Time to market problems-the organization is the real cause

Although the process for designing a product and delivering it to the market has been the subject of extensive study, its realization in many companies yields results much later than expected. Studies of this time to market problem largely describe symptoms of the problem, and the recommended solutions do not adequately address the root causes of the problem itself. The authors' research leads to the conclusion that the organization encourages late product delivery. Here, the authors review fundamentals of modern organization theory and cite the tenets for addressing the coordination and control problems in product development firms. They then describe several barriers that published studies have indicated as causes of the time to market problem. They examine each of these barriers, illustrate that organizational problems cause them, and describe the organizational changes that would improve the situation. They conclude with recommendations on the role of management to reduce the time to market in product development firms.<>