Book Reviews

In light of the changes occurring in the European Common Market in 1992, it is particularly timely to review two books that contrast new product development practices in the United States with those in Europe and other countries. Both books are based on academics' research but are intended to provide practical insights for practitioners. The first review is of a book that summarizes an extensive study of the world auto industry. This book, which does offer many practical lessons, compares industry practices in the United States, Europe and Japan. The second review, by Chris Panton, examines a book that contrasts product development practices in American and British firms. Our reviewer finds that this book primarily offers an effective summary of conventional wisdom but fewer practical insights.     

Book Reviews

The first review is of a business novel that contains important lessons about teams and teamwork. The enjoyable story is based on the product development activities of a fictitious Fungible Company, and is an absorbing book to read. The second review covers a book on Total Quality Management (TQM). As our reviewer points out, this book deals with both the philosophy and tools, covering all aspects of TQM.
Finally, we inaugurate a new feature, Brief Notes. From time to time, we will provide short comments about books that may have a specialized or some limited value to practitioners.     

Book Reviews

The first review describes a book devoted to the value and conduct of customer visits. The reviewer recommends it as especially valuable for practitioners in firms producing goods and services for business-to-business markets. The second review covers a book devoted to the integration of process design and development. Our reviewer finds that the book provides valuable coverage of an important but frequently overlooked aspect of product development. The third review covers a book of particular value to manufacturers. Although lacking in specific examples, the authors' experience is persuasive in addressing key issues that overlap points covered in the book discussed in the preceding review. The fourth review examines a book about competitive positioning. The book has value for those needing an introduction to this important topic. This issue also reviews two books of special interest to academics teaching and conducting research in the area of product innovation. The first offering is essentially a comprehensive review of the growing literature on how technology can improve collaborative work among individuals or groups. It covers theoretical foundations, conceptual paradigms, empirical research to date, and an agenda for future research. The next book is an advanced but relatively user-friendly text covering all facets of the new product development process. It is loaded with examples and cases and draws on a wide range of concepts and methodologies from the marketing and general management literature.     

Book Reviews

This issue provides reviews of four books and brief notes for two others. The first book that is reviewed covers services comprehensively. It traces the growth from the industrial era and attempts to project future trends. The second review is of a book written by a practitioner with the company that is frequently judged to be the new product development "gold standard." Although the book can be somewhat unfocused at times, six key lessons are enunciated. The third book covered here is about compressing time-to-market for engineered or technology-based products. Our reviewer suggests that it is most useful for experienced practitioners in larger companies. The last book is about teams. The reviewer finds it overly long but useful in its treatment of teaming among organizations.     

Book Reviews

Our three reviews describe widely varied books of interest to practitioners. The first book contains chapters by several authors dealing with numerous aspects of the crucial topic of integrating product design and manufacturing. While it contains many case studies, practitioners have contributed to it, and our reviewer finds much that will benefit both experienced and inexperienced practitioners. The second book deals with the entire product development process and is found to be intermittently insightful and superficial. The review suggests that less experienced practitioners may have trouble distinguishing what is truly important but an experienced practitioner may find that the book provides a helpful reminder of many key lessons. The third book is narrowly specialized, covering direct marketing for business-to-business products and services. Our reviewer believes that it is both thorough and practical, almost a do-it-yourself guide.     

Book Reviews

The first review discusses a provocative book about innovation and the impact of technological change. Although the book also provides all readers with an invaluable historical perspective, the reviewer believes that it lacks predictive utility for practitioners. The second review covers a book devoted to strategic breakthroughs. The reviewer finds that the focus on the customer and the role of top management can be valuable for practitioners. The third review describes a book covering competitive advantage. Our reviewer praises the book highly, finding it of particular value for practitioners, both seasoned and novice. The fourth review is of a book devoted to improving new product development. The reviewer recommends the book as providing detailed practical guidance.
This issue also reviews two new books of special interest to professors. The first, by Robert Dolan, is a short text-and-cases book dealing with new product development and commercialization, primarily from the standpoint of strategic needs, data sources, and decision analytic methodologies. The second, by Richard Nelson, is a compendium of thoughtful essays dealing with the national innovation systems of fifteen different countries.     

Book Reviews

The first review is of a book that probably should be required reading for most personnel who participate in new product development—both academics and practitioners. It focuses on product innovation, primarily from an engineering perspective. Special emphasis is given to product design and development issues ranging from attribute specification and design for manufacturing to the economics and management of product development projects. Although the book has limitations, it provides highly relevant insights, especially for those involved with engineered products. The second review covers a book devoted to software development, which is becoming a ubiquitous ingredient in many products. Our reviewer reports that the book offers much practical wisdom. The third and fourth reviews discuss books for practitioners that are focused on specialized areas: biomedical and clinical instrumentation and food products. Although specialized, the first of these books offers some broader, more general lessons. The other will be of greatest value to those developing food products who have statistical training. The next three reviews cover other books of greatest interest to practitioners. The first is also most useful for those developing engineered products. The second will be of most use to less experienced personnel. The third book is about teamwork—now regarded by most practitioners as essential—but with only a few examples pertinent to product development. The last two reviews report on books that will be primarily of interest to academics and of limited interest to practitioners. The first of these two reviews describes a conference proceedings book, which is a compendium of unusually thoughtful presentations on the impact of changes in information technology on the design and execution of marketing actions. The articles in this collection are at once balanced in terms of level and style and comprehensive in terms of their overall coverage. The second covers a product management textbook with special emphasis on opportunity identification and the alignment of effort and resources with such opportunities.     

Book Reviews

The first review describes the eighth book we have reviewed on the general topic of faster new product development. This book is distinguished by its emphasis on human issues, especially in the context of contracted development for an original equipment manufacturer. The second review covers a book that contrasts the Japanese and U.S. approach to product development. The book indicates that U.S. companies should put more emphasis on early predevelopment activities. The third review describes how Kodak's black and white film-making operation was overhauled by a team effort. Our reviewer suggests that many of the book's team-building lessons must be adopted for any company to change its culture and improve its product development performance. The fourth review describes a short book about quality function deployment (QFD). Although the book lacks specific product development examples, the reviewer recommends it as a helpful primer on this important product development tool. The fifth review reports on a technology management book. The book comprises a series of separately authored chapters on varied issues, some of which are directly pertinent to developers of technology-based new products. The reviews conclude with a brief note about a book on rapid prototyping.     

Book Reviews

We have reviews of five books that deserve practitioners' attention. The first review discusses the sixth book about accelerating new product development that we have recently reviewed. The McGrath et al. book will be of particular value to those readers who work in large firms on large new product development projects. The second and third reviews cover second editions of significant books. Randy Englund's review of Russ Archibald's book on project management emphasizes how this discipline has value to all new product development project teams. James Scheu reports that George Gruenwald's useful book is of special value to those working in the package goods industry.
The last two reviews stress aspects of teamwork. George Castellion notes that the book by Katzenbach and Smith helpfully illuminates the difference between teamwork and teams. Randy Englund's review of the book by Jeffrey Pfeffer draws our attention to the role and potential abuse of a manager's power in product development.     

Improvement reviews in new product development

This research examines how organizations can use improvement reviews to enhance learning from product development experiences. We review learning related literature and highlight learning barriers that firms should attempt to minimize when conducting reviews. We then discuss two studies aimed at better understanding the effectiveness of improvement reviews. The first study suggests that improvement reviews can facilitate learning by leading to a reduction in the recurrence of people-related problems, though reviews had no impact on reducing market or product related problems. The second study involved depth interviews with new product developers. Interview comments provide insights into improvement review best practices and shed light on why improvement reviews are sometimes ineffective. A set of managerial recommendations is provided.     

Book Reviews

Practitioners provide reviews of four recent books. K. G. Peeples finds that Mass Customization by B. Joseph Pine describes a trend to replace mass production with a more responsive and tailored approach. She reports that this emerging direction applies to both manufacturing and service firms. It offers numerous benefits to both the supplier and the customer, such as greater variety, lower cost, and more responsive availability. Next, Martha Dohm examines Corporate Venturing by two academics, Zenas Block and Ian MacMillan. She finds it to be a useful primer on this important subject, although lacking in recent practical examples.
The final two reviews are of books that cite, in part, examples from the same high-technology firms, but cover these from very different perspectives. Vic Prushan assesses Winning in High- Tech Markets by Joseph G. Morone. He reports that this book is built around three detailed case studies, from which four lessons are drawn for corporate managers. Jimmy Loon reviews Lightning Strategies for Innovation by Willard I. Zangwill, another academic. He says that the book offers a seven- step process that primarily will be of value to the less experienced practitioner.     

Book Reviews

The first review discusses a book on major innovative breakthroughs. The book educationally summarizes fourteen histories of important new products and services, draws general conclusions from these cases, but seems to lack predictive lessons that can assure future dramatic new products. The second and third reviews cover books devoted to cross-functional teams and teamwork. Both books provide helpful guidance in dealing with the practical aspects of making such teams function well in new product development projects. The fourth book describes a rather mechanical lock-step approach to concurrent engineering or total quality development, which is considered its synonym. Specific components are discussed in detail. These include technological development, concept phase, design phase, and production preparation. Although the book ignores the role of marketing, it should prove useful to those interested in the detailed reviews of mechanical engineering procedures such as "The House of Q uality," engineering concept selection, and Taguchi methods of process design analysis. The reviews conclude with brief notes about three other books.     

Controlling new product R&D projects

New products are critical to the success of most corporations. But managing the R&D projects that produce new products has proven to be a risky and tricky business. Theorists and practitioners claim that one of the major obstacles to higher new product output is the ‘tight’ control practices found in large corporations. The conventional wisdom argues that, to correct this, firms need to find ways ‘to loosen-up.’ But is that all there is to it? This article presents five findings for effectively controlling new product R&D projects. These findings emerged at the conclusion of an empirical research investigation into the formal and informal control practices that business unit managers use to control various new product R&D situations. The article concludes with several recommendations for those managers who want to control their new product R&D projects better.     

PDMA Research on New Product Development Practices: Updating Trends and Benchmarking Best Practices

Product development professionals may have the feeling that yet another buzzword or magic bullet always lurks just around the corner. However, researchers have devoted considerable effort to helping practioners determine which tools, techniques, and methods really do offer a competitive edge. Starting 30 years ago, research efforts have aimed at understanding NPD practices and identifying those which are deemed “best practices.” During the past five years, pursuit of this goal has produced numerous privately available reports and two research efforts sponsored by the PDMA. Abbie Griffin summarizes the results of research efforts undertaken during the past five years and presents findings from the most recent PDMA survey on NPD best practices. This survey, conducted slightly more than five years after PDMA's first best-practices survey, updates trends in processes, organizations, and outcomes for NPD in the U.S., and determines which practices are more commonly associated with firms that are more successsful in developing new products. The survey has the following objectives: determining the current status of NPD practices and performance; understanding how product development has changed from five years ago; determining whether NPD practice and performance differ across industry segments; and, investigating process and product development tools that differentiate product development success. The survey findings indicate that NPD processes continue to evolve and become more sophisticated. NPD changes continually on multiple fronts, and firms that fail to keep their NPD practices up to date will suffer an increasingly marked competitive disadvantage. Interestingly, although more than half of the respondents use a cross-functional stage-gate process for NPD, more than one-third of all firms in the study still use no formal process for managing NPD. The findings suggest that firms are not adequately handling the issue of team-based rewards. Project-completion dinners are for the most frequently used NPD reward; they are also the only reward used more by best-practice firms than by the rest of the respondents. The best-practice firms participating in the study do not use financial rewards for NPD. Compared to the other firms in the study, best-practice firms use more multifunctional teams, are more likely to measure NPD processes and outcomes, and expect more from their NPD programs.     

Kellogg on Branding: By the Marketing Faculty of the Kellogg School of Management by Alice M. Tybout and Tim Calkins (eds.)

These reviews are intended to help you reach a decision about purchasing or reading a book. But more importantly, they are meant to bring to your attention notable contemporary topics related to product innovation. The review here of The Change Function illustrates this point well. According to Amazon.com sales rankings (on August 23, 2006), this book is more popular than any we have reviewed in the past year—including Geoffrey A. Moore's Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution (Penguin, 2005). Yet the reviewer points out some critical weaknesses in The Change Function's treatment of truly innovative products. Just because a book is popular with a general business audience does not mean that it is adequate for new product professionals. Should you decide to read it, we hope that our review helps you, as a product developer, to get more out of it.
Books reviewed in this issue:

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  Kellogg on Branding: By the Marketing Faculty of the Kellogg School of Management

       
  
  

Supporting product innovativeness and customer value at the bottom of the pyramid through context-specific capabilities and social ties

Local firms operating in bottom of the pyramid (BoP) markets face significant challenges in managing their innovation practices and creating value for customers. Operating in resource-constrained environments, local BoP firms need to behave as bricoleurs, deploy capabilities that help creatively combine and leverage their limited available resources to innovate and create value for customers. Employing the capability-based view (CBV) of the firm and social capital theory (SCT), we develop a research model to explain the extent that local BoP manufacturers use bricolage to develop innovative products that create value for BoP customers. Analysis of data obtained from 150 local BoP manufacturing firms (three managers in each firm) and two of their major customer firms shows that the relationship between bricolage and product innovativeness is more complex than previously understood. Results show that the curvilinear relationship is attenuated differently by social ties with government versus ties with civil society organizations. Furthermore, findings also support the contingency role of BoP firms' marketing capabilities in translating product innovativeness into customer value in BoP markets. These findings present specific implications for scholars and practitioners interested in BoP markets.     

Demystifying the Japanese miracle

In this English translation of a book first published in Japan in 1973 Satoshi Kamata indicts the Toyota Motor company for its inhumane treatment of temporary workers on the assembly line. Kamata is a freelance journalist who records in diary form his six months' experience and observations as a temporary worker for Toyota. For the reviewer, Stephen Wood, the importance of the book lies in its contribution to the demystification of the Japanese employment system, especially in the light of the world-wide concern with Japanese methods. Wood concurs with much of Ronald Dore's introduction to the English edition of Kamata's book but suggests that to draw conclusions about management authority and work organization from it would need more systematic evidence and a sharper set of conceptual distinctions than even those Dore works with.     

The relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management

This study examines the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship intensity and five specific strategic management practices in a sample of 169 U.S. manufacturing firms. The five strategic management practices include: scanning intensity, planning flexibility, planning horizon, locus of planning, and control attributes. The results of the study indicated a positive relationship between corporate entrepreneurship intensity and scanning intensity, planning flexibility, locus of planning, and strategic controls. The fine‐grained nature of these results may be of practical use to firms that are trying to become more entrepreneurial and may help researchers better understand the subtleties of the interface between strategic management and corporate entrepreneurship. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.