Digital Commons Network^™

Technology Selection And Commitment In New Product Development: The Role Of Uncertainty And Design Flexibility, V. Krishnan, Shantanu Bhattacharya

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Selecting the right technologies to incorporate in new products is a particularly challenging aspect of new product definition and development. While newer advanced technologies may offer improved performance, they also make the product development process more risky and challenging. In this paper, we focus on the problem of technology selection and commitment under uncertainty, a major challenge to firms in turbulent environments. We argue that the ''pizza-bin'' approach of rejecting prospective technologies outright may not serve firms well when the pressure to differentiate products is enormous. After motivating the challenges and decisions facing firms using a real-life application from Dell …