Research-Technology Management · 2004 · 193 citations · 5 references
ManagementPerformance ManagementStrategic ManagementInnovationNew Product DevelopmentPerformance MeasurementBenchmarkingProduct DevelopmentProduct InnovationProduct PlanningProduct-process AlignmentActivitiesBest Practices ManagementNew Product Development PerformanceProduct BenchmarkingProduct Performance Measurement
The study examines how firms’ systematic new product processes and their implementation details influence performance, highlighting that the process design and execution are key to success. The article reports on the American Productivity and Quality Center study that investigates performance and best practices in new product development processes. The study finds that most decisive activities are poorly executed, but key tasks—such as delivering differentiated, superior products and gathering market information, conducting upfront homework, defining stable products, and researching voice of customer—strongly distinguish high‑performing firms from low‑performing ones.
OVERVIEW:The new product process by which firms drive new product projects from inception through to commercialization, and the methods, practices and tactics embedded within that process, are the focus of this final of three articles reporting the results of the recent American Productivity and Quality Center study on performance and best practices in new product development. Many of the decisive activities that were identified turn out to be poorly executed, while a handful of tasks emerge as pivotal to NPD performance. Most firms now employ a systematic, formal, new product process, but the nature of the process and the way it is implemented are the true keys to success. For instance, delivering a differentiated, superior product is one practice that strongly separates the Best and Worst Performers. Market information, up-front homework, stable product definition, and voice-of-customer research are found to be relatively weak practices in businesses' new product efforts, but all strongly discriminate between the Best and Worst Performers.
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