"FUZZY FRONT END" PRACTICES IN INNOVATING JAPANESE COMPANIES

Cornelius Herstatt (), Christoph Stockstrom (), Birgit Verworn () and Akio Nagahira ()
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Cornelius Herstatt: Institute for Technology and Innovation Management, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Schwarzenbergstr. 95, Hamburg, 21073, Germany
Christoph Stockstrom: Institute for Technology and Innovation Management, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Schwarzenbergstr. 95, Hamburg, 21073, Germany
Birgit Verworn: Chair of Organization Science and HRM, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus, Cottbus, 03046, Germany
Akio Nagahira: Management of Science and Technology Department, Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), 2006, vol. 03, issue 01, 43-60

Abstract: In this paper, we report on the results of a large-scale study about typical front-end-related innovation practices in 553 Japanese mechanical and electrical engineering companies. We explore typical activities concerning the generation and assessment of new product ideas, the reduction of technological as well as market uncertainty and front end planning. Finally, we report on the differences between successful and unsuccessful companies. Our study confirms earlier findings about the frequent use of creativity techniques in Japan during the process of idea generation. We also find companies to be intensively involved in upper management and customers on NPD projects. While integrating upper management is of vital importance for assessing new product ideas, integrating customers and users is primarily used to developing product ideas and concepts. We further find evidence that successful companies integrate their customers more frequently in the process of developing and assessing new product ideas than non-successful companies. In addition, the former integrate customer requirements into their product definitions more often and also translate these requirements into technical specifications more frequently than non-successful companies. Finally, successful companies more often systematically plan a project prior to its start than unsuccessful ones.

Keywords: Japan; new product development; front end (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1142/S0219877006000703

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