Purpose – The “fuzzy front end” of new product development (NPD) is characterized by considerable uncertainty and ambiguity, but detailed studies of ambiguity specifically related to NPD are missing. This paper aims to establish a classification of ambiguity in NPD processes....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of outsourcing new product development (NPD), and specifically of factors affecting the outsourcing decisions, by exploring the practices of the most innovative firms. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on an...

Product development is recognized as cross‐functional teamwork that has become important in the fast‐paced, globally competitive environment. Despite an extant body of knowledge on the importance of fuzzy front‐end planning and functions of goals in the management literature, the impact of...

Operations strategies, whether prompted by competitive or regulatory forces, can greatly impact firm performance. While operations strategies cover a wide spectrum of issues - supply chain management, technology choice, capacity allocation, etc. - this dissertation focuses on two such issues,...