Title: Tactical capabilities in agile NPD projects: insights from an autonomous car project in Sweden

Authors: Gouthanan Pushpananthan; Ludvig Lindlöf; Marcus Rothoff

Addresses: Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden ' Department of Mobility and Systems, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Gothenburg, Sweden; School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability, Halmstad University, Sweden ' Volvo Car Group, Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract: Research on project management and new product development (NPD) identifies both strategy and tactics as important for success. Whilst there is a lot of attention on strategy, few studies address the role of tactics in NPD projects. In the pursuit for increasing organisational abilities to manage uncertainty, agile is increasingly getting traction in large firms. Both tactical activities and agile methodology deal with adapting to emergent challenges and handling uncertainty in projects. This motivated this study of how an agile transformation initiative influences tactical activities within NPD projects. The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of Volvo Car Group's autonomous car project. The case firm's transformation from waterfall to agile method provided the possibility to understand how tactical activities differ between the two methods. By using observations from the case, we argue that agile development method facilitates the use of tactics in NPD projects.

Keywords: tactics; new product development; NPD; agile; empowered teams; case study; autonomous cars; Sweden.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2024.136408

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2024 Vol.33 No.2, pp.236 - 251

Received: 18 Apr 2020
Accepted: 21 May 2021
Published online: 01 Feb 2024 *

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