Applying QFD to business development environment

Abstract

This research aims at proposing adaptations in the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology; analyzing its use to assist business development projects (BDP); and evaluating the results of a case study. In order to support the analysis of the use of QFD in the business development environment, a bibliographic review was performed and a case study of a BDP was set-up and executed in a small enterprise in Brazil. Finds indicate that QFD is a valuable tool to assist BDP; the case study results point up the benefits gathered by organization when the proposed procedure was applied; the adaptations suggested in the QFD matrices make possible the usage of the intrinsic QFD deployment process in the business environment and produced a procedure to assess the completeness of the BDP scope, in which the focus of the QFD deployment process is moved from the deployed characteristics to the evaluation criteria of these characteristics. Because only one case was studied, it was not analyzed the implications of the proposed planning procedure in different types of organizations and projects. Similar studies should be conducted to reveal the effect of these differences. © 2013 The Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering.

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