New Product Development: Dual Drive Approach to Innovation
HISTORY
The history of product innovation can be divided into three stages, beginning with the product-oriented or technology-pushed stage. In the post-World War II era Americans were coming off wartime shortages and were in the mood to buy the many goods that manufacturers produced. Engineers, who were more product-oriented than consumer oriented, designed new products that might or might not find places in consumers' hearts and minds. This was a product-oriented process in which the market was considered the receptacle for products that emerged from the firm's research and development efforts.
However, competition escalated and consumers became more skeptical and selective about the types of products they purchased. Marketers found it increasingly difficult to rely on persuasive sales techniques to move products. Retailers grew restless when these products did not move off shelves as quickly as planned. Companies had to know more about their target markets. What were the wants and needs of the people who were buying their products? How could their firm satisfy these wants and needs?
The second stage was marked by the emergence of the market as the driver of innovation. Instead of being technology-driven, new product development evolved into a market-led process in which new products emerged from well-researched customer needs. The new product development process was placed in the hands of marketers who knew consumers' wants and needs. Customer demand "pulled" the product through the development process.
Modern new product development is a blending of these two orientations into a "dual-drive" approach to innovation. Companies recognize that innovation is a complex process that requires sound investment in research and development, as well as significant marketing expertise that focuses on satisfying consumers' wants and needs.
The rapid pace of change that engulfed businesses toward the end of the twentieth century put an even greater burden on companies to
The history of product innovation can be divided into three stages, beginning with the product-oriented or technology-pushed stage. In the post-World War II era Americans were coming off wartime shortages and were in the mood to buy the many goods that manufacturers produced. Engineers, who were more product-oriented than consumer oriented, designed new products that might or might not find places in consumers' hearts and minds. This was a product-oriented process in which the market was considered the receptacle for products that emerged from the firm's research and development efforts.
However, competition escalated and consumers became more skeptical and selective about the types of products they purchased. Marketers found it increasingly difficult to rely on persuasive sales techniques to move products. Retailers grew restless when these products did not move off shelves as quickly as planned. Companies had to know more about their target markets. What were the wants and needs of the people who were buying their products? How could their firm satisfy these wants and needs?
The second stage was marked by the emergence of the market as the driver of innovation. Instead of being technology-driven, new product development evolved into a market-led process in which new products emerged from well-researched customer needs. The new product development process was placed in the hands of marketers who knew consumers' wants and needs. Customer demand "pulled" the product through the development process.
Modern new product development is a blending of these two orientations into a "dual-drive" approach to innovation. Companies recognize that innovation is a complex process that requires sound investment in research and development, as well as significant marketing expertise that focuses on satisfying consumers' wants and needs.
The rapid pace of change that engulfed businesses toward the end of the twentieth century put an even greater burden on companies to