Product development activities over technology life-cycles in different generations

Abstract This study aims to capture changes and priorities in product development activities over technology life-cycles. The product development activities are observed through the targets of performance maximising, cost reduction and customisation. Seven models of technology life-cycles are considered to keep track of technology changes over time by following patterns for product development activities. The empirical part of the study is based on analysing a high-tech infrastructure provider on four technology generations. This study depicts different trends of product development activities over technology life-cycles. Different technology generations can have positive and negative interactions which can be strategically beneficial. The managerial implications of this study include comprehensive insights of concurrent technology generations in the context of technology life-cycles which can be beneficial for companies product development planning