Challenges to systematically include voice-of-customer into the new product development
Linnavirta, Tommi (2025)
2025
Tuotantotalouden DI-ohjelma - Master's Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2025-06-19
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202506187337
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202506187337
Tiivistelmä
New product development is one of the main forces for a business growth. It has been recognized that the integration of voice-of-customers to new product development is great way to gain sustainable competitive advantage. The failure rate of new products can be significantly lowered by understanding what challenges companies are facing during the integration of voice-of-customer to new product development. Customer centricity should be integrated all the way to the creation of innovation strategy since it allows to focus prioritize resources more effectively to new innovations.
The master’s thesis was done by a case study where two divisions in a material handling equipment company were studied. The aim of the study was to understand what the main challenges the divisions were facing were and what were the factors that contributed to them. As a secondary objective the master’s thesis aimed to understand how effective different methods were to collect customer needs. The case study was organized by interviews with the employees from the two divisions and central functions. Participative observation was also used to support interviews. In analysis phase empirical data was compared to the existing theoretical knowledge to recognize the greatest barriers preventing better integration of customer needs.
The master’s thesis was able to achieve its objectives. Key challenges included that there were no systematic processes for collecting customer needs during new product development. Unofficial processes varied between projects and the customer knowledge data was scattered around the organization. Multiple different methods for collecting customer needs were identified and the study was able to compare their effectiveness against one another. To fully benefit from the collected customer knowledge, functional customer knowledge management system is needed. New framework was created to explain how challenges are linked together as a reinforcing cycle of voice-of-customer integration barriers. Customer centric mindset and long-term strategic investments are needed to develop more customer centric new product development. The master’s thesis also found out that while the two divisions were part of the same company, they had different strategic approaches for integrating customer needs. Both approaches had their own strengths and drawbacks which had an effect on selected methods.
The main limitations of the study were that it only focused on one case company and its two divisions. It also focuses only on new product development leaving short term and more incremental product development outside the scope.
As a conclusion, the systematic integration of Voice-of-customer to new product development can create sustainable competitive advantage. However, without careful execution it can create barriers that prevent gaining benefits from the investments. The findings of the master’s thesis can help companies to recognize these barriers and understand how they are created. The study may also help to choose the most suitable methods for customer needs collection.
The master’s thesis was done by a case study where two divisions in a material handling equipment company were studied. The aim of the study was to understand what the main challenges the divisions were facing were and what were the factors that contributed to them. As a secondary objective the master’s thesis aimed to understand how effective different methods were to collect customer needs. The case study was organized by interviews with the employees from the two divisions and central functions. Participative observation was also used to support interviews. In analysis phase empirical data was compared to the existing theoretical knowledge to recognize the greatest barriers preventing better integration of customer needs.
The master’s thesis was able to achieve its objectives. Key challenges included that there were no systematic processes for collecting customer needs during new product development. Unofficial processes varied between projects and the customer knowledge data was scattered around the organization. Multiple different methods for collecting customer needs were identified and the study was able to compare their effectiveness against one another. To fully benefit from the collected customer knowledge, functional customer knowledge management system is needed. New framework was created to explain how challenges are linked together as a reinforcing cycle of voice-of-customer integration barriers. Customer centric mindset and long-term strategic investments are needed to develop more customer centric new product development. The master’s thesis also found out that while the two divisions were part of the same company, they had different strategic approaches for integrating customer needs. Both approaches had their own strengths and drawbacks which had an effect on selected methods.
The main limitations of the study were that it only focused on one case company and its two divisions. It also focuses only on new product development leaving short term and more incremental product development outside the scope.
As a conclusion, the systematic integration of Voice-of-customer to new product development can create sustainable competitive advantage. However, without careful execution it can create barriers that prevent gaining benefits from the investments. The findings of the master’s thesis can help companies to recognize these barriers and understand how they are created. The study may also help to choose the most suitable methods for customer needs collection.