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systems that can enhance product designer's capabilities without detracting from
the creative process. In this chapter, the authors offer insights into the use of various
IT-based systems that have been developed in response to the requirements of a con-
temporary design consultancy. Specifically, the chapter examines the various stages
in the design process based on a case study of a London-based design consultancy,
Studio Levien. The authors use the case study to illustrate the key IT-based elements
required to support the design process and to discuss their implications for research
and practice.
Chapter 5 brings the focus to PLM as the author Andy Hewett provides a
view from the field of the critical challenges related to PLM implementation. As
noted previously, PLM has emerged as perhaps the most important enterprise IT
application for supporting product and service innovation. This chapter examines
the unique challenges associated with implementing PLM. Specifically, the chap-
ter focuses on three primary organizational challenges: (a) cultural issues around
the “product engineer”; (b) a lack of standard engineering processes as a founda-
tion for PLM; and (c) the failings of the PLM technology itself. The discussion
enables a better appreciation of the value a strong resource like a “senior engineer-
ing fellow” adds to the project team and underlies the differences between truly
standard functional activities (such as accounting) and product development pro-
cesses, and how these differences could potentially reduce the repeatability of PLM
implementations. The discussion also highlights the technical complexity in most
PLM solutions that arises from bolting together diverse modules needed to address
the different business functions associated with product development. The chapter
concludes by identifying several important directions for future research on PLM
implementation.
In Chapter 6, Satish Nambisan considers the role of IT in supporting customer
value co-creation and co-innovation. The author introduces the concept of virtual
customer environments (VCEs) - IT-enabled customer co-innovation platforms -
and identifies the different issues and challenges related to the successful design
and deployment of such VCEs. The varied roles that customers can play in inno-
vation and value creation are identified and the specific ways in which VCEs can
support each of those roles are also discussed. The author also considers the design
aspects of VCEs that would enhance particular types of incentives for customers
to participate in value co-creation and co-innovation. The chapter emphasizes the
need to adopt specific strategies and practices to enhance customers' overall interac-
tion experience in VCEs, to embrace customers as partners in innovation and value
creation, and to derive value from their customers' innovative contributions.
In Chapter 7, Elisa Fredericks and Dawn R. Schneider emphasize the need
for companies to redefine the structure and organization of their product (service)
development teams as they shift from closed innovation practices to open inno-
vation practices. External environmental pressures resulting from increasing glob-
alization, rapid technological advancements, and a fluctuating marketplace force
firms to continually rethink their innovation models. Newer models suggest more
open collaboration, increased interdependence between firms, shared resources,
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