 Accelerating the fuzzy front-end of NPD projects: methods and managementJongbae Kim and David Wilemon International Journal of Engineering Management and Economics, 2010, vol. 1, issue 1, 80-101 Abstract: In rapidly changing competitive conditions, firms competing on the basis of their new products need to be proficient in accelerating their product development programmes. Several research studies have suggested that the entire NPD process can be improved. In this paper, however, we focus on the 'upfront' or 'fuzzy front-end' (FFE) phase. We review several studies which reveal useful insights into speeding the FFE. Next, we examine the benefits of accelerating the FFE as well as the challenges encountered. We then advance several approaches for speeding the FFE. If firms excel in managing and accelerating their FFE activities, it offers firms the opportunity to more rapidly develop and commercialise their new products. A major goal of our paper is to examine the importance of streamlining the FFE as well as to suggest various methods for accelerating this critical phase of the innovation process. Keywords: fuzzy front-end; internal FFE; external FFE; speed of development; first-mover advantages; fuzziness level; fuzzy curves; FFE competency; approval gap; NPD; new product development; product innovation. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijemec:v:1:y:2010:i:1:p:80-101 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Engineering Management and Economics from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
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