Generating and Screening New Product Ideas đź’Ą
Opportunity identitication (OI) is the initial stage in the NPD process, where ideas for
new products are generated and screened (Ideas are the raw materials)
Although new products are essential to a firm’s continued growth in revenues and profits, the development and marketing of new products is an expensive and risky undertaking for the firm
What is a New Product?
(2) New to the Market, the first of its kind, what some call an innovation;
(3) New in the sense that it is Better for
the Customer
(1) New to the Firm
(A) Identifying and collecting new product ideas
(B) Screening and evaluation of these ideas.
Mathot describes 2 functions of the Strategic Planning Process
Determination of Innovation Need Assessment of the firm’s environment, competitive
situation, and internal strengths and weaknesses help to determine the charter for innovation within the firm.
Determination of Fields of Search The fields of
search are the potential market and/or technology areas to be investigated for new product ideas. Fields of search are areas within which it is probable that many ideas exist
that suit the opportunities of the market and the strong points of the tirm.
Sources of Ideas
Internal Sources
Employees, Internal market study reports, Existing resarch and development programs, Technologcal surveys, Normal design development process
External Sources
Customer need\, Competitive pressures, Absorption, Licensing, Patent office Data hanks, Existing needs analysis
Research institutes, Universities, Government reports/agencies Shows/exhibits, Public reports
Scientific and trade puhllcations, Consultants, Competitors ,Customers, Vendors
Ideas can be generated by individuals or one of several group methods using either internal or external sources at various organizational levels. Types of group methods which can be used to develop ideas include Delphi groups, Focus groups, Innovation or NPD groups or teams, and Management Groups.
The success of idea generation can only be measured in terms of new new product success âť—
Idea Generation Techniques
"Mathot" has classified idea generation techniques as:
Associative Techniques, such as brainstorming
Analogical Techniques, such as synetics
Analytical Techniques (which split the problem into smaller parts, for example, morphological analysis)
"Crawford", on the other hand, has classified various idea generation techniques in terms of whether the general approach
Problem Find/Solve Approach
Modify or improve existing products to
create new products (Fortuitous Scan Approach)
Limitations ❌
Complexity
Time consumption
Applicability
Success-determining Factors 🎉
Generate as many ideas as possible to increase the probability of locating an appropriate idea which satisfies the firm’s needs!!!
Planning
Efficiency of Discussion
Variety in backgrounds
Training & Experience of Idea Generators
Personal motivation
Link Between Workers
Screening
The purpose of the screening process is to “select froma large list of ideas the few that warrant extensive and expensive analysis”