WINNING BUSINESSES IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT - THE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

OVERVIEW: This benchmarking study of 161 business units uncovered the key drivers of new product performance at the business unit level. Ten different performance measures were gauged, including percentage of s ales by new products, profitability and success rate. The ten gauges w ere reduced to two key performance dimensions - profitability and impa ct - which defined the ''performance map.'' Nine possible drivers - in cluding strategy, process, organizational design, and climate for inno vation - were investigated, and four key drivers of performance were i dentified; namely, a high-quality new product process, the new product strategy for the business unit, resource availability, and R&D spendi ng levels. Merely, having a formal new product process had no impact.