Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2

nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.1
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.1
PBM
Session 5
Managing the new product
development process
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.2
CO Session Coverage
Importance of new product development in a companys
growth;
New product development model;
Usefulness of models;
Stages of new development process, factors and
implications.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.3
Modelling the new product development (NPD) process

* Stage models

* Conversion process models

* Response models

Weaknesses of stage models

Multiple convergent processing
Agenda
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.4
Exploration
Screening
Business analysis
Development
Testing
Commercialization
Company
objective
Product
success
The most widely accepted normative model of the new product
development process is that proposed by Booz-Allen Hamilton
in 1982 which conceives of this as a linear sequential process
of the following kind.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.5
While encompassing the tasks involved in NPD the
BAH model fails to capture the complexities of the process
which frequently appear to account for
success and failure. Several other models have been
proposed which attempt to capture the complex reality
which Saren (1984) has classified as follows:

Departmental stage models
Activity-stage models
Decision-stage models
Conversion process models
Response models
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.6
Departmental and activity stage models are of the BAH pass
the parcel configuration and fail to communicate the need for
integration.
By contrast decision stage models of the kind proposed
by Cooper (1983) suggest the need for integration of functional
inputs and feedback loops to achieve this.
Conversion process models seek to avoid the imposed
rationality of stage models by adopting a black box
approach which offers no insight into the process itself.
Finally response models are only really concerned with
the initial stage(s) of the NPD process as they focus on
organisational response to change, i.e. the catalysts for NPD.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.7
Conceptually stage models appear to offer the most
useful representation of the NPD process. This is
particularly so when regarded as a critical path with
feedback loops.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.8
The implications of iteration in the NPD process are
clearly apparent from the figure:
Screening
Concept Test
Successful?

Reformulate
No - Modifications
possible
Nonew opportunity
spotted
Noabandon

Business analysis

Nonew idea emerges

Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.9
But stage models, even with feedback loops,
suffer from at least two weaknesses:

1. The NPD process is idiosyncratic to the individual firm.
2. There is no clear beginning, middle and end to the NPD
process.

Thus, while stage models assume termination if a
phase is not completed satisfactorily in reality the
iterative nature of the process may suggest both new
directions as well as recycling.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.10
As the figure implies it is not essential for discrete
activities in the NPD process to be implemented
sequentially.

In reality many activities can be carried on
simultaneously hence simultaneous engineering, or in
parallel hence parallel processing.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.11
The potential of simultaneous engineering and/or parallel
processing addresses three key issues which emerge from a
review of the NPD literature, all of which have a significant
impact on ultimate success or failure:

The need for interdisciplinary inputs.
The need to develop product advantage.
The need for speed in the process.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.12
Symbolically the problem with the concept of
parallelism is obvious.




Parallel lines are separated by an equal distance at
every point and never touch or intersect.
What we need is a concept which conveys a critical path,
simultaneity in contributing activities, and integration to
achieve a common conclusion, what we need is:
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.13
MULTIPLE
CONVERGENT
PROCESSING
TM
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.14
The early stages of the multiple convergent process
Changes to product lines R&D projects (ongoing)
Research and development Suppliers
Specifications of potentially
required changes etc.
Feasibility studies
Time projection(s) Initial
specifications
Development work on
changes/new products
required
Early design(s)
Concept developed technically
Cost of concepts
Development of altered parts,
etc., if required
Process improvement projects
Manufacturing
Modifications to production
process in light of development
Specific demands
Potential improvements
Customers
Collaboration on concepts
may be both technical and
commercial
Competitor analysis Market
trend forecasts etc.
Marketing
Estimations of market potential
Comparison with Competitors
Initial financial assessment
Preparation of marketing and
launch plan
Fuller market assessment
Concept(s) introduced to
market for evaluation
Positioning of concept(s)
Price indications
Convergent point:
IDEA GENERATION
Physical product development
Convergent point:
CONCEPT EVALUATION
and CHOICE
Convergent point:
FULL BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Functional performance of
product, collaboration on the
development
Convergent point:
IDEA(S) EVALUATION
Modifications to ideas
Preference inputs
Evaluation of the implications
of the alternative concepts in
terms of resources and costs
Study of required alterations
Study of resource implications
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.15
As the example illustrates four immediate
advantages of using the phases of a stage model
as points of convergence for multiple simultaneous activities
are that:

1. Iterations among participants within stages are allowed for
2. The framework can easily accommodate third parties
3. Mechanisms for real integration throughout the process among
different functions are set in the convergent points.
4. The model can fit into the most appropriate NPD
structures for the company
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.16
It is clear that conceptually the MCP model is a direct derivative
from network analysis which has resulted in the
development of specific techniques such as PERT and CPA. It
is to network analysis that we should turn for trial and
validation of the new paradigm.

It is proposed that a combination of Austers (1990) Analytical
Dimensions and Biemans (1992) Five characteristics of
interaction will provide an appropriate framework for
analysis of the new product development process.
Michael Baker and Susan Hart, Product Strategy and Management, 2
nd
Edition, Pearson Education Limited 2007
Slide 6.17
The potential for integration is particularly important
as recent work by Biemans (1992) has shown that while
networks involving both manufacturers and customers
are becoming commonplace in NPD, integration remains
problematic.

All three benefits of the MCP model address this
particularly through its provision of the opportunity for
information sharing which is neglected by other models.