New Product Development For Dummies

The global consumer product market is exploding. In 2006 alone, 150,000 new products were brought to market. Now for the bad news: of those, fewer than 5% were hits, and fewer than 15% will even exist five years from now. Written for small business owners and entrepreneurs looking for an inside track on new product development, New Product Development for Dummies offers you a unique opportunity to learn from two consummate insiders the secrets of successfully developing, marketing and making a bundle from a new product or service. You learn proven techniques for sizing up market potential and divining customer needs. You get tested-in-the-trenches strategies for launching a new product or service. And you get a frank, in-depth appraisal of the most challenging issues facing new product developers today, including the need to collaborate with global partners, optimizing technology development for a 21st century marketplace, getting start-up capital in an increasingly competitive environment, and much more. Key topics covered include: Developing a winning NPD strategy Generating bold new ideas for products and services Understanding what your customers really want Keeping projects on track, on budget, and on-time Building effective cross-functional teams Planning and executing a blockbuster launch Collaborating with global partners Maximizing your chances for success No matter what size or type of business you’re in, this book provides you with an unbeatable competitive advantage in the booming global marketplace for new products and services.

Foreword xxi Introduction 1 Part I: The Basics of New Product Development 9 Chapter 1: It Takes a Company 11 Chapter 2: What Are You Developing, and Why? 23 Chapter 3: Defining Your Product Strategy 37 Part II: Charting the Ocean of Opportunity for New Products 59 Chapter 4: What Do Your Customers Really Want? 61 Chapter 5: Turning Your Company into an Idea Factory 89 Chapter 6: Picking Winners and Losing Losers 115 Chapter 7: Making the Most of Technology 127 Chapter 8: Focusing Your NPD Efforts 147 Part III: Navigating the River of Product Development 165 Chapter 9: One Foot in Front of the Other: The Product Development Process 167 Chapter 10: Organizing the NPD Troops 191 Chapter 11: Managing Your Corporation’s NPD Resources 211 Chapter 12: Using Reviews to Keep Projects on Track 233 Chapter 13: Launching Products for Market Success 253 Part IV: New Challenges in Product Development 271 Chapter 14: Developing Products in the Digital Age 273 Chapter 15: Product Development Goes Global 287 Chapter 16: Choose Your Partner! Partners in Product Development 303 Part V: The Part of Tens 317 Chapter 17: Ten Ideas on Ways to Test Your New Products 319 Chapter 18: Ten (Or More) Ways to Track Your Innovation Efforts 329 Appendix: Business Case Outline 339 Index 341