دانلود رایگان مقاله نقش و اثربخشی طراحی در توسعه محصول جدید: مطالعه تولیدکنندگان ایرلندی

abstract

Investments in design can make a significant contribution to successful new product development(NPD). However, there is insufficient evidence on the most appropriate or effective role that design could play. Previous case-based research has identified alternative roles for designers in NPD, but there is only tentative evidence over such roles’ contribution to NPD outcomes. Using data on a large sample (c. 1300) of Irish manufacturing plants we are able to examine the effectiveness of three different levels of involvement of designers in NPD and their impact on NPD novelty and success. Our analysis suggests that design is closely associated with enhanced performance regardless of the type of role it plays. However, the potential effects of involving design throughout the process appear to be much greater. The relationship between design and NPD outcomes is also strongly moderated by contextual factors; for example, its significance is only evident for organisations, which also engage in in-house R&D. Also, while both small and larger plants do gain from using design as functional specialism and in some stages of the NPD process, the additional benefits of a continuous involvement of design throughout the process are only evident in larger plants. Finally, while discourse and perceptions over design’s role in NPD have certainly changed over time, suggesting a much more widespread and strategic use of design, our findings provide a more static picture, showing that design engagement with the NPD process has not changed significantly over the last two decades.

5. Conclusions and managerial implications

The importance of design as a significant contributor to NPD success has been emphasised by many authors (e.g., Verganti, 2009; D’Ippolito et al., 2014; Moultrie and Livesey, 2014). However, there is limited evidence over the effectiveness of different roles designers can play in NPD (Perks et al., 2005; Candi and Gemser, 2010), and the difficulties of integrating design into the NPD process have been emphasised repeatedly (Beverland, 2005; Micheli et al., 2012). The aim of this study was to combine the insights of previous qualitative studies on the roles played by design in NPD with a systematic quantitative analysis. The main contribution of this research is to our understanding of the impact of alternative roles of designers on NPD outcomes. More specifically, using detailed data from three waves of the Irish Innovation Panel, we are able to quantify the value of extending the role of design beyond that of functional specialism to having higher levels of engagement within the NPD process. In more conceptual terms, our analysis examines the relative value for NPD outcomes of utilising design in NPD, and the benefits of a continuous involvement of design in NPD.