Transcript Document 7351808

Management of
Technology
(OM476)
Managing NPD Teams
March 8, 2006
S. Fisher
Agenda
Surprise – adapting the schedule again!
 Team composition and processes
 In-class mini case

“Managed innovation…is often considered an oxymoron.
Many companies find that as soon as “management” shows
up, the forces of “innovation” start looking for places to
hide.”
---Rita Shor, Corporate E-Business Manager at 3M (from Manufacturing and Technology
News, www.manufacturingnews.com/news/editorials/shor.html)
Revised Schedule

Today
 Discuss
NPD team management
 Collect Evista case deliverables
Monday March 20 – Project Selection
 Wednesday March 22 – Discuss case #6
 Monday March 27 – Discuss Evista case

Think back to OB class…
What are some of the key attributes
related to team functioning?
 What is unique about NPD that might
affect how you would organize or manage
a team?

R&D team mini-case
Read “Feed R&D” case
 In small groups, discuss and prepare
answers to the following questions:

 What
team management challenges would
Lars face if he outsourced the R&D work?
 Should Lars outsource R&D on this project to
Inova? If so, how much of the R&D work?
Collaborating Across the Globe

Often creates need for virtual teams
 Communication
patterns
 Permanence

IBM example – global project staffing
How to build cross-border teams?

Some companies are attempting training and
cross-cultural awareness
 General
team building activities
 Axcelis Technologies in Beverly, MA hired a trainer to
help employees better understand how Indian coworkers would act



Different styles in handshakes, eye contact
Immersion trips
Strengths/limitations of communication
technology?
Team Structure

4 types based on integration
– minimal integration
 Lightweight – project manager facilitates
integration
 Heavyweight – matrix structure
 Autonomous – team becomes primary work
unit
 Functional
Pros and cons of these types?
 Role of team leader vs. project champion?

Co-location
Opposite of virtual teams in many ways
 Bringing project team members together at
the same site
 Gets really interesting when you start
crossing organizational boundaries

teams – clients and consultants
 ERP implementation example
 Blended
Lead User Teams at 3M

Comprised of 4-6 members with diverse skills
(technical, marketing, etc)
 Autonomous
 Assigned
ambiguous, uncertain projects to research;
mandate to take risks
 Partner with Lead Users, experts working in target
industries

Has resulted in more efficient and effective
innovation - very different from 3M’s traditional
“inventor in the lab” model
Source: Shor, R. Managed Innovation: 3M’s latest model for new products. From
www.manufacturingnews.com/news/editorials/shor.html, January 16 2006.
Problems at Microsoft?
Turnover up 1% to 9% (still lower than
industry average)
 Some employee discontent

 Defections
to Google
 Bloggers such as Mini-Microsoft launching
critiques

Spending time on project reviews and
internal coordination rather than talking to
customers and taking products to market
Source: Greene, J. (Sept 26, 2005). Troubling Exits at Microsoft. Business Week, p. 99-108.
Microsoft – Some of the Ten Crazy
Ideas
Make business areas more independent
 Empower incubation projects
 Schedule unscheduled time
 Cut back on bureaucracy
 Reduce staffing of large projects
 Encourage risk-taking

Source: Greene, J. (Sept 26, 2005). Troubling Exits at Microsoft. Business Week, p. 99-108.
Have a great spring break!

When we return, will cover Project
Selection on March 20
 There

will be an in-class writing!
See handout for next case background
material (due March 22)