Pharmaceutical discovery as a complex system of decisions: The case of front-loaded experimentation
Van Dyck, Walter Allen, P.
Van Dyck, Walter
Allen, P.
Citations
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Publication Type
Journal article
Editor
Supervisor
Publication Year
2006
Journal
Emergence: Complexity & Organization
Book
Publication Volume
8
Publication Issue
3
Publication Begin page
40
Publication End page
56
Publication Number of pages
Collections
Abstract
In an article to appear shortly (McCarthy et al., 2006) the NPD process has been shown to be a complex adaptive system. In earlier articles (Allen & Ebeling, 1983; Allen, 2001; Allen & Strathern, 2005) the theory behind the emergent nature of the innovation and the new product development process has been presented and discussed, linking it to the inherent uncertainties involved in system instabilities when new dimensions and descriptors are turned on. This is the fuzzy front end of the innovation process and corresponds in practice to “the period between when an opportunity is first considered and when an idea is judged ready for development” (Kim & Wilemon, 2002). In the fuzzy front end, ambiguity about the performance of the idea prevails, preventing it from being transferred to development where it becomes increasingly expensive to rework or kill non-performing product ideas as one proceeds through the process (Verganti, 1997; Thomke & Fujimoto, 2000).