Self-evaluation of the product development process

Muller, M.H. (1999) Self-evaluation of the product development process. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

An evaluation method for self-assessment of the product development process (PDP) has been developed and tested. A number of research issues have been identified and resolved. These are: the industrial approach, identifying important product issues (the determinants of profit), modelling the PDP, assessing activity effectiveness, and determining correlation factors. A solution to each of these issues was either tested by trials in industry, tested against current literature, or both. Test findings indicate that the designed solutions meet requirements. Trials of the whole evaluation method at industrial sites indicate that the method has attained the primary objective of the research project. Namely, to provide companies with a method to enable them to assess for themselves the effectiveness of their current or proposed PDP. It is a quantified method that forces company practitioners to think about issues, so that results of the assessment can be used effectively to support argument for change. The method is non-prescriptive, accounts for the uniqueness of each company, and draws out and utilises company knowledge within a framework of current best practice in new product development (NPD) management. No other method achieves this objective in the same manner. The following aspects of the evaluation method demonstrate more specific areas of innovation and novelty: The concept of determinants of profit (DoP) and their use as criteria against which the effectiveness of PDP activities is assessed. The generic model of the PDP meets all the identified requirements. It is novel in the way it is structured (i.e. activities and GEs at like level of abstraction) and the purpose it serves in the evaluation method i.e. to provide a non-prescriptive model, which provides a framework onto which the particular PDP activities of a company can be mapped to produce a company specific PDP model. The manner in which activity effectiveness is assessed i.e. by making judgements about the quality of activity characteristics in the context of realising each DoP. The manner in which the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to determine DoP impact on profit whilst accounting for DoP interactions.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Operations research.
• Subjects: T Technology > T Technology (General); T Technology > TS Manufactures
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
• Supervisor's Name: Fairlie-Clarke, Dr. A.C.
• Date of Award: 1999
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1999-71582
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 10 May 2019 14:13
• Last Modified: 26 Oct 2022 08:43
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.71582
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/71582