Perspective-riding the wind: Managing new product development in an age ofchange

New product development (NPD) has never been more challenging or rewarding than it is today. With the dawning of the new millennium, new product devel opers now find themselves in an "age of change," the likes of which the wor ld has never known. The rate of change is numbing, if not stupefling for ma ny business people. With the winds of change blowing at near gale force int ensity levels, this is clearly a time for NPD professionals to pursue new p roduct and market strategies that are anchored on sound business fundamenta ls. This article begins with a brief review of the Product Development & Manage ment Association's 1998 International Research Conference held in Atlanta. The theme for the conference was "Achieving Excellence in New Product Devel opment and Management." The article then offers a reflective look at seven NPD themes that could dominate new millennium business thinking and offer g uidance to those seeking new product success. The article's first theme discusses why NPD is increasing in importance. Th e second theme outlines key NPD building blocks which NPD champions must bo lster for new product success. The third theme explores the value in concep tualizing NPD output in items of "turns per decade. " The fourth theme cham pions the notion that continuous quality improvement is an integral part of NPD's contribution to a firm. The fifth theme explains why product elimina tion is an essential element in the innovation process. Theme number six re minds readers that fun and optimism are essential and commonly overlooked i ngredients for sustaining NPD achievement. The seventh theme states that pr oduct development professionals build credibility and successful careers by delivering on promises made. Innovation opportunities embedded within each theme are explored from both firm-level and individual developer-level per spectives. In building the case for their themes, the authors initially provide a rati onale for NPD's growing stature and importance. Then they suggest NPD strat egies that firms can implement with high likelihood of success. The article concludes with suggested actions that individual developers can undertake to bolster their own careers while simultaneously strengthening the NPD pro fession. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.