The Design of Interactive Training for Digital Transformation: A Practice-Oriented Case Study

Hybrid approaches to new product development are blurring the boundaries between established models, such as Lean, Stage-Gate and Agile. The actual implementation of the principles of these archetypical approaches seems to be contingent on the features of the product to innovate and the organisation in which the product development effort is made. This paper investigates how Lean, Agile, and Stage-Gate product development principles can foster the design, development and delivery of a training program for digital transformation in a knowledge intensive business service that delivers training by relying on a simulated, highly-realistic, digitalised business environment. The conception and execution of a new training program requires a new product development effort since it significantly departs from the current offering of the training provider and involves the coordination of multiple stakeholders. Through a practice-oriented case study methodology, this investigation examines whether a hybrid organisational method is a viable approach for new product development and assesses its practical feasibility and effectiveness.