الصفحة 1
الصفحة 1
Customer Integration in Industrial Innovation Projects
The development of product innovations is permanently challenged by the customers’ rapidly evolving demand for new products and technologies. New approaches for integrating customers into the product innovation process are required and have been exemplified in a software engineering context by Extreme Programming. Patricia Sandmeier demonstrates how a transfer of elements from Extreme Programming to the development practice of industrial products can improve customer integration activities and the innovativeness of the resulting new products. Based on an in-depth case study analysis of two industrial firms and two technical service firms she presents a conceptual model for the integration of customer contributions into the product innovation process. Finally, the author proposes a product innovation process based on discrete product development steps as well as a ‘customer-centered innovation cell’ enabling the development of truly innovative product solutions together with customers.
Knowledge Networks for Business Growth
Companies are constantly searching for new ways of creating higher profit and a larger market share. Growth seems to be the most appropriate tactic for surviving economically in difficult times. New instruments and methods as a support to a company’s growth strategy can be essential in gaining a competitive advantage. Knowledge management is one of the answers to this challenge. It can support strategic goals such as the improvement of efficiency, the minimization of risk and an increase in innovation, but also has inherent potentials which have not been leveraged yet.
A Risk-Benefit Perspective on Early Customer Integration
Customer integration in the early innovation phase has been considered the method of choice in theory and practice. Growing experience with the concept has shown unexpected side effects that may even outweigh its recognized advantages. Therefore, management needs to be able to assess in advance whether the involvement of customers will add overall value to each particular innovation project. To support but not to replace the final managerial decision, a mathematical formula is developed. It can be applied to all kinds of process structures, takes into account the risks and benefits contingent on a company's situation as well as risk-reducing and benefit-increasing measures and translates them into numerical values. The resulting figure indicates the prospective value of customer integration in a specific project.
