Management of product development projects in the wood industry

Abstract

This study used data on project management from 70 recent product development projects in the wood industry. The objective was to test the influence of some project management factors, known from cross-industry research to be keys to product development project success, on product development project success in the context of the wood industry. Through the use of hierarchical multiple regression analysis, it was found that both the sharpness of the product concept definition and the strength of the project leader had significant positive influences on the success of product development projects. Conversely, product advantage, team cross-functionality and customer involvement did not have a significant positive influence on the success of these projects. The latter even indicated a negative influence on product development project success. Project uncertainty, as manifested in the degree of newness of the technology and the marketing strategies of the product to the innovating strategic business unit, did not influence the relationship between project management factors and product development project success. Some of the findings were unexpected and may be explained by the industry's unaccustomedness to customer co-operation and the fact that product development in the wood industry takes place within conventional technology and market bounds.

Organizational climate and capabilities for innovation: a study of nine forest-based Nordic manufacturing firms

“…This finding is based on respondents' perceptions that their firms are poor at developing novel ideas that could lead to new business, and at considering new business models or rethinking existing business models when developing new offerings. In line with what Hansen (2010) and to an extent Stendahl (2009) discuss, there is a need for firms to develop their employees' skills and knowledge about innovation and how to manage innovation work. Creating awareness of and providing a language for innovation is a first step, to which this study contributes.…”

“…In some areas, such as the wood products industry, there is a clear focus on innovation from firms and the research community (see e.g. Brege et al, 2010;Hansen et al, 2011;Lähtinen et al, 2008;Stendahl, 2009;Välimäki et al, 2004;van Horne et al, 2006). However, in the pulp and paper production and products sector, there is currently very little research at the firm level, and few examples of successful renewal and innovation.…”

What would potential future opinion leaders like to know? An explorative study on the perceptions of four wood-based innovations

“…One potential reason is the forest-based sector industries' weak understanding of end-consumer markets, as they are the producers of large quantities, mainly as intermediates in the B2B-markets (Roos et al, 2014). In addition, while the forest-based sector largely focused on technical process innovations like increasing productivity, other issues, such as diversification by business model innovations, for example, product and services, have not been focused on in the past (Hansen, 2006;Stendahl, 2009). How wood-based innovations are perceived, what consumers expect from them and which information demands can be derived thereof, has not yet been thoroughly studied, resulting in a lack of consumer market orientation (Rametsteiner et al, 2006;Hansen and Jus lin, 2011).…”

Making sustainability rankings using compromise programming. An application to European paper industry

“…NACE 1 21 industries have been adopted in this study. This product classification has been used in other wood-based industry studies (e.g., Stendahl 2009). NACE 21 includes the manufacture of pulp, paper and converted paper products.…”