Towards a Context-Driven Front End in New Product Development

The fuzzy front end (FFE) of new product development (NPD) has been an important area of research during the last decade. The FFE is recognized by several researchers as the part of the innovation process where most substantial improvements can be achieved with minimum cost. This paper investigates former research to determine if there is a common perception of the FFE. Referring to state of the art and the nature of the FFE, it is argued that an ‘ideal’ FFE model brings limited value to a firm. A number of contextual factors that influence the characteristics of the FFE are presented to further argue this finding. That is, the context is far too important to be overlooked in the search for a FFE strategy.

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