ABOUT THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION (PDMA) National conferences Regional and local conferences and meetings

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1 APPENDIX ABOUT THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION (PDMA) The PDMA is a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to serving people with an interest in new products. Professionals, executive managers, and academics in the field recognize the PDMA as the global leader in communicating knowledge and tools for the benefit of people and organizations that develop new products and services. Founded in 1976, the PDMA membership is over 2000 product development professionals and academics from all sectors of the economy in over 20 countries worldwide. PDMA s mission is to improve the effectiveness of people engaged in developing and managing new products both new manufactured goods and new services. This mission includes facilitating the generation of new information, helping convert this information into knowledge that is in a usable format, and making this new knowledge broadly available to those who might benefit from it. A basic tenet of the Association is that enhanced product innovation represents a desirable and necessary economic goal for firms that wish to achieve and retain a profitable competitive advantage in the long term. The development of new products and services involves an integrated set of unique activities. The PDMA is the only organization that solely focuses on addressing this challenge by providing: National conferences Regional and local conferences and meetings The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development, Second Edition. Edited by Kenneth B. Kahn Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 567

2 568 The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development Publications Awards for achievements in new product development Sponsored research Body of Knowledge Certification as a New Product Development Professional (NPDP) Certification education and training PDMA s membership is unique in several ways. It represents the best new products professionals from the most widely admired and accomplished new products companies in the world, from the largest to the smallest, and from capital goods to high technology and software to package goods to services of all kinds. PDMA s members include the field s foremost academics and service providers. Whereas most other professional associations are vertical organizations specializing in one industry or one function, PDMA s membership is horizontal and multifunctional, as is the current state of the new product field. This unique characteristic allows PDMA to address innovation management issues in the same way as new product development teams do in practice. PDMA fills an information void in the business world. Practitioners turn to PDMA to find the answers they cannot get anywhere else. Through PDMA s national and international meetings, local area chapter meetings, publications, awards, sponsored research programs, Body of Knowledge, and New Product Development Professional certification program, PDMA offers members the opportunity to learn about the strategies, processes, and organizational issues that are involved in product development. Members usually describe PDMA s greatest value to them as being the networking opportunities it offers. The online membership directory is the only place in the world where you can gain access to over 2000 new product professionals. Conferences and Meetings Annual International Conference. At the annual PDMA International Conference, traditionally held in October of each year, executives and academics from organizations that are leaders in innovation present cutting-edge ideas, research, and case studies. Certification training and examinations are available at the conference. Various workshops offer effective training for managers at all levels of experience. Jointly sponsored conferences. In addition to the annual conference, PDMA jointly sponsors several meetings throughout the year, each focus-

3 Appendix 569 ing on an important new product issue. Conferences also are held to disseminate the information contained in PDMA s Handbook of New Product Development, the ToolBook for New Product Development, and Comparative Performance Assessment Study research results (see Chapter 36). Local chapter meetings. With more than a dozen regional chapters throughout the country, PDMA sponsors over 35 local meetings annually, offering an excellent opportunity for local involvement and exchange of ideas. Publications Journal of Product Innovation Management. The award-winning Journal of Product Innovation Management, published six times a year, brings its readers the theory and practice that will enable them to operate at the cutting edge of effective management practice. The Journal takes a multifunctional, multidisciplinary, international approach to the issues of innovation, and draws on the work of authors from all over the world. Contents include articles by practitioners and academics, abstracts of relevant articles published elsewhere, and reviews of newly published books on new product development. The complete contents of the journal are available electronically to all PDMA members. From the PDMA member area of PDMA s Web site ( click on JPIM Online. The electronic archive is full-text searchable. Visions. PDMA s quarterly news magazine, Visions, offers views from practitioners on new product development and updates members on chapter news, regional meetings, and upcoming events. The electronic archive of Visions is available at PDMA Glossary. The PDMA glossary (available at also see the glossary following this appendix) is the most comprehensive definitional listing of terms, phrases, and acronyms associated with all aspects of new product development. Awards Crawford Fellows. The PDMA confers honorary recognition to select individuals who have made unique contributions to advancing the field of

4 570 The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development new product development. This honor is named after the founder of the PDMA, Professor Emeritus C. Merle Crawford. Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award. The only program of its kind, the Outstanding Corporate Innovator Award (see Chapter 35) recognizes leading companies that have consistently sustained growth through innovation over a period of at least five years. Recipients receive their awards and present their successful innovation programs at PDMA s Annual International Conference. Recent recipients have included Bausch &Lomb, Chrysler, Welsh Allyn, Nabisco, Nabisco, Hewlett- Packard, Mariott Corporation, Merck, Apple Computer, Eli Lilly, and Harley Davidson. Thomas P. Hustad JPIM Best Paper Award. Each year the board of directors of the PDMA and the Editorial Board of the Journal of Product Innovation Management awards the article they feel most advances the state of the art of new product development the Thomas P. Hustad JPIM Best Paper Award. The award winner is announced at the PDMA Annual International Conference. Dissertation Proposal. The PDMA supports academic research through an annual dissertation competition. Current doctoral students compete for a $ 2500 grant to support their dissertation research. The winners report their results at PDMA s Annual International Conference. Through this competition, PDMA attracts beginning scholars into the field of product development. Sponsored Research PDMA initiated research on best practices in new product development in This research was repeated and updated in 1995, resulting in three academic publications of the results and nearly 100 presentations to practitioner audiences globally. In 2003, PDMA initiated its Comparative Performance Assessment Study (CPAS). The purpose of this ongoing study of new product development is to allow industry-by-industry comparisons to be made. Body of Knowledge (BOK) The purpose of the PDMA Body of Knowledge is to organize, distill, and provide ready access to the continuously evolving core knowledge needed and

5 Appendix 571 used by product development and management professionals and their organizations. The BOK includes generally agreed to definitions and summaries of important concepts, tools, methodologies, and processes, organized to provide a foundation upon which to capture and build knowledge, as the field evolves. It provides access to related reference information around key topic areas and linkages to the latest writings and presentations on the topic of new product development. Certification as a New Product Development Professional (NPDP) and Certification Training PDMA has the only certification program for the NPD professional. PDMA certifies individuals as being New Product Development Professionals (NPDP). NPDP certification confirms mastery of NPD principles and best practices, enabling better job performance and career/promotion opportunities. It recognizes growth, professional development, and competence in NPD. One first qualifies to become NPDP certified through acquiring bachelor s degree and obtaining at least two years of work experience. An individual becomes certified by passing a 200-question multiple choice test that shows competent knowledge in six areas of new product development: New product strategy Portfolio management New products process Tools and metrics Market research Teams, people, and organizational issues The PDMA offers classes and workshops that prepare individuals for the certification test. Some of these are offered in conjunction with chapter meetings and events, and one is offered every year at the PDMA Annual International Conference. Membership and Further Information To obtain membership or other information about the PDMA, visit the Association s Web site at or call the Association at (800)