New product development process in Spanish firms: typology, antecedents and technical/marketing activities

Abstract On several occasions attempts have been made to explain the success of a new product by means of aspects related to the development process followed. However, few papers have focused either on its degree of market orientation (MO) or on its antecedents, i.e., on the factors which promote or limit the use of said process in the firm. Three basic aims are pursued in this work: first, characterize NPD process in terms of its MO; second, to identify the organisational antecedents of the new product process adopted and, third, to analyse the influence of the process type introduced and of the novelty type of the product on the importance of marketing and technical activities carried out during its development. Results, obtained from a sample of Spanish firms, indicate that the NPD processes adopted may be characterized in terms of MO and rigidity. In the same way as top management emphasis on innovation, the degree of centralisation in decision-making, and experience in new product development influence the type of process introduced into the firm. It is also shown that process type and product novelty conditions the importance given to the technical and marketing activities carried out.

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