Does the Parallel Approach Make Sense in the Development of Discontinuous Innovations?

Abstract

While the success of parallel new product development programs such as concurrent engineering is well documented, tlieir~focus on low cost and speed to inarket has rizeant that the bulk of what we know ubout this approach relates to their effectiveness in the development of products which ~O C L L S on iricrenierital product improvements. Little is known about their utility in projects which involve more "discontin~~ous '' innovation. This paper outlines several potential weaknesses of concurrent engineering practices when applied to more discontinuous innovations, and highlights a number of propositions which map out jiiture research questions in the area.

Managing radical product development in large manufacturing firms: a longitudinal study

“…In fact, there is some evidence Handfield, 1994;Riedel and Pawar, 1994;Aitsahlia and John-. son, 1995;McDermott and Handfield, 1997 that these common practices may be detrimental in some environments. In the search for speed to market, researchers and practitioners may have been too quick to generalize the utility of these practices across very diverse environments.…”

Beyond the Steady State: Managing Discontinuous Product and Process Innovation

“…These activities do not take place in a vacuum but are influenced by a set of conditions associated with the presence and nature of strategic commitment to innovation, an organisation design which promotes innovation and a pro-active position on developing external linkages. Using this we can identify where steady state routines break down -for example, high-risk discontinuous innovation projects do not fit well with "traditional" stage-gate approaches (McDermott and Handfield, 1996;Veryzer, 1998) -and we can position alternative and experimental approaches that have been reported in the literature or identified from research on organisations. Table 4 indicates some views in the literature around organisational routines to support discontinuous innovation mapped on to this framework.…”