Title: Improving product development in different types of ICT companies

Authors: Pekka Belt, Harri Haapasalo, Janne Harkonen, Matti Mottonen, Pekka Kess

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4610, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland

Abstract: The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is facing continuous changes in its New Product Development (NPD) as products become increasingly complicated and customer segments more fragmented. Price erosion is also an escalating challenge for the management in the ICT sector. The automotive sector was chosen as a benchmark as it has been a large-volume and competitive business sector for decades, and has streamlined its processes to meet severe price targets. This study utilises Toyota|s product development model as a learning platform and presents improvement ideas for three different types of ICT companies: large, small and suppliers.

Keywords: benchmarking; new product development; NPD; information technology; communications technology; ICT; product development; innovation; Toyota; learning; automobile industry; automotive product development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2009.026651

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2009 Vol.6 No.6, pp.672 - 693

Published online: 22 Jun 2009 *

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