Introducing new products can be hazardous to your company: Use the right new-solutions delivery tools

New-product failure rates remain exceptionally high despite increasing effo rts by academic and corporate researchers to develop new theories and appro aches to reverse this trend. The conventional wisdom that has emerged is us eful, but insufficient to improve success rates. The leading innovators ach ieve success by moving beyond conventional wisdom to follow three emerging rules. In the past, managers obsessed about the product, obscuring the fact that what customers really want is a total solution to a problem. Similarl y, managers too often emphasized the introduction of the new product at the expense of ensuring the delivery of the customer solution. Lastly, manager s become internally absorbed, causing them to make decisions based on what is easiest for them and their company. The most successful marketers are, i n a sense, schizophrenic. By simultaneously being able to become the custom er, the competition, and their channel partner, they combine the right skil ls, capabilities, and resources to deliver superior customer solutions. jus t as important as having a superior product or service, a firm must build a better business model and a stronger network of value-delivery partners to get a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Competition is shifting from company versus company to network versus network. At a time when fickle marketplaces demand ever more innovation, progress in this area has never been more important.