The Impact of Adding Improvisation to Sequential NPD Processes on Cost: The Moderating Effects of Turbulence

The ability to develop new products efficiently has become an important consideration in the current atmosphere of constrained budgets and fast-changing environments. New product development (NPD) researchers and practitioners have taken note, but there are limited and conflicting findings on the relationship between the type of NPD framework used for development and the ability to meet cost expectations under conditions of environmental change. In a study of over 400 NPD projects, we examined the impact of adding improvisation to sequential NPD process on meeting cost expectations under different conditions of turbulence. Our results support previous findings, but also demonstrate that turbulence moderates the direct effect, with the penalty for improvisation being less severe as environmental turbulence increases. For the practitioner, our results suggest that when efficiency is paramount, they may consider adopting a “throttled” approach to NPD, loosening control to allow for more improvisation where fruitful, while tightening control in other stages.

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