Gupta, A., Pawar, K.S., & Smart, P. (2007). New Product Development in the Pharmaceutical and Telecommunication Industries: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Production Economics, 106(1), 41-60.

Format: Peer-reviewed article

Type: Research — Non-experimental

Experience level of reader: Advanced

Annotation: The goal of this research was to understand the issues involved with new product development in the pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. The authors produced an explanatory framework to illustrate the differences between the two industries. They also created a model which determined the number of projects required to reach the corporate growth targets of a pharmaceutical company.

Setting(s) to which the reported activities/findings are relevant: Federal lab, Large business, Small business (less than 500 employees)

Knowledge user(s) to whom the piece of literature may be relevant: Manufacturers, Policy Makers

Knowledge user level addressed by the literature: Sector

This article uses the Commercial Devices and Services version of the NtK Model

Model: 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.
Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 1.5, Step 4.1

Method: The issues which characterise the NPD stages from the project management perspective (PPM group) are to determine the following: milestone count; how many projects pass from one stage to the next; project count by stage (WIP); resource requirements and timelines.
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.
Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 4.10, Step 4.7

Tip: Culture, language, perceptions, attitudes, mindsets, etc., play a very important part in terms of how the products and services are designed, integrated and marketed to the end customer.
Researchers observations with companies
Occurrence of finding within the model: KTA Step 1.B, KTA Step 1.C, KTA Step 1.D, KTA Step 2.B, KTA Step 2.C, KTA Step 2.D

Model: A detailed description of the model in terms of problem definition, process of model conceptualization, model formulation; model building and model validation, with a special emphasis on modeling of the stochastic parameters, operational and implementation is available with the researchers (Gupta, 2004).