Integrated New Product Development on a Global Scale

ABSTRACT

More emphasis has been placed on developing cost-oriented supply chains focused on operational efficiency and the reduction of cost items than on innovation-oriented chains able to create and deliver customized goods and services. This extra attentiveness to cost reduction is perhaps a reason that practice often does not follow theory regarding many aspects of SCM, for example, integrated new product development (NPD). The importance of utilizing a participative approach to NPD, particularly in the context of SCM, has been advocated in the literature for twenty-plus years and has been verified empirically. Yet recent research reveals many firms do not employ integrated NPD.

Innovation-oriented chains as well as integrated NPD are characterized by the coordination of technological developments through the collaborative efforts of cross-functional teams representing a mixture of chain members. The how to of implementing and managing these types of processes is still far from understood and the challenges they present make emphasizing cost reductions first seem reasonable. Nonetheless growing competiveness in the international marketplace places a premium on an ability to respond appropriately to changing customer requirements. Thus organizations need to concentrate more on generating innovation-oriented chains distinguished by flexibility and efficiency, and a key starting point is integrated NPD.

Case studies make a meaningful contribution to practice by uncovering useful general principles that managers can translate and apply to their own circumstances. They can be of various types and have diverse purposes. This proposed Academic Paper will employ a descriptive case study to enable theory extension. That is, it reveals more concerning the “how to” aspects of integrated NPD in the context of a global supply chain. The main participants in the actual situation: a mining/production company located in Botswana, an engineering/logistics firm (Switzerland), component manufacturers (Germany), and an international transportation provider.

The major theme of the paper will be managing collaboration across a global supply chain in the context of integrated NPD. The actual situation will be drawn upon to discuss several topics:

Identifying and selecting suppliers in the international arena.
Managing coordination among Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 suppliers; including the application of Project Management skills.
From the perspective of the Swiss firm: encouraging and administering the participation of external parties – the customer, transportation provider, and suppliers, as well as internal parties – Engineering, Manufacturing, and Purchasing.
Face-to-face versus technology-enabled communication among team members.
Generating an organizational culture supportive of integrated NPD, which by proxy, speaks to issues regarding innovation-oriented chains.

The topics will be addressed with the objective of providing information concerning opportunities/problems related to each, what worked/what did not, and unexpected difficulties and benefits that arose. The overriding goal is threefold: 1) provide impetus for more change toward innovation-oriented chains, including integrated NPD, 2) supply more detail as to how the gap between theory and practice may be narrowed, and 3) provide stimulation for additional research.