Innovativeness in product development-Studies on industrial project work

Abstract: For many organizations, efficiency in product development is a question of accel¬erating project operations and being innovative in products and technical solutions, and this has interesting consequences for project work. This thesis aims to study technical development work in project groups in order to identify factors that support innovativeness.In this thesis, innovativeness is defined as the ability of project groups to arrive at new ideas and solutions for technical problems, and their implementation. It is hoped that the studies in this thesis will contribute new knowledge in the product development research area, using complementary theories.This thesis is based on four case studies of product development projects, representing different types of industry. The cases involve the development of new, complex industrial products and are reported in four appended papers. The research reported in this thesis has primarily, but not exclusively, adopted a qualitative approach.The studies have shown that innovativeness is favored by project work characterized by lower levels of control, the continuous acquisition of knowledge and a sense of responsibility and interest in tasks, as well as a continuous formulation and definition of tasks and problems. In addition, project work characterized by commitment and interaction have also been found to be important for innovativeness.Three factors supporting innovativeness are presented. Interactive product utilization in work is an alternative to detailed planning in solving coordination needs and maintaining a system view within a project. Interactive control mechanisms are important because product specifications often need to be defined as the project progresses. An interactive social environment supports technical problem solving by providing opportunities for spontaneous interaction between project members.