Tools for global innovation and product development

A multi year project that developed tools to support performance measurements in global product development and to support decision making for joint innovation.

Results

Two guidebooks are available for download on this site.
Additionally, +40 templates categorised in IX stages are also available here.

Guidebook: Decision Support and Performance Measurement for Global Product Development
The aim of this guidebook is to provide management with a practical toolkit that supports to overcome the many obstacles and maximise potential opportunities in the pursuit for successful global product development.
The first part of the guidebook develops understanding towards the key drivers and challenges firms face, and the current practice for managing global product development in relation to decision-making procedures and performance management processes.
The second part of the guidebook presents a ten-stage approach to support management when making strategic decisions in relation to the global distribution of development activities, and translates these decisions into measurable action to support the operation of global product development.

Guidebook Hybrid Agile-Planned product development processes – Preparing the manufacturing sector for industry 4.0
The aim of this guidebook is to provide management with a series of insights from well known companies that support to overcome the many obstacles and maximize potential opportunities when combining elements from Agile and Stage gate in their product development processes, especially in cases there both software and hardware elements are present and interact in the product development. The guidebook develops understanding towards the key drivers and challenges the interviewed companies face, and the current practice. With the explorative work presented in the guidebook, we aim to inspire management with a range of strategies they can adapt and experiment with in the context of their own organization.


Background

Why do we need practical tools?
Opportunities to reduce development costs, access new competencies and expertise and gain local knowledge of global markets during the development of products are key motivations for global product development. However, a recent study with over 40 multinational Danish manufacturing firms (www.industriensfond.dk/global-produktudvikling-guide) found that management encounter difficulties in relation to the coordination of culturally diverse and geographically dispersed engineering teams.
Furthermore, the lack of practical tools and methods to manage such difficulties typically resulted in a learning-by-doing approach to global product development. This can be costly later down the process and a need has been identified to support Danish firms to better prepare for global product development.

The research project
Building on these findings, a five-year research project entitled ‘Practical Tools for Global Product Development’ (https://www.industriensfond.dk/global-produktudvikling-guide) was conducted that aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the impact that global product development has on Danish firms, and to develop practical tools to support:

The strategic decision making process
The measurement of operational impacts
The results from the project, which involved collaboration with over 60 multinational Danish manufacturing firms, have been compiled in a practical guidebook for industry with the purpose to strengthen the management and operationalisation of global product development.