PDMA Connections - February 2024

The significantly revised and improved Third Edition of the PDMA Body of Knowledge (BoK) provides a singular reference for everyone involved in product management, development, and innovation regardless of industry. It is also the guidebook of the knowledge required to pass PDMA’s New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification exam. The BoK is organized into seven integrated knowledge areas: management, strategy, portfolio, process, design and development, market research, and cultures & teams. New sections address case studies, examples, chapter exercises, and sample NPDP exam questions.

Use code PDMA3 for a 25% discount at wiley.com.

For 37 years, PDMA's exclusive Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Award has become the premier honor for industry innovators. The OCI Award selection process provides an excellent mechanism for identifying companies that create and capture long-term value through product and service innovation. As a global award, companies around the world are eligible.

The 2024 winners will join 64 organizations granted the OCI Award over the course of its long history. Past winners include Hershey, 3M, Church & Dwight, Medtronic, Henkel, Lennox, BD (Becton Dickinson), The Gorilla Glue Company; Porex Corporation, Starbucks, UnitedHealth Group, BMW, Clorox, Corning, Dow Chemical, Marriott, and Novozymes. See a full list of winners here.

Do you know an organization, perhaps yours, which has distinguished itself by its ability to consistently identify, develop, and launch breakthrough innovations? Learn more about OCI Award, including eligibility, the selection committee, and more.

The deadline for nominations is February 29, 2024.

Do you have a project, product innovation, process, tool, or methodology that you are bursting to share about?

PDMA is seeking exceptional interactive presentations from practitioners like you to share cutting-edge strategy and processes that others can learn from—and toot your own horn! Your insights will empower attendees to tackle their most formidable innovation challenges head-on. Don't miss this opportunity to make a lasting impact and contribute to the advancement of innovation!

CFP closes: April 10, 2024
Speakers selected by: End of April, 2024

The 2024 JPIM Annual Research Forum, powered by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), seeks various types of conference submissions from scholars from all disciplines who share a common interest in new product development and innovation management research. The JPIM Research Forum is part of the PDMA conference and will offer networking opportunities with scholars, practitioners, the JPIM’s Editorial Team, and the PDMA community. There will be joint sessions for researchers and practitioners for stimulating high-impact research driven by collaborations between industry and academia.

Full Competitive Papers, Developmental Papers, and Special Session Proposals are all welcome. Submissions from all academic areas, methodological approaches, and regions of the world are welcome.

CFP closes: April 15, 2024
Speakers selected by: July 15, 2024

Do you wish you could get closer to your customers and find new ways to deliver winning innovations? In-depth customer interviews can shed new light on unknown customer problems, putting your customer at the center of your innovation strategy.

Join Andrea Ruttenberg, Ph.D. of Applied Marketing Science (AMS) for a virtual workshop in partnership with the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). Andrea will share best practices for finding customer needs through in-depth interviewing, which she has collected over decades of market research experience for the world’s leading companies.

$50 MEMBER DISCOUNT! Email certification@pdma.org to request a discount code if you are a PDMA Member.

PDMA’s Global Student Innovation Challenge 2024 submission portal is now open and ready to receive your innovation ideas!

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is pleased to offer the 5th annual Global Student Innovation Challenge. This challenge encourages and supports students developing novel, real-world offerings—including products, software, or services. Students currently enrolled full-time at a university academic program, either in an undergraduate or graduate level, are eligible to participate. The top three finalist teams will be invited to present their project as part of the PDMA International Inspire Innovation Conference, September 14-17, 2024 in St. Louis, Missouri USA. You can review the rules and guidelines of the challenge as well as videos of the winning teams from previous years on our website. Please thoroughly review the rubric to ensure you meet all the criteria.

The submission portal is open with a deadline of June 1, 2024.

Announcement of Search for Editor(s)-In-Chief

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is seeking applications for the next Editor-in-Chief (EIC) or team of EICs of the Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM), the leading journal in the innovation and new product development domain, to start in the position on January 1, 2025, for a three-year term (2025–2027). Currently, JPIM is published six times per year and receives approximately 600-700 submissions per year.

Interested candidates for EIC should familiarize themselves with JPIM (jpim.online) and PDMA (pdma.org) before considering applying. Interested individuals should prepare and submit a statement describing their vision for continuing the growth and development of the journal, along with their qualifications for the position, evidence of administrative capability, an academic vita, and a statement indicating support from the employing institution. Selection of the EIC will be made by PDMA's Publications Committee in spring 2024. Finalists will be asked to participate in an interview with the Committee. All applications should be submitted before February 29, 2024, to Professor Ludwig Bstieler, Chair of the Publications Committee for the PDMA [ludwigb@usnh.edu;
(+1) 603-862-3306].

Learn more

In today's competitive business environment, it's more important than ever to stay ahead of the curve. That means understanding your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It's more than just monitoring the feature lists of competitors' products. It's about understanding your competitors' business models, strategies, and goals. This kHUB Market Research in Product Innovation webinar, Monitoring Competitive Threats: A Holistic Approach by Susan Penta of Midior Consulting, guides us through the various elements of robust competitive analysis, common approaches and frameworks, and where and when to apply them for timely and accurate monitoring of competitive threats.

How well do you truly understand your customers? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where well-intentioned assistance led to mismatched product choices? The kHUB article Sharing your Customers’ Dreams by guest contributor Brent Wilson reflects on the critical importance of comprehending customer needs and preferences, urging businesses to go beyond blind pursuit of innovation and instead focus on solving problems that resonate with their audience. Strive for a deep, personal understanding of customers by engaging with them directly, listening actively, and building relationships that foster trust and loyalty.
A reminder that kHUB links to JPIM’s Academic articles! This allows you to access the abstracts and practitioner points on kHUB before delving into the full article in JPIM. We’ve finished posting those from the September and November 2023 issues. We’ve added the following to the Strategy section of kHUB:

These JPIM articles and all others from the 2023 issues are now easily accessed via kHUB.

PDMA Carolinas February 8 Event:
Spirits as a Product: Start-Ups in a Highly Regulated Industry

The Carolinas chapter of PDMA held its first in-person event for 2024 at Murto Made Distillery in Huntersville, North Carolina. John Murto opened his doors and shared his experience for "Spirits as a Product: Start-ups in a highly regulated industry". He covered how he got started without much knowledge of the challenges he would face. We learned the difficulties small businesses face when state, county, and city rules govern sales and distribution. John shared his distilling process and what makes his products the best. We got lessons on knowing your customers and how they intend to use your product. It was eye-opening that a spirit's taste changes if you plan to mix it or drink it straight.

The 18 team members in attendance enjoyed touring, tasting, and networking and agreed that supporting our North Carolina-made products is highly important. We were all fascinated by the tenacity and perseverance John Murto has shown for his business—and the changes he inspired and continues to bring to small distilleries in North Carolina. View the pictures from the event!

PDMA is growing! Meet and connect with our new members by signing into the PDMA community on our website.

PDMA welcomed these new members in January 2024. We look forward to working with you!

Corporate Team
Alex Zhu

Individual Members

Bradley Bergling
Jason Chen
Jean-Philippe Côté
Travis Criner
Sean Gitt
Jennifer Hanson
David Hoffmann
Pritpal Khanuja
Susan Lyons
Jessica Parkman
Jay Patel
Eric Rankin
Rei Shinozuka
Leon Tate
Alejandro Tejada

Academic Members

Wei Lijin
Wenming Liu
Junjie Lyu
Yuzhu Ren
Mingfeng Wang
Bin Xu
Li Yue

Student Members
Victoria Adams
Opeyemi Adesanya
Omozefe
Aladesanmi
Ganga Pravalika Alle
Zaidat Alli
Ransford Ekow
Appiah
Benjamin Brown
Glynn Burr
Niveditha Bysandra Adaveeshaiah
Joseph Cholewa
Alyssa Janelle de
Leon
Frederick DeBram
Tincy Devassy
Mary Lois Distajo
Abisola Emmanuel
Bala Fattah
Chaofan Gong
Deandra Graham
Heather Hughes
Nick Hutto
Dev Joshi
Chandu Koperahewa
Eugenia Kwofie
Mattie LaPrade
Congcong Li
Tianxi Li
Anita Liaquat
Zehui Lyu
Melanie Madewell
Katherine Martin
Joao Mejia
Richard Murray
Parul Oberoi
Jonas Obiajunwa
Sunday Odeniyi
Abimbola Ofuniyi
Laju Orighoye
Kenneth Owusu-
Aboagy
Akash Patel
Gneya Patel
Omid Sharifi
Himanshu Sharma
Ameikav Sharma
Aubrey Shaw
Shivangi Shrivastava
Sandeep Singh
Harmeet Singh
Matthew Smith
Anamika Sudharma
Balu
Han Sun
Kimberly Thompson
Monica Torres
Kinley Tshomo
Onyeka Usifo
Miao Wang
Qi Wang
Wenjie Zhang
Chenjue Zhu