Lean product development: nothing new under the sun?

The concept of lean product development has attracted the attention of many scholars since its inception in the 1990s derived from practices at Toyota Motor Company. Key to this approach to new product development (NPD) are a few methods derived from lean production as well as longer established practices such as concurrent engineering. This makes one wonder whether lean product development is a new practice, a new method or an encapsulation of already existing methods at the time; this quest for the roots and tenets of lean product development, also in comparison with other methods for NPD, is the focus of this paper. This journey takes this propositional paper not only to the roots of lean product development and the context of its era of conception, but also to what this concept adds to other extant methods for NPD. In particular, this comparison draws out that other methods are trying to achieve the same objectives: the creation of products and services with value to the customer, the reduction of time-to-market and the efficient use of resources. This inference implies that managers of new product (and service) development can choose from a wider pallet of methods and approaches to enhance the performance of R&D and to connect better to manufacturing (including supply chains). Inevitably, this has implications for research on (lean) product and service development; hence, this paper sets out a research agenda based on the deliberations and gaps that have been uncovered in the discourse

Are you ready for change? Farsight for construction: Exploratory scenarios for Queensland’s construction industry to 2036

The future of work and employment is a global hot topic with interconnected and powerful forces shaping jobs, industries and entire economies. Farsight, prepared in partnership with Construction Skills Queensland, examines the future of construction work in the state. Specifically, the report discusses critical trends and alternative scenarios for the future of Queensland’s construction workforce. Eighty leading experts across the state contributed to this future through a range of thinking and participation in interviews and workshops – where they considered what the industry could look like in 2036, and how job profiles and skills requirements might change to align with that future. A comprehensive scan of trends impacting the industry was undertaken, 25 of which are discussed in this report. This industry input and trends scan culminated in the development of four scenarios (Figure 1) that capture key areas of uncertainty and impact for jobs and skills in the industry. Each scenario is possible and takes the reader down an evidence-based journey about a plausible future. Because the future is not exact, there are multiple paths leading to multiple scenarios. Our scenarios describe a range of futures – some we would like to happen or others we would like to avoid. The aim in scenario planning is to be objective and inform decision-makers to identify, select and implement optimal strategies to achieve a better future – for all involved. Farsight was designed to help the industry understand what could happen in the future, and to identify what future(s) the industry wants and what steps could be taken to move toward desired futures. The scenarios were defined using a strategic foresight process that involves the identification of two spectrums that capture a range of plausible outcomes. The end points are extreme possibilities, with each relatively independent of the other. The outcomes of Farsight rests upon a set of trends compiled and synthesised by the research team. Crossing the axes defines the scenario space and the four scenarios which detail the tools we will need to keep stay nimble, relevant and effective in a global marke