Message and source factors, market uncertainty, and extrafunctionalinformation processing: hypotheses and empirical evidence

This article examines how the perceived quality of extrafunctional information improves the innovation management process and contributes to success with innovations. Data collected from 420 Japanese managers and 270 US managers are used to test hypotheses about the antecedents of satisfaction with extra-functional information and the impacts on new product performance. The results demonstrate that the level of marketing and R&D managers' satisfaction with extrafunctional information is an important predictor of new product success and financial performance. The results also show that marketing and R&D managers differ significantly in their preferences and criteria for evaluating extrafunctional information. The empirical evidence suggests that the factors that increase R&D's satisfaction with market information are not necessarily the same as those that increase marketing's satisfaction with R&D satisfaction. Each functional area should recognize which message factors are most related to high satisfaction with received information, and emphasize these when sending such information. The authors also discovered the moderating effects of market and technical uncertainty that should provide guidance for marketing and R&D managers on how to allocate their efforts in information transfer based on the external environment. The empirical findings also revealed some cross-cultural differences, as well as a few similarities, between US and Japanese respondents     

Innovation strategy and the R&D-marketing interface in Japanesefirms: a contingency perspective

This study proposes a contingency model suggesting that a firm's strategic position will affect cross-functional involvement and information sharing between R&D and marketing departments in five major new product development stages, as well as the quality of R&D-marketing relations and organizational structure. To test the model, the authors surveyed 274 R&D managers and 264 marketing managers in 315 Japanese high-technology firms. The results indicate that, contrary to anecdotal suppositions of Japanese firm homogeneity, Japanese firms differ among themselves and among the strategic types in several important ways. The results also suggest that the level of R&D-marketing integration should be contingent on new product development strategy, making uniform promotion of cross-functional team integration questionable. Despite the differences in innovation strategy pursued by aggressive new product developers versus nonaggressive new product developers, all three strategic types rank the stages of innovation in a similar manner     

R&D/marketing communication during the fuzzy front-end

The planning stage of an innovation project has a great effect on the commercial performance of the project. During the “fuzzy front-end”, the organization formulates a concept of the product to be developed, and determines whether or not the organization will invest resources in the concrete development of the idea. The integration of R&D and marketing activities is a necessary condition for success in innovation projects. The research question of this study is: from an information processing perspective, what role does information transfer play in integrating R&D and marketing functions during the planning stage, and what effects do project formalization and project centralization of R&D and marketing planning activities have on the efficiency of marketing and technological uncertainty reduction? The authors use an ex post facto research design to test the propositional model. The findings show that successful project teams are characterized by a maximum uncertainty reduction during planning, i.e., by a maximum decrease of R&D and marketing task variability, and a maximum increase of R&D and marketing task analyzability. Information flows between these functions help them to achieve this efficient uncertainty reduction. While project centralization has a negative effect on efficient uncertainty reduction, project formalization is curvilinearly related to the amount of uncertainty reduced during planning     

Task Conflict, Integrative Potential, and Conflict Management Strategies in Joint Ventures

Existing studies of conflict management in joint ventures (JVs) assume that the characteristics of the tasks that generate conflict have no impact on either the conflict-performance relationship or on the effectiveness of conflict management techniques. In this paper, we challenge this assumption by examining JV conflict over R&D and marketing tasks. Because JVs decisions are made by two or more partners, often with very different goals and agendas, the potential for conflict is high. In some cases, this conflict can have a positive impact on performance. We hypothesize that this possibility is more likely in the context of R&D task conflict, because: 1) marketing task conflict is relatively more likely to involve distributive (win-lose) issues and 2) when win-win (integrative) potential exists, disputants are relatively less likely to perceive this potential in marketing task conflicts (i.e., the disputants in a marketing task conflict are more likely to approach their conflict from a fixed-pie perspective). Our analysis of data collected from 196 JVs clearly supports this hypothesis. We also find that the relative effectiveness of different conflict management strategies varies depending on whether they are applied to R&D or marketing task conflict. Our results demonstrate the importance of aligning conflict management strategies with the integrative potential of R&D and marketing tasks.     

An exploration of factors affecting the integration of in-houseR&D with external technology acquisition strategies of a firm

Results of an empirical study of 31 cases of external technology acquisition are reported. A ten-stage framework of the external technology acquisition and implementation process is proposed, and the effect of a number of variables on the extent of research and development (R&D) involvement in each of these stages is explored. The relative importance of these variables in influencing R&D's involvement is also discussed. Having formal procedures to include in-house R&D in the process has an impact in the acquisition phase of the process, while in the implementation phase R&D's involvement seems more influenced by the possession of appropriate capabilities in-house. Maturity of the technology, urgency of its need and its importance to the firm are important variables which are found to be negatively correlated with the extent of R&D's involvement and are influential in a number of staged. This finding is discussed     

R&D Activity Selection Process: Building a Strategy-Aligned R&D Portfolio for Government and Nonprofit Organizations

This paper presents a portfolio building process for large public and/or nonprofit research organizations. The proposed approach allocates a research and development (R&D) program budget, taking into consideration both applications and technological areas. It starts with the definition of program objectives and covers the allocation of an R&D program budget, including a final activity selection, according to specific criteria. Budget allocation decisions rely on estimations of risk and return for areas and projects, based on the Markowitz portfolio selection model. A scenario implementation of the proposed portfolio building process in the context of a space agency is included. The application to other areas is also discussed.     

Research Joint Venture and Open Economy

The consumer surplus under the open economy is greater than that under the closed economy from the viewpoint of social welfare. This indication has been proved when only the product market is considered. This article is to show how this result is changed if the R&D market as well as the product market is considered. We find the possibility that the closed economy is preferred to the open economy in case of the (international) R&D joint venture.     

Integrating R&D and marketing: a comparison of practices in theJapanese and American chemical industries

The authors analyze survey information collected from R&D and marketing managers working for American and Japanese chemical manufacturers. They report three key differences in the R&D marketing relationships between Japanese and American firms. Those differences involve the procedures for allocating the tasks between the functional areas, the activities assigned to each area as a result, and the potential for conflict between the two functions. Specifically, the authors find evidence that R&D departments in Japanese firms have a larger role in new product development than do marketing departments. American firms are not characterized by the same asymmetry in their relationship. Finally, the American firms studied did exhibit a greater potential for conflict between functions     

转变产品研发体系推动电信企业转型

企业转型是商业模式的再设计,中国电信企业的传统商业模式已经不适应当前的商业环境,亟需创建成功的新商业模式,实现企业转型。对于当前的中国电信企业来说,转型成功的关键因素是实现从基于产品的研发体系到基于商业模式的产品研发体系的转变。基于商业模式的产品研发体系应与战略紧密结合,建立跨部门的合作机制和目标研发管理框架,并以客户为中心设计解决方案。     

Effects of funding and its return on product quality in newventures

Most entrepreneurs must rely on external financing when their new venture is based on the development of a new product. External financing, however, is usually uncertain in magnitude and timing, thus creating tradeoff between the advantage of waiting-to generate more money-and improve the product versus releasing the product before competition increases. This tradeoff is investigated through a dynamic programming framework for which a simple, easy-to-implement optimal stopping rule is identified for a special class of revenue functions. The model is utilized to characterize how the amount of funding and its variability are expected to affect the quality of the product at time to market. The model also studies how the release-time strategy is affected by the expectation and the variability of the effect that each unit of funding has on the quality of the product under development. The author shows that an increment in funding does not always lead to a product of higher quality. He also shows that an improvement in the effect of investment on quality does not necessarily lead to an enhanced product     

Updating a Modular Product: How to Set Time to Market and Component Quality

In the face of shorter product life cycles, designing products with modular component parts can shorten product development time and speed up the introduction of new products in the market. Utilizing stylized models, we examine the reuse/redesign, quality, speed-to-market, and marketing decisions for two consecutive generations of a multicomponent modular product. With modularity that assumes a stable product architecture, each component can be improved by incurring a design cost that is convex increasing in the level of quality. Our study generates the following insights. When development start-up (fixed) cost is negligible, it is profitable to upgrade every component part; otherwise, it is beneficial to reuse some of the existing parts without making any design improvements in order to save on development cost. In an effort to reduce product development time while maximizing profit, we found solid evidence that the productivity level in developing every component part can be a key driver of speed-to-market. Individually, a new product launch time postponement and an R&D budget increase can lead to improvements in component part quality and overall product quality, but our models show that better improvement in quality can be achieved from launch time postponement (budget increase) when product design teams have low (high) product development productivity. Finally, when the marginal cost of producing the new product is equal to that of the old product, it is optimal to remove the old product from the market and sell only the new product.     

PCB新产品制造导入系统探讨

PCB研发管理日益规范、系统化,传统简单或粗放的新产品导入方法/机制难以满足国际市场化的要求。文章从新产品导入部门组织架构、新产品导入流程、新产品制作过程和品质管控等方面做系统介绍与探讨,供同行业参考。     

The Information Flow Analyzing Based on CPC

The information flow chart within product life cycle is given out based on collaborative production commerce （CPC） thoughts. In this chart, the separated information systems are integrated by means of enterprise knowledge assets that are promoted by CPC from production knowledge. The information flow in R＆D process is analyzed in the environment of virtual R＆D group and distributed PDM. In addition, the information flow throughout the manufacturing and marketing process is analyzed in CPC environment.     

The effect of an investment tax credit on R and D spending

With calls occurring to the new US administration to reintroduce a capital investment tax credit, there is a need to evaluate its prospective effect on R&D expenditures. This paper explores the relationships among long-term trends in nonfederal R&D spending, and the external forces of a capital investment tax credit and a research and experimentation tax credit. Other forces over the last three decades which had been identified earlier, such as projected real interest rates, space expenditures, and oil price changes have been controlled for as intervening variables. While concluding that the underlying trend of increase in these expenditures is modestly over one percent, each of the other factors has significantly affected R&D spending: The investment tax credit has lowered R&D expenditure; while the research and experimentation credit has raised it. In the present economic climate and unemployment among engineers, continuation of the research and experimentation tax credit is supported. Equally, support should be rejected for the investment tax credit not only for its negative impact on R&D spending, but also because greater substitution of capital for labor sends the wrong message at a time of high overall unemployment     

Is the Price Right?

We conclude that contribution analysis is adaptable and useful for pricing new products. Pricing strategy should be devised during the product development stage, and both price and cost forecasting are important for this purpose. Further, to avoid the often repeated mistake of basing a new product's price on unrealistic introductory production and marketing costs, the experience curve should be used for realistic cost estimates. It is important to know: ? competitive prices (actual and expected), cost structures, and capacity utilization ? buyers' reactions to price ? the firm's cost structure and corporate objectives. Unless the pricing process is firmly imbedded within a dynamic, long-run marketing strategy, it is likely that a pricing policy unrelated to the marketing strategy will evolve. Correct pricing decisions are vital as today's pricing environment increases pressure for better, faster, and more frequent pricing decisions. Better research concerning the competitive market and customer responses to prices and price changes is urgently needed. Within the industrial firm, a price-research budget is needed. We must avoid a common occurrence, i.e., worrying about the market response to a price decision after the decision has been made.     

Dealing with a nonobvious source of problems related to selectingR&D to meet customers' future needs: weaknesses within an R&Dorganization's and within a marketing organization's individualoperations

The problems related to selecting R&D (research and development) to meet customers' future needs plague all industrial companies. The most obvious source of these problems is poor coordination between a company's R&D organization and its marketing organization. An unobvious source of problems related to selecting R&D to meet customers' future needs, i.e. weaknesses within an R&D organization's and within a marketing organization's individual operations, is considered. Three steps are recommended for strengthening an R&D organization's and a marketing organization's individual operations. The three steps for both organization's are: to broaden their members' ideas about their own responsibilities; to change how people and/or activities are managed; and to get their members to make better efforts to identify customer's needs     

Energy efficient joint radio resource management in D2D assisted cellular communication

Device-to-device (D2D) is one of the promising technology that can be used in association with cellular networks for the provision of high data rates, which is the foremost demand of today’s cellular users. The climatic changes due to combustion are posing another big challenge that needs to be addressed by today’s technologists to strive for existence of humanity. Thus developing energy efficient schemes for the deployment of such joint venture is a challenging task due to increased system complexity. This paper addresses the mode selection, user admission control and the resource allocation issues related to optimizing the overall Energy Efficiency (EE) of the cellular systems. The contributions that have been made in this paper are (1) Development of a pooled D2D and cellular network optimization model for efficient resource allocation (2) Development of an algorithm for maximization of EE for the proposed joint D2D cellular network . The problem formulated is a Mixed Integer Nonlinear Problem, whereas such problems belong to a class of optimization problems whose computational complexity is quite high that is NP-hard. In such hard problems the computational complexity increases with increasing the number of users that make these problems more challenging. Finding the optimal solution of such hard problems by the brute force and searching the feasible space is also challenging since the complexity increases exponentially by increasing the admitted users. A Mesh Adaptive Direct Search algorithm has been proposed to find the EE resource allocation for this user admission controlled D2D based cellular network. Based on analysis of our simulation results, it can be clearly designated that our proposed solution for increasing the EE for this joint cellular and D2D venture is very much close to optimal solution provided by Exhaustive Search Algorithm.     

A methodology for large-scale R&D planning based on clusteranalysis

A decision-support approach to large-scale R&D planning is described. A quantitative model based on three analytical tools, the interaction matrix, hierarchical cluster analysis, and the Boston Consulting Group (GCG) strategic planning matrix, is used. Results of the model are used to determine the number of R&D program areas, the technological focus of each R&D program area, and the relative allocation of resources to the R&D program areas. Traditional optimization techniques for R&D planning often generate solutions without allowing for the judgement, experience, and insight of the decision maker. The decision-support approach presented supports, rather than replaces, the judgement of the R&D planner by using a graphic display of the relative position of technology clusters, and by using an interactive and iterative approach to problem solving. An application to R&D program planning for Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology's Commercial Space program is presented     

Competitive Advantages in the First Product of New Ventures

The new venture launching its first product faces substantial risks and is typically resource-poor. Moreover, failure with the first product is closely related to failure of the new venture itself, as investors seek alternate investments with better track records. While much guidance appears in the literature for large, established firms developing and launching new products, little research has examined the specific challenges faced by entrepreneurial startups launching first products. We develop a model of competitive advantage for studying the development of the new venture's first product. We identify and investigate the skills, resources, and knowledge needed for achieving positional advantage and, ultimately, developing a successful first product. We collect data from 694 first products launched by new ventures in China to test our model. While most of our hypotheses are supported, we obtain some interesting findings regarding the stage in the development process when technology resources and skills, and marketing resources and skills have the greatest effects on product performance. Our research makes several contributions to engineering management, innovation, and entrepreneurship literatures. Finally, we provide managerial insights on how the entrepreneur should acquire resources and knowledge in order to improve the performance of the first product.      

Conditional stochastic dominance in R&D portfolio selection

This paper describes a methodology for the selection of research and development (R&D) projects to add to or remove from an existing R&D portfolio. The analysis uses the criterion of conditional stochastic dominance to make selection recommendations. This criterion takes into account the effect of a given project on the risk and return of the existing portfolio. The authors use a methodology previously employed to analyze stock portfolios; however, they apply it using simulation in an R&D portfolio context. They apply the methodology to the portfolios of two actual companies and find that it generates priorities very close to those developed by internal company heuristics. They conclude that this methodology can be applied appropriately in these circumstances and that its recommendations are consistent with observed decision maker behavior. Their results suggest that an R&D manager should not consider project selection decisions in isolation, but, following this methodology, should take into account the context of the existing portfolio