Next Generation Product Development : How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times [Hardcover]

Michael McGrath (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071435123 | ISBN-13: 978-0071435123 | Publication Date: April 23, 2004 | Edition: 1

A Hands-on manager's guide to making the most of today's product development breakthroughs

A quarter century after MRP first transformed the global manufacturing arena, Next Generation Product Development stands poised to similarly impact new product development. This movement-defining book gives R&D professionals an in-depth explanation of the ways in which companies are able to achieve substantially higher levels of development productivity, while better aligning product development with strategy through new practices and systems.

Processes explored in Next Generation Product Development, and enabled by cutting-edge new-enterprise software, promise to explode the possibilities of what product development professionals can accomplish. This hands-on practitioner's guidebook will:

• Establish a common set of frameworks and concepts
• Introduce new project portfolio and product strategy management practices
• Help R&D professionals increase productivity by 30 to 50 percent

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael McGrath (Waltham, MA) is a worldrenowned expert on product development and strategy. Cofounder of global management consultants Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath, he led the firm's development of the now widely adopted Product And Cycle-time Excellence® (PACE®) methodology.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071435123
• ISBN-13: 978-0071435123
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In 1986 when Michael McGrath initiated the PACE® (Product and Cycle-time Excellence)decision process for product development,it enabled thousands of companies to reduce time-to-market. In Business Decisions!he now changes the way and the process of how companies make decisions. Author and decision-making expert Michael McGrath has devoted his career to making winning business decisions. He has advised some of the largest companies in the world and created innovative new decision techniques used by hundreds of successful businesses. He has made countless decisions as a CEO building a world-leading consulting firm and leading a public company turnaround. He is the author of the best-selling book Product Strategy for High-Technology Companies and founder of Decide Better. He currently is the executive chairman of Thomas Group, and serves on a number of private and nonprofit boards.

Decide Better!
Decide Better was founded in 2007 to help businesses and individuals achieve success through making better decisions. The company has two series of books. The Decide Better Self-Help series is targeted at individuals, with Decide Better! for a Better Life and Decide Better! for College published in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Business Decisions! is the first book in the Decide Better Business Series, with additional books and workbooks to follow. In addition to publications, Decide Better also provides decision workshops for executives, teams, and boards, as well as presentations to large groups. For more information, go to www.DecideBetter.com/BusinessDecisions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy the book and begin..., May 3, 2004

By 

Nl Dailey (Guilford, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Next Generation Product Development : How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times (Hardcover)

Review of:
"Next Generation Product Development" by Michael E. McGrath

The last paragraph of Michael E. McGrath's newest book "Next Generation Product Development" boldly states that "product development has never been for the faint of heart." And I suspect that most everyone who has ever been involved in such activities will quickly shake their head "yes" to this "truth" statement, and quietly wish there was a better way. Fortunately in his new book McGrath guides us to this better way--a way that offers "more opportunity and promise for getting better new products to market faster, WHILE DOING MORE WITH LESS." The claim is nothing short of a renaissance of product development capability.

I like this book a lot. I like the multi-faceted emphasis on integration. I like the productivity theme and the need for new management processes. And I like the idea that we are only beginning the renaissance of product development capability, especially given the growth of collaborative development.

I confess that I do not like the continued use of the DCM abbreviation (it stands for "development chain management.)" But I suppose I can learn to live with another "alphabet name" because it does get to the heart of the matter--how to manage a lot of INTERDEPENDENT projects, all of which are going on at the same time. Of particular importance are McGrath's thoughts involving a "networked team," new concepts which I think will be fundamental to tomorrow's successful product development.

To join this renaissance, exactly where does one begin? McGrath offers three entry points: changes in resource management, changes in project management, or changes in strategy management. I suppose someone will try all three at once, but frankly just one is probably a lot for an organization to swallow. For different entry points McGrath offers us guidance, with levels of maturity assessments and/or stages of implementation. But even still, there is a lot of material to assimilate and multiple readings of many book sections will be needed to fully comprehend his recommendations.

However I suggest that you don't spend an excessive amount of time studying. Organizations mainly learn by doing, and this book lays out the "learn by doing" path toward success. Past generations of development have emphasized invention, project management, or time-to-market. This next generation is a path toward productivity within the entire development enterprise. It is a path toward "better decision making, better investment in R&D, better return on that investment, more collaboration with external partners, and true empowerment of development activity."

I suggest that you buy the book and begin.

Nils L. Dailey
N.L. Dailey Associates

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Close to real life, but sounds like a Sales Pitch, August 4, 2005

By 

Mark "Mark Lee" (Espoo Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Next Generation Product Development : How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times (Hardcover)

As an IM professional in R&D system solution, I'm amazed how this book is so close to real life R&D management situation. I liked MacGrath's summary of the history and the comprehensive finacial management part. Most of the suggestions in the book have been already put into practices for years. Upfront? Yes. Next Generation? No. This is more of a project management book for R&D, no real coverage of product life cycle management(PLM) and its integration with project/program and resource management. Well, this disconnection reflects the current industrial situation anyway. However, I expect him to elaborate it more since this is a "next-generation" book.

It brought to my attention that MacGrath is actually running a software business in this area. Maybe it is the reason why he does not disclose any real business cases but using a hypothetical company - a major pit fall of this book. Inevitably he is hiding some of the real details which is preventing himself to convince the readers. Yet he want to sell his concept and you will have to find out the nitty-gritties maybe only by evaluating or purchasing his nice to have software products.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Clear and Compelling View of the Next Generation in PD, April 26, 2004

By 

Conger Gabel, President, Hardy Gabel Group (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Next Generation Product Development : How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times (Hardcover)

Michael McGrath has done it again. He has articulated a clear and compelling description of the next major generation in product development - the R&D Productivity Generation. The new generation builds on the major accomplishments of the last generation, which McGrath calls the Time-to-Market Generation. Whereas the TTM Generation primarily focused on getting individual products to market as quickly as possible, the R&D Productivity Generation will focus on the most effective and productive use of a company's total R&D capability (both internal and extended enterprise) to drive overall corporate revenue, profit and market share.

During the TTM Generation from 1992 to 2000, benchmarking studies determined that the R&D Effectiveness Index (the ratio of new product profit to R&D investment needed to create new products) doubled from 0.5 to about 1.0 across all industries. Over the next ten years, McGrath forecasts that the R&D EI will double again to 2.0 driven by the processes and systems of the R&D Productivity Generation. The message is clear. Companies that lead the way in implementing the R&D Productivity Generation will gain significant competitive advantage in the market place.

Through out the book, McGrath illustrates the new processes and systems using an example company, Commercial Robotics, Inc. CRI is a hypothetical company, but represents the kind of advances that are now being made at many different corporations. The example gives compelling evidence for the benefits that accrue to a company that systematically implements the new R&D Productivity Generation.

For all committed to product development excellence, from senior management to individual contributors, the Next Generation Product Development is a clear view into the future and what it will take to be world class in the decade ahead.