Call for Papers: 2015 Annual PDMA Research Forum

PDMA's Annual Research Forum is the premier conference for discourse on new product development (NPD) and innovation research. It is an important forum for intellectual exchange and state-of-the-art research on all aspects of NPD-innovation. For researchers, it is a stimulating international milieu for developing research partnerships and interacting with other academics and with managers. For managers, the forum provides an opportunity to learn of the latest research, reflect on their own practice, and engage with innovation thought-leaders.

The co-chairs welcome your participation in the Research Forum, including submission of competitive papers, extended abstracts, special sessions, and poster abstracts.

Submission Deadline: Monday, May 4, 2015

Research Forum Dates: November 7 - 8, 2015 - 2015 PDMA Annual Conference, Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, California

Submission Guidelines: Papers must be electronically submitted by the deadline (May 4, 2015) to researchforum@pdma.org. In your email, please indicate 2015 PDMA Research Forum and the type of submission within the subject line.

Click here for more information or email researchforum@pdma.org.

Join PDMA at The Economist's Innovation Forum 2015 at a Discounted Rate

The Economist's annual Innovation Forum, taking place in Chicago, IL, is only a few days away! Be sure to register with PDMA's special discount code to save $400 on the standard rate.

How can you save $400 on the standard registration rate today? Simply enter special discount code EMPMPPDM when registering.

The Economist's Innovation Forum is designed for C-Level and senior executives responsible for information, technology, strategy, and marketing, who are charged with driving innovation and new product development-across industries and sectors. Attendees will participate in a full day of stimulating, interactive discussion and debate.

Date: March 26, 2015

Time: 8:00 a.m. CT - 5:30 p.m. CT

Location: Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, 120 E. Delaware Pl., Chicago, IL 60611

Innovate Carolina Conference 2015

Don't become the Next Ford Edsel! Attend Innovate Carolina Conference on April 24, 2015.

There are a few famous instances of unsuccessful product launches, often by large, established companies. Sometimes these failures were products too early for their time or doomed by misguided marketing. Remember Crystal Pepsi?

Many times, they're caused by a poor understanding of the customer's need, despite heavy investments in market research, as was the case with Ford's Edsel. More recently, companies are looking to design thinking and are transforming customer insight into successful innovations. At Innovate Carolina on April 24, we'll teach you a few tools to help you avoid the same mistakes and make it easier to identify the next big product or service opportunity.

Each year the Carolinas Chapter holds a 1-day innovation event, featuring local corporations and service providers who are leaders in the innovation and product development space. The conference is an excellent opportunity to learn new techniques or tools and network with other product development and innovation practitioners.

Now in our sixth year, our 2015 theme is “Discovering Customer Needs” which will introduce a range of research, market intelligence and customer insight tools that identify unmet needs and help build better products. We'll hear from service providers and corporate practitioners on techniques ranging from voice of the customer to ethnography and a range of other methods. You'll hear about practical applications of these tools and how they've been effective helping developers and innovators just like you create compelling new products.

Here's what last year's attendees said about Innovate Carolina.

“Great speakers for a small conference.”
“Incredible value based on speakers (and quality participants).”
“Overall great topics. Excellent organization. Enjoyable.”
“Created new ways to engage clients.”
“Best conference I have been to a long time.”

Book Review: Open Innovation Research, Management and Practice

Review by Paulo Figueiredo

The concept of open innovation (i.e. innovating with partners by sharing risk and sharing reward) has become increasingly popular in the literature on technology and innovation. For example, Tom Malone was one of the first authors to explore this concept (2004).

Terwiesch and Ulrich also addressed the issue (2009). However, despite the large volume of empirical work, many of the solutions and best practices being proposed are fairly general and not specific to particular contexts and contingencies.

It can be argued that the proponents of open innovation are generally positive, but there are indicators suggesting that the specific mechanisms and outcomes of open innovation models are very sensitive to context and contingency. Research has shown that patterns of innovation differ by sector, firm and strategy. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the mechanisms that enable successful open innovation.

In Open Innovation: Research, Management, and Practice, a relatively large group of authors attempt to contribute to a shift in the debate from the potentially misleading general prescriptions, and provide conceptual and empirical insights into the precise mechanisms and potential limitations of open innovation management and research.

The book is divided into four parts. Each part has a small collection of papers covering a specific theme.

PDMA Innovation Maturity Model Official Partner Training Session

"A Flexible Maturity Model for Accelerating Your Product Innovation"

Registration is now open for the Innovation Maturity Model training session which is a program of 2 1/2 days of training that is taking place Wednesday, May 27 – Friday, May 29, 2015 at PDMA Headquarters in Chicago, IL. Partner trainees will master the principles of the Innovation Maturity Model, their application, and essential knowledge on how to perform assessments or audits, and how to implement the maturity model (resulting in an innovation management system) for user organizations, and if necessary conduct train-the-trainer sessions.

This workshop is offered in the introductory period of PDMA's standards to allow prospective users and consulting/auditing partners to quickly get a firm grasp on its contents and be able to scale the required knowledge in their organizations.

The trainees (max. 30 participants) will receive the PDMA's core set of standards documentation, various tools and templates as course materials needed to assess or train customers in the essentials of the Innovation Maturity Model. They will also receive the slides of the sessions and tools as required. They will also get background support to guide them through their first assessments or consulting projects.

It is the first truly international, public innovation maturity model of its kind, and offers an integrated, coherent view on how organizations, of any kind (profit, non-profit, public) can become and stay innovative. The standards are universal, meaning any organization can adopt it, meaning implement its thorough thinking and structures.

Learn more about and register for the PDMA Innovation Maturity Model Training Session here.

PDMA is Pleased To Announce New West Michigan Chapter

Based in Grand Rapids, and serving the southwestern region of Michigan, the West Michigan Chapter is PDMA's newest chapter. Southwest Michigan is a region rich in innovation and leading-edge product development, with such world-class anchor companies as Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth, Whirlpool, Gentex, Stryker, Kellogg, Amway, and Wolverine World Wide. Because of this strong orientation in product development, the region has incredibly vibrant design, marketing, and manufacturing industries.

The West Michigan Chapter is being led by a seasoned team of NPD veterans with diverse backgrounds in business, design, marketing, software, and engineering. The chapter has a stated mission to both promote the broad mission of PDMA and to bring international awareness to this region as the world-class innovation hub that it is.

The chapter will be conducting monthly programming events. The first event, "Products That Integrate Physical and Virtual Spaces" will take place on April 21, 2015 and will feature a panel discussion. The panel discussion is being moderated by David Shull of Progressive AE and will feature Rob Meyers of GM OnStar and other influential product leaders in this field.

Click here for more information on the West Michigan Chapter or contact Anthony Mills at anthony.mills@legacyinnova.com.

PDMA Chapter Events

Llearn how Zipcar changed the way we access cars and what the company's strategy is for continued innovation. This event will take place on the Northeastern University campus and all are welcome to attend. Registration is now open!

Upcoming PDMA Webcast

Meeting a Company's Competitive Needs, Today and Into the Future

During this webcast, Jay Walker of US Patent Utility will explore how to use the US patent system as an effective instrument for knowledge sharing and technology transfer.

This webcast will include a discussion about the innovation needs of companies today. Topics will include:

Finding third party R&D
Recent developments in research models
Capabilities to help companies leverage R&D budgets by 10-20 times
The impact of such changes on the cost-effectiveness of innovation acquisition, particular as this effects legal risk and the valuation of intellectual property
How to access the U.S. patent data base, the world's largest library of innovation

Jay Walker will share the concept of an innovation service provider. He will encourage attendees to move beyond thinking about the US patent database as a list of owned properties.

Click here for more information on who should attend and key takeaways from this webcast.

Date: Monday April 6, 2015

Time: 1:00 p.m. EST

Price: Free for both PDMA Members and Non-members

NPDP Certified Individuals February 2015

Congratulations to the PDMA community members who earned their NPDP certification in February!

Renew Your PDMA Membership by March 31, 2015 to Save $30!

PDMA Visions is Just Around the Corner

PDMA Member Benefit: Accessing JPIM Table of Content Alerts

PDMA's Career Center: How Can We Help You?

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