Managing the front end of innovation with a group support system

Front end of innovation is defined as those activities that take place prior to the formal, well structured product development process. Front end activities are widely perceived as unstructured, fuzzy and hard to manage. There is a clear need for practical procedures and tools to support the front end process. This paper aims to enhance and systematise the early phases of the innovation process by presenting group support system tools and procedures for the management of the front end activities, such as new idea generation and concept evaluation. The empirical evidence is based on the experience gained in several cases carried out with industrial companies in the GDSS laboratory of Lappeenranta University of Technology.

[1]  K. Atuahene–Gima,et al.  Market Orientation and Innovation , 1996 .

[2]  Ron Chi-Wai Kwok,et al.  Effect of GSS on meaningful learning , 1998, Proceedings of the Thirty-First Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[3]  Fred Niederman,et al.  What is effective GSS facilitation? A qualitative inquiry into participants' perceptions , 2002, Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[4]  E. Hippel,et al.  Lead users: a source of novel product concepts , 1986 .

[5]  Majda Bastič,et al.  Success factors in transition countries , 2004 .

[6]  Cornelius Herstatt,et al.  Reducing project related uncertainty in the "fuzzy front end" of innovation: a comparison of German and Japanese product innovation projects , 2004 .

[7]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  The new product process: A decision guide for management , 1988 .

[8]  Preston G. Smith,et al.  Developing products in half the time: new rules, new tools 10 [Book Review] , 1997, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[9]  A. Griffin,et al.  Patterns of Communication Among Marketing, Engineering and Manufacturing-A Comparison Between Two New Product Teams , 1992 .

[10]  William E. Souder,et al.  INTEGRATING MARKETING AND R&D PROJECT PERSONNEL WITHIN INNOVATION PROJECTS: AN INFORMATION UNCERTAINTY MODEL* , 1992 .

[11]  Preston G. Smith,et al.  Developing products in half the time , 1995 .

[12]  S. R. Rosenthal,et al.  Integrating the Fuzzy Front End of New Product Development , 1997 .

[13]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  New product success factors: A comparison of ‘kills’ versus successes and failures , 1990 .

[14]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Group support systems in primary processes , 1998, Proceedings of the Thirty-First Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[15]  Jeffrey Davidson,et al.  Providing Clarity and A Common Language to the “Fuzzy Front End” , 2001 .

[16]  Robert O. Briggs,et al.  A theory and measurement of meeting satisfaction , 2003, 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2003. Proceedings of the.

[17]  K. Atuahene–Gima,et al.  An exploratory analysis of the impact of market orientation on new product performance a contingency approach , 1995 .

[18]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  ThinkLets: achieving predictable, repeatable patterns of group interaction with group support systems (GSS) , 2001, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[19]  Donald G. Reinertsen,et al.  Taking the Fuzziness Out of the Fuzzy Front End , 1999 .

[20]  David Wilemon,et al.  Focusing the Fuzzy Front-End in New Product Development , 2002 .

[21]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  New Products : The Factors that Drive Success , 1994 .

[22]  Starr Roxanne Hiltz,et al.  Group Support Systems: A Descriptive Evaluation of Case and Field Studies , 2000, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[23]  A. Griffin.  The Effect of Project and Process Characteristics on Product Development Cycle Time , 1997 .

[24]  Steven A. Murphy,et al.  The role of predevelopment activities and firm attributes in new product success , 1996 .

[25]  R. Cooper,et al.  Success factors in product innovation , 1987 .