Ecodesign innovation: Is 'early' always 'best'?

This paper explores ecodesign within the product development process (PDP), particularly focusing on the design stages. Previous research has highlighted the early stages as the 'best' place to integrate environmental issues. Here the early stage hypothesis is explored from the perspective of the industrial design department - the early stage designers. Being located at the earliest possible design stages of product development would mean that, were the hypothesis to hold true, industrial design would be the 'best' place to locate ecodesign. Empirical research was conducted with the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) of a global Electrical and Electronic goods manufacture. It used a qualitative, inductive research methodology, based on two 'live' design concept projects, participant observation within the department, and on several semi-structured interviews. Throughout this paper, the empirical work is compared and contrasted to ecodesign literature, specifically to models of ecodesign innovation and the product development process. Beginning by exploring of the early stage hypothesis, the paper concludes with a conceptual model of early stage ecodesign for the context in question.

Environmental priorities in strategic product development

This paper reports some results from a major research project on the integration of environmental issues into design in the electrical and electronic industry. Product development practice and ecodesign methods were examined along with qualitative data from 19 manufacturers, using interviews and an action research methodology. A four-stage framework for ecodesign practice resulted: first, to make an environmental assessment from a life cycle viewpoint; then to communicate the analysis and collect feedback; thirdly to prioritize the environmental issues and finally to complete the design using relevant tools and methods. This 'ARPI' framework (analyse, report, prioritize, improve) applies to both strategic and operational levels. Initial testing of the framework in collaborating companies highlighted difficulties with communication with design teams; the role of 'ecodesign champions' is explained. Other challenges are the development of customized tools and the training of designers. The study concludes that the prioritization step is critical, as it simplifies and clarifies the tasks in design that take place after formulation of the specification. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.

Top Management Involvement in New Product Development: A Review and Synthesis

Established literature on new product development (NPD) management recognizes top management involvement (TMI) as one of the most critical success factors. With increasing pressure to sustain competitive advantage and growth, NPD activities remain the focus of close interest from top management in many organizations. TMI in the NPD domain is receiving increasing academic attention. Despite its criticality, there is no systematic review of the existing literature to inform and stimulate researchers in the field for further investigation. This paper introduces the current state of literature on TMI in NPD, synthesizes important findings, and identifies the gaps and deficiencies in this research stream. The contents of the selected articles, which investigated TMI in NPD, are analyzed based on the type of the study, level of analysis, research methodology, operationalization of TMI, and main findings. Additionally, other studies, which did not directly investigate TMI and support in NPD, but were sufficiently related, are briefly summarized. As a result of this detailed literature review, it can be stated that both exploratory and relational studies provide rich evidence on the critical role of top management in NPD. However, the identified gaps and deficiencies in this research stream call for a better theoretical understanding and well-defined constructs of TMI in the NPD domain for different levels of analysis for future studies.