interview data, to be closely related to the intensity of integrating practices such as cross functional meetings, early development of specifications, and participation by boundary spanning individuals. It thus seems more than plausible that integrating practices improved performance by increasing the degree of shared knowledge about problem constraints, thereby reducing the incidence of glitches.
Case Study. Data analysis of company's projects.
(View full citation)

To improve short-term competitive performance of products in the marketplace, projects to develop incremental new products should involve homogeneous groups of customers.
Survey of 137 product development projects.
(View full citation)

Use information technology to maintain an electronic connection to customers and external partners in order to make design decisions faster.
Survey of 214 manufacturing firms
(View full citation)

Use of cross functional teams decreases development time, but does not necessarily impact goal failure rates.
Meta analysis of 5 studies
(View full citation)

Use the Internet to locate suppliers and get price quotes quickly.
Experiential. Author provides an example of a company who saved much time by finding a supplier online.
(View full citation)

Utilization of industrial extension service providers to facilitate process improvement can lead to a reduction in materials waste and improved return on investment.
Survey. Significant relationship between ROI and the estimated savings from reduced waste. r = 0.662, p= 0.002.
(View full citation)

Utilization of industrial extension service providers to facilitate product improvement can result in faster rates of sales growth and increased job retention.
Survey data.
(View full citation)

When conducting a complex new product development project, long term and requiring basic research, involving external resources appears to improve the teams’ ability to stay on track with their time budgets. However, if the project is of low complexity, short term projects for one client, then utilizing external resources becomes a disadvantage.
(View full citation)

Secondary findings

Barriers

Communication problems can be the most problematic barrier to integration between research and development and marketing.
Source: In: Moenaert, R. K. & Souder, W. E. (1990)

Despite an abundance of academic and scientific expertise, biotechnology firms suffer from a lack of management skill and knowledge. This lack of skills and knowledge impacts on the firm’s ability to manage NPD as well as to secure the funding required for sustained performance.
Source: Ernst_&_Young (2001), Department of Industry Science and Resources and Ernst & Young (1999). In: Frahm, J., Ireland, D.C., & Hine, D. (2007)

Differences in organizational cultures, mindsets, expectations, and behavior. Knowledge spillover may result when dealing with proprietary information in collaborations.
Source: Hanson & Lackman, 1998; Tse, Francis & Walls, 1994; Yan, Luo, & Child, 2000. In: Emden, Z., Calantone, R.J. & Droge, C. (2006)

Carriers

A Learning Alliance — The acquisition and exploitation of knowledge generated by others as a means to speed a firm's development capabilities, while minimizing the technological risk. Learning alliances are a a key factor in offering technology-based solutions. They are established to access the relevant skills and capabilities of the alliance partner — their know-how — which is difficult to communicate and capture through standard market mechanisms.
Source: Grant and Baden-Fuller (2004). In: Canez, L., L Puig, R. Quintero, M. Garfias (2007)

The existence of an overarching relationship (historical or longstanding) between a researcher and relevant decision makers (knowledge users), where research utilization is only one activity in the larger, ongoing relationship, can be important for the utilization of research findings.
Source: Goering (2003); Mohrman (2001); Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (2002); Golden-Biddle (2003). In: Ginsburg, L.R., Lewis, S., Zackheim, L. & Casebeer, A. (2207)

To mitigate power inequalities and transcend the different cognitive and cultural worlds of participating stakeholders, an independent facilitator should guide the process and fulfill an intermediary role as a knowledge broker.
Source: Sperling & Ashby (2001); Hargadon (2002). In: Klerkx, Laurens & Leeuwis, Cees (2007)

Methods

Concurrent engineering (CE) suggests an 'integrated' design approach, that is, a co-ordinated effort of the various competencies and organizational functions involved in the development of new products. The main idea of concurrent engineering is to integrate all the functions involved in the project, including external ones, that is, suppliers and customers. The most widespread CE tools and techniques are: 1. Reduction of the number of parts, by product Modularization, Standardization of parts and project Simplification; 2. Manufacturability and assemblability, achieved using techniques such as design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA); 3. Project schedule and development time reduction, where tools such as work breakdown structure (WBS) and overlapping (OL) can be helpful; 4. Product assessment, using failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) for example; 5. Customer satisfaction, evaluated by value analysis and engineering( VA/VE) tools.
Source: De Toni, A., Nassimbeni, G. & Tonchia, S. (1999). In: De Toni, A., & Nassimbeni, G. (2001)

Degree of CFI ( interaction, communication, info-sharing, coordination) is key driver of new product success
Source: Griffin and Hauser, 1992, 1996; Gupta, Raj and Wilemon, 1986. In: Troy, L. Hirunyawipada, T. & Paswan, A. (2008)

Firms seek integration with external constituents to fill technical or market-based competency gaps.
Source: McDermott & O'Connor (2002). In: Koufteros, X., Vonderembse, M. & Jayaram, J. (2005)

For demand articulation, dialogue between end-users and producers of knowledge and information, as well as other relevant stakeholders, should take place throughout the innovation process.
Source: Douthwaite et al (2001). In: Klerkx, Laurens & Leeuwis, Cees (2007)

Four types of firm strategies toward new products: 1) Prospectors value being first to market with many innovative products; 2) Analyzers carefully protect existing markets while capitalizing on potentially profitable emerging markets; 3) Defenders focus on protecting narrowly defined and existing markets and only innovative in response to threats; 4) Reactors lack any clear strategic orientation which may imperil their long-term survival.
Source: Miles & Snow (1978). In: Citrin, A.V., Lee, R.P., & McCullough, J. (2007)

In order to exchange information externally and internally for better NPD, a firm requires employees to be spanning the boundaries of the firm to exchange information with other organizations.
Source: Ancona, D. & Caldwell, D. (1992). In: Frahm, J., Ireland, D.C., & Hine, D. (2007)

Table 1 Studies on Collaborative NPD lists 12 studies related to co-development and collaboration in new product development.
Source: See table 1. In: Emden, Z., Calantone, R.J. & Droge, C. (2006)

The traditional pattern of a large, vertically integrated business, is being replaced by one consisting of complex networks of collaborating organizations and chains of buyers and suppliers.
Source: Roy and Potter (1996). In: Humphreys, P., Huang, G., Cadden, T. (2005)

Tips

As the number of years a group has been together increases, productivity decreases. Upper management can improve the situation by ensuring that an appropriate leader is heading the group.
Source: Katz, R., & Allen, T. J., 1982. In: Roberts, E. B. (2007)

Based on empirical data collected from 170 purchasing managers, Dickson identified quality, cost and delivery performance history as the three most important criteria in supplier selection.
Source: Dickinson, G. W. (1966). In: De Toni, A., & Nassimbeni, G. (2001)

Choose product development team members who had good personal relationships, as they have been linked to successful product development. Relationships that have lasted a long time and have experience with many project cycles and changes in the organizational structure will be most effective.
Source: Brookes et al. (2001), Smart et al. (2002), Morton et al. (2002). In: Morton, S. C., Brookes, N. J., Dainty, A. R. J., Blackhouse, C. J. & Burns, N. D. (2006)

Consideration of quality /features/benefits of products
Source: Heynard and Szymanski, 2001; Montoya- Weiss ad Caklantone, 1994). In: Troy, L. Hirunyawipada, T. & Paswan, A. (2008)

Creative tensions in groups can help to improve performance by providing security and stability while also offering challenges. Further, a mix of technical backgrounds, age, experience, and values can help improve group productivity.
Source: Kuhn, T. S., 1963. In: Roberts, E. B. (2007)

Find and recruit well qualified staff online.
Source: Jones, S. (2001). In: Ozer, M. (2003)

One of the major reasons that concurrent engineering has gained broad acceptance is its impact on time. CE will get the manufacturing and marketing departments involved early in the development process. This will enable these departments to influence the design and obtain a more cost effective and high quality products. CE takes advantage of the latest advances in computer and information technologies to develop libraries with comprehensive accumulations of product and process designs. Therefore, knowledge gained during the development of one product is captured and then passed on to subsequent product developments as templates.
Source: Salomone (1995), Kamrani and Salhieh (2002). In: Kamrani, A., & Vijayan, A. (2006)

Open science relationships are far more relevant to industrial R&D laboratories, than are the commercial activities of universities, such as licensing or cooperative ventures.
Source: Cohen et al (2002). In: Perkman, Markus & Walsh, Kathryn (2007)

Organizational strength (strategy, skills, culture) as driver of new product success
Source: Heynard and Szymanski, 2001; Montoya- Weiss ad Caklantone, 1994). In: Troy, L. Hirunyawipada, T. & Paswan, A. (2008)

Significant innovations are likely to emerge from a combination of complimentary skills
Source: Glaister, 1996. In: Emden, Z., Calantone, R.J. & Droge, C. (2006)

To achieve the highest level of technical excellence, technical groups should be formed based on individual's areas of expertise.
Source: Marquis, D. G., Straight, D. L., 1965. In: Roberts, E. B. (2007)

Use integration techniques such as multidisciplinary groups, business boards, interdepartmental representatives, job rotation and integrator persons to promote a successful marketing and research and development relationship.
Source: . In: Moenaert, R. K. & Souder, W. E. (1990)