New product performance: Keys to success, profitability & cycle time reduction

Success at product innovation is one key to corporate performance in the fast‐paced, competitive world of the 90s. But new product success can be gauged in many ways. New product managers may speak of success rates; the Managing Director looks to profitability; the scientist often talks about technical successes; the corporate planner thinks in terms of impact on the firm; and the trade press seems preoccupied with speed to market. The problem is that, depending on how one defines “success”, one is likely to find different success determinants. This article reports the results of an extensive study of new product performance—more specifically, we probe what drives success — when “success” is measured in a variety of ways.