Benchmarking Best NPD Practices—II

Translation of strategy into new product initiatives is the focus of this second of three articles reporting the results of the most recent American Productivity and Quality Center study on performance and best practices in new product development. Having a new product strategy for your business is clearly linked to positive performance, and the article outlines what the elements or components of a best-in-class innovation strategy are, and their relative impacts. Strategy ultimately must be reflected in spending decisions; best-performing businesses undertake a higher proportion of more innovative NPD projects, while the worst performers have a timid NPD project portfolio. There is also strong evidence that a formal portfolio management approach improves NPD performance overall. Finally, the issue of resources at the NPD team level is probed. Best performers were found to have far more resources available for NPD project teams, especially in non-technical areas, and to provide much sharper focus in the allocation of these resources.