Corning

Company Organization

As seen with the development of the contact sensor project, development teams have to ability to create strong bonds between different parts of the organization. This model of organizational coordination needs to be imitated throughout the rest of the companies product development teams. Having strong bonds between the development team and other parts of the organization is what enabled the CS project to become so successful. By taking advantage of this form of organization at the company, Canon can develop the capability to integrate a large number of new people into development teams when they need to continue to move ahead on the project quickly.

As noted by Clark and Wheelwright’s article, “Organizing the Leading “Heavyweight” Development Teams,” effective product development requires the integration of specialized capabilities. Canon’s specialized capabilities exist in the realm of innovative engineering, hence when applying the concept of Heavyweight development teams its most appropriate to apply this concept to Canon’s product development life-cycle. If managed correctly, Canon implementing the concept of heavyweight project team structure, as discussed by Clark and Wheelwright, could be a highly effective.

Case Comparison Summary

Through our analysis, it becomes clear that Canon is a company that has historically relied heavily on internal talent and management direction. Although they do exhibit the traits of a company with clear planning on how to turn projects into technology products and therefore commercialize those products, they have not been able to take full advantage of their intellectual capital. After review of the aforementioned cases, and focusing on the referencing the CS development, several overall themes can be applied.

Canon is highly anticipatory (similar Chaparral and Teradyne) in that it is continuously looking outside and among the industry for product enhancement opportunities rather than relying solely on market demand and customer expectations. However, they need to better utilize the current talent base through increased coordination and communication between development teams and the rest of the company. By incorporating Wheelwright and Clark’s concept of heavy team structures (illustrated in the model in Exhibit 1) they can begin to incorporate objective product development. (see the next section regarding Framework Analysis). Lastly, Canon’s move to heavyweight development teams will allow them to realize higher levels of project success and integration of new technology across their