The PDMA Handbook of Innovation and New Product Development, 4th Edition

CHAPTER EIGHT THE POLITICS OF PROCESS: THE PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

Stephen K. Markham

8.1 Introduction

Perhaps the most effective political tool in modern management is the product development process. From a corporate politics point of view, management agrees to be bound to unknown future decisions made by a group of people that don’t report to them and are often many levels below them. New product decisions are not trivial; they are among the most consequential decisions organizations make. They not only commit the organization to the direct cost of development, but they also constrain it with the opportunity cost of not doing something different. During development and for a significant time in the market, the organization is committed to a strategy that has profound impact on revenue, growth, talent acquisition, cost of capital, customer satisfaction, and competitive positioning.

Product development processes always define roles and responsibilities to ensure good product decisions (Ettlie and Elsenbach 2007; Farris and Cordero 2002; Roberts and Fusfeld 1980, 1982). This chapter expands on the product development process as a political framework in the organization. This framework has been utilized by numerous organizations in the author’s consulting practice and fully implemented in a global 50 firm by the author while serving as the firm’s Senior Vice President of ...