Abstract

Today’s turbulent business environment, which is characterised by uncertainty and inability to predict the future, is extremely challenging. Mobile and Internet Protocol (IP) convergence, which brings together technologies and services from the mobile and Internet domains, has been identified as a discontinuity in the mobile telecommunications business. Additionally, new disruptive technologies are introduced together with new, complex products.

This research addresses the approach that, along with introducing disruptive technologies in the mobile and IP convergence era, a new operational mode is needed in the new product development (NPD) process. This study approaches the operational mode from five perspectives: business environment, competence development, process renewal, running technology pilots, and product reliability.

The research on the business environment area proposes two frameworks: one for building and describing and another for evaluating business models. The study on competence development arrives at the conclusion to propose a project management competence development framework. The third research perspective suggests that, when the business environment is changing, and disruptive technologies and continuous innovations create new kinds of products, it is likely that processes need renewal. Running technology pilots to involve customers early enough in new product development is proposed in the fourth research area. Finally, the fifth research topic proposes that it is essential for companies to be able to estimate the reliability of their products during the product development phase.

It is concluded that the new operational mode when introducing disruptive technologies requires reconsidering business models, special attention to competence development, process renewal, customer involvement in new product development, and requires a means to guarantee software reliability.