A picture paints a thousand numbers: a critical look at B2B product development research

Research into new product development (NPD) has grown steadily over the last couple of decades. The current body of NPD research displays a distinct methodological bias and consists mostly of either large‐scale quantitative questionnaires or small qualitative investigations that are often anecdotal. But a closer look at NPD practice reveals that NPD research needs to re‐invent itself by using more complex research designs and addressing new research questions that look at complex NPD issues in a broad organizational context. This paper argues that the reality of NPD practice requires a methodological make‐over of NPD research, with more emphasis on interpretive research methods and complex multi‐informant/multi‐organization research designs. Such improved NPD research leads to richer results that significantly advance our understanding of NPD and close the gap between NPD research and practice.

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