Managing asymmetries in information flows and interaction betweenR&D, manufacturing, and service in complex product development

Abstract

Studies of new product development have demonstrated the value of effective interaction between research and development (R&D) andmanufacturing, but few studies also include service operations despite their growing importance. Building on in-depth studies of two firms in the capital goods sector, the paper illustrates how the structural differences between the R&D-manufacturing and R&D-service interfaces result in serious information and interaction imbalances, and presents managerial means to handle these. The paper makes three contributions. First, it shows the value of moving beyond a dyadic perspective to studies of more complex structures involving triads of specialized functions. Second, the paper underlines the role of informational flows that can compensate for asymmetries in such triads and facilitate thoughtful trade-off decisions. Third, the paper highlights the importance of creating conditions for integrated knowledge-based approaches across functions, which involve the generation and sharing of new knowledge. The paper ends with an emerging management agenda to support such integrative efforts in complex product development projects. Managing asymmetries in information flows and interaction

Components of business concepts for the diffusion of large scaled environmental technology systems

“…In addition, our ability to access empirical information through face-to-face interviews and company documentation/website reading restricted the scope of our selected companies to Sweden. These companies enrich the study because with their focus on different environmental technology offerings (electricity and district heating, biogas production and distribution, and material recycling), any common pattern that emerges is of particular interest in capturing the core experiences of a particular phenomenon under investigation (Olausson and Berggren, 2012) -in this case technology diffusion.…”

“…As explained by Olausson and Berggren (2012), any common pattern that emerges from variation of sources is of particular interest when analysing the shared dimensions of a particular phenomenon. In total, six components were synthesized at the end of this step.…”

How should a team be rewarded to improve quality performance of NPD?

“…TR can also help to reduce opportunistic behaviors (Stump et al, 2002) and conflicts between team members (Pearce and Ravlin, 1987). Companies can reduce the cost associated with control and coordination, which are especially important in the presence of specific knowledge and asymmetries of information through team rewarding (Olausson and Berggren, 2012). This is particularly important when evaluating individual contributions to final performance is difficult (Sarin and Mahajan, 2001).…”

Understanding solutions as technology-driven business innovations

“…In innovation studies, there has traditionally been a tendency to focus more on technological process innovation and goods product innovation than on service, solution and business innovation (Edquist, 2009;Olausson and Berggren, 2012). In addition, many studies focus on the production side and the creation of knowledge within firms rather than the user side and the creation of knowledge between firms (Geels, 2004).…”