The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

10.2. Political Behavior in Product Development

The terms power, influence, and political activity often conjure up negative images of force and manipulation, and in their worst expression these views are correct. Many product development professionals have seen cases in which superior projects are terminated due more to "political" rather than rational reasons. Contrary to the idea that political behavior is always a mechanism for unfair and unjust allocations of resources, politics may serve a useful role within the organization. Product development personnel in many firms make liberal use of political activity and influence tactics to the benefit of their firms. Below we describe how product development teams and professionals exert influence in the product development process.

The champion, (Markham, 2000) the product development team, and the use of product development processes such as Stage-Gate® processes^[] can all be viewed as mechanisms for exerting influence. Champions influence management and others by convincing them that their project has an attractive payoff for the organization. For example, champions may promote their projects as critical to the organization across several dimensions, such as filling a neglected market niche, leading the competition in time-to-market or product specifications. Champions may argue that devoting resources to their project provides strategic advantage such as reducing the uncertainty of future technological or product advances. Research ...