Essay on New Product Development Model Compare and Contrast

Words: 916
Pages: 4

Introduction
New product developments are one of the main sources of competitive advantage for companies today. Companies need new product to keep up with its’ competitors. New product development can be considered as activities that aim to bring new products to market.
The objective of NPD is to minimize the risk of failure. As NPD absorbs both financial and human resources from a company, it is therefore necessary to develop and implement a methodology for assisting in the introduction of new products.
NPD models can help to identify problems at an early stage and assist in directing the NPD effort in the right direction. It can be used as a roadmap and provides an indication of magnitude of the project required in order to develop

The model takes account of the functionally distinct tasks which must be carried out simultaneously at specific points throughout the NPD process and that the results must converge. And, due to iterations in the processes, this convergence is likely to happen several times. As the process moves from one step to another, the information gathered becomes more precise and reliable and the decisions are made with greater certainty.
This model is therefore advantageous over the stage-gate in that the framework can easily accommodate third parties, provides mechanisms for real integration throughout the process among different functions set in the convergent points and fit into the most appropriate NPD structures for the company.
Network model
The multiple convergent model fails to highlight the importance of “inter-organizational collaboration” in a firm’s network. Networks in NPD could and should be considered at two different levels: external and internal level. And it should be realized that the functioning of the internal networks directly influences the efficiency and efficacy of the external network.
According to the network model (Trott, 1998), the development and management of knowledge is one of the most important traits of the new product development. It represents the process of accumulation of knowledge crossing