plementation if a link is established to consumer research, the consumer
needs and benefits.
Successful implementation of QFD requires commitment of the or-
ganization and it is most likely that the advantages will be strategic, in
the form of long-term competitive advantages as a better understanding
of customer needs and cross-functional team work, benefits that might
be spread in the company (Griffin, 1992). Besides, the team’s different
professional skills will be of great importance. Research and attention
to all the measurement areas in QFD are needed. The dependencies be-
tween measurements should not be overlooked. In order to study the la-
tent independent factors, a quantitative approach is taken by Bech et al.
(1997a). An interesting research area is also a formal modeling of the
Kano model of must-be, proportional and exiting quality characteristics.
The development of fruit and vegetables using QFD should not be a
substitute for the way it is done today. Rather, QFD should be seen as
a supplement to existing methods and it is still important to utilize the
technological and agricultural competencies. In this way, research and
product development will become more goal-oriented, and there will be
a more appropriate utilization of the involved competencies, resulting
in products fulfilling or exceeding consumers’ expectations to a greater
extent.
References
Akao, Y. 1990. Quality Function Deployment Integrating Customer Requirements
into Product Design,Productivity Press, Portland, OR.
Bech, A. C., Engelund, E., Juhl, H. J., Kristensen, K., and Poulsen, C. S. 1994.
QFood—Optimal design of food products. MAPP Working Paper No. 19, The
Aarhus School of Business.
Bech, A. C., Hansen, M., and Wienberg, L. 1997a. Application of House of Qual-
ity in translation of consumer needs into sensory attributes measurable by de-
scriptive sensory analysis. Food Quality and Preference8: 329–348.
Bech, A. C., Kristensen, K., Juhl, H. J. and Poulsen, C. S. 1997b. Development of
farmed smoked eel in accordance with consumer demands, in Seafood from
Producer to Consumer, Integrated Approach to Quality,J. B. Luten, T. Bør-
resen and J. Oehlenschläger, eds., Elsevier Science, New York, pp. 3–19.
Bech-Larsen, T., Nielsen, N. A., Grunert, K. G., and Sørensen, E. 1996. Means-end
Chains for Low Involvement Food Products—A Study of Danish Consumers’
Cognitions Regarding Different Applications of Vegetable Oil. MAPP Work-
ing Paper No. 41. The Aarhus School of Business.