Abstract

The difficulties and uncertainties associated with new product development (NPD) are increasing along with the pressure to develop more new products. To succeed, companies also are finding that they need to develop "better" new products and they need to do it faster. Based on 68 interviews of mangers involved in the new product development process in 15 companies and 285 completed questionnaires, the report presents: how companies organize their NPD activities; why product development delays occur, major concerns expressed by the team members during the NPD process; and what can be done to avoid them. The study also investigates how serious U.S. managers are (compared to German managers) about speeding the new product development process. The study identifies four major areas having significant impact on NPD process performance in terms of speed, cost, flexibility, quality, differentiation, profitability, and customer value. They include: (1) senior management support, (2) early integration of functional expertise in NPD, (3) availability of NPD resources and their management, and an (4) organizational environment that supports teamwork.


Click on the link below for the final report in pdf.
gupta_raj_wilemon_0592.pdf