PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION (PDMA)
2012 RESEARCH COMPETITION
and the DAVID L.WILEMON RESEARCH AWARD

Call for Research Proposals
Submission Deadline: October 26, 2012

The Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) announces its 2012 Research Competition, which provides research grants on topics related to product development and innovation management. Proposals will be reviewed on a competitive, double-blind basis. PDMA is especially interested in research that will contribute significantly to the field of product development and/or to the practice of product development management. Products include both manufactured goods and services. By its nature, new product management is very broad — thus, many research topics are of interest. Suggested research priorities were developed during the JPIM Thought Leadership Symposium and published in the March 2012 issue of the journal. Topics of particular interest include the following:

• The value and importance of open innovation
• Integrating design thinking into the new product development process, and design effectiveness
• Individual and firm-level incentives for innovation
• New approaches for customer engagement in the development process
• The importance of failure and how to manage it
• Including sustainability in new product development
• The role of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding in developing new products
• Innovation and product development in a connected world

Methodologies proposed for the research are not limited to specific tools, but should be appropriate to the stage of development of the research stream.

Evaluation Process

Proposals will be reviewed on topic importance, conceptual development, methodological rigor, originality and fit with the PDMA mission. Constructive comments will be provided back to proposers for all submissions. Funding decisions are expected to be completed by December 14, 2012.

Research Grant Awards

PDMA will grant up to two awards of up to $5,000 each to winning proposals. Research teams will receive $4,000 upon award announcement. The final $1,000 will be paid upon submission of a manuscript to the Journal of Product Innovation Management for publication consideration. Submission funding expires 3 years after notification of project funding. Both awards will provide researchers with access to the PDMA membership list for survey purposes. Those who use the PDMA membership list are required to provide a summary report of findings to PDMA respondents within 9 months of fielding the survey. Recipients of PDMA grants may be asked to present the results of their research at PDMA’s International Conference, with conference and travel expenses to be paid by PDMA.

David L. Wilemon Research Award

Syracuse University has established with the PDMA the David L. Wilemon Research Award. David L. Wilemon is a founder of the PDMA, served as one of its first presidents, acted as an inaugural member of the Journal of Product Innovation Management Editorial Board, and has been a thought leader in innovation and new product development through his significant service, research, and teaching. Syracuse has funded the Award for the best proposal in the PDMA Research Competition. Specifically the following will be awarded:

• $1,250 research grant for the best research proposal based on reviewer recommendations (over and above any grant received from the Competition itself)
• $1,000 travel funds for the proposal’s lead author to present a working paper from the funded proposal at the PDMA Research Forum the year after the Award is made

Eligibility

Individuals with at least a 50% faculty appointment and Ph.D. candidates at accredited universities and colleges are eligible to submit proposals. Researchers funded in the past are not eligible to re-apply until a manuscript has been submitted to JPIM for already funded research.

Submission Guidelines for the October 26, 2012 Deadline

Content

Researcher identity should not be revealed in the proposal, as reviews are double-blind. A separate title page hould contain complete contact information for the researchers. This should be followed by an abstract page. The proposal body should include the following sections: Problem statement; conceptual development; method; expected outcomes, contributions, and implications for theory and industry practice; proposed budget; and a timetable for conducting the research. The proposal should also include explicit identification of the sample needed to conduct the study.

Style

Proposals should use JPIM style and should not exceed 10 double-spaced pages (12 point font, and 1 inch margins on all sides) for the proposal body, including all figures, tables and references, but excluding the title page and the abstract page.

Submission Procedure

The proposal should be sent as a Word file rather than PDF. A signed statement committing to submit at least the first manuscript resulting from the research to JPIM should be included in the submission, along with a one-page vita for each researcher.

Send Materials to Co-Chairs

The Co-Chairs of the 2012 PDMA Research Competition are Barry Bayus, Professor of Marketing, University of North Carolina (US) and Erik Jan Hultink, Professor of New Product Marketing, Delft University of Technology (NL). Please submit the proposal, signed statement of commitment to submit the first manuscript to JPIM, and one-page vitae to both co-chairs (Barry_Bayus@UNC.edu and H.J.Hultink@tudelft.nl).

Proposals not following the submission guidelines will be returned to the authors without review.

Quick Notes for the Winning Proposals

A working paper or progress report should be received by the PDMA’s VP of Academic Affairs, Charles Noble (cnoble@utk.edu), within 12 months of receipt of the research grant. This working paper or progress report will be made available to PDMA members.

All articles resulting from this research must acknowledge PDMA support.

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