Resources
Recommended resources organized by type and topic. For some we provide our own summary and review. If you'd like to recommend one please contact us. We'd love to hear about it.
We add material to these pages periodically so it may be worth bookmarking or checking back here on occasion to see what's new.
Topics
BrandingDesign
Innovation
Management
Marketing
Product Development
Strategy
VOC / Primary Market Research
BRANDING
How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the MarketGerald Zaltman
Harvard Business School Press, 2003
COMMENT: An outstanding look at how people really think and make decisions. Instead of using psychological or sociological inference this is the first time I have seen truly direct evidence. That is, results based on MRI scans of the braing. After a condeming indictment of traditional market research he talks about how to communicate with the subconscious where decisions are made. -- Alan
Recommend a Branding reference.
DESIGN
The Design of Everyday ThingsDonald A. Norman
Basic Books, 2002
COMMENT: An update of the 1988 classic written by this cognitive scientist who became the VP of Advanced Technology at Apple. It's a must read for user-centered design. -- Alan
Emotional DesignDonald A. Norman
Basic Books, 2004
COMMENT: Norman's prior work was focused on rational usability. He updates his thinking here to include emotion which is now known to be an inseparable part of cognition. -- Alan
Recommend a Design reference.
INNOVATION
Democratizing InnovationEric Von Hippel
The MIT Press, 2005
COMMENT: Eric has been studying lead-user innovation for years. That is users whose needs are not met by existing products adapting them or inventing new. Going beyond explanation he shows how user-centered innovation is a growing trend that will have widespread impacts. -- Alan
They Made AmericaHarold Evans
Little, Brown and Co., 2004
COMMENT: Innovators are those who bring inventions to reality. This is a fascinating compendium of stories of those who brought change to the world from the steam engine to the search engine. Each vignet is a great read alone but Evans weaves them together into a rich history that shows how these people influenced each other. It's well illustrated, full of lessons and hard to put down. -- Alan
The Innovator's DilemmaClayton M. Christensen
Harvard Business School Press, 1997
COMMENT: The now classic study of how industries are disrupted. This book defines the problem well but is a little weak on the solution. -- Alan
The Innovator's SolutionClayton M. Christensen and Michael E. Raynor
Harvard Business School Press, 2003
COMMENT: After pondering the problem a few more years Christensen realizes that the disruption is as much or more from a new business model rather than technology. He shows how to disrupt a market by enabling a lower skill level of user or addressing a need of people who do not now buy your type of product. -- Alan
Managing the Risks of Product InnovationAlan Chachich
Cutter IT Journal, Vol. 17, No. 11, Nov. 2004
Retrieve paper.
COMMENT: My view of a wide range of technical and managerial risks that impact innovation and how to handle them. -- Alan
Recommend an Innovation reference.
MANAGEMENT
Engineering and Product Development ManagementStephen C. Armstrong
Cambridge University Press, 2001
COMMENT: This book focuses on managing engineering and development processes. The author combines information from several bodies of knowledge to present an integrated approach with overlapping processes that is faster and more efficient than the traditional serial engineering approach. -- Alan
Next Generation Product DevelopmentMichael E. McGrath
McGraw-Hill, 2004
COMMENT: The creator of the PACE (Product and Cycle-time Excellence) process presents a new process for a world redefined by ubiquitous information technology. -- Alan
The Board of Directors: Vital Partner for a VOC CultureRalph E. Grabowski
Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) 9th Annual Voice of the Customer (VoC) Conference, San Diego CA, December 4-6, 2006.
Retrieve presentation.
COMMENT: Case studies and data to convince the Board of Directors of the need to spend on front-end marketing. Questions the board should ask to create a more customer centered organization. A practical resource for both management and those working to get management buy-in. -- Alan
Recommend a Management reference.
MARKETING
Who Is Going To Buy The Darn Thing?Ralph E. Grabowski
Boston, June 21, 1995, IEEE Electro International Conference Proceedings: 69-96.
Retrieve paper.
COMMENT: Ralph presents unique data correlating commercial success with the balance between spending on marketing versus engineering. He shows that spending as much or more on marketing than engineering produces spectacular success. Conversely that spending less than a tenth as much on marketing as engineering yields catastrophic failure. -- Alan
Recommend a Marketing reference.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Flexible Product Development, Building Agility for Changing MarketsPreston G. Smith
Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint, 2007
COMMENT: Someone finally translates lessons learned in the agile software world for generic product development. He shows how to make changes late in the development process to manage risks and react to fast moving markets without disrupting the development or the cost. For more, see my blog entry from Sept. 2007 -- Alan
___________________________________________
The Product Development Management Association provides a
great set of resources covering a wide range of essential topics.
Edited by Kenneth B. Kahn, George Castellion, and Abbie Griffin
John Wiley and Sons, 2nd ed., 2005
COMMENT: Over 600 pages divided on to 6 parts: Before starting, Organizing, Starting, Developing, Finishing, and PDMA research on NPD. -- Alan
The PDMA Toolbook of New Product DevelopmentEdited by Paul Belliveau, Abbie Griffin, and Stephen Somermeyer
John Wiley and Sons, 2002
COMMENT: 16 chapters in 4 basic tool sets: Project leader tools to start, Tools for anytime, Process owner tools, and Portfolio tools. -- Alan
The PDMA Toolbook 2 of New Product DevelopmentEdited by Paul Belliveau, Abbie Griffin, and Stephen Somermeyer
John Wiley and Sons, 2004
COMMENT: 17 chapters in 4 basic tool sets: Organizational tools, Tools for the fuzzy front end, Tools for managing NPD process, and Tools for Portfolio and Pipeline. -- Alan
Recommend a Product Development reference.
STRATEGY
Blue Ocean StrategyW. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
Harvard Business School Press, 2005
COMMENT: A practical and thought provoking book about how to find or create new markets to escape the competitive rat race. A good read if you don't want to be competing on price. -- Alan
The New Law of Demand and SupplyRick Kash
Doubleday, 2001
COMMENT: Kash takes a bigger view of which customer focus is just a part. His 6 step approach anticipates your highest margin segments so that you are satisfying demand instead of pumping out supply and hoping it will sell. Information technology is shifting power to the consumer so these concepts are worth thinking about. -- Alan
Recommend a Strategy reference.
VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER (Primary Market Research)
Hijacking the Voice of the CustomerGerry Katz
PDMA Visions Magazine, January 2006.
Retrieve paper.
COMMENT: Gerry makes clear what VOC is, and what it isn't. I recommend it if you are getting started or confused by "experts" who don't seem to be using the same vocabulary . -- Alan
How Customers ThinkGerald Zaltman
Harvard Business School Press, 2003
COMMENT: An outstanding look at how people really think and make decisions. Instead of using psychological or sociological inference this is the first time I have seen truly direct evidence. That is, results based on MRI scans of the braing. After a condeming indictment of traditional market research he talks about how to communicate with the subconscious where decisions are made. -- Alan
Customer VisitsEdward F. McQuarrie
Sage Publications, 1998
COMMENT: The classic how-to for planning and conducting customer visits, a key tool of VOC. -- Alan
Voices into ChoicesGary Burchill and Christina Hepner Brodie
Joiner (Center for Quality Management), 1997
COMMENT: A very practical and user-friendly step-by-step workbook you can use to conduct a VOC study. -- Alan
Customer-centric Product DefinitionSheila Mello
PDC Professional Publishing, 2002
COMMENT: Another practical guide that explains key concepts as well as offering several tools for planning, conducting, and analyzing a VOC project. -- Alan
The Voice of the CustomerChapter 7 of The PDMA Toolbook 2 for New Product Development Gerald M. Katz
John Wiley and Sons, 2004
COMMENT: An excellent summary of VOC concepts as well as practical instruction for the key activities. -- Alan
The Voice of the CustomerAbbie Griffin and John Hauser
Marketing Science 12, 1, Winter: 1-27
COMMENT: The classic paper that defined the term "voice of the customer." Useful data showing the relation between sample size and fraction of customer needs discovered. -- Alan
Recommend a VOC reference.
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