Major New Products: What Distinguishes the Winners in the Chemical Industry?

What makes a new product a winner? This empirical study looks at success factors in product development in the chemical industry of four countries. The 103 projects studied in both North America and Europe were substantial ones and all were undertaken by large firms; about two‐thirds of these projects succeeded. Robert Cooper and Elko Kleinschmidt identified the key project success factors by comparing the winners to the losers. Product differentiation was the most importance influence on success. Synergies had only moderate influence on project outcomes, as did order of enter (innovator versus follower) and stage of product life cycle. Surprisingly, important aspects of the external environment, including both market attractiveness and competitive situation, were not strong determinants of success. Although focused on one industry, the results of this study likely have broader applicability to wide variety of industries.