The Differential and Contingent Impact of Concurrency on New Product Development Project Performance: A Holistic Examination

This article comprehensively examines how the four facets of new product development (NPD) concurrency, consisting of process and product concurrency groupings, influence NPD project performance under the five contextual conditions of (i) location of product in family stream, (ii) project size, (iii) stage in the product life cycle, (iv) innovativeness of the product, and (v) predictability of market demand. Using data from a large sample of NPD projects in multiple industries, there is support for this hypothesized four-faceted structure of concurrency, consisting of process and product concurrency groupings, thereby contributing new knowledge to the concurrency literature. All four facets of concurrency display a contingent impact on NPD project performance, even though individual effects vary according to the specific contextual variable under consideration. In particular, the process concurrency facet of dynamic iterative routines was universally effective across all five contextual variables, while the product concurrency facet of cross-functional coordination was effective in significantly influencing at least one NPD project measure. This article also reports similar, but less strong, contingency patterns, with respect to the process concurrency facet of the implementation of downstream coordination and the product concurrency facet of the use of computer-based integrated design tools. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are also offered.

[1]  Viswanathan V Krishnan,et al.  Managing the simultaneous execution of coupled phases in concurrent product development , 1996 .

[2]  Frank Montgomery Hull,et al.  A composite model of product development effectiveness: application to services , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[3]  Ludwig Bstieler,et al.  The Moderating Effect of Environmental Uncertainty on New Product Development and Time Efficiency , 2005 .

[4]  M. Fisher.  What is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product , 1997 .

[5]  Jui-Chin Jiang,et al.  QFD's evolution in Japan and the west , 2008 .

[6]  R. Cooper,et al.  The Impact of Product Innovativeness on Performance , 1991 .

[7]  J. Scott Armstrong,et al.  Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. , 1977 .

[8]  Charles H. Fine,et al.  Modeling tradeoffs in three-dimensional concurrent engineering: a goal programming approach , 2005 .

[9]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  Flexibility and standardization: test of a contingency model of product design–manufacturing integration , 1999 .

[10]  P. Murmann.  Expected development time reductions in the German mechanical engineering industry , 1994 .

[11]  M. J. Schniederjans,et al.  Multiobjective concurrent engineering: a goal programming approach , 1996 .

[12]  Lars Trygg,et al.  Concurrent Engineering Practices in Selected Swedish Companies: A Movement or an Activity of the Few? , 1993 .

[13]  Fabio Nicolò,et al.  A concurrent engineering decision model: Management of the project activities information flows , 1998 .

[14]  M. Parry,et al.  The Determinants of Japanese New Product Successes , 1997 .

[15]  Xenophon Koufteros,et al.  Internal and External Integration for Product Development: The Contingency Effects of Uncertainty, Equivocality, and Platform Strategy , 2005, Decis. Sci..

[16]  Gregory Huet,et al.  Manufacturing Process Management: iterative synchronisation of engineering data with manufacturing realities , 2007 .

[17]  R. Cordero.  Managing for speed to avoid product obsolescence: A survey of techniques , 1991 .

[18]  Anand Nair,et al.  Capturing the competitive advantages of AMT: Design-manufacturing integration as a complementary asset , 2007 .

[19]  Mohan V. Tatikonda.  An Empirical Study of Platform and Derivative Product Development Projects , 1999 .

[20]  Robert B. Handfield,et al.  Effects of concurrent engineering on make-to-order products , 1994 .

[21]  R. Calantone,et al.  Determinants of New Product Performance: A Review and Meta-Analysis , 1994 .

[22]  Paul S. Adler,et al.  Interdepartmental Interdependence and Coordination: The Case of the Design/Manufacturing Interface , 1995 .

[23]  Morgan Swink,et al.  Design-manufacturing integration as a mediator of antecedents to new product design quality , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[24]  Ali A. Yassine,et al.  A decision analytic framework for evaluating concurrent engineering , 1999 .

[25]  Mark A. Vonderembse,et al.  Concurrent engineering and its consequences , 2001 .

[26]  A. Chakrabarti,et al.  Innovation Speed: A Conceptual Model of Context, Antecedents, and Outcomes , 1996 .

[27]  Uma Kumar,et al.  Concurrent engineering teams I: organizational determinants of usage , 2005 .

[28]  Morgan Swink,et al.  A tutorial on implementing concurrent engineering in new product development programs , 1998 .

[29]  Pär Åhlström,et al.  The difficult path to lean product development , 1996 .

[30]  Aleda V. Roth,et al.  Decision Sciences Research in China: A Critical Review and Research Agenda - Foundations and Overview , 2006, Decis. Sci..

[31]  Jeffrey L. Funk,et al.  Concurrent engineering and the underlying structure of the design problem , 1997 .

[32]  R. Cooper,et al.  Determinants of Timeliness in Product Development , 1994 .

[33]  Moshe Dror,et al.  Randomized distributed access to mutually exclusive resources , 2005, Adv. Decis. Sci..

[34]  Luk N. Van Wassenhove,et al.  Limits to Concurrency , 1999 .

[35]  Keith R. Molenaar,et al.  Strategies for overlapping dependent design activities , 2006 .

[36]  Wendy L. Tate,et al.  Product‐process‐supply chain: an integrative approach to three‐dimensional concurrent engineering , 2007 .

[37]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Stage-gate systems: A new tool for managing new products , 1990 .

[38]  Kenneth K. Boyer,et al.  Approaches to the factory of the future. An empirical taxonomy , 1996 .

[39]  Michael Song,et al.  The Effect of Perceived Technological Uncertainty on Japanese New Product Development , 2001 .

[40]  A. Griffin,et al.  PDMA Success Measurement Project: Recommended Measures for Product Development Success and Failure , 1996 .

[41]  Christoph H. Loch,et al.  A Retrospective Look at Production and Operations Management Articles on New Product Development , 2009 .

[42]  Jérémy Legardeur,et al.  Product innovation through management of collaborative design in concurrent engineering , 2007 .

[43]  Kannan Srinivasan,et al.  New product development structures and time-to-market , 1997 .

[44]  Aleda V. Roth,et al.  Decision Sciences Research in China: Current Status, Opportunities, and Propositions for Research in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, and Quality Management , 2007, Decis. Sci..

[45]  Christopher O'Brien,et al.  Design maturity assessment for concurrent engineering co-ordination , 1995 .

[46]  Abdul Ali,et al.  Product innovativeness and entry strategy: Impact on cycle time and break-even time , 1995 .

[47]  Fabrizio Salvador,et al.  Coordinating product design, process design, and supply chain design decisions: Part B. Coordinating approaches, tradeoffs, and future research directions , 2005 .

[48]  Ernest D. Phelps.  Improving the product development process , 1977 .

[49]  Soumaya Yacout,et al.  Concurrent optimization of customer requirements and the design of a new product , 2006 .

[50]  Johann C.K.H. Riedel,et al.  Achieving integration through managing concurrent engineering , 1994 .

[51]  Morgan Swink,et al.  EFFECTS OF MARKETING-MANUFACTURING INTEGRATION ON NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TIME AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE , 2007 .

[52]  R. L. Price,et al.  The return map: tracking product teams. , 1991, Harvard business review.

[53]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  The Dimensions of Industrial New Product Success and Failure , 1979 .

[54]  Birgit Verworn,et al.  The Fuzzy Front End of Japanese New Product Development Projects: Impact on Success and Differences between Incremental and Radical Projects , 2007 .

[55]  Jonathan Cagan,et al.  The design of novel roof trusses with shape annealing: assessing the ability of a computational method in aiding structural designers with varying design intent , 1999 .

[56]  Soo Wook Kim,et al.  Manufacturing Practices and Strategy Integration: Effects on Cost Efficiency, Flexibility, and Market-Based Performance , 2005, Decis. Sci..

[57]  J. Hauser,et al.  The House of Quality , 1988 .

[58]  A. V. D. Ven,et al.  A Task Contingent Model of Work-Unit Structure. , 1974 .

[59]  K. Clark.  Project scope and project performance: the effect of parts strategy and supplier involvement on product development , 1989 .

[60]  Mohan V. Tatikonda,et al.  Successful execution of product development projects: Balancing firmness and flexibility in the innovation process , 2000 .

[61]  John C. Anderson,et al.  Maturity and its impact on new product development project performance , 2001 .

[62]  G. Lilien,et al.  The timing of competitive market entry: an exploratory study of new industrial products , 1990 .

[63]  Yoke San Wong,et al.  A dynamic model for managing overlapped iterative product development , 2008, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[64]  D. Garvin.  Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality , 1987 .

[65]  Paul A. Emmanuelides,et al.  Towards an integrative framework of performance in product development projects , 1993 .

[66]  John E. Ettlie,et al.  Integrated design and new product success , 1997 .

[67]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  Accelerating Adaptive Processes: Product Innovation in the Global Computer Industry , 1995 .

[68]  J. C. Sandvig,et al.  Customizing Concurrent Engineering Processes: Five Case Studies , 1996 .

[69]  Keith R. Molenaar,et al.  Concurrent Engineering Approach to Reducing Design Delivery Time , 2005 .

[70]  Victoria L. Mitchell,et al.  Cooperative Planning, Uncertainty, and Managerial Control in Concurrent Design , 2007, Manag. Sci..

[71]  Gilvan C. Souza,et al.  Coordinating Sales and Raw Material Discounts in a Global Supply Chain , 2009 .

[72]  R. Calantone,et al.  Controllable Factors of New Product Success: A Cross-National Comparison , 1996 .

[73]  Doris H. Kincade,et al.  Concurrent engineering for product development in mass customization for the apparel industry , 2007 .

[74]  Mohamed A. Youssef.  Design for manufacturability and time‐to‐market , 1995 .

[75]  Zheng Wang,et al.  Optimizing the concurrency for a group of design activities , 2005, IEEE Trans. Engineering Management.

[76]  Morris A. Cohen,et al.  An Analysis of Several New Product Performance Metrics , 2000, Manuf. Serv. Oper. Manag..

[77]  R. Handfield,et al.  Supplier integration into new product development: coordinating product, process and supply chain design , 2005 .

[78]  Panagiotis Kouvelis,et al.  DYNAMIC INTERACTION OF PRICE AND DESIGN QUALITY FOR PRODUCTS WITH CONVEX PRODUCTION COSTS , 2009 .

[79]  H. Maylor.  Concurrent new product development: an empirical assessment , 1997 .

[80]  J. Daniel Sherman,et al.  Optimal modes and levels of integration, and the identification of cross-functional coordination deficiencies in concurrent engineering , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[81]  Kwaku Atuahene-Gima,et al.  Cross-Functional Influence in New Product Development: An Exploratory Study of Marketing and R&D Perspectives , 2000 .

[82]  R. D. Badinelli,et al.  A concurrent optimization methodology for concurrent engineering , 1999 .

[83]  M. D. Al-Ansary,et al.  Concurrent optimization of manufacturing cycle cost by genetic algorithms , 2007 .

[84]  Nadia Bhuiyan,et al.  Implementing concurrent engineering , 2006, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[85]  D. Wilemon,et al.  A Survey of Major Approaches for Accelerating New Product Development , 1992 .

[86]  Ann Majchrzak,et al.  Concurrent engineering tools: are the human issues being ignored? , 1996 .

[87]  Willow A. Sheremata.  Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces in Radical New Product Development Under Time Pressure , 2000 .

[88]  E. Mansfield.  The speed and cost of industrial innovation in Japan and the United States: external vs. internal technology , 1988 .

[89]  Mark A. Vonderembse,et al.  Mediating effects of computer-aided design usage: From concurrent engineering to product development performance , 2006 .

[90]  O. Hauptman,et al.  The influence of process concurrency on project outcomes in product development: an empirical study of cross-functional teams , 1996 .

[91]  C. A. Rusinko,et al.  Exploring the use of design-manufacturing integration (DMI) to facilitate product development: a test of some practices , 1999 .

[92]  Michael A. Cusumano,et al.  Strategy, structure and performance in product development: Observations from the auto industry☆ , 1992 .

[93]  Delavar G. Shenas,et al.  Organizational Approaches to the Implementation of Simultaneous Engineering , 1994 .

[94]  A. V. D. Ven,et al.  Determinants of Coordination Modes within Organizations , 1976 .

[95]  P. Will,et al.  Is concurrent engineering always a sensible proposition , 1995 .

[96]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  Composite forms of organization as a strategy for concurrent engineering effectiveness , 1996 .

[97]  Dohyeon Kim.  On representations and dynamic analysis of concurrent engineering design , 2007 .

[98]  Mark Edmund.  Quality improvements: NFL teams huddle up around quality , 2007 .

[99]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PAST RESEARCH, PRESENT FINDINGS, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS , 1995 .