Dear Doctoral Candidates,

The Product Development and Management Association
is calling for doctoral dissertation proposals to compete for
funding grants.

It seems to me several doctoral projects now under way
might qualify.

Best regards,

Ken Friedman


CFP:

http://www.pdma.org/cfp.html


Annual Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition - Call For Papers

The Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) is calling
for doctoral dissertation proposals to compete for funding grants.
The winning proposal will a receive cash award of up to $2,500 and
other benefits that are estimated to be worth an additional $2,500
(for a total value of approximately $5,000). Applicants may propose
to perform dissertation research on any aspect of product/service
innovation, development, commercialization or management. Submitted
proposals are expected to result in a completed dissertation and must
already be approved by the student's committee. The applicant should
append a letter from his/her committee chair or department head
confirming acceptance of the proposal.

The PDMA fosters interaction between industry practitioners and
academic researchers focusing on the innovation process and new
product development and management. (In our terminology "product"
refers to both physical goods and services.) The association is made
up of persons of many different functional orientations, including
marketing, engineering, R&D, development, planning, product
management, manufacturing, and upper management, as well as
innovation, new product, technology and strategy consulting.

PDMA is sponsoring this dissertation competition to foster academic
research on innovation and new product development. Research topics
appropriate for entering this competition include, but are not
limited to:

* The process of new product development and innovation

* Strategic decision making during product development

* Product development strategy and innovation strategy

* Measuring innovation or product development performance

* Organizational structures for new product development or innovation

* Cultures which foster and impede product development

* Behaviors that influence effective interdepartmental boundary management

* Best practice for promoting collaboration among departments

* Management of product portfolios

* Managing multiple projects

* Global new product development and global new product teams

Those wishing to submit a proposal must limit themselves to 20
double-spaced pages, including all references, tables, figures,
questionnaires, references, etc. The proposal should specifically
cover:

All applicable hypotheses and/or models and how the proposal builds
on past research efforts Your method(s) of investigation (e.g., data
collection and analysis) Expected contributions to both the academic
literature and industrial practice Expected timeline for the research
project.

Dissertation proposals that cross functional lines, involve multiple
research disciplines, or make significant advancements in our
knowledge or research methods are especially desirable. Proposals
will be double-blind reviewed by persons from academia and industry.
Reviewers will judge the proposals against the above criteria, as
well as feasibility of completion in a timely manner as proposed. The
grants from the Competition are intended to support the recipient's
dissertation research. Thus, only those dissertations that will not
be completed prior to the October 2002 annual PDMA Conference should
be submitted to the Competition.

The winner of the Competition will be required to present their
proposed research at the annual International PDMA Conference in
October 2002, in Orlando, FL with conference and travel expenses to
be paid for by PDMA. The winner will receive a $2,000 check upon
presenting his/her proposal. An additional $500 check will be awarded
to the winner upon meeting three conditions:

1. Presentation of research results at a future annual International
PDMA Conference (again, with fees and travel paid for by the PDMA)

2. Submission of a manuscript to be published in a working paper
series by PDMA. The author may publish the working paper for refereed
publication in the journal of his/her choice, including, but not
limited to, the Journal of Product Innovation Management, PDMA's
refereed journal.

3. Agreeing to acknowledge PDMA support in all articles resulting
from this research.

Winning this Competition will provide several benefits. The cash
awards are independent of funding needs and university or department
affiliation. In addition, by presenting the proposal and research at
PDMA conferences, the student's work gets early exposure. These
meetings also provide a forum for networking with both academics and
practitioners who may elect to support your continuing research in
some way. This may allow Competition winners to identify potential
research sites for field-based research and solicit participation in
the study. The PDMA will also help publicize the research results
upon completion. At a minimum, we propose to distribute the required
working paper to all interested PDMA members. Furthermore, the winner
will receive a 2-year membership to the PDMA, including a
subscription to the Journal of Product Innovation Management.
Including travel costs to the annual conferences, we estimate that
the total monetary benefits of winning the Competition are
approximately $5,000.

Applicants should include four (4) copies of the proposal. Include
the author's name and the title of the proposal on the cover page.
This is the only place that the author's name should appear. The
first page of the proposal should include the proposal title and
introduction but not the researcher's name. Proposals, along with a
letter from the dissertation chair or department head, confirming
acceptance of the proposal, must be received no later than May 1,
2002. Please send to:

Professor Roger J. Calantone
Chair - 2002 PDMA Dissertation Competition
N370 Business Complex
Michigan State University
Eli BROAD College of Business
East Lansing, MI 48824-1122
517-353-6381 Phone
517-432-1112 Fax
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After the winner of the Competition has been announced, we would like
to publish the titles and names of each candidate who submitted a
proposal to the Competition in PDMA's newsletter - Visions. This way
we can keep our membership informed of research trends in the field
of new product development. Submission to the Competition will be
taken as agreement to have the author's name and proposal title
published in Visions.

2002 Competition Schedule:

May 1st - Deadline for proposal submission
On or Before August 9th - Notification of results to applicants
October 12th - 16th     - PDMA International Conference.