Getting the Most Out of Your Product Development Process (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)

This is an enhanced edition of HBR article 96202, originally published in March/April 1996. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article plus a summary of key ideas and company examples to help you quickly absorb and apply the concepts. To many managers, the idea of introducing process management to their development organizations sounds like a sure way to destroy creativity. Product development, they contend, is not the same as manufacturing: Each project has unique challenges that require unique solutions. In fact, the authors argue, managers who need to know how many projects their development organizations can handle and how quickly those projects can deliver new products to market must think of product development as a production process in which projects move through the knowledge-work equivalent of a job shop.