Daniel A. Gerhard

Product Development in the Automotive Industry: Crucial Success Drivers for Technological Innovations

Developing new innovative products in the automotive industry means investing huge sums in advance, as one does not know if the product will be successful on the market after launch. Hence, companies are interested in knowing and measuring the critical success drivers within the development steps. The paper discusses the results of a qualitative meta-analysis of 16 empirical studies on New Product Development (NPD) success, which was carried out to gain deeper insight into these success drivers. Furthermore, based on the identification of three main dimensions (development process, resources and strategy), an explorative study in the German automotive industry shows that the findings are confirmed in practice as well. However, the results also indicate that there is still a gap between knowledge about practical relevance of those dimensions and the systematic assessment of these in the process. The study shows interesting approaches of best practices, such as the assessment of product advantage in combination with scenario analysis or the identification of appropriate innovations.

The application of lean principles and its effects in technology development

Creating and managing technological knowledge is the competitive advantage in innovation-intense industries. Sophisticated technology development which is faster and more efficient than the competitor’s is the basis for competitiveness and future success. In this context, the transfer and application of lean principles to technology development is an appropriate approach to face these challenges. Our study investigates the impact of lean principles in innovation-intense organisations (i.e., companies of the automotive and machinery industries as well as in research facilities). Our results suggest that the implementation of lean principles create positive effects in technology development, e.g., reducing the development time and increasing the development efficiency. Out of the existing lean principles, the two principles ‘avoidance of waste’ and ‘flow’ have the highest influence on the improvement of development activities.

Strategic Technological Sourcing Decisions in the Context of Timing and Market Strategies: An Empirical Analysis

In times of changing business models and international competition, there is an inherent need for companies to foster and develop mechanisms to absorb new technologies for innovative products and processes effectively. Such considerations lead to the strategic make-or-buy decision which was the subject of our research. This quantitative explanatory study in the German industry shows in particular that companies base their decision for internal or external sourcing on multiple weighted criteria with scoring models and, even more common, with portfolio matrices. These results are in common with recent research, however, other results are surprising, e.g. just a small minority of companies involve people from controlling and legal departments in these decision processes. The paper also reveals differences between companies with different timing and competitive strategies, which are in line with the proposed characteristics of these strategic focuses in literature. Implications for theory and practice are given to foster future research in this area.

Technology make-or-buy decisions in the german industry: Criteria, methods and organization

Because of limited resources and inherent risks, companies tend to develop not all technologies by themselves. There are alternatives to internal development i.e. company acquisition or contract development. To have a decision basis for one of these alternatives it is necessary to evaluate those in the context of the company. The decision about internal or external acquisition of technologies is part of the technology strategy which is closely connected to the firms competitive and market entry strategy. Our study addresses the connection between the technology acquisition decision and the companys technological market entry and competitive strategy. The quantitative explanatory study in the German industry shows that there are some notable differences between companies with cost leadership and differentiation strategy. Differentiators more often used joint research and patent or technology purchasing and involve more often the legal department in the decision process. Pioneers, compared to followers, involve more internal stakeholders in the decision process, e.g. corporate management, R&D and the legal department. Furthermore, they tend to source technology externally more often using joint research approaches.

Technology intelligence systems for manufacturing technologies – an empirical analysis in the context of timing strategies

In many industries, competition has shifted towards a technological timing competition. This also applies to new manufacturing-related technologies, which allow for the producing of superior products with lower costs. In particular, the field of new manufacturing technologies is very broad and new technological developments in this field can originate from competitors, research facilities, or universities in research fields that are not related at all to the originating company. Therefore, companies need a sophisticated technology intelligence system to remain competitive in the timing competition of manufacturing technologies. Our study analyses the state of development of technology intelligence systems in different companies in the context of their timing strategy for the implementation of new manufacturing-related technologies. The results show that pioneer companies have a more sophisticated technology intelligence system compared to follower companies. These pioneer companies more often follow a structured technology intelligence process, use more sources of information and apply different methods to evaluate the information. Furthermore, pioneers more often cooperate in their technology intelligence activities with external partners, in particular with customers, suppliers, and universities or research facilities.

Advertising for high-technology products in the product launch phase - a content-analysis

Marketing activities during the phase of product launch have an effect on the success of new products. This is especially important in a high-technology context, since customers face high risk when purchasing these products. This uncertainty can be reduced with the right marketing strategy. One part of this marketing strategy includes the usage of print advertisements, where the choice of information content given in these advertisements is crucial. This work compares advertisements of high-technology products in the launch phase and later product life cycle phases on basis of a content-analysis of 110 advertisements of the German consumer electronics market. The results show that adverts for products in the launch phase follow a functional marketing strategy. In comparison to established products, they are more informative and have more often a rational appeal. Furthermore, these adverts more often refer to the incorporated technology and stress the technological superiority.