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Managing New Product and Process Development: Text and Cases
Steven C. Wheelwright , and Kim B. Clark Manufacturer: Free Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0029055172 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book.......2001-12-30
Classic on new product development.......2000-10-16
It is the perfect complement.......2000-09-25
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Managing the Design Factory
Donald G. Reinertsen Manufacturer: Free Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0684839911 |
Book Description
The man who launched a revolution in product development with his bestselling Developing Products in Half the Time is back with a new book that's also certain to be a classic. In Managing the Design Factory Donald G. Reinertsen presents concepts and practical tools that will be invaluable for anyone trying to get products out of the pipeline and into the market.The first book to put the principles of World Class Manufacturing to work in the development process, Managing the Design Factory combines the powerful analytical tools of queuing, information, and system theories with the proven ideas of organization design and risk management. The result: a methodical approach to consistently hit the "sweet spot" of quality, cost, and time in developing any product. Reinertsen illustrates these concepts with concrete examples drawn from his work with many leading companies across different industries.
Fresh and thought-provoking, the book challenges many of the conventional approaches to product development. "There are no best practices," Reinertsen writes, "the idea of best practices is a seductive but dangerous trap." Unlike other books that promote rules and rituals based on benchmarking "best practices," this book focuses on practical tools that account for varied situations. He breaks new ground with a disciplined, quantitative approach for making decisions on critical issues: When should we use a sequential or concurrent process? Centralized or decentralized control? Functional or team organizations?
Full of practical techniques, concrete examples, and solid general principles, this is a real toolkit for product developers. Moreover, it is written with the clarity, precision, and humor that are Reinertsen's trademarks. He promises to challenge the thinking of anyone involved in product development.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent guide to product development.......2007-08-27
Best book on product development and agility around.......2004-07-02
I just can't say enough about this book; some other specific books on Agile software development are helpful to give you ideas of specific things to do, but this book is absolutely crucial to learn and use in your daily decision-making process.
World-class information for product development managers.......2003-05-06
For example, if we were to view the investment in design work as a depreciating asset, like work-in-process inventory in the factory, we would be able to make better decisions about time, manpower, and project delay tradeoffs.
Key concepts include: valuing design work based on its financial impact on the organization; learning as much as possible as early as possible in the development cycle; managing queues in the development process; creating specifications which are flexible for as long as possible, so that evolving customer requirements can be accommodated.
He clearly shows that we can optimize development work on only one of the following parameters: Product cost, product performance, speed of development, development expense. The approach for each one is different, and it is important to be clear which one is primary.
There is a wealth of useful and practical advice in this book. For example, here are some comments on testing:
"Too often testing is viewed as a necessary evil in the development process. It only exists because we make mistakes. If we made fewer mistakes, we would not need to do all this testing. We should spend our money on `designing in quality' instead of finding defects by testing. The result of such an attitude may be a test department that is under-resourced and under-managed. Unfortunately, by viewing testing as a problem, rather than an asset, we miss the opportunity to capitalize on the extraordinary improvements that can take place in product testing.
"Let us start by putting testing in perspective. The elapsed schedule time for product testing is typically 30 to 60 percent of overall development cycle length. This is not another minor activity, it is a major design activity. ... text results have inherently high information content. In fact, testing is usually the stage of design process that generates the greatest amount of information.... ...Most companies misunderstand the role of testing ... because they fail to distinguish between design testing and manufacturing testing. ... Manufacturing testing is done to identify defects in the manufacturing process. ... Design testing is done to generate information about the design. A good outcome is high information generation early in the design process. ... We want a failure rate close to 50 percent...." [pp 230-232]
I highly recommend this book to senior managers in product development, and their Marketing and Finance counterparts.
Reviewed by John Levy,
...
Real thinking and action tools you can use.......2002-02-25
Unlike many management books, it's not 20 pages of information stretched out to 200 pages in order to make a book. Also, unlike most product development books, this book is of great value not just to product managers and designers, but would be a great read for financial managers and marketing managers. A manufacturing manager reading this book will smile with satisfaction at seeing common modern manufacturing principles well applied to the design realm.
The only weak points I can think of are: 1) That it may be useful for the author to break out case studies rather than keeping them in the same typeface intermingled with the rest of the text. 2) No real advice is given on how to overcome real-world resistance to these ideas. Some sage advice on how to introduce these concepts and tools into organizations with existing biases and cultures could be a real benefit to practitioners. These are minor objections though.
Whether you're in a software start-up or part of a Fortune 500 company design team doing existing product improvement, this book contains useful information that will enhance your understanding of what you're doing right and what you could do better - and WHY!
every design engineer should read this book........2001-05-06
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Managing Product and Service Development: Text and Cases
Stefan H. Thomke Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0073023019 |
Book Description
This text offers a new option for instructors interested in emphasizing a balance between products and services.
Managing Product and Service Development is about the managerial aspects critical to conceiving, designing, and developing innovative products and services. The course exposes students to some of the best management practices, tools, and frameworks known today, and introduces new approaches that hold promise for the future. Many texts are either aimed at engineering or marketing specialists and do not adequately address the often difficult general management issues that arise in complex development project. This book does not require training or experience in a technical field but addresses the role of new technologies in product development.
In this text students learn about innovation through exploration. All the material has been developed and tested in the MBA and executive education classroom at Harvard Business School. The Instructor’s Manual (IM), as only part of this text’s proven teaching materials, describes an optional student project that complements in-class sessions.
Customer Reviews:
Corporate Innovation Paradigm.......2006-05-06
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Software Product Management: Managing Software Development from Idea to Product to Marketing to Sales (Execenablers)
Dan Conde Manufacturer: Aspatore Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1587622025 |
Book Description
Software Product Management decodes the software product management process with an emphasis on coordinating the needs of stakeholders ranging from engineering, sales, and product support to technical writing and marketing. Based on real-world experience in managing the development of enterprise software, this book details how a team can work together smoothly to achieve their goal of releasing a superior software product on time.Instead of being a step-by-step cookbook that attempts to meet everyone's needs, the book guides managers to develop the framework appropriate for their organizations and company goals, understand the tradeoffs, and make the right decisions. The book also addresses the challenges of product management in a period of increased commoditization of software technology products. By providing a historical context for the evolution of today's software marketplace, it presents ideas for prospering in a still rapidly changing environment.
Dispensing practical, usable information for experts and novices alike, Software Product Management is quickly becoming the go-to reference in the library of every product manager, programmer, CTO, and entrepreneur and anyone interested personally or professionally in software.
Customer Reviews:
Not much writing, large font and little value.......2005-10-17
Pretty bad.......2005-06-14
too shallow.......2005-01-01
Not worth the money.......2004-08-26
Great Insights into the Software Development Process.......2003-09-16
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Managing New Technology Development
William E. Souder , and J. Daniel Sherman Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0070597480 |
Book Description
New technology development starts with the generation of an idea. It ends with that idea's commercial applications: a new product or a new service in between is a complex sequence of stages demanding specialized management methods. With this in-depth survey, R&D, marketing, and engineering managers can learn from the foremost experts about the most successful, proven practices and techniques--for managing all the stages of new technology development. Each chapter focuses on the activities of a separate stage, using real-world industrial examples to illustrate applications of the product champion, parallel development methods, human factors in compressing cycle times, and other concepts.
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Managing New Products: Using the MAP System to Accelerate Growth (Third Edition)
Thomas D. Kuczmarski Manufacturer: Book Ends Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0967781701 |
Book Description
The right new products program can produce exponential growth..if all the pieces are in place. And that's what this all-new edition of Tom Kuczmarski's landmark book does. It broadens and deepens the message of previous editions with the introduction of a new approach whose greatest strengths are its simplicity, effectiveness, and proven results.Called the MAP System, it provides a detailed guide to the secrets of developing a consistent stream of winners--sometimes even the kind of breakthrough product innovation that creates an entire new business unit or industry. It outlines the disciplined approach to creativity and newness that begins by determining customers' needs and wants and by developing the internal culture that encourages the creative decision-making needed to make real innovation happen.
The MAP is a way of organizing for new product innovation by looking differently at the skills and tools that are already in every organization--but too often under-used or not used at all.
Key elements include:
M - for Measure, Manage, and Motivate
A - for Attitude, specifically for developing and Attitude or Culture of Intelligent Risk-Taking
P - for Plan, Process, and People
Arming yourself with the best market information, developing a risk-embracing culture, and organizing around a plan that reflects both: these are the essential elements of new product success.
In this all-new edition, the author shows how to marshal a company's assets for greater growth and profitability. From conducting diagnostic audits to structuring new product blueprints and strategies through successful product launches to measuring and motivating team performance, this book will give you the tools for managing new product risk more creatively, improving your new product hit rates, and managing your programs more effectively.
Customer Reviews:
Review for Managing New Products.......2003-02-20
Simply Elegant.......2000-12-15
My only complaint is that the author shortchanges his own system by calling it "New Products." The scheme he describes so well applies to any kind of new service as well as new product. The most "profound" element of his system is that it is flexible enough to be used for any kind of innovation. Its simplicity and broad applicability are beyond comparison.
Try other books first.......2000-10-18
Managing New Products.......2000-03-28
First, the form and content reflect the substance. Simply put, most second or third editions of books are warmed-over versions of their predecessors. So, given the speed at which hte world changes, an unchanged third edition is old news.
This one isn't. It presents a totally new way of looking at new product innovation and putting it to work in the real world. The author has actually followed his own advice. One of his key tenets is that "new and improved" line extensions ar destroying many (e.g., packaged goods) companies. He certainly hasn't just changed the "flavor" of this edition with a drop or two of intellectual rose water, a new cover, and shouts of "new,new, new." I own a copy of the previous edition, and this one has at least 60 percent new information.
Second, in addition to the new model the author has developed for this edition, the author has added an entire chapter on Innovation Metrics. There's only one way to know where you are and where you are going--measure it. And he provides several techniques, from the relatively simple to the fairly sophisticated, for "putting a number on" one's new product innovation efforts. This is possibly the most important way to take new product innovation from the realm of unmanageable and idiosyncratic activity that just "happens" to its proper role as a set of specific activities that can be used to manage risk.
Third, I love the simplicity and practicality of the MAP system. At its most basic level it gives a business exec a new way of looking at what his or her business already has--but in a new way. I know lots of workaday buseinss people who are sick to death of getting sucked into "new" systems that, in mid-stream, run out of gas or need big financial suport to stay afloat. Virtually any company of any size already has the basic components of the author's system.
On the other hand, you can continue to peel back layers of the system and get as much complexity or sophistication as you need. The point is that this system begins at a simple, practical level and can grow as the user's needs dictate. Too many business books are built on sytems or "Just take your customer base of 700,000 names and apply formula XYZ or ABC to it." At just about this time, the average person is from you or anyone else." So many of the business models out there are useless to most people or business circumstances because they (1)either haven't been tested in a real business (2) or will only function on a scale beyond the scope of most companies. Kuczmarski's approach is invaluable because it is eminently useful and usable--right now, today--for any level or size of business.
I'm sure it's obvious that I recommend this book highly.
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New Product Development: Managing and Forecasting for Strategic Success
Robert J. Thomas Manufacturer: Wiley ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0471572268 |
Book Description
Learn how to maintain a firm grasp of a project throughout its development, how to forecast with greater accuracy and how to ensure the successful launch of a product. Covers new consumer and industrial products, the latest services and technologies. Contains a slew of examples and case studies to illustrate concepts.Customer Reviews:
Sales Forcasting.......2000-06-20
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From Followers to Leaders: Managing Innovation in Newly Industrializing Countries
Naushad Forbes Manufacturer: Routledge ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0415251761 |
Book Description
This book centres on the ways in which ordinary firms can improve technology management. It provides a welcome alternative to the existing literature that focuses almost exclusively on leading edge firms such as IBM or Microsoft.
The authors argue that succeeding as a follower-firm requires learning from many experiences and avoiding simplistic 'how-to' approaches that prescribe one best practice. They assert that there are many 'leading edges' and that they appear in the most unlikely places. The book contains major case studies of firms from industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, software, garments, beer and steel, drawn from twelve different countries.
From a follower perspective, individual chapters cover:
*the role of innovation on the shop-floor
*the importance of mixing process and product innovation
*the challenges involved in building an innovation culture
*the special role of research and development, and of design.
These topics ensure a deeper understanding of strategy in follower-firms, simultaneously providing insight for public policy in building local technological capacity.
Customer Reviews:
The Right Blend of Rigor and Inspiration.......2004-06-07
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Managing Software Acquisition: Open Systems and COTS Products
B. Craig Meyers , and Patricia Oberndorf Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0201704544 |
Customer Reviews:
For anyone in a business who needs to upgrade.......2001-10-15
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The Action Selling Sales Training Book Series (Action Selling Book Series)
Duane Sparks Manufacturer: The Sales Board ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 097535695X |
Product Description
The Action Selling Sales Training and Selling Skills Book Series includes: - Action Selling: How to sell like a professional, even if you think you are one. -Selling Your Price: How to escape the race to the bargain basement - Questions: The Answer to Sales - Masters of Loyalty: How to turn your sales force into a loyalty force The Action Selling Book Series will dramatically improve the sales behavior of your sales force. Action Selling: Are your salespeople "Winging It" during calls? With Action Selling, they`ll learn the Five Critical Sales Skills that really matter and how to follow a proven process that has helped over 300,000 become top selling producers. Selling Your Price: Do your salespeople rely on old habits, manipulative tricks or price concessions to close the sale? With Selling Your Price, salespeople learn how to sell value and protect margins while winning more business. Questions: The Answer to Sales: Do your salespeople depend on the gift of gab to win sales? With Questions, they`ll know how and when to ask the best-questions that lead to gaining commitment. Masters of Loyalty: Do your salespeople sell loyalty? With Masters, they`ll learn how to create real loyalty; loyalty that makes customers stop shopping and be forever deaf to competitor`s appeals.Books:
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