New Product Development Speed: Too Much of a Good Thing?
Journal of Product Innovation Management, Forthcoming
37 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2010 Last revised: 23 Feb 2013
There are 2 versions of this paper
New Product Development Speed: Too Much of a Good Thing?
New Product Development Speed: Too Much of a Good Thing?
Date Written: December 28, 2009
Abstract
New product development (NPD) speed has become increasingly important for managing innovation in fast-changing business environments. In this work, we question the implicit assumption that speed has a linear relationship with success from the perspectives of time-compression diseconomies and absorptive capacity. We further argue that time-compression diseconomies depend on the levels of uncertainty involved in NPD projects. Using survey data from 471 NPD projects, we found that NPD speed has a reverse U-shaped relationship with new product success, and the nature of the speed–success relationship varies depending on type and level of uncertainty. The findings suggest NPD teams take different time-based strategies in emerging markets versus fast-changing markets. Moreover, NPD teams need to balance how fast they can go with how fast they need to go by considering team and customer absorptive capacity.
Keywords: New Product Development Speed, Time Compression Diseconomies, Absorptive Capacity, Uncertainty, New Product Success, market newness, market turbulence
JEL Classification: M11, M13, M31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation