Toward the development of new product ideas: asymmetric effects of team cohesion on new product ideation

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 855-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanawat Hirunyawipada ◽  
Audhesh K. Paswan ◽  
Charles Blankson
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Development Teams ◽  
Task Cohesion ◽  
Relational Aspect

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate asymmetric effects of team cohesion and team members’ relational qualification on the creativity of new product ideas. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling was conducted on survey data collected from 195 new product development practitioners in various US high-technology industries. Findings – The study suggests that creative and potentially successful product ideas include three dimensions – usefulness for customers, and novelty for customers and usefulness for the firms (i.e. enhancement efficiency and effectiveness of companies’ new product development process). By focusing on a relational aspect of new product development teams, the study shows that team task cohesion mediates the relationship between the antecedents (team members’ organizational commitment and social competency) and the three outcome dimensions of a successful product idea (novelty, usefulness to customers and usefulness to the firm). The team members’ interpersonal relationship has no positive association with task cohesion and the desirable qualifications of product ideas. Research limitations/implications – An ideation team’s socially competent members who identify with their organization are likely to be attracted to a given task. This task cohesion, in turn, enhances the creativeness of the development of product ideas. Practical implications – To generate fruitful product ideas using a team approach, companies should make sure that their new product ideation teams achieve a sense of mutual commitment to the given ideation tasks, develop a feeling of belongingness and ownership toward the firms and include members who have good social and interpersonal skills. However, the possession of strong social cohesion is not essential for the teams. Originality/value – This study provides novel insights concerning the relational aspect of product development teams assigned to the initiation phase (front end) of a new product development process.

Circular product design: strategies, challenges and relationships with new product development

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Fernandes Aguiar ◽  
Jaime A. Mesa ◽  
Daniel Jugend ◽  
Marco Antonio Paula Pinheiro ◽  
Paula Paula De Camargo Fiorini
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Product Design ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Development Process ◽  
New Product ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Content Type

PurposeAlthough product design is a fundamental element in the transition towards the circular economy, the knowledge of practices, methods and tools oriented to circular product design has not been widely developed. This study aims to contribute to the circular economy research area by investigating and analyzing the main design approaches to circular products and their relationship to new product development.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a systematic review and qualitative analysis of 120 articles. In these studies, the authors analyzed aspects such as design strategies used, the barriers to the adoption of circular product design and the relationships between the phases of new product development processes with circular product design studies.FindingsThe findings revealed that the circular product design approach has added new design strategies to those already recommended by ecodesign, such as multiple use cycles, emotional durability and biomimicry. Furthermore, the results showed that most circular product design articles focus on the planning and concept development phases of the new product development process.Originality/valueIn this article, the authors systematized the findings of an emergent research area: the development of new products for the circular economy. Its main contributions lie in the identification of design strategies, the classification of Design for X approaches, analysis of such approaches during the new product development process and discussion of their main barriers. Finally, this study presents contributions for managers and designers who are starting the transition to a circular strategy.

Design Team Framing: Paths and Principles

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hey ◽  
Jonathan Yu ◽  
Alice M. Agogino
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
New Product ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Design Team ◽  
New Product Development Teams ◽  
Development Teams ◽  
Product Development Teams

This paper addresses two major challenges new product development teams face in making a product people want. The first challenge is to frame the design situation based on a real need of a customer. The second challenge is to get everyone on the team in agreement about what that framing is — everyone needs to be on the same page about what it is they’re doing. Yet these two challenges are not independent, they are intertwined with each other, connected by the concrete research and sharing activities the teams perform. We introduce a framework to help understand the path of a design team along these two dimensions as well as illustrations of the three most common paths observed among graduate multidisciplinary new product development teams as supported by interviews and survey data. These case studies form the basis of four themes to help teams navigate the new product development process.

Using needs assessment as a learning tool in the product development process

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 529-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise M. Cumberland ◽  
Rod P. Githens
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Stakeholder Analysis ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Needs Assessments ◽  
Quick Service

Purpose – The purpose of this case study was threefold. First, to examine whether a needs assessment can work in the context of an organization’s new product development process to identify the gap between what “is” occurring and what “should” be occurring. Second, to investigate how a well-known stakeholder classification system can be adopted in a practitioner setting. Third, to identify why the new product development process derailed in a quick-service restaurant chain. Design/methodology/approach – A Fortune 200 quick-service restaurant chain provided the setting for a case study on the new product development (NPD) process. Data were gathered from multiple stakeholder groups using interviews and a survey questionnaire. Findings – Findings support the adaptability of needs assessment as a learning tool to help organizations identify and address performance gaps. A second finding was the applicability of the Mitchell et al. (1997) classification system to identify and prioritize groups of stakeholders. Finally, this study revealed that the specific activities involved in the NPD process were not codified, and that the restaurant chains cross-functional team was not adhering to the process due to a lack of training. Research limitations/implications – The specific setting may limit the generalizability of findings. Future research could determine the applicability in other settings. Practical implications – This study provides useful insights for applying needs assessments in conjunction with a stakeholder analysis when problems arise in the product development process. Originality/value – The study contributes to understanding around product development learning tools and provides impetus for the adoption of needs assessments and stakeholder analysis when deficiencies in the process occur.

A CLIMATE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY ENHANCES THE SUCCESS OF FRONT END TEAMS

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 1550027 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANN-MARIE I. NIENABER ◽  
VERENA HOLTORF ◽  
JENS LEKER ◽  
GERHARD SCHEWE
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Psychological Safety ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Front End ◽  
New Product Development Process

This paper contributes to the discussion about initiative in teams at the front end of new product development processes (innovative teams). In contrast to the general opinion presented in the literature, this study points out that unstructured innovative teams are as much initiative in developing new ideas or in finding quick solutions when compared to structured innovative teams. Therefore we analyse the relationship between teamwork quality and team initiative in structured and unstructured teams at the front end of a new product development process and, in particular, we focus on a climate of psychological safety. To examine this relationship, data were collected by surveying 100 team members from different departments in a multinational company. It has been pointed out in the literature previously that where a team leader provides little structure at the micro level for team members there is a negative effect on the displays of initiative in the very early stages of the innovation process. However we can demonstrate that this effect can be reduced by a climate of psychological safety. Thus, it can be stated that unstructured teamwork combined with a climate of psychological safety is the way for teams at the front end of a new product development process to be successful.

Organizing for Effective New Product Development: The Moderating Role of Product Innovativeness

1995 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Olson ◽  
Orville C. Walker ◽  
Robert W. Ruekert
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
New Product ◽  
Coordination Mechanism ◽  
Product Development Process ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Product Concept

Marketing and sales personnel are frequently called on to work with—and sometimes to lead—specialists from other functional areas in the development of new products and services. Such cross-functional interactions can be structured and coordinated in a variety of ways, from bureaucratic approaches to more decentralized participatory mechanisms. Recently, cross-functional team structures have received a great deal of positive press. However, this paper questions whether teams are a universal panacea for shortening development times and improving success rates across all types of projects. It presents a contingency model based on resource dependency theory, which suggests that more participative structures are likely to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of the development process when the product being developed is truly new and innovative. However, the model also predicts that more bureaucratic structures may produce better outcomes on less innovative projects, such as those involving line extensions or product improvements. An empirical test involving 45 projects from 12 firms in widely varying industries substantially supports the model's predictions. The findings indicate that the better the fit between the newness of the product concept and the participativeness of the coordination mechanism used the better the outcomes of the development process in terms of (1) objective measures of product and team performance, (2) the attitudes of team members toward the process, and (3) the efficiency and timeliness of the new product development process.

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