From the Special Issue Editor

Abstract

Welcome to the JGSMS Special Issue on Global New Product Development!In today’s global marketplace, firms need to consider how to leverage their globalscale and scope in order to improve new product development. In the car industry, forexample, it is hard to imagine a major car company trying to protect its home nichemarket. Its competitors have already extended their scope to many manufacturing anddesign centers around the world, resulting in better products that incorporate bettertechnology, developed in less time and at lower overall cost. Consider Ford as a typicalexample. Ford has incorporated a Global Product Development System and a GlobalVehicle Program. Since the inception of these programs, Ford has specialized theengineering for each car component by location. One engineering plant, for example, isresponsible for exhaust systems for all cars using a given platform and sold worldwide;another would be assigned the task of engineering all steering columns. Since the design ofthese components is consistent globally, every Ford built on a given platform will “feel”the same and “sound” the same when being driven, regardless of where it was actuallymade. Ford claims reductions in engineering costs of 60% between 2005 and 2008, andnew global cars such as the Ford Fusion have been successfully launched into the worldmarket (Vasilash, 2009). Ford successfully targets these products at consumers around theworld, since they have very similar desires regarding fuel economy, environmentalimpact, comfort, technology and safety. While cost reductions of this type are certainly impressive, one must also consider thechallenges involved in global new product development. While most of a car may bestandardized to take advantage of scale economies, certain adaptations will need to bemade to customize the product to the needs of the marketplace. A car may have airconditioning or automatic gear shifting as standard in the North American market, whilethese may be sold as options in Europe or Asia. Some cars will have the steering wheel onthe left side and others on the right, depending on the convention in the target country. Other small design differences may need to be made for safety or emission-controlreasons. Even if the tangible product is standardized throughout the world, its positioningmay differ across markets. Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars are sold as prestigious luxuryvehicles in the North American market, at a higher price point than in Germany, theircountry of origin, and other European countries. Honda cars are sold as youth-orientedcars in Japan and high-quality cars in North America. There are other interesting concerns as well. For example, managing a global productteam presents its own challenges: meetings will mostly be of the virtual type, there may belanguage or cultural barriers, and of course time zones can be tricky as well. But an abilityto leverage the skills and different problem-solving capabilities of the various global teammembers should outweigh these difficulties. Another consideration: should the sameproduct produced in the home market be sold in global markets, or should adaptations ortotally new products be sold globally? There is much new intriguing research on productdevelopment for the bottom-of-the-pyramid (BOP) market – emerging or developingmarkets that nevertheless offer much untapped potential. For example, a phonemanufacturer could take an existing phone and remove features so as to sell it at a cheaperprice point, or simply build a totally new phone that specifically addresses consumer needsin that market (Dubiel & Ernst, 2013). Nokia developed a phone charger for the Indianmarket which used bicycle power: the rider charges the phone when pedaling his or herbicycle to work (Bagla, 2011). Finally, a firm that is accustomed to engineering anddesigning a product for its home market may now seek to become a global player in itsindustry. This is happening currently with firms such as Lenovo (laptops) and Haier(appliances), both of Chinese origin. In such cases, firms need to consider the universalityof their designs to determine their suitability for the global marketplace. Will appliancesthat sell well in China be competitive on the world market, or will differences inperformance or appearance, due to cultural perceptions, be too much for them to overcome(Zhang, 2012)? Questions on universality of design remain largely unanswered, yet theseconsiderations can also greatly influence the success of a global new product developmenteffort.