| |
KNOWLEDGE CENTER
Read the Latest Research Articles from Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett.
Product Innovation Articles
Featured Article
Ideation
for product innovation: What are the best methods?
Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett
Surprisingly, little research has been done to evaluate the burgeoning number of techniques and methods
used in the front end of product innovation, particularly ‘ideation’, where ideas come
into the funnel before they are weeded out and evaluated. In this first-of-a-kind study, Dr. Robert
Cooper and Dr. Scott Edgett shed light on the comparative value of 18 of the most popular ideation sources
including Voice of the Customer, Open Innovation and the Disruptive technologies methods. This
article, published in PDMA’s Visions magazine in March 2008, outlines the results of the research.
Reference No. 29 |  Download
(.pdf 1.3mb)
|
|
|
|
Receive
the latest research, information and
tips to keep you current in product
innovation. You will also have the
opportunity to receive advance notices
on our new articles, research papers,
books, seminars, and more.
Join Our
Knowledge Community
|
If you find this knowledge
useful, try our:
NPD Books | Seminars
| Keynotes
|
|
|
The Thought Column with
Bob Cooper, Creator of the Stage-Gate® Idea-to-Launch
Process
Dr. Robert G. Cooper
Productivity in new product development (NPD) is down when measured
by output over input. Companies are still spending the same amount of
money on R&D as a percentage of sales that they always did; but the
percentage of sales from new products was down from about 32% to 28%
over a 10-year period. This is about a 14% drop in NPD productivity,
which is a significant cause for concern. Download this article and find
out how to improve your NPD productivity. |
|
Winning Business In Product
Development: The Critical Success Factors,
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt
A formal new product process isn’t enough – you need a high-quality
process, a clear and visible strategy, enough people and money, and a
respectable R&D budget. How does your program rate on these 10 metrics? |
|
Managing Technology Development
Projects - Different Than Traditional Development Projects
Dr. Robert G. Cooper
The fact is that traditional systems just don’t work for Technology
Development projects. Why? Traditional new product processes are designed
for fairly well-defined and predictable projects. But TD projects are,
by their nature, high risk projects with many unknowns and great technical
uncertainties. Download this article and learn what leading companies
are adopting to handle these vital TD projects. |
|
10 Ways to Make Better Portfolio
and Project Selection Decisions
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett
Good portfolio management (PM) is a key to success in New Product
Development (NPD). But good PM still frequently eludes even the biggest
brightest corporations. In this article, Bob Cooper and Scott Edgett
outline ten ways to make better portfolio and project selection decisions.
Keywords: NexGen Stage-Gate®, lean, rapid, innovation
productivity, scalable |
|
Formula
for Success in New Product Development
Dr. Robert G. Cooper
Many businesses use the Stage-Gate® process to conceive, develop, and launch new
products. As proficient companies have implemented,
modified,
adapted, and improved this methodology, it has
morphed into a faster, leaner, and more effective
tool.
The next generation process or NexGen Stage-Gate® builds in seven principles of lean, rapid, and
profitable new-product development to maximize
productivity in product innovation.
Keywords: NexGen Stage-Gate®,
lean, rapid, innovation productivity, scalable |
|
Winning
at New Products: Pathways to Profitable Innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper
What are the secrets to success in new product
development (NPD) that these winning businesses
share? This whitepaper highlights the key factors
and drivers that distinguish the best performing
business in NPD from the rest. Those factors and
drivers that are common across high-productivity,
best performing businesses in NPD were uncovered
in a recent and major APQC study into best practices.
Prescriptions on how to translate these best practices
into action in your business are also outlined
in this paper.
Keywords: Stage-Gate®, APQC, benchmarking,
success drivers, best practices |
|
Succeeding at New Product
Development the P&G way: A key element is
using the “Innovation Diamond”
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Michael S. Mills
New products are engines to growth and profitability
for many companies, including Procter and Gamble
(P&G). In this article, the authors explore
the drivers of new product performance with a
particular focus on P&G’s best practices.
The “Innovation Diamond” is used as
an integrative and guiding framework to help management
focus on what’s important to success: innovation
strategy, a solid idea-to-launch process, portfolio
management, and the right climate and leadership.
Keywords: Stage-Gate®, The Procter
and Gamble Company, Innovation Diamond™,
Leadership, Portfolio Management |
|
Your NPD Portfolio may
be harmful to your business’s health
Dr. Robert G. Cooper
Recent NPD studies contain a number of surprises:
Most shocking is that the impact of new product
development (NPD) on the sales and profits of
many corporations is down, when looked at in terms
of contribution to total sales and profits. How
has this happened, and why? In this article, Dr.
Robert Cooper takes a hard look at the facts and
examines a number of possible reasons for this
trend. He also provides recommendations on how
companies can rebalance their NPD portfolios to
become more profitable.
Keywords: Portfolio, benchmarking, speed, incremental
projects, new product projects |
|
From Experience: The Invisible
Success Factors in Product Innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper
Dr. Cooper lowers the microscope on the state
of product innovation and examines the common
reasons for poor results. The critical success
factors are noticeably absent from the typical
new product project. The article outlines how
companies can recognize one of the seven common
innovation problems that Dr. Cooper refers to
as the new product development “Blockers”
to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Keywords: Product innovation process, critical
success factors, blockers, portfolio approaches,
and capacity analysis |
|
Overcoming the Current
Crunch in NPD Resources
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett
The resource crunch is a crippling disease sweeping
the new product development (NPD) landscape. The
significant gap between resources required and
NPD resources available has resulted in many negative
consequences: projects taking too long to market,
under-performing new product projects and development
portfolios that contain too many low value projects.
This article explores the resource crunch problem
and its causes, and also offers solutions.
Keywords: Portfolio management, resource allocation,
resource deficiencies, pipeline gridlock and new
product strategy |
|
NPD Practices: The dark
side of time and time metrics in product innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett
Dr. Cooper and Dr. Edgett examine how time and time
metrics are having a negative impact on product
innovation today. The effects of two manifestations
of this problem are examined in detail: too great
an emphasis on measures of short term profitability
and too sharp a reduction in time-to-market. The
paper examines what can be done to counteract
these negative pressures and how to enhance the
product innovation process.
Keywords: Profitability, metrics, resource planning,
speed-to-market, and go/kill decisions |
|
Optimizing the Stage-Gate
Process – Part 2
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett &
Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt
Dr. Cooper, Dr. Edgett and Dr. Kleinschmidt focus on
the methods and techniques that help companies
achieve better project selection and prioritization.
The paper examines how to build more effective
go/kill decisions points – tough gates –
and to move towards successful portfolio management.
Keywords: Stage-Gate®, portfolio
management, prioritization, gate meetings, and
go/kill decisions |
|
Optimizing the Stage-Gate® Process – Part 1
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett &
Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt
Drs. Cooper, Edgett & Kleinschmidt report
on their observations and experiences working
with a multitude of companies, and on the practices
the companies have incorporated into their product
innovation processes. The following practices
are explored in the paper: the addition of a discovery
stage at the front end of the innovation process,
harnessing fundamental research more effectively,
and building in more effective go/kill decision
points to move towards portfolio management.
Keywords: Stage-Gate®, discovery,
voice of customer research (VoC), fundamental
research, and technology developments |
|
Portfolio Management for
New Product Development: Results of an Industry
Practices Study
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett &
Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt
This paper reports the results of a survey questionnaire
sent to IRI member companies participating in
an ongoing best practices study (results as of
October 2001). Dr. Cooper, Dr. Edgett and Dr. Kleinschmidt
examine the consequences of poor portfolio management
practices. They outline the results of the study
including the role of portfolio management at
the participating companies and why industry considers
it to be so important. The article then examines
popular tools, methods and models employed by
these companies to make go/kill decisions and
to help prioritize projects.
Keywords: Industrial Research Institute (IRI),
portfolio management, tools, models, and methods |
|
Portfolio Management: Fundamental
to New Product Success
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett &
Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt
This article reports result from an on-going,
large sample research study into portfolio management
best practices. The goals of the research are
to study industry current and best practices in
portfolio management, and to gain insights to
guide in the design and implementation of superior
portfolio management methods. The article outlines
new managerial problems faced in portfolio management.
It details how various portfolio tools and model
are employed by managers to make Go/Kill decisions
and to help prioritize projects.
Keywords: Portfolio management, methods, new
products strategy, project ranking and prioritization |
|
Portfolio Management for
New Products: Picking the Winners
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett
New product portfolio management is about how
you invest your business’s product development
resources – project prioritization and resource
allocation across development projects. This paper
addresses the four goals of portfolio management
and the importance of having an established, high
quality Stage-Gate® system in place.
Keywords: Stage-Gate®, new product
process, portfolio management, project prioritization,
and resource allocation |
|
Doing
it Right – Winning with New Products
Dr. Robert G. Cooper
This paper examines the two ways to win at product
innovation: doing projects right and doing the right projects. Dr. Cooper
explores the critical success factors that make
the difference between winning and losing at innovation.
He outlines key components of the authentic Stage-Gate® system and the four goals of successful portfolio
management.
Keywords: Stage-Gate®, new product
process, critical success factors, portfolio management,
and scoring criteria |
|
New
Problems, New Solutions: Making Portfolio Management
More Effective
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett &
Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt
This article incorporates the results of management
interviews conducted with IRI member companies
in an ongoing best practice study (results as
of March/April 2000). It isolates the four common
difficulties experienced by the participants along
with the proposed solutions. Dr. Cooper, Dr. Edgett and Dr. Kleinschmidt discuss the benefits of each
of the two approaches to integrating a portfolio
management process with a product innovation process
and outline common portfolio management methods
and tools used by the companies in the study to
help them to do the right projects.
Keywords: Stage-Gate®, Industrial
Research Institute (IRI), portfolio management,
resource capacity analysis, and methods |
|
The Quest for Best Practices in Product
Innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett
Product innovation – the development of new and improved products – is
crucial to the prosperity of the modern corporation. New product launches
within the last three years account for about 30% of corporate sales, and
there is a strong connection between successful product development and business
valuation.
|
|
An Investigation into the New Product
Process: Steps, Deficiencies, and Impact on Performance
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt
In a comprehensive study of 252 new products histories at 123 firms, Robert
Cooper and Elko Kleinschmidt looked critically at the new products management
process. Each company was shown a set of 12 activities which formed a general "skeleton:
of a new product process. |
|
How New Product Strategies Impact on Performance
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper
What is involved in a successful new product program? Is it high spending
on risky R&D? Is it close contact with customers? Is it the overall competitive
strength of the firm? Well, it might be any of these things, and more according
to Robert G. Cooper, depending on your definition of success. In an exhaustive
examination of the new product strategies and performances of 122 industrial
products firms, Cooper found that the strategy that a firm elects for its new
product program is closely linked to the performance results that firm achieves.
But what’s performance? |
|
For more details or information contact info@prod-dev.com
or call 905-304-8798.
|
|
