The new product development (NPD) process is critical to the emergence of new companies and the growth of existing organizations. To rationalize this process and derive the highest possible benefit from it, businesses structure it into several discrete stages, such as idea generation, market analysis, product development, commercialization, and market outcomes (Golder & Mitra, 2018). However, there is no single universally accepted system of stages, whether among entrepreneurs or business theorists.
Authors writing on this subject differ in the number of NPD stages. For example, Cooper identifies seven stages: “Idea—preliminary assessment—concept development—testing—trial—launch” (as cited in Jin et al., 2019, 2). Kotler and Keller propose eight stages: “idea generation—idea screening—concept development and testing—marketing strategy—business analysis—product development—market test—commercialization” (as cited in Jin, 2019, 2). Manzini et al. have streamlined the NPD process to idea generation, experimentation, manufacturing, and marketing and sales (as cited in Jin et al. 2019, 2). Some scholars have reduced the process to three fundamental stages: “concept development, product development, and commercialization” (Dubiel et al., 2018, 761). This discrepancy might be explained by looking at the practices and culture of different companies, which inform theoretical developments. In general, bigger, more bureaucratic, and risk-averse organizations might prefer a more granular NPD process, while a simpler structure could be more suitable for start-ups. Ultimately, business processes should be determined by the organization’s priorities. Still, the aforementioned four-stage process seems most versatile, as it emphasizes the need to experiment before launch without bogging down in planning.
To conclude, the process that takes new products from idea to market can be reduced to three fundamental stages: concept development, project development, and commercialization. More elaborate structures, which account for distinct stages like idea generation and idea screening or testing, trial, and launch, are common. This variety reflects diverging priorities and capabilities on the part of different companies. While businesses should go with whatever structure is the best fit for their strengths and needs, it seems advisable to put ideas to the test at some point in the process.
References
Dubiel, A., Banerjee, S., Ernst, H., & Subramaniam, M. (2018). International-market-information use across new-product-development stages. International Marketing Review, 35(5), 760-784. Web.
Golder, P. N., & Mitra, D. (Eds.). (2018). Handbook of research on new product development. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Jin, J., Guo, M., & Zhang, Z. (2019). Selective adoption of open innovation for new product development in high-tech SMEs in emerging economies. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1-9. Web.