Identifying Key Risk Factors in Product Development Projects

Abstract

In a rapidly changing world, most operational processes of enterprises are conducted in the form of development projects. The development of new products is an important organizational strategy to meet consumer needs. During this process, enterprises often encounter many bottlenecks and risks that can cause delays in, and even the failure of, development projects. In this study, we developed a research framework based on relevant literature and expert interviews and then used the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and the analytic network process (ANP) to determine the relationships among and the importance of risks in the development of new products. The results of a case study show that the six key risks of product development projects include project completion time, mastery of key technical capabilities, controlling the progress of the project, uniqueness and complexity of the project, ability to control the market, and functional integrity of the product. According to the results of importance performance analysis, six key factors were classified in the concentrate quadrant. The optoelectronic manufacturing industry should focus on reducing risks to the project. A cause-and-effect diagram shows that if an enterprise wants to improve performance in terms of these key factors, it should first improve the project completion time or the mastery of key technical capabilities. Therefore, it is appropriate to start by improving the project completion time. In this study, we developed a practical and simple decision support system that allows managers of research and development to examine the risk of projects and assess the relevant risks. A case study was also conducted to test the accuracy of the proposed risk-management method.