Publisher Description

In their groundbreaking book Revolutionizing Product Development, Steven C. Wheelwright and Kim B. Clark demonstrated how project leaders for product development could apply new innovations to bring products to market at breakneck speed. Now, in their new work, they address the general manager's role in leading product development efforts -- at the functional, unit, group, and corporate levels. Up to now, senior managers have merely approved or rejected proposals at the beginning of a project and rushed in at the end to resolve problems. This traditional approach to product development no longer works, the authors contend. A fundamental shift in the role of senior management is taking place: the entire spectrum of new product development is now the responsibility of the general manager -- from pre-project planning to completion. Wheelwright and Clark draw on their combined consulting experience and numerous examples -- such as Kodak, Honda, Hewlett-Packard, and Gillette -- to explain how this new role can be successfully executed in today's competitive arena. The authors show how the margin for error in new product development has become razor thin.Pre-project planning, they show, takes the guesswork out of development so that projects run smoothly from start to finish. Second, they describe how to choose a set of projects that match a company's specific strategic objectives, resources, and "organizational horsepower" -- enabling the development of consistently successful products and capabilities over time. Finally, they reveal how to create a plan for action: how to determine project sequence, what measurements and incentives are crucial, and, most important, how to capture project learning and integrate it back into the ongoing stream of product development. Wheelwright and Clark conclude that the opportunity for rapid, significant development lies in managerial leadership of pre-project planning and commitment to improvement at every step of the product's life cycle. They provide managers with the tools needed to master these processes, making this book necessary reading for every manager who wants the upper hand in bringing timely, efficient, high-quality new products to market.

Author Biography

Steven C. Wheelwright is the Class of 1949 Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is coauthor of Revolutionizing Product Development (Free Press, 1992) and Dynamic Manufacturing with Robert H. Hayes (Free Press, 1988).

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Leadership Challenge 2. A New Role for Senior Management: From Problem to Solution 3. Less is More: Building an Effective Project Portfolio 4. Creating Consistently Effective Project Teams 5. Leadership in Action: Developing Single-Use Cameras at Kodak 6. Turning Promise into Reality Additional Readings Index About the Authors

Review

George M.C. FisherChairman, President, and CEO, Eastman Kodak Company Very well done. Wheelwright and Clark have done their typical insightful job.
Jerre SteadChairman and CEO, AT&T Global Information SolutionsWheelwright and Clark challenge business leaders to create environments where people continually focus on setting new standards, not following what others have done.
Walter C. MinnickPresident and CEO, TJ InternationalIn readable, compelling style Wheelwright and Clark demonstrate how to make your business world-class in new product development. Read it and change. You can bet your competitor will!
Warren BattsChairman and CEO, Premark InternationalCrisp, concise, fast-paced reading....Clearly defines the role of senior management.
William J. WhiteChairman, President, and CEO, Bell & Howell Company Succinctly and effectively describes the critical role and behavior of top management.

Review Quote

William J. WhiteChairman, President, and CEO, Bell & Howell CompanySuccinctly and effectively describes the critical role and behavior of top management.

Excerpt from Book

Chapter 1 The Leadership Challenge Whether it is a Pentium chip from Intel or a birdhouse with a "Spanish tile roof" from Rubbermaid, the successful new product both satisfies and delights customers. It conforms to an increasingly broad range of customer expectations about quality and design as well as delivery and service performance; at the same time, it introduces something different -- a new dimension of functionality, a new feature, something unanticipated in the "package of benefits" provided. For companies such as Intel and Rubbermaid, in industries as seemingly disparate as state-of-the-art ICs and mundane plastic household goods, new product development is at the heart of their business. But one successful new product does not build a successful, enduring enterprise. In today''s savage competitive environment, enduring success requires consistent excellence in developing new products. The one-shot successful deal is just that -- it leads nowhere and its impact on the bottom line is fleeting in a world where the demand for new products is relentless. Much has been done in recent years to create new methods and frameworks for making product development faster, more efficient, and more effective. Outstanding firms such as Intel and Rubbermaid have adapted a host of these new tools and techniques and felt their impact. But putting new product development at the heart of the business and achieving consistent excellence in the development of new products is not just a matter of the right tools and techniques or the latest methods and frameworks, powerful as they may be. What counts here -- and what is so often hidden and undervalued -- is the leadership of senior management. Senior managers have the benefit of a rare vantage point. They see the whole of the enterprise and its future, and thus they are in a unique position to understand the importance of product development to the success of the business. When senior managers lead, they recognize the power of product development and their role in it. They understand that: * The consequences of product development have a direct impact on competitiveness. They mean the difference between falling behind a leading competitor in the marketplace and being the competitor who provides leadership, compelling others to meet similar standards. * The bulk of a company''s assets are tied up in how it delivers value to its customers. If it has old products, the wrong products, or even the right products at the wrong time, that value is severely limited. If the firm "does" product development badly, its assets -- particularly its equity with its customers -- will wither and erode. * The success or failure of product development is driven by the entire range of functions and activities -- every dimension of the organization. The development of a new product is the development of every aspect of the business that the product needs to be successful. And consistently successful new products need every aspect of the business working in harmony. * Product development is the means by which a company builds capabilities. Through new product development, an organization creates the "energy" -- the skills, processes, knowledge, and motivation -- that drives its future. Put another way, these capabilities become the resource pool it draws from to meet future customer requirements. Thus, when product development becomes central to the business, it becomes a self-renewing wellspring of capabilities. * Effective senior managers recognize that their most important contribution is their cumulative impact, rather than their influence on any single project. They act on the development process as a whole. * Senior management touches everything the company does; what senior managers do sets the pattern and example for everyone in the business. Senior managers have a decisive influence on functional integration and the building of capability. Whether the business achieves integrated solutions in the short run and critical capacity for action in the long run depends on senior management leadership. The Problem Few senior managers would argue that new product development is unimportant; fewer still would imply that it is unrelated to "mainstream" business issues. However, the actions of many suggest that new product development is neither at the heart of their business nor central to their personal agenda. The critical issue is whether senior management leads product development so that developing new products is a primary focus of attention and commitment throughout the organization. The following kinds of comments are typical when product development is not a critical issue for senior management: "Product development? We have a very talented product development group; their department is on the far side of the building. We''ve recently increased their budget, added some bright young people, and put in some new workstations. Product development is a priority here." "Product development? We''ve organized a senior management review committee that meets monthly to monitor progress on the projects under way. Our staff helps prepare the background for these meetings, and then we ask the tough questions. When the folks working on product development don''t have good answers, we send them back to the drawing board." "Product development? Well, our budget in that area is about 4% of revenues, and that''s better than most in our industry. Our chief technical officer manages the area and requests help from others as needed. So far, his group has done a great job of maintaining our image as an innovator." "Product development? We''ve got a lot of sophisticated, hot new products under way -- they''re what our customers seem to want. Because these are highly technical and aimed at leading customers, we have our best people in R&D and marketing involved. My job is to help select projects and allocate resources, and then get out of the way. I believe firmly in delegation, lending support when it is requested and occasionally intervening if things get off track." "Product development? Well, as the chief operating officer, my principal focus is on day-to-day operations. But from time to time, a project does get my personal attention. Especially when it threatens our corporate performance. Then, I roll up my sleeves and really dig in. Decisions -- hard decisions -- have to be made, and only I can make them." On the surface, the senior managers behind these quotes are doing things to help product development. They are investing in new equipment, setting up processes to provide senior management input, employing their very best people, and empowering people to act. All are well intentioned, all are doing some things well, and all are involved in product development. But below the surface, there is something missing, and -- in most cases -- what is missing is very significant. These senior managers have set limits on product development and delegated significant responsibility for its success. Product development is not at the heart of their agenda, and they do not lead. They may look at projects at a handful of key decision-making points, for example, when resources are required or when major milestones (or calendar dates) are reached. Senior managers at these points may step in to be a project''s patron saint, or at least a cheerleader. But this is not enough. Although many efforts in such businesses are conceived in a spirit of hopefulness and enthusiasm, all too many end up with insufficient resources, missed deadlines, inadequate performance, and burned out, disappointed project participants. Senior managers wind up fighting fires and trying to save the day at the eleventh hour. Simply put, good intentions and close involvement will not do the job. Because product development is so difficult to do well, the plain fact is that it needs far more timely, comprehensive, coherent action by senior management. What makes development so hard is precisely what makes doing it well so rewarding: * Product development touches everything the business does. By the time a new product reaches the market it will have passed through every function, to one degree or another, in the business. Put another way, as a firm develops a new project, it is basically simulating the entire business. It must think about how the product will be manufactured, what sourcing will be involved, what the supplier chain will look like, who will be involved in distribution, and how the new product will be promoted and serviced. Additionally, the firm must think about how customers and competitors will view and experience the product and, crucially, how it will fit into the product line. * What matters exists in an uncertain future. Product development necessarily entails uncertainty -- about competitors, about technology, about the organization''s ability to execute, and, most important, about customer acceptance of something that will arrive in the future. This last is the most vexing, for so often a product''s acceptance or rejection lies in the details and specifics. Say a business wants to introduce a new "anti-aging" face cream. It invests heavily in the chemical formulation it will put in the jar. But the customer''s experience is also determined by all sorts of details about the product''s packaging, fragrance, aesthetics, feel, and color, its consistency and quality in production, how it is sold and where, and above all, how it is advertised. All of these details must work together as a total system. And all this has to be anticipated and addressed anywhere from several months to several yea

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