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Boundary spanning product development in consumer markets: Learning organizational insights
ABSTRACTS
Boundary Spanning Product Development in Consumer Markets: Learning Organizational Insights, Dennis Pitta and Frank Franzak, Journal of Consumer Marketing (Number 5, 1996), pp. 66-81 (GPL) The authors review recent marketing literature that cites the troubling success rates of new consumer products. They suggest that many mistakes occur, because companies fail to integrate consumer input both as early as possible and throughout the product development process. The organizational learning literature is relevant to this issue. Organizational learning involves, first, adaptive learning, which focuses the organization on adapting to serve the market. However, this can be a trap if learning is restricted to the struggle to merely reactively adapt to marketplace changes. In contrast, the second organizational learning, generative leaming, requires an organization to challenge its own assumptions about its mission, customers, competitors, and strategy. Organizational learning entails a three-stage process of information acquisition, information dissemination, and shared interpretation. Information can be acquired not only through direct experience and organizational memory but also through the experience of others. Therefore, firms must be open to forming partnerships with external “learning partners,” including customers. suppliers, distributors, alliance partners, and universities. Information dissemination requires that information be disseminated to all decision-makers within an organization. This sharing process adds to understanding, and the inevitable requests for clarification, interpretation, and application force active learning. Temporary cross-functional teams can aid in the integration of information dissemination throughout the organization. Shared interpretation requires a consensus on the meaning of the information, which might also necessitatechallenging established assumptions about the organization and its environment. The lead user technique has been used in industrial new product development to aid this generative organizational learning process. Companies can identify lead users, their company, the scope of their problem, and the solution that works. They are screened for the quality of their input based on professional background, job responsibilities, and product experience, as well as the interpersonal skills necessaryto function successfully on the team. Industrial organizations usually integrate lead users into this team. Using both internal and external cross-functional members creates
a boundary spanning team, which can reduce misunderstanding that arises in the different values found inside and outside the organization. The major problem facing consumer products marketers is that they have no easy accessto lead users, The best way to identify them is to use database marketing to find educated users or to track consumer letters to the company or customer service calls to technical support, with follow-up contact and screening used to identify suitable individuals for further contact. Selection criteria should parallel those used to designate industrial lead customers: product knowledge, usage experience, availability, and characteristics representative of the target market. Most important is consumers’ willingness to participate and contribute, which can occur if consumers are rewarded with praise, fees, and early access to products they have helped create. The resulting boundary spanning teams involving consumers, cross-functional internal members, and external nonconsumers like suppliers and retailers can provide valuable fresh perspectives to increase new product success. The Challenge of Fifth Generation R&D, Debra M. Amidon Rogers, Research-Technology Management (July-August 1996), pp. 33-41 In this article, Debra Amidon Rogers notes five major forces influencing the global marketplace that must be understood to take advantage of the business opportunities provided by the global economy: the shift from information to knowledge; from bureaucracies to networks; from training and development to learning; from national to transnational; and from competitive to collaborative strategy. All of these forces are leading us into an era of knowledge innovation. Rogers asserts that, as a result of the economic. behavioral, and technological forces at work in the global economy, we will see the emergence of virtual networked organizations unconstrained by conventional industry boundaries. These are referred to by the author as “collaborative learning systems,’’ which will enable the flow of knowledge (information with meaning), not just information, throughout the organization. At the same time, this organization now will comprise customer, supplier, and distributor, among other stakeholders. These changes can radically affect the strategic business plan; firms are thus challenged to establish organizational assumptions that will help them use their human resources in the most efficient way. Some of these assumptions include:
Boundary Spanning Product Development in Consumer Markets: Learning Organizational Insights, Dennis Pitta and Frank Franzak, Journal of Consumer Marketing (Number 5, 1996), pp. 66-81 (GPL) The authors review recent marketing literature that cites the troubling success rates of new consumer products. They suggest that many mistakes occur, because companies fail to integrate consumer input both as early as possible and throughout the product development process. The organizational learning literature is relevant to this issue. Organizational learning involves, first, adaptive learning, which focuses the organization on adapting to serve the market. However, this can be a trap if learning is restricted to the struggle to merely reactively adapt to marketplace changes. In contrast, the second organizational learning, generative leaming, requires an organization to challenge its own assumptions about its mission, customers, competitors, and strategy. Organizational learning entails a three-stage process of information acquisition, information dissemination, and shared interpretation. Information can be acquired not only through direct experience and organizational memory but also through the experience of others. Therefore, firms must be open to forming partnerships with external “learning partners,” including customers. suppliers, distributors, alliance partners, and universities. Information dissemination requires that information be disseminated to all decision-makers within an organization. This sharing process adds to understanding, and the inevitable requests for clarification, interpretation, and application force active learning. Temporary cross-functional teams can aid in the integration of information dissemination throughout the organization. Shared interpretation requires a consensus on the meaning of the information, which might also necessitatechallenging established assumptions about the organization and its environment. The lead user technique has been used in industrial new product development to aid this generative organizational learning process. Companies can identify lead users, their company, the scope of their problem, and the solution that works. They are screened for the quality of their input based on professional background, job responsibilities, and product experience, as well as the interpersonal skills necessaryto function successfully on the team. Industrial organizations usually integrate lead users into this team. Using both internal and external cross-functional members creates
a boundary spanning team, which can reduce misunderstanding that arises in the different values found inside and outside the organization. The major problem facing consumer products marketers is that they have no easy accessto lead users, The best way to identify them is to use database marketing to find educated users or to track consumer letters to the company or customer service calls to technical support, with follow-up contact and screening used to identify suitable individuals for further contact. Selection criteria should parallel those used to designate industrial lead customers: product knowledge, usage experience, availability, and characteristics representative of the target market. Most important is consumers’ willingness to participate and contribute, which can occur if consumers are rewarded with praise, fees, and early access to products they have helped create. The resulting boundary spanning teams involving consumers, cross-functional internal members, and external nonconsumers like suppliers and retailers can provide valuable fresh perspectives to increase new product success. The Challenge of Fifth Generation R&D, Debra M. Amidon Rogers, Research-Technology Management (July-August 1996), pp. 33-41 In this article, Debra Amidon Rogers notes five major forces influencing the global marketplace that must be understood to take advantage of the business opportunities provided by the global economy: the shift from information to knowledge; from bureaucracies to networks; from training and development to learning; from national to transnational; and from competitive to collaborative strategy. All of these forces are leading us into an era of knowledge innovation. Rogers asserts that, as a result of the economic. behavioral, and technological forces at work in the global economy, we will see the emergence of virtual networked organizations unconstrained by conventional industry boundaries. These are referred to by the author as “collaborative learning systems,’’ which will enable the flow of knowledge (information with meaning), not just information, throughout the organization. At the same time, this organization now will comprise customer, supplier, and distributor, among other stakeholders. These changes can radically affect the strategic business plan; firms are thus challenged to establish organizational assumptions that will help them use their human resources in the most efficient way. Some of these assumptions include: