J.D. Power Launches Launch Control
Automotive News [sub] reports that J.D. Power is introducing a Vehicle Launch Index, aimed at providing OEMs with data and feedback on product launches. For a nominal (sliding scale) fee, JDP will follow launches for the first 12 months of a model’s life, measuring ad effectiveness, consumer response, dealer gross profits and incentive spending. “There will be 88 new and restyled model launches in 2009,” JDP VP for research Dave Sargent tells AN. “Some of them will succeed. Others won’t, and frankly should never have gotten approval to see the light of day.” And JDP’s role will be to boldly proclaim vehicle program flaws during and after launches, because “it’s hard for people inside the company, especially if they want to get ahead in their career, to derail a project by saying, ‘This plan is flawed.'” Because what fixes dysfunctional product development like a highly paid consultant offering post-mortem bon mots?
Clearly these automakers shouldn’t take measures to ensure that arrogant managers listen to their better-informed underlings. Nor should they insist on thorough questioning of marketing assumptions throughout product development. And god forbid the product development executives actually be held accountable for failures to launch. Nope, pay a consultant. It’s convenient, doesn’t encourage those annoying kaizen freaks [sub], and they can always be blamed for future launch flops. See, these are the tough decisions that earn the big bucks. Take a three martini lunch. You’ve earned it.
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Could be useful in some cases. But it's a Band-Aid on the real problem: that people inside the companies cannot make these calls. In most cases, this information will probably arrive too late to help.
It's frustrating. I work for a big company, and I understand the sentiment that you don't feel as free to speak up as management likes to say you are.
I take all comments from the Power group with a grain of Salt! They dont live in the real world as I know it either. Shame on them, there are better indicators out there than this so called expert group!