DocumentCode :
812437
Title :
Managing Competencies in Breakthrough Product Development: A Comparative Study of Two Material Processing Projects
Author :
McDermott, Christopher ; Coates, Theresa
Author_Institution :
Lally Sch. of Manage. & Technol., Rensselaer Polytech. Inst., Troy, NY
Volume :
54
Issue :
2
fYear :
2007
fDate :
5/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
340
Lastpage :
350
Abstract :
Managers face many challenges as they bring breakthrough products to market. Increasing pressures for short-term returns often make these longer-term, breakthrough product development projects less attractive. At the same time, the array of external sourcing options available to managers has grown dramatically over the last decade, allowing firms to outsource more and more of their core processes. Taken together, managers often find it appealing to minimize their internal exposure to breakthrough projects, instead choosing to either focus on incremental projects (with quicker, more certain paybacks), or to outsource the high risk elements of these breakthrough projects. Although outsourcing decreases risk, it also allows other firms to develop critical expertise and competence. As such, there is an increasing need for strategies that help firms build new core competencies as they move these breakthrough projects forward. Significant gaps exist in understanding what kinds of competencies emerge and how to manage them in the context of breakthrough product development. As such, the primary objective of this study is to explore and document the development and management of these competencies within the context of materials processing firms undergoing breakthrough innovation. Utilizing a multi-case perspective allows for the delineation of common elements within these domains that provided their respective firms advantage. The findings of this study are put forth as propositions and support the notion that managers need to be cognizant of three domains of competencies (market, technology, and integrative) (Coates and McDermott, 2002; Danneels, 2002), that emerge from breakthrough innovations
Keywords :
innovation management; organisational aspects; outsourcing; product development; project management; breakthrough innovation; competencies management; core competencies; managers; material processing projects; materials processing firms; outsourcing; product development; short-term returns; Face; Innovation management; Manipulator dynamics; Materials processing; Outsourcing; Product development; Project management; Risk management; Technological innovation; Technology management; Breakthrough innovation; core competence; material processing;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Engineering Management, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0018-9391
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/TEM.2007.893994
Filename :
4160171
Link To Document :
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