Antecedents and outcomes of new product development speed - An interdisciplinary conceptual framework

Modem marketplaces are characterized by speedy technological breakthroughs, rapid changes in sociopolitical conditions and consumer tastes, and continuously shrinking product life cycles. Consequently, companies must consider strategies that reduce the time required to take a product from concept to market. The authors draw from a diverse body of published research findings and corporate experiences to generate an interdisciplinary inventory of organizational factors associated with short new product development (NPD) cycles. An integrative framework is presented that describes the influence of infrastructural characteristics (structure, culture, and capital investment) and procedural factors (groupwork, controls, and incentives) on NPD speed, and the subsequent effects on organizational outcomes (revenue, profitability, corporate image, and brand image). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.