The impact of virtual simulation tools on problem-solving and new product development organization
Section snippets
Virtual simulation tools can do much more than just speed up product development and lower its cost
Virtual simulation tools now play a very important role in new product development. They have been widely hailed to significantly cut development time and costs (Thomke, 1998a, Thomke, 2001a). Accordingly, virtual simulation tools are often introduced in new product development to reap precisely those benefits. In the academic literature, virtual experimentation is also often regarded as a way to overcome the cost and time limitations of physical experimentation methods. Limiting virtual
Introducing virtual simulation tools triggers profound changes in the organization, including the nature of problem-solving
There is ample evidence in the literature that introducing new technology into an organization triggers changes in the way tasks are accomplished, and thus in organizational processes (Barley, 1986, Barley and Kunda, 2001, Orlikowski, 1996, Orlikowski, 2002).2 Technologies alter institutionalized
The case study
Within the literature that frames virtual development as a tool for improving NPD performances, Baba and Nobeoka (1998) was among the first papers to present a virtual simulation tool (3D-CAD) as an enabler of a peculiar form of problem-solving. However, the field research was carried out some years ago (1995) and the technology has improved so much by now that updating their analysis of the effects of virtual prototyping on the nature of problem-solving is needed. D’Adderio's (2001) paper on
Discussion
The basic premise that we started out from is that introducing virtual simulation tools in new product development is not trivial but triggers profound changes in the organization. Our case study has confirmed that and has shed light on some of the effects that introducing virtual simulation tools has on firms. To start with, our data confirms the impact of virtual tools on cost and speed of product development projects, in line with the literature. However, our case study has also evidenced
Conclusion
Throughout this article, we have maintained that virtual simulation tools trigger profound changes in the organization, including the nature of problem-solving. In the previous section, we have identified that virtual simulation tools have an important impact on the redefinition of the set of options to be taken into consideration in problem-solving. In particular through this causal mechanism, we have argued that virtual simulation tools provide the possibility of more innovative designs,
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