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"Fuzzy Front End" Practices In Innovating Japanese Companies

Author

Listed:
  • CORNELIUS HERSTATT

    (Institute for Technology and Innovation Management, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Schwarzenbergstr. 95, Hamburg, 21073, Germany)

  • CHRISTOPH STOCKSTROM

    (Institute for Technology and Innovation Management, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Schwarzenbergstr. 95, Hamburg, 21073, Germany)

  • BIRGIT VERWORN

    (Chair of Organization Science and HRM, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus, Cottbus, 03046, Germany)

  • AKIO NAGAHIRA

    (Management of Science and Technology Department, Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan)

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the results of a large-scale study about typical front-end-related innovation practices in 553 Japanese mechanical and electrical engineering companies. We explore typical activities concerning the generation and assessment of new product ideas, the reduction of technological as well as market uncertainty and front end planning. Finally, we report on the differences between successful and unsuccessful companies. Our study confirms earlier findings about the frequent use of creativity techniques in Japan during the process of idea generation. We also find companies to be intensively involved in upper management and customers on NPD projects. While integrating upper management is of vital importance for assessing new product ideas, integrating customers and users is primarily used to developing product ideas and concepts. We further find evidence that successful companies integrate their customers more frequently in the process of developing and assessing new product ideas than non-successful companies. In addition, the former integrate customer requirements into their product definitions more often and also translate these requirements into technical specifications more frequently than non-successful companies. Finally, successful companies more often systematically plan a project prior to its start than unsuccessful ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Cornelius Herstatt & Christoph Stockstrom & Birgit Verworn & Akio Nagahira, 2006. ""Fuzzy Front End" Practices In Innovating Japanese Companies," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(01), pages 43-60.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijitmx:v:03:y:2006:i:01:n:s0219877006000703
    DOI: 10.1142/S0219877006000703
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Rakhshan Ummar & Sharjeel Saleem, 2020. "Thematic Ideation: A Superior Supplementary Concept in Creativity and Innovation," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, August.
    2. Magdalena Gabriel & Josef-Peter Schöggl & Alfred Posch, 2017. "Early Front-End Innovation Decisions for Self-Organized Industrial Symbiosis Dynamics—A Case Study on Lignin Utilization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Sabit Veselaj & Magnus Thor Torfason, 2019. "When To Call The Customer? Timing Of Customer Involvement In The Development Of New Products And Services," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(01), pages 1-31, January.

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