Navigating Tensions in New Product Development

Abstract

Before new product ideas become formal development projects, organisations must decide which uncer tain initiatives deserve attention, resources and commitment. This thesis examines how actors mobilise management accounting information (MAI) in the fuzzy front end (FFE) of new product development (NPD),whereideasareincomplete but still need to be made available for organisational judgement. Based on a qualitative single-case study, the thesis draws on semi-structured interviews with actors from R&D management, project management, portfolio management, controlling, product planning, sales-related management and external relations. The empirical material was analysed through an iterative thematic analysis informed by literature on MAI, formalisation, uncertainty, the FFE and NPD portfolio prioriti sation. The findings show that MAI becomes decision-relevant before ideas have become stable projects. Actors mobilise MAI by giving early ideas organisational form, formalising provisional information into decision material, and positioning initiatives within portfolio-level comparisons. Through this mobilisa tion, early initiatives become organisationally intelligible while remaining provisional and open to revi sion. The analysis shows that MAI is mobilised within three tensions that shape early decision-making: between organisational structure and flexibility, as initiatives need recognisable forms without becoming prematurely fixed; formalising provisional information under uncertainty, as estimates and assumptions make initiatives discussable while potentially concealing the fragility of their basis; and between business case logic and portfolio logic, as initiatives are assessed both as individual cases and as claims on wider organisational capacity, strategy and commitments. The thesis contributes to the literature on manage ment accounting and NPD by showing that MAI does not merely evaluate already defined projects, but participates in forming early initiatives as objects of organisational judgement. It further shows that formal isation in the FFE is provisional and processual, and that MAI moves between business-case and portfolio logics as actors assess individual initiatives while positioning them within broader constraints. The study also contributes practically by showing how early decision material can support prioritisation and coor dination while keeping provisional assumptions visible and open to challenge. The thesis concludes that MAI supports early innovation decisions not by resolving uncertainty, but by giving uncertain initiatives a form that can support judgement while preserving the revisability needed in front-end work.