Part III Managing and improving product development The effectiveness of product development in a company is determined people responsible for product development from the directors to the managers; by firstly their basic philosophy and understanding, secondl abilities and thirdly the clear recognition of their roles Product development combines people, their individual knowledge and skil How they collaborate to produce the company's abilities in product development is the basis for product success or failure. Product development needs knowledge and skills in all areas of the company -R&D, marketing, production and finance, and in particular top management. This is why product development management is complex and often becomes swamped in the management for today. Companies appear to have great difficulty in deciding where to place product development management in marketing, R&D, production or as a separate department; over the years product development management is apt to be reorganised several times because of problems that have been identified. This is no bad thing since product development, because of its nature, is always changing, going in different directions as technology and consumers change. But the core product development knowledge needs to be kept intact and allowed to grow through the product development projects It is important to recognise that there are different layers of product development management, layers that are interacting with the management of the functional departments and indeed are sometimes the management of the functional departments. The key issues are in two areas 1. Management needs in the vertical responsibility from directors to project 2. Interaction between these management people and the functional departments.The effectiveness of product development in a company is determined by the people responsible for product development from the directors to the project managers; by firstly their basic philosophy and understanding, secondly their abilities and thirdly the clear recognition of their roles. Product development combines people, their individual knowledge and skills. How they collaborate to produce the company’s abilities in product development is the basis for product success or failure. Product development needs knowledge and skills in all areas of the company – R&D, marketing, production and finance, and in particular top management. This is why product development management is complex and often becomes swamped in the management for today. Companies appear to have great difficulty in deciding where to place product development management – in marketing, R&D, production or as a separate department; over the years product development management is apt to be reorganised several times because of problems that have been identified. This is no bad thing since product development, because of its nature, is always changing, going in different directions as technology and consumers change. But the core product development knowledge needs to be kept intact and allowed to grow through the product development projects. It is important to recognise that there are different layers of product development management, layers that are interacting with the management of the functional departments and indeed are sometimes the management of the functional departments. The key issues are in two areas: 1. Management needs in the vertical responsibility from directors to project managers. 2. Interaction between these management people and the functional departments. Part III Managing and improving product development