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Analyses the wide range of issues to be considered when launching a new product development programme. Stresses the importance of new product development in taking a successful company forward. Discusses the risks involved – in the marketplace four out of five new products result in failure. Examines options for where a new product development department should fit into the company – e.g. in the marketing department, in the technical department or as a stand‐alone department. Outlines the advantages and disadvantages of using an external consultant to advise on the setting up of new product development or relying on existing staff. Stresses the importance of analysis and feedback from any methods used. Concludes there is no ideal new product organisation – what's best for one firm might not be best for another. Asserts that in reality, a range of new product organisations can be found, and tailored to meet individual needs.

The importance of integrating both internal and external knowledge into the product/service innovation process has been widely recognized in the knowledge management and innovation literature. Likewise, the role of the marketing and sales function as a driver of innovation has been stressed because of its market-facing role. However, limited research has investigated the complementarity of both internal and external knowledge regarding product/service innovation performance in a marketing context. The purpose of this study is to analyze marketing departments’ role in accessing internal and external knowledge resources (i.e. marketing-specific relational capital [RC]) to reach improved product and service innovation performance.

The analysis uses empirical evidence collected by a structured survey of 346 respondents representing marketing and sales functions in Spanish companies.

The survey revealed that marketing-specific internal relational capital at the department and inter-department levels, as well as noncustomer external RC, are directly associated with product/service innovation performance. Further, the analyses show that the relationship between customer-specific RC and innovation performance is mediated by other types of RC, making it a fundamental antecedent to the innovation process. Finally, significant differences in marketing-specific RC subcomponents were found between business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) firms.

This study makes a valuable contribution to marketing and management literature by revealing the types of social interactions in the marketing function that enable access to knowledge sources that promote successful product/service innovation.

Explains that while vast socioeconomic change in today′s competitive climate mean that there is a greater need for a more unified approach to new‐product development, relationships among marketing product management, market research and research and development have deteriorated significantly in the modern corporate structure. Describes the various factors related to this problem which make developing successful new brands even more difficult, continuing with a summary of an ideal New‐Product Development Programme. Concludes with a summary of the main points to be gleaned from the suggested programme.

Provides a preliminary exploration of the control of new product development in the UK by means of a survey of 30 companies. Identifies interactions between business evaluation, development and screening. Concludes that development and business evaluation can influence one another, and that product features and design features etc. can be added or deleted through decisions from either of these phases.

If marketers generally know why new products fail, after the fact, and can hypothesize why most products fail, before the fact, why then are there so many failures? The author makes the case for fundamental weakness within the new product development process, mostly invisible and certainly unattended, that often preordains failure. The basic theme is summed by this thought, “Instead of researching the reasons a new product failed, we should be examining the system that allowed that to happen!”

Market research experience in new household, hair care, and food products have shown that in recent years the odds of bringing a successful new product to market have decreased significantly. This decrease is due to:

The study aims to identify salespeople’s challenges while selling newly launched products in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector by examining the holistic environment in which they perform their selling tasks. Furthermore, it develops a hierarchical model mapping the interrelationships between identified challenges to explore their dependence and driving power through qualitative research techniques.

The current study is exploratory and inductive in its research design. It used focus-group discussion (FGD), semistructured interviews and thematic content analysis (TCA) to identify new-product selling challenges in the FMCG sector. The identified factors were then worked into a hierarchical model using total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) to analyze their relationship. The factors were further classified into clusters based on their driving and dependence power, with the help of the Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement (MICMAC) technique

The TISM and MICMAC results identified salespeople’s most critical new-product selling challenges in the FMCG sector: product innovation, product differentiation, customer perception and market turbulence. An enhanced organizational focus on these factors will ensure that salespeople get adequate input to tackle the challenges they face while selling newly launched FMCG products.

The study was confined to identifying challenges in the FMCG sector alone but offered scope for application in other sectors.

This study will help organizations to identify and close gaps in the new-product selling process, thereby improving the performance of salespeople and contributing to a new product’s success. The study findings have a bearing on various stages of product development, management and life cycle. They also highlight the need for greater synergy between an organization’s sales force and other departments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is unique in identifying new-product selling challenges in the FMCG sector. It also delineates the complex Web of interrelationships between them and classifies the identified factors based on their driving and dependence on power. The research results can help in organizational decision-making and sales practices, empowering salespeople in their new-product selling tasks.

A case study is given of International Distillers & Vintners (UK) Limited (IDV (UK)) and an assessment made of the viability of translating theory into practice in the real world – the importance of having a strategy, of strategic planning, and having a success factor as a key component of an organisation′s competitive advantage. Following the appointment of a new managing director at IDV (UK) in 1982, three goals were established: (1) to more than double profits within five years; (2) to increase return on capital employed by almost 50 per cent within five years; and (3) to be the outstanding wine and spirit company in the UK. A sound strategy was required to achieve these goals. The historic background of the organisation is given and the strategic position of IDV (UK) in relation to its competitors and market share is described. A review of the state of the market is given and possible areas for expansion discussed. The quality and pedigree of certain brands and the quality and strength of leadership are proposed as the success factors upon which IDV (UK) could build. Details are given of how the organisation built upon these factors to achieve strategic success; the lessons learned; and the level of achievement and success in the marketplace.

The results of a three‐year research programme into the current practice and organisation of new product development are described. The results of a major survey of some 150 companies, in which the McKinsey 7S model was used to provide a structured analysis of all aspects of new product development are detailed. Clear trends and changes were defined, and were supported by detailed structured interviews.

“There is clear evidence from recent research studies that even in large multinational companies purchasing tends to be regarded as a function allied to production and responding to the needs of marketing.” The dependence of procurement operations on the trend of sales was recognised in a pioneering article. It organised purchasing strategies around the concept of product life cycle (PLC). In turn, this article served as the basis for field research, which verified much of the model. Meantime, independent of these two investigations, other models of purchasing activities used the same integrating concept. As will be shown, recent experience and research have substantially modified and enriched the earlier PLC models.