8.1.4 Appropriate systems and processes for project management

Having decided on what things to do (the portfolio), it is important to have the appropriate systems and processes to support individual projects - 'doing things right'. There are four clearly identified basic stages in the PD Process - product strategy development, product design and process development, product commercialisation, product launch and evaluation. But there are differences in the activities, decisions and outcomes in the different projects, although there are significant ones that occur in many projects.

Although the PD Process is important to the successful completion of projects on time, in budget and in line with the initial target, it would be wrong to force all projects into a standard process. The PD Process is unique to the company, level of innovation, and the level of technological knowledge. The company can design different PD Processes for product improvements and major innovations, for consumer products and industrial products, and also make some changes between product development projects (de Brentani, 2001). The chance and costs of product failure can also cause the company to make changes in activities; for example, the low cost of project failure may lead to significant short cuts in market analysis and business analysis. The choice of activities also depends on the company's level of risk. If the company is not afraid to live with product failures, it may omit many activities; if the company does not want to risk product failure, it will include activities that increase its knowledge of the technology and the market. In creating both new products and new services, a platform-based approach can be used, which relates directly to the design of systems and PD Processes (Meyer and DeTore, 2001).