Learning and improvement in product innovation processes: Enabling behaviors

Product Innovation is described as a continuous and cross‐functional process involving all stages in the product life cycle. This approach gives way to study product innovation processes from a continuous improvement and learning viewpoint. The Continuous Improvement in the global product MAnagement (CIMA) model describes learning and improvement within product innovation processes in terms of a number of interrelated variables: (improvement) performances, behaviors, and levers to stimulate learning and improvement, contingencies, and learning/innovation capabilities. At the Research & Development Department of THOMSON‐CSF SIGNAAL the model was used to assess its current practices with regard to learning and improvement in product innovation processes. The results validate efforts on current and past improvement actions and provide additional insight into the past, current, and future situation. Explicit use of levers that relate to the transfer of knowledge within the product innovation process, such as the formalization and explicit deployment of the emerging strategy, innovation process definition, project planning and control, and human resource management policies, will increase improvement and learning. The recommendations are used to enhance current CMM‐based improvement plans and expand implementation plans. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Syst Eng 4: 134–144, 2001