Product Development
Managing New Product Development
New product development requires organizations to facilitate cooperation and coordination between department boundaries within the organization. To facilitate this cooperation and coordination, organizations form cross-functional new product development teams to lead and manage the development process for new products. There are several variations that these teams can be formed and managed. New product development teams can be structured into four types: functional, lightweight, heavyweight, and autonomous (Schilling, 2008).
In functional teams, members remain in their respective departments and report to their regular manager. In this type of team, members meet periodically to discuss the project. This type of team is usually temporary and team members may only spend a small amount of time on team projects (Schilling, 2008).
In lightweight teams, members are still a part of their functional departments, as with functional teams, however, unlike functional teams, a lightweight team has a project manager and a dedicated liaison to facilitate communication and coordination between functions (Schilling, 2008).
Heavyweight team members are removed from their functional departments and are collocated with a project manager. The project managers in heavyweight teams are usually members of senior management with significant authority to command resources. Under a heavyweight team, members are assigned full-time to the project. This helps ensure cross-functional coordination and communication (Schilling, 2008).
Under autonomous teams, members are completely removed from their functional departments and dedicated full-time to the development team. In this type of team, membership is sometimes permanent. This type of team is headed by a very senior manager with full control over resources contributed from different functional departments (Schilling, 2008).
Autonomous teams often create their own policies, procedures, and reward
New product development requires organizations to facilitate cooperation and coordination between department boundaries within the organization. To facilitate this cooperation and coordination, organizations form cross-functional new product development teams to lead and manage the development process for new products. There are several variations that these teams can be formed and managed. New product development teams can be structured into four types: functional, lightweight, heavyweight, and autonomous (Schilling, 2008).
In functional teams, members remain in their respective departments and report to their regular manager. In this type of team, members meet periodically to discuss the project. This type of team is usually temporary and team members may only spend a small amount of time on team projects (Schilling, 2008).
In lightweight teams, members are still a part of their functional departments, as with functional teams, however, unlike functional teams, a lightweight team has a project manager and a dedicated liaison to facilitate communication and coordination between functions (Schilling, 2008).
Heavyweight team members are removed from their functional departments and are collocated with a project manager. The project managers in heavyweight teams are usually members of senior management with significant authority to command resources. Under a heavyweight team, members are assigned full-time to the project. This helps ensure cross-functional coordination and communication (Schilling, 2008).
Under autonomous teams, members are completely removed from their functional departments and dedicated full-time to the development team. In this type of team, membership is sometimes permanent. This type of team is headed by a very senior manager with full control over resources contributed from different functional departments (Schilling, 2008).
Autonomous teams often create their own policies, procedures, and reward
References: Alcatel - Lucent | Company Overview. (2006 - 2010). Retrieved April 30, 2010, from Alcatel - Lucent - About Us: http://www.alcatel- lucent.com/wps/portal/AboutUs/Overview/?lu_lang_code=en Alcatel - Lucent | Innovation. (2006 - 2010). Acatel - Lucent | About Alcatel - Lucent Innovation. Retrieved April 30, 2010, from Alcatel - Lucent - About Innovation: http://www.alcatel- lucent.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4w3MfQ FSYGYRq6m-pEoYgbxjgiRIH1vfV- P_NxU_QD9gtzQiHJHR0UAAD_zXg!!/delta/base64xml/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80SVVFLz ZfQV9CVEg! Alcatel - Lucent. (2010). Innovating Innovation. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from Bell Labs | Alcatel - Lucent: http://www.alcatel- lucent.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4x3DnA FSYGYRq6m- pEoYgbxjggRX4_83FT9IH1v_QD9gtzQiHJHR0UAZYL6lQ!!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdy Evd0ZNQUFzQUMvNElVRS82X0FfNDND Schilling, M. A. (2008). Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.