Flexible Product Development: Building Agility for Changing Markets - Hardcover

Smith, Preston G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787995843 ISBN 13: 9780787995843

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2007

Synopsis

In this landmark book, Preston Smith attributes the recent decline in innovation to pressure from financial markets that drives management toward rigid development approaches such as phased development processes, Six Sigma, and project office. These processes have unintentionally (but effectively) made changes during development more difficult, disruptive, and expensive, while the need for change continues at an accelerating pace. Flexible Product Development is a hands-on resource that provides the tools and strategies needed to restore flexibility to any organization and remove the obstacles that stand in the way of responsive new product development. Preston Smith introduces approaches that can enhance development process flexibility by creating and maintaining development options, delaying decisions, and, in general, reducing the cost of change. Step-by-step, he explains the basics of flexible product development, provides a broad array of flexibility-enhancing tools, and guides the reader in modifying the organization's values to embrace this new way of operating.

About this title

About the Author

Preston Smith is a leading thinker in the product development community and consults with companies as diverse as Herman Miller and Welch Allyn. His book, Proactive Risk Management, won the David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award from the Project Management Institute. Smith is book review editor of the Journal of Product Innovation Management and is a Certified Management Consultant.

From the Back Cover

Flexible Product Development

Innovation drives the marketplace, but the path to successful products is more uncertain than ever. Today's customers are more vocal about what they want, competitors introduce disruptive new products, and new technologies are appearing more frequently. While senior executives continue to boast about the importance of innovation within their organizations, surveys show that over the past decade there has been a dramatic decrease in new-product innovation.

In this landmark book, Preston Smith attributes the recent decline in innovation to pressure from financial markets, which drives management toward rigid development approaches such as phased development processes, Six Sigma, and project office. These processes have unintentionally (but effectively) made changes during development more difficult, disruptive, and expensive, while the need for change continues at an accelerating pace.

Flexible Product Development is a hands-on resource that provides the tools and strategies needed to restore flexibility to any organization and remove the obstacles that stand in the way of responsive new product development. Preston Smith introduces approaches that can enhance development process flexibility by creating and maintaining development options, delaying decisions, and, in general, reducing the cost of change. Step-by-step, he explains the basics of flexible product development, provides a broad array of flexibility-enhancing tools, and guides the reader in modifying the organization's values to embrace this new way of operating.

Flexible Product Development was inspired by the great gains in flexibility made in the allied field of software development by the agile software movement. While software agility depends on unique characteristics of the software medium, Flexible Product Development supplies a comparable set of effective tools for developing new non-software products.

For companies both large and small that need to become more limber in launching new products, Flexible Product Development offers a guide for an age of change.

From the Inside Flap

Innovation drives the marketplace, but the path to successfulproducts is more uncertain than ever. Today's customers are morevocal about what they want, competitors introduce disruptive newproducts, and new technologies are appearing more frequently. Whilesenior executives continue to boast about the importance ofinnovation within their organizations, surveys show that over thepast decade there has been a dramatic decrease in new-productinnovation.

In this landmark book, Preston Smith attributes the recentdecline in innovation to pressure from financial markets, whichdrives management toward rigid development approaches such asphased development processes, Six Sigma, and project office. Theseprocesses have unintentionally (but effectively) made changesduring development more difficult, disruptive, and expensive, whilethe need for change continues at an accelerating pace.

Flexible Product Development is a hands-on resource thatprovides the tools and strategies needed to restore flexibility toany organization and remove the obstacles that stand in the way ofresponsive new product development. Preston Smith introducesapproaches that can enhance development process flexibility bycreating and maintaining development options, delaying decisions,and, in general, reducing the cost of change. Step-by-step, heexplains the basics of flexible product development, provides abroad array of flexibility-enhancing tools, and guides the readerin modifying the organization's values to embrace this new way ofoperating.

Flexible Product Development was inspired by the great gains inflexibility made in the allied field of software development by theagile software movement. While software agility depends on uniquecharacteristics of the software medium, Flexible ProductDevelopment supplies a comparable set of effective tools fordeveloping new non-software products.

For companies both large and small that need to become morelimber in launching new products, Flexible Product Developmentoffers a guide for an age of change.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0787995843
• ISBN 13: 9780787995843
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304