Modelling the New Product/Service Introduction Process: A System Dynamics Approach

The aim of this paper is to report on the use of a specific business process modelling technique, namely System Dynamics, in order to model the generic structure of the New Product/Service Introduction(NP/SI) process in organisations. System Dynamics is a simulation technique that is especially suited for modelling and analysing the behavioural aspects of a system, i.e. the way that the system elements interact with and influence each other to generate overall system behaviour. In terms of the NP/SI process, such an analysis can reveal positive or negative feedback loops in the process, thereby allowing managers to understand the likely impact of ‘local’ changes on overall process cost, time, and perceived quality.