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GGI RapidNews R&D Product Development eZine: Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2, 2003
GGI RapidNews is published approximately once a month.

In This Issue

2002 METRICS SURVEY RESULTS

BOOK REVIEW - Managing in the Next Society (Drucker)

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY - R&D Effectiveness

NEW BIENNIAL SURVEY - 2002 RD&E Survey Results available now

NEW WEB CONTENT - New/Updated GTKs: Metadata, Knowledge Management, Document Control, Calendar

FEATURED iSTORE PRODUCT - 2000 Product Development Metrics Research Summary

CONFERENCES OF INTEREST - BDI Forum on DFMA; PLM; PDMA

WEBINARS OF INTEREST - Sopheon's Winning Practices for Product Development Series

TELEVISION EVENTS - Alexander Haig's World Business Review

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2002 METRICS SURVEY RESULTS

GGI's 2002 Product Development Metrics Survey was recently published The 2002 Survey focused on resource and capacity management practices and metrics.  Over 5 months, GGI is sharing with RapidNews readers selected results from each section of the survey. Last month focused on the second section, "Providing Capacity for RD&E Activities." This month we present the third section, "Balancing Cross-functional Resources." This month's selected results are summarized below.

- On average, development professionals in technical disciplines spend two thirds of their time on new product development and one third on sustaining engineering. Cross-functional development professionals spend one third of their time on new product development and two thirds on sustaining engineering.

- Cross-functional participation in the product development process is on the rise compared to GGI's prior research. Among the Cross Functions, Product Marketers now spend the greatest proportion of their time (54%) on NPD. The time spent on new product development for all other cross-functions surveyed (Purchasing, Manufacturing Engineering, Process Engineering, Quality, Production) was tightly coupled and ranged from 26% to 32%.

The original survey questionnaire can be downloaded at http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/biennial/surveys/2002MetricsSurvey.pdf. Complete survey results are available for purchase at http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/cgi/catalog.cgi?display_p355.

Next month, look for selected results on "Using Systems, Tools, & Metrics to Manage Capacity."

GGI's next Product Development Metrics Survey will be conducted in 2004. Please contact me at ars@goldensegroupinc.com if you wish to participate. All participants receive a complimentary copy of the Executive Summary of the Survey results.


BOOK REVIEW

Managing in the Next Society, by Peter F. Drucker.  St. Martins Press. July, 2002, 1st edition. 352 pages.

Management guru Peter F. Drucker's latest book, Managing in the Next Society, focuses on major trends shaping society, specifically the information revolution.  The book is actually a collection of previously published articles by Drucker aimed at helping executives make effective long-term decisions for their companies' future, through understanding political, economic and societal trends. This review summarizes several sections of the book.

Beyond the Information Revolution
Drucker draws parallels between the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and today's Information Revolution, noting several similarities. Just as James Watts' steam engine triggered and symbolized the Industrial Revolution, the computer is the same for the Information Revolution.  In the first 50 years of both revolutions, however, the transformations only mechanized or automated existing products/processes. Thus far in the Information Revolution, traditional processes such as payroll or inventory control have been routinized, resulting in cost and time savings, but have not been radically changed. The next two or three decades will probably see great technological advances and also major changes in industry structure and the economic and social landscapes.

The New Economy Isn't Here Yet
The dot-com boom and bust was most likely a speculative boom which will have preceded the real business growth of the New Economy by perhaps 10 years, according to Drucker. Drucker predicts that corporations will be completely changed by the New Economy, especially in eliminating layers of management and in focusing more on creating new products rather than improving existing ones. Managers will need to be open to change and adept at finding the opportunity within change. Drucker also predicts that social issues will become more important as demographics shift to a larger aging population. He also asserts that "designing, selling, manufacturing, delivering, and servicing a product will all, to a large extent, become separate businesses," even if they are all owned by the same financial entity.

The Changing Role of the CEO
CEOs must be strong decision-makers and must deal with a number of new issues as corporations become more complex. Corporate leaders must carefully balance short-term and long-term goals, and deal with shareholder interests as well as future corporate issues. Information technology will affect the CEO's decision-making process once a system can deliver information on non-customers, who are the target group to become customers. In the coming decades, CEOs will have to understand when to command and when to partner, especially in the environment of joint ventures, partnerships, outsourcing, and all other kinds of arrangements.

The Enormous Value of Knowledge Workers
The success of any company depends on the performance of its knowledge workers. Yet many of today's knowledge workers are not direct employees, but temps. The "non-employee" status raises some important issues, since temps are managed by temp agencies. Many firms now use professional employer organizations (PEOs) to handle employment management and employee relations, all traditionally managed by Human Resources departments (HR). Temp agencies and PEOs can help large, knowledge-based organizations manage a diverse group of specialized workers, probably at lower cost and a reduced burden of regulations, but two key issues must be handled. First, management must be responsible for all people on whose performance they depend, not just the legal employees. Second, managers must pay attention to people relations with temporary employees whose performance drives their success and with outsourcing agencies to develop and motivate their knowledge workers.

The Next Society
Drucker asserts that the next society will be a knowledge society, with knowledge as its key resource and knowledge workers as the dominant group in the workforce. The knowledge society will be highly competitive for companies and individuals because of the speed and ease with which knowledge travels, the availability of education, and the potential for failure as well as success.  The new knowledge economy will rely heavily on knowledge workers, and especially on a fast-growing category Drucker calls "knowledge technologists," such as computer technicians, software designers, and lab analysts.  Because knowledge is the key resource, knowledge workers own the means of production. An array of specialized knowledge must work together in a corporation toward the common end product. Knowledge workers are highly mobile and need continuing education to keep their knowledge up-to-date.

In summary, Drucker recommends that managers and leaders consider and act upon the coming changes in the following areas:
1. Corporate structure: alliances, joint ventures, etc.
2. HR policies: must cover employees and non-employees
3. Outside information: develop better systems for collecting information about the outside world
4. Managing change: the enterprise must become a change agent
5. Manufacturing: value is in knowledge and distribution, not manufacturing
6. Outsourcing: "dis-integrate" by outsourcing key knowledge tasks
7. Seek areas for innovations: often from a different technology outside of your given industry
 

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY

R&D Effectiveness
Summarized from "How Effective is R&D," Life Sciences, January, 2003.

Research and Development (R&D) was ranked as one of the most important areas but one of the least effective, according to a study of life sciences companies conducted in 2002 by Chesapeake Consulting, a change management firm. The survey results indicate the following top three priorities for the life sciences industry: shortening the R&D cycle, improving knowledge management, and improving data management. These three priorities are closely linked. "Better data management, coupled with knowledge management, will go a long way toward improving the R&D cycle," stated Lisa Scheinkopf, life-sciences group practice director at Chesapeake.

The survey results highlighted a gap between the responses of executives versus directors who participated. Fifty four percent of respondents were executives, while the remaining participants were directors and managers. The executives named their top priority as shortening the R&D cycle but placed data management in the bottom three of a list of ten choices. The director/manager group identified better data management as their top priority, with the R&D cycle as second. Ms. Scheinkopf asserts that these results imply the need for better communication of company priorities and a realignment of the organization regarding measures.


NEW BIENNIAL SURVEY

2002 RD&E Survey - Resource & Capacity Management: Complete results from our 2002 Product Development Metrics Survey are now available, including our most detailed "RESULTS" report.

The survey focused this year on the following 5 areas of resource and capacity management:
- Loading the RD&E capacity pipeline,
- Providing capacity for RD&E activities,
- Balancing cross-functional resources (staffing ratios),
- Using systems, tools, & metrics to manage capacity, and
- RD&E metrics used in industry.

The 3 versions of the survey results reports that we offer for sale to the public are

1. 2002 SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: A text-only report (65 pages),including the full text of all the results and analysis of the survey population analyzed as a whole,
2. 2002 SURVEY SUMMARY: A report of composite results, where the survey respondents are analyzed as a whole (116 pages, including a full set of graphics), and
3. 2002 SURVEY RESULTS: The most detailed report, complete with the composite results and "special cuts," where the survey population is segmented and analyzed in the following groups: Public vs. Private, Smaller vs. Larger, Process vs. Repetitive/Discrete vs. Job Shop, Higher Technology vs. Lower Technology, and More vs. Fewer Employees (223 pages).


These reports are available in the Market Research section of GGI's iStore (http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/iStore/store.html).  The original survey questionnaire as well as a description of the survey (including survey focus and demographics, tables of contents for the 3 reports, and examples of key findings) can be found at the Market Research Reading Room at http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/readmarket.shtml.


NEW WEB CONTENT

GTK-Gateways To Knowledge: Your resource for industry and product development related information and contacts offers thousands of links to providers of technologies and services for line management functions. The main entrance to GTK can be found at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/index.shtml
 
One of our top 3 MEGA Gateways is the Calendar of Industry Events MEGA Gateway, a listing of links to conferences, seminars and distance learning opportunities. We have just updated the calendar to include approximately 20 new conference listings. The Calendar of Industry Events MEGA Gateway is located at:
 
http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/calendar3.shtml

Another one of our top MEGA Gateways is the Technology Providers MEGA Gateway, which is a directory of hundreds of links organized by technical topic (hardware and software). The Technology Providers MEGA Gateway can be found at:
 
http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/techproviders.shtml

Metadata:  This NEW Gateway offers links to companies that provide metadata software.  Find it in the Technology Providers MEGA Gateway.  The URL is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/tech_metadata.shtml

Knowledge Management:  This UPDATED Gateway provides links to over 300 companies that specialize in knowledge management and capture software.  Find it in the Technology Providers MEGA Gateway.  The URL is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/Tech_KnowledgeMgmt.shtml

Document Control:  This UPDATED Gateway offers links to nearly 75 companies that provide document management and control software.  Find it in the Technology Providers MEGA Gateway. The URL is located at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/Tech_DocumentControl.shtml


FEATURED GGI iSTORE PRODUCTS

Featured Item: GGI's iStore features one deeply discounted offering, which changes periodically. The current Featured Item is the "2000 Product Development Metrics Research Summary" (MR12).

This 96-page report presents the detailed results of GGI's 2000 Product Development Metrics Survey, which focused on metrics systems in use in industry as well as portfolio management. The report is organized in 5 sections, each of which contains factual observations, management analysis and a full set of graphics. This report, which analyzes the survey population of 122 respondents as a whole, will provide you with detailed information on

1.  R&D linkages to corporate strategy,
2.  Portfolio management metrics,
3.  Product selection metrics,
4.  Product success metrics, and
5.  Actual metrics in use in industry.

This research is still valid, given the fact that the economy has not been in a state of high growth for the past few years. We have found consistency between the 2000 and 2002 surveys in areas where we could compare.

The price for the report has been dropped from $1920.00 to $1152.00, a deep discount of 40%. For more information or to purchase this valuable report, go to

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/cgi/catalog.cgi?display_promo.


CONFERENCES OF INTEREST

2003 International Forum on DFMA (BDI):  Boothroyd Dewhurst's 18th Annual 2003 International Forum on Design for Manufacture and Assembly will be held June 17-18 in Newport, RI.  The goal of this conference is to provide expert opinion on DFMA and other early design technologies. Manufacturing leaders and research leaders will be on hand to answer your questions on such topics as cost management and reduction, lean manufacturing, shrinking time to market, concurrent engineering, and design for environment.  The conference features presentations from industry leaders such as Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, and Raytheon.

At the conference, Brad Goldense will present "Resource & Capacity Management:  Best Practices for Cross-Functional Product Development."

For more information and to register, go to BDI's web site: http://www.dfma.com/forum/index.html

PLM 2003:  Worldwide Business Research will hold its product life cycle management event, PLM 2003, on September 16-17 in Scottsdale, AZ.  The conference is geared toward executives in all functional areas of product life cycle management and will emphasize minimizing product cost and maximizing life cycle value. Companies giving presentations include Deere & Company, Lam Research, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Sun Microsystems, Agilent Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.  The conference also includes one day of pre-conference sessions on Monday, September 15, focusing on benchmarking and performance measures to identify key performance indicators.

Brad Goldense will be speaking on the subject of "Benchmarking Resource and Capacity Management Practices in R&D and Product Development" and is moderating two days of the 3-day conference.

For more information, go to WBR's web site:  http://www.wbresearch.com/PLM/index.html

PDMA International Conference:  PDMA's Annual International Conference will be held October 4-8, 2003 at the Boston Marriot Copley. The conference theme is The Business of Product Development:  People, Process and Technology Across the Life Cycle.  The conference will focus on successful product development and product life cycle management, with an emphasis on how-to's and new techniques to apply immediately to your competitive advantage.  Three conference tracks are featured: People, Process and Technology.

Brad Goldense is part of the conference planning team, is the track chair for the Process Track, and will speak on the subject of Industry Best Practices for Product Life Cycle Management.

More information is available at PDMA's web site: http://www.pdma.org/2003/.

SCPD 8th Annual Conference:  The Society of Concurrent Product Development's 8th Annual Conference originally scheduled for June 11-12 has been postponed. More detailed information will be available soon at SCPD's web site: http://www.scpdnet.org/boston/index.htm


WEBINARS OF INTEREST

Winning Practices for Product Development: This free, online seminar series is co-sponsored by Sopheon and SCPD.  These one-hour, online events feature experts and leading practitioners who will share process knowledge and practical advice about ways to improve your product development performance and results.

There is currently one more scheduled webinar:

5 June - (8am Pacific/11am Eastern/16:00 UK) - Taking Time to Market Beyond the Hype, presented by Preston Smith, founder of New Product Dynamics

For more information and to register, go to: http://www.sopheon.com/events_onlineseminars.asp


TELEVISION EVENTS

Alexander Haig's World Business Review: Brad Goldense has made several appearances on Alexander Haig's World Business Review last year. Streaming video is available for all shows, which aired on August 4, September 29 and December 15, 2002. See below for details.

One final broadcast of the September 29 In-Studio interview, a 22.5 minute program, will be shown on Educational Satellite Services, formerly the PBS Business and Technology Network (a subscription service) and on Tech TV (for digital cable subscribers) on May 20 - June 4, 2003. Those of you in Fortune 2000 companies might already subscribe to Educational Satellite Services (formerly the PBS Business and Technology Network).  For a partial listing of participating companies, go to  http://www.wbrtv.com/distribution/pbs_4_28.html.  The Tech TV channel is available in select areas to digital cable subscribers, in the 200-500 range of channels.  Check your local cable listings for availability. For a complete list of airing times for locations nationwide, as well as other program information, go to:
http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr5

December 15 In-Studio with Alexander Haig (7.5 minutes) on CNBC paid programming: Streaming video for this segment is available at: http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr3

September 29th In-Studio with Alexander Haig (22.5 minutes): Streaming video for this segment (as well as the entire 30-minute show) is available at:  http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr2

August 4th On-Location at GGI (3.5 minutes): This On-Location field report is available in streaming video on GGI's website. To see the program, go to:  http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr1

The web page includes links to download a streaming video player, if you do not currently have one installed on your computer.

For more information on any of Brad's appearances on television, go to:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml.

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GGI RapidNews is an e-mail publication from Goldense Group, Inc (GGI). Its subject matter includes survey findings, company news, book reviews, key industry conferences and R&D information of interest to clients and associates. Please send communications to rn(at)goldensegroupinc.com. Thank you.