Sponsored Research Grant by SAP America Inc. Awarded to RIT

Does the Internet hold the key for needed improvements to the new-product development process? That’s the focus of groundbreaking research to be conducted by Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Technology Management Center at RIT’s College of Business has been awarded a grant by SAP America Inc. to investigate the role of Web-based collaborative design systems in the new-product development process. The grant was awarded through the SAP Innovation Institute, a center for e-business research and education. At the Institute, professors and fellows join experts from SAP, the world’s leading provider of e-business software solutions, to focus on strategies that benefit companies around the world.

John Ettlie, RIT’s Madelon and Richard Rosett chair and director of the Technology Management Center, and Victor Perotti, assistant professor of management information systems, will serve as the project’s lead researchers.

"Our study will report on the experiences of North American firms and their adoption of these new systems," explains Ettlie. "These will be critical findings as there currently exists no widely-accepted standard of effective collaboration procedures for new-product development."

The 18-month study will be a jointly funded project, becoming the latest facet of an existing relationship between RIT and SAP America. RIT is a member of the SAP University Alliance, a partnership between SAP and more than 400 member colleges and universities to enhance e-business curriculum and study.

This is the first grant awarded to RIT’s Technology Management Center, which is dedicated to addressing the urgent need for a better understanding of information technology management and the successful application of new and improved processes.