An empirical study of platform and derivative product development projects

A study investigates project characteristics, development challenges, typical outcomes and success factors for product development projects at different locations in the product family spectrum. "Platform" projects result in products that initiate a new product family platform for a compan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of product innovation management 1999-01, Vol.16 (1), p.3-26
Main Author: Tatikonda, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Product development
Product life cycle
Product lines
Statistical analysis
Studies
Success
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Description
Summary:A study investigates project characteristics, development challenges, typical outcomes and success factors for product development projects at different locations in the product family spectrum. "Platform" projects result in products that initiate a new product family platform for a company. "Derivative" projects result in products consisting of extensions to an existing product family platform. Data on 108 new product development projects from a variety of assembled products industries were collected via a detailed survey and analyzed. Findings indicate that: 1. platform and derivative projects differ in project task characteristics, 2. platform and derivative products generally do not differ in terms of product success, 3. both platform and derivative projects generally are executed in similar ways, 4. certain managerial approaches are associated with higher project execution success for both platform and derivative projects, and 5. use of interdependent technologies and novel projects objectives are associated with projects execution failure for platform projects.
ISSN:0737-6782
1540-5885
DOI:10.1016/S0737-6782(98)00038-1