New product processes at leading industrial firms

This article is about game plans for new products. The strategic importance of product development coupled with high risks and failure rates has led many companies to reconsider the way they go about conceiving, developing, and launching new products. Some firms have adopted a formal new product process or “stage-gate system” for moving new product projects from idea to launch [1]. This article reports the performance results that a handful of leading firms—IBM, 3-M, GM, Northern Telecom, and Emerson Electric—have had with implementing such new product game plans.