Supporting new product creation in the Mondragón Valley

Abstract

Purpose

Within the Mondragón Valley – an industrial heartland in the Basque Country, in the North of Spain – there has been a growing need for a practical model of the new product development (NPD) process which fulfils a variety of needs, notably the integration of strategy and technology considerations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a review of the state of the art in the NPD field, focusing on the use and limitations of both established and newer models for guiding product development. This is combined with the experiences of managing real NPD projects for companies in the Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa over the past several years.

Findings

The paper presents the Ikerlan new product creation (NPC) model, designed primarily in response to area needs, which attempts to combine the most useful aspects of existing NPD models.

Research limitations/implications

In the first instance, the model is created for use by companies in the Mondragón Valley – therefore it may not be possible to generalise findings, yet the paper may be instructive in showcasing the real industrial innovation needs of a European region. The model evolved from several notable works in the NPD community which may address these limitations in part.

Practical implications

The model may be used as a basic guide for aspects including NPD outsourcing, idea generation and, ultimately, reducing time to market. This is specifically tailored to companies in the Mondragón Valley. However, depending on the operating context certain aspects may be transferable to other European areas.

Originality/value

The paper details the industrial context, introducing the Mondragón cooperative – the largest industrial cooperative in the world with over 100 companies in seven industrial sectors – the academic context, discussing state of the art in NPD processes and models, and concludes with short industrial cases which show the potential use of the developed model. As such, insight is presented into a European area with a tradition of innovation, together with some of the challenges it faces in the years ahead. A new NPD model, combining the most useful aspects of existing models may also be of use to certain members of the academic and industrial communities.

Citation

MacGregor, S.P., Arana, J., Parra, I. and Pilar Lorenzo, M. (2006), "Supporting new product creation in the Mondragón Valley", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 418-443. https://doi.org/10.1108/14601060610707858