DETERMINANTS OF AN EFFECTIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS: TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR PROCESS INDUSTRY

Abstract

Organisation and management of the product development process have been an issue in both academia and industry for over three decades. The literature on product development is growing, but Process Industry is often lacking in these discussions. Therefore, this paper focuses on linking the determinants of an effective product development process to Process Industry and the implication this may have on a traditionally very process-oriented industry by nature. Further, the paper organises the burgeoning product development literature into three main determinants: innovation type, technology strategy and organisational aspect. The selection of determinants to the conceptual framework, adjusting for Process Industry origins in previous written research material and our own empirical work of product development in Process Industry, is briefly presented at the beginning of the paper. Our literature review focuses on the product development process and builds the framework of our conceptual model detailing the elements of intra- and inter-firm processes in the product development process of the Process Industry. Our purpose is to give an increased understanding of the changed innovation pattern in Process Industry and its implication on activities concerning organisation and management of the product development process.