Open Innovation: New Product Development Essentials from the PDMA

8 OPEN INNOVATION: A FRAMEWORK FOR COLLABORATIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND UNIVERSITIES

Aruna Shekar

Massey University

8.1 Introduction

This chapter presents a collaborative Product Development program and demonstrates how industry practitioners can successfully access university resources for Open Innovation. A useful framework for collaborations and approaches to managing university-industry project partnerships is presented. The chapter builds on research in the field and empirical studies on active collaboration over two decades, and offers real-life lessons and recommendations. Most of the literature on this topic is on the educational benefits to universities, while this chapter presents the advantages that companies can gain from accessing the resources and expertise at universities. Examples from collaborative projects have been used to present concrete and practically grounded material.

New product development (NPD) benefits most from multidisciplinary teams, with people of different backgrounds and disciplines working together toward a common goal. Having academics and practitioners bring their different perspectives to a product development project is an advantage, as both groups can build on each other's perspectives and strengths. This kind of collaboration in Open Innovation (OI) is a top priority with world-class universities for the benefits it has been shown to provide. Staff and students have the opportunity to work with industry partners on ...