Information system flow models for new product development processes: speed and flexibility vs. focus and control

In a dynamic economy, developing and introducing new products is essential for a company's survival. The successful management of new products has become a necessity and a way of life for those companies that strive towards sustained growth and they compete in a global market environment. In the past, a number of studies have illustrated the importance of the type of new product development (NPD) processes that companies choose to adopt, based on their industry characteristics and customers' diverse and continuously changing requirements. Furthermore, the critical success factors of those processes have been examined by a number of national and international studies. Although many NPD processes have proven to be successful for a number of companies/industries, there are still many factors that need to be considered and addressed so that continuous sustained improvements can be maintained. This paper provides a critical review of the contemporary NPD processes and aims to identify those factors that will accommodate continuously changing business environments. Furthermore, a generic NPD process, that could potentially facilitate future product development requirements, is presented. The model aims to provide a framework for managing NPD activities whilst maintaining a degree of flexibility that will allow individual companies to adopt it and adapt it to their specific operations and according to the nature of their industry. The paper concludes that almost irrespective of the type of NPD that companies chose to adopt, it will have to be based on the utilisation of cross-functional teams based on sound management structures.