Strategies For Driving Product Development Operations

The goal of this chapter is to improve the probability that enterprises will target appropriate strategic objectives and enact effective ways of achieving them. Most strategies fail to be realized in important ways. This chapter focuses on ways in which strategy is formulated and implemented regardless of specific targets. Deploying seven sets of practice improves the probability that enterprises will formulate appropriate strategic objectives and exploit effective ways of working to improve their likelihood of achieving them. Each strategy practice is profiled and grounded in a case examples. Average scores are provided along with correlations with product development performance. A Big Bang index is calculated prioritizing actions for enterprises to close gaps vs. BIC standards. A key practice is strategy engagement so that people doing the work participate in formulating objectives and ways of realizing them. A dynamic approach to strategy formulation is particularly important in complex, emerging markets. Concurrent strategy is summarized by a simple formula: planned + emergent actions = realized strategy. Strategy engagement has an extraordinarily strong correlation with performance. It also has the highest average synergy bonus enhancing the effect of other practices in the SPOT databank. Appendix Table 8 provides readers with an opportunity for benchmarking strategy practices in their enterprises against BIC standards and prioritizing improvement actions.