Extending cost management in the product development process in three different perspectives

Abstract

This study focuses on the extension of cost management practices in product development. An exploratory Delphi study was conducted among 37 experts (company collaborators, academics and consultants). The results indicate that cost management is an important domain Contradictorily or paradoxically, the results suggest, firstly, that cost management tools may be easier implemented in small firms than in large or multinational firms but, secondly, the awareness of the need to apply cost management methods and techniques in small enterprises is in general very low. Also, Cost Management in NPD is presented here with three important extensions: [1] a vertical internal extension (within the company and across multiple departments); [2] a product life-cycle extension (from Target Costing to Kaizen Costing or vice versa); [3] extension of TC or KC to the downstream and upstream of the company (external cost management, which occurs mainly with suppliers but also with clients). The results of the Delphi study allow to conclude that the external extension has a more important role in cost management in NPD than the internal ones (vertical and life-cycle).