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Managing the new product development process
BOOK
REVIEWS
J PROD INNOV 1995:12:89-95
may expect to learn. The first chapter examines the similarities and differences among four companies of different sizes in electronics, automotive manufacturing, aerospace, and mechanical engineering in how th::y approach the product development process in usin; technology and techniques. Chapter 2 discusses hc w the product design process is a key component of br siness strategy and how it can be incorporated into thl-: firm’s strategic plan, The authors present eleven questions that those responsible for strategy developmcnt should consider in developing or reformulating thr:: strategic plan. Chapters 4 to 6 discuss the product delielopment process. Chapter 6 is interesting because it -alks about the future product development process and takes the concept of a cross-functional team to the le\vel of a small, independent, product-line-oriented business unit. Chrysler Corporation is using a version of Lhis concept. Chapter 7 discusses new technologies anl techniques for improving design processes such as co: nputer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided enginel ring (CAE), and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). The reader is given a set of questions for ev;r.lu.ating his firm’s handling of technology utilizatio 1 and engineering data. Chapter 8 gives practical po: ntlers for taking a vision for a product development str;:.tegy to a working plan. Some considerations to uric lertake include: 1. Understand the financial ments of the development 2. Acquire knowledge of the to produce and compete. 3. Consider costs, quality, market factors.
and operational requireprocess. potential of the company capacity,
Three steps are given for actualizing
and time-to-
the vision:
1. IDefine and communicate the vision clearly. 2. IChoose the strategy to take the organization from its current situation to its envisioned situation. The strategy describes how resources will be orga,rized (labor and vendors) and the policies that will ,e used to manage them. 3. +epare detailed action plan to be implemented in ine with the strategy. Chapter 9 discusses improvement requirements for product development. It points out that many companies run their improvement projects backwards, by choosing a solution and then looking for requirements to justify it. The authors present a checklist of areas for improvement that the executive can use to evaluate
MANAG
93
his own firm. Chapter 10 gives guidelines for evaluating and implementing tools and techniques for product development process. Chapter 1 I discusses key issues for implementing improvements. Although the book is sparsely illustrated, the authors have done a fine job of presenting practical advice, tips, and step-by-step actions plans that will enable the executive to begin work immediately on overhauling his or her company’s product development process. The use of examples of company successes and failures illustrate lessons taught. I highly reccommend this book to anyone developing a strategic quality plan. Jimmy Loon One Lambda,
Inc.
Managing the New Product Development Process, by Robert J. Dolan. Reading, Massachusetts: AddisonWesley Publishing Co., 1993. 392 + viii pages. This book is an outgrowth of the author’s efforts to design a course on new product development at Harvard Business School. As such, this offering is managerially-rather than researcher-oriented and consists of a relatively tight set of interwoven reading notes and cases, in this instance, seven of the former and ten of the latter. The basic premises of this offering are simple and straightforward: first, that a deep understanding of consumer decision-making is the key to success throughout the new product development process; and second, that good analytical tools are available to help the manager generate the insights he or she needs for effective decision-making. The author delivers on both propositions, if not completely, at least sufficiently well to warrant a closer examination of this book by professors teaching the new products course. However, given the compact size of this offering and the heterogeneous character of Icourse offerings in this sector, it is likely that Managing the New Product Development Process will find its most frequent use as a companion piece to other texts or collections of readings. This book is divided into four parts. Part 1 is essentially an overview, and consists of one note and three cases. The basic line of exposition in the note is as follows: (1) Different types of “newness” are associated with different new product possibilities; (2) each type of newness gives rise to different kinds of marketing issues; (3) each type of marketing issue is associated with different kinds of risk-taking and data-
94
I PROD INNOV 1995;12:89-95
BOOK
MANAG
acquisition requirements. This first note is a very nice essay and is supported by three cases dealing with new product development in financial services (New York Life Pension), business packaging materials (Sealed Air), and consumer products (Henkel household glues). Parts 2 and 3 form the heart of this book. Part 2, entitled “Markets-based Guidelines for Product Design and Positioning, ’ ’ consists of three notes and three cases. The notes here are managerial introductions to concept testing, perceptual mapping, and conjoint analysis respectively. The last-mentioned is by far the longest of the three. There are wonderful if elementary introductions to each topic that work well in a wide variety of classroom situations. They allow (indeed, almost demand) that the instructor offer supplementary materials, either from a researcher perspective, an applications perspective, or both. The three cases in this section deal with electronic fish finders (Techsonic), software (MSA), and desktop computers (Emergent Technologies). These cases are unusually rich in data. However, they are not so much analytical challenges as illustrations and applications of the research methodologies outlined in the prior notes. Solving the first two cases also seems to require something more in the way of technical preparation than is available from the notes introducing this section. The third case is really not so much a case at all as an extended illustration of computer-based modeling of a relatively new product and market. This latter exposition works particularly well with more experienced marketing students. Part 3, “Formulating the Market Introduction Stratem ” is composed of two notes and three cases. The first note, dealing with researching and monitoring consumer markets, covers purchase simulation procedures and the use of scanner data. Special attention is devoted in the first instance to BASES II and ASSESSOR and in the second to A. C. Nielsen’s SCANTRACK and IRIS Infoscan. This note is somewhat thin descriptively and at least partially outdated. The author can hardly be blamed for this: he is caught between his need to capture current marketing research realities in consumer goods markets and the very rapid rate of change in information availabilities in this sector. The second note in part 3, on the management of beta test sites in business markets is much more successful in terms of completeness and currency. Like all of the other notes, it is accompanied by a good bibliography. Two of three cases in this section,
REVIEWS
Johnson Wax-Enhance and General Mills-Yoplait, deal with the analysis and interpretation of consumer market research data. The third, Cumberland Metals, is far less well known possibly because of its heavy engineering character. This reviewer finds Cumberland to be particularly valuable as a written class assignment, although prospective adopters are cautioned that this case once again seems to require analytical methodology (i.e., EVC calculations) that are not covered in the text notes. (The instructor’s manual does address this problem satisfactorily, however). Part 4, the last section, consists of one note and one case. It addresses the topic of ‘ ‘Managing the Dynamics of Product Line Evolution.” The note here, the only one not written by the book’s author, is Hauser and Clausing’s classic Harvard Business Review piece, “The House of Quality. ” This is a good choice, addressing in some detail the process of installing quality function deployment (QFD) in an automobile manufacturing situation. The case, Barco Projection Systems, deals with the challenge of managing product line changes in a worldwide product and market specialty situation. This is a relatively unique case, dealing as it does with managing the direction and pace of technological product development in a world of constrained resources and sophisticated competition. Overall, this is a very nice managerially oriented book on new product management. The notes provide exceptionally clear introductions to complex subject matter. The character of the cases is more of a mixed bag, in some instances analytically demanding and in some, basically expositional in character. Prospective adopters might want to consider using this book in conjunction with another text or set of outside readings. Robert R. Rothberg Rutgers Graduate School of Management National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis, by Richard R. Nelson, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. 541 + x pages. This book is the result of a collaborative research project about different national approaches to technological innovation. The heart of the work consists of fifteen studies, cooperatively designed but individually written, as the editor phrases it, “to illuminate the institutions and mechanisms supporting technical innovation in [these different] countries, . . . [their] similarities and differences . . . and how these came
REVIEWS
J PROD INNOV 1995:12:89-95
may expect to learn. The first chapter examines the similarities and differences among four companies of different sizes in electronics, automotive manufacturing, aerospace, and mechanical engineering in how th::y approach the product development process in usin; technology and techniques. Chapter 2 discusses hc w the product design process is a key component of br siness strategy and how it can be incorporated into thl-: firm’s strategic plan, The authors present eleven questions that those responsible for strategy developmcnt should consider in developing or reformulating thr:: strategic plan. Chapters 4 to 6 discuss the product delielopment process. Chapter 6 is interesting because it -alks about the future product development process and takes the concept of a cross-functional team to the le\vel of a small, independent, product-line-oriented business unit. Chrysler Corporation is using a version of Lhis concept. Chapter 7 discusses new technologies anl techniques for improving design processes such as co: nputer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided enginel ring (CAE), and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). The reader is given a set of questions for ev;r.lu.ating his firm’s handling of technology utilizatio 1 and engineering data. Chapter 8 gives practical po: ntlers for taking a vision for a product development str;:.tegy to a working plan. Some considerations to uric lertake include: 1. Understand the financial ments of the development 2. Acquire knowledge of the to produce and compete. 3. Consider costs, quality, market factors.
and operational requireprocess. potential of the company capacity,
Three steps are given for actualizing
and time-to-
the vision:
1. IDefine and communicate the vision clearly. 2. IChoose the strategy to take the organization from its current situation to its envisioned situation. The strategy describes how resources will be orga,rized (labor and vendors) and the policies that will ,e used to manage them. 3. +epare detailed action plan to be implemented in ine with the strategy. Chapter 9 discusses improvement requirements for product development. It points out that many companies run their improvement projects backwards, by choosing a solution and then looking for requirements to justify it. The authors present a checklist of areas for improvement that the executive can use to evaluate
MANAG
93
his own firm. Chapter 10 gives guidelines for evaluating and implementing tools and techniques for product development process. Chapter 1 I discusses key issues for implementing improvements. Although the book is sparsely illustrated, the authors have done a fine job of presenting practical advice, tips, and step-by-step actions plans that will enable the executive to begin work immediately on overhauling his or her company’s product development process. The use of examples of company successes and failures illustrate lessons taught. I highly reccommend this book to anyone developing a strategic quality plan. Jimmy Loon One Lambda,
Inc.
Managing the New Product Development Process, by Robert J. Dolan. Reading, Massachusetts: AddisonWesley Publishing Co., 1993. 392 + viii pages. This book is an outgrowth of the author’s efforts to design a course on new product development at Harvard Business School. As such, this offering is managerially-rather than researcher-oriented and consists of a relatively tight set of interwoven reading notes and cases, in this instance, seven of the former and ten of the latter. The basic premises of this offering are simple and straightforward: first, that a deep understanding of consumer decision-making is the key to success throughout the new product development process; and second, that good analytical tools are available to help the manager generate the insights he or she needs for effective decision-making. The author delivers on both propositions, if not completely, at least sufficiently well to warrant a closer examination of this book by professors teaching the new products course. However, given the compact size of this offering and the heterogeneous character of Icourse offerings in this sector, it is likely that Managing the New Product Development Process will find its most frequent use as a companion piece to other texts or collections of readings. This book is divided into four parts. Part 1 is essentially an overview, and consists of one note and three cases. The basic line of exposition in the note is as follows: (1) Different types of “newness” are associated with different new product possibilities; (2) each type of newness gives rise to different kinds of marketing issues; (3) each type of marketing issue is associated with different kinds of risk-taking and data-
94
I PROD INNOV 1995;12:89-95
BOOK
MANAG
acquisition requirements. This first note is a very nice essay and is supported by three cases dealing with new product development in financial services (New York Life Pension), business packaging materials (Sealed Air), and consumer products (Henkel household glues). Parts 2 and 3 form the heart of this book. Part 2, entitled “Markets-based Guidelines for Product Design and Positioning, ’ ’ consists of three notes and three cases. The notes here are managerial introductions to concept testing, perceptual mapping, and conjoint analysis respectively. The last-mentioned is by far the longest of the three. There are wonderful if elementary introductions to each topic that work well in a wide variety of classroom situations. They allow (indeed, almost demand) that the instructor offer supplementary materials, either from a researcher perspective, an applications perspective, or both. The three cases in this section deal with electronic fish finders (Techsonic), software (MSA), and desktop computers (Emergent Technologies). These cases are unusually rich in data. However, they are not so much analytical challenges as illustrations and applications of the research methodologies outlined in the prior notes. Solving the first two cases also seems to require something more in the way of technical preparation than is available from the notes introducing this section. The third case is really not so much a case at all as an extended illustration of computer-based modeling of a relatively new product and market. This latter exposition works particularly well with more experienced marketing students. Part 3, “Formulating the Market Introduction Stratem ” is composed of two notes and three cases. The first note, dealing with researching and monitoring consumer markets, covers purchase simulation procedures and the use of scanner data. Special attention is devoted in the first instance to BASES II and ASSESSOR and in the second to A. C. Nielsen’s SCANTRACK and IRIS Infoscan. This note is somewhat thin descriptively and at least partially outdated. The author can hardly be blamed for this: he is caught between his need to capture current marketing research realities in consumer goods markets and the very rapid rate of change in information availabilities in this sector. The second note in part 3, on the management of beta test sites in business markets is much more successful in terms of completeness and currency. Like all of the other notes, it is accompanied by a good bibliography. Two of three cases in this section,
REVIEWS
Johnson Wax-Enhance and General Mills-Yoplait, deal with the analysis and interpretation of consumer market research data. The third, Cumberland Metals, is far less well known possibly because of its heavy engineering character. This reviewer finds Cumberland to be particularly valuable as a written class assignment, although prospective adopters are cautioned that this case once again seems to require analytical methodology (i.e., EVC calculations) that are not covered in the text notes. (The instructor’s manual does address this problem satisfactorily, however). Part 4, the last section, consists of one note and one case. It addresses the topic of ‘ ‘Managing the Dynamics of Product Line Evolution.” The note here, the only one not written by the book’s author, is Hauser and Clausing’s classic Harvard Business Review piece, “The House of Quality. ” This is a good choice, addressing in some detail the process of installing quality function deployment (QFD) in an automobile manufacturing situation. The case, Barco Projection Systems, deals with the challenge of managing product line changes in a worldwide product and market specialty situation. This is a relatively unique case, dealing as it does with managing the direction and pace of technological product development in a world of constrained resources and sophisticated competition. Overall, this is a very nice managerially oriented book on new product management. The notes provide exceptionally clear introductions to complex subject matter. The character of the cases is more of a mixed bag, in some instances analytically demanding and in some, basically expositional in character. Prospective adopters might want to consider using this book in conjunction with another text or set of outside readings. Robert R. Rothberg Rutgers Graduate School of Management National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis, by Richard R. Nelson, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. 541 + x pages. This book is the result of a collaborative research project about different national approaches to technological innovation. The heart of the work consists of fifteen studies, cooperatively designed but individually written, as the editor phrases it, “to illuminate the institutions and mechanisms supporting technical innovation in [these different] countries, . . . [their] similarities and differences . . . and how these came