Information Technology and Product Development

Infusing new products into a company or organization’s product is imperative for the growth of that organization. In addition, New Product Development (NPD) does not necessarily happen in one place over a defined period of time. NPD is most often distributed in both space and time across a wide range of entities. Therefore, distributed information technology systems play a large role in developing new product lines.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: A Research Agenda provides definition and research parameters that further theoretical concepts and insights on the application of IT in product development and innovation activities in business enterprises. More specifically, the book serves the following objectives: Provides a review of the existing literature on the intersection of IT and NPD and begin to sketch out an integrative framework that can form a foundation for continuing research on the area, introduces new theoretical perspectives by drawing and integrating from different functional business disciplines: information systems, technology management, innovation management, operations, and organizational behavior, offers viewpoints from industry on key trends in IT-enabled product development and the implication of these trends for future research in the area.

This is a high-impact area for IT and there is considerable interest in the implementation methods of NPD across the functional areas of business.

This book presents important new research from varied disciplines aimed at developing new theoretical concepts and insights on the application of IT in product and service innovation. It also provides a foundation for future research in product development.

Information Technology and Product Development: A Research Agenda presents important new research from varied disciplines aimed at developing new theoretical concepts and insights on the application of IT in product and service innovation. Drawing on the work of researchers in such varied management areas as information services, technology management, marketing, operations, business strategy and organizational behavior, the book redefines the role of IT in product and service development and the organizational and management issues underlying the successful deployment of IT in innovation contexts, and provides a foundation for future research on the diverse types of IT applications in product development and their potential impact on both product and service innovation.

Reflecting two critical shifts in the service sector – the increased complexity and convergence in products and services, along with the rise of the Internet and rapid digitization of products and services – the book is organized into three sections. Section 1 presents four chapters that focus on the traditional areas of project and process management; Section 2 presents four chapters focusing on the emerging areas of collaborative innovation and knowledge co-creation; and Section 3 presents one chapter that draws it all together and identifies some of the important themes and issues for future research.

This important new work has much to offer academic researchers in management in its in-depth theoretical analysis of the wide range of organizational and management issues associated with the application of IT in product and service development. It will also appeal to researchers and thought-leaders in consulting organizations whose primary area of interest is product development or IT applications.