Exploring managerial heuristics in optimizing new service development processes in a multinational technology company

This rapidly evolving technology has led the industry to adopt emerging trends that have led to exponential efficiency and quality, as well as practices for implementing New Service Development (NSD). This study analyzes the impact of managerial heuristics, especially the “fast and frugal” perspective, in optimizing NSD in a multinational technology company. This research aims to evaluate the efficacy of the current NSD processes, pinpoint crucial decision-making junctures for applying heuristics, and construct a framework that optimizes operational efficiency and stimulates innovation. This research highlights how heuristics facilitate the decision-making process by emphasizing key variables and ignoring extraneous information. Using qualitative methods, such as interviews with managers and NSD practice analysis, identifies heuristics as important tools for overcoming challenges in managing resources, involving stakeholders, and prioritising innovation. Using rules such as “give priority to features that deliver a 10 per cent or higher contribution to customer retention” allows managers to make timely and meaningful decisions without constant deliberation. The results culminate in an overarching theoretical framework that harbours managerial heuristics sheltered within iterative feedback loops, enabling responsiveness to change managerial and market demands. This framework emphasizes the dual nature of heuristics when it comes to NSD and how the trade-off exists between efficiency and innovation serving as a practical guide for decision-making in the NSD process. The study also touches on the value of embedding customer-oriented behaviours and using digital tools to be more responsive and in line with strategic goals. The study offers useful contributions to the existing literature, yet it has important limitations, including being based on a single firm and facing recruitment issues that have implications for generalization. Further research needs to include cross-industry applications, adopt empirical validation of frameworks that have been introduced through heuristics, and assess how solutions align with and integrate with emerging technologies, including AI. Hence, this thesis form a theoretical and practical contribution by showcasing how fast-and-frugal heuristics can expedite NSD processes, thus offering a viable means for multinational technology firms to bolster competitiveness in fast-moving markets.