AMBIGUITY REDUCTION IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Eric Brun () and Alf Steinar Saetre ()
Additional contact information
Eric Brun: Department of Business Administration, Stavanger University, N-4036 Stavanger, Norway
Alf Steinar Saetre: Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2008, vol. 12, issue 04, 573-596

Abstract: In this paper, we argue that ambiguity is an essential component of "fuzziness" in the Fuzzy Front End of New Product Development (NPD), and that a better understanding of how ambiguity emerges and is reduced, is called for. We explore the process by which ambiguity was reduced in four NPD projects, and propose a model that enhances our understanding of this process. Ambiguity arises as multiple interpretations, and interpretations can be understood as hypotheses, hence these can be tested by using the hypothetical-deductive method (HDM). We present a model showing that ambiguity in NPD projects is efficiently reduced by applying the HDM to test the multiple interpretations that give rise to ambiguity and the assumptions underlying these interpretations. We discuss theoretical implications and the usefulness of the model for practitioners of NPD.

Keywords: New product development; ambiguity; qualitative analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1363919608002126
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:12:y:2008:i:04:n:s1363919608002126

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S1363919608002126

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim) is currently edited by Joe Tidd

More articles in International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().