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Incorporating an incremental innovation approach into product development / by Don Albinger and Bruce Church.

by Albinger, Don , Church, Bruce

Project management

141 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

Advisor: Gene Wright.

Committee Members: Kimbel Nap, Joseph Papp.

Benefits of incremental innovation -- Japanese product development -- Strategic planning for incremental development -- Management's role -- Techniques of incremental innovation -- Marketing specification -- Product development realities -- Product performance testing -- Getting ready for product development -- Communicating the product development plan -- Manager's guide to successful incremental innovation -- Appendix A: Spreadsheet analysis of project impacts -- Bibliography.

It is not a secret the world economy is offering ever increasing options to customers and driving manufactures to find new and better ways to compete. One product development philosophy that offers time competitive, lower risk and measured market response is Incremental Innovation. This method of product development uses time as an ally and delivers product features and enhancements in smaller, pre-determined increments. This philosophy helps control costs and risk, as it demands that innovations be delivered within shorter time frames, thus limiting the extent and risks of big product developments. It also forces the product development mechanics such as product market and feature definitions to be more succinct and part of an overall roadmap system that details the evolution of the market and product. Incremental Innovation allows the organization to become more customer-centric as all development groups must adopt a "learn by doing" philosophy to be successful. Improving sales and profitability through Incremental Innovation means being very intent and time competitive with the fundamentals of product development. Product development programs that incorporate Incremental Innovation as a philosophy need to execute and drive these strategies and methodologies into the organization to accomplish the aggressive goals this philosophy usually present. With this, it must be recognized that the philosophy, methods and procedures used in this thesis to describe an incremental product development approach are also sound methods for effective product development in general. The difference is that Incremental Innovation demands more attention and focus be spent on good product development methods. An Incremental Innovation product development strategy will not survive if sound product development practices are not for quicker and more focused developments.

Incremental Innovation is a philosophy, strategy and methodology that demands consistent attention because to be successful it needs to be part of the culture. Becoming incremental in a product development approach by trying it to see if it fits is for the wrong reason. Customers demand incremental innovation or typical longer-term larger developments through their purchase decisions. Both approaches are appropriate in response to customer needs. An Incremental Innovation approach will deliver the solution with the best chance of financial success, if customers respond to innovations measured to their current needs. This thesis analyzes the management, financial and organizational implications of adopting an Incremental Innovation approach to product development. It supports the fact that it is one of many product development philosophies but, none the less, an important one to utilize for increased market competitiveness and financial success.

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