Abstract
This paper replies to the call for more agile-stage-gate hybrid methods in the context of physical innovations. By showing how some of the characteristics of conventional linear stage-gate methods and of the agile approaches can be integrated, we propose and test a new form of hybrid method for the physical new product development process (NPD).Distinguishing itself from the conventional NPD methods and practices, biased towards alignments between companies and consumers as the key to market success, our method focuses on the innovation potential intrinsic to misalignments. Through a qualitative research applied in an existing European consortium of innovators, the present work guides companies in the systematic identification and exploration of misalignments between their designers and users.By identifying misalignments at specific level of the NPD process, our method provides companies with a deep analytical insight into how, where and why (mis)alignments between their designers' decisions and users’ demands might occur. Our method revealed to be a strategic learning and reflection tool to support companies in the proactive management of the identified misalignments, as informative, beneficial and inspirational aspects of the NPD process.
Highlights
Innovation, the strategic adjustment of business propositions to changing market conditions, is essential to the company’s profitability, growth and continuity (Anderson et al, 2014; Baregheh et al, 2009), and in times of high market turbulence (Bodlaj and Cater, 2019)
Product innovations differ in innovativeness, ranging from imitation, to incre mental innovation, to radical innovation (Chandy and Tellis, 2000; van der Duin et al, 2014)
In the method section, we explain our qualitative data collection and we describe the context in which the MUD method has been validated: the European consortium, MYPACK, which involves leading food and packaging companies across Europe and aims at introducing a broad portfolio of packaging innovations
Summary
Innovation, the strategic adjustment of business propositions to changing market conditions, is essential to the company’s profitability, growth and continuity (Anderson et al, 2014; Baregheh et al, 2009), and in times of high market turbulence (Bodlaj and Cater, 2019). One kind of innovation is product innovation that we concep tualise as the translation of a business idea into a physical novel “arte fact” (Grunert and van Trijp, 2014). As a novel bundle of physical features, innovative artefacts gain meaning and relevance through perception; through the instrumental and perceptual associations that the concrete product features hold with the benefits that the company aims to deliver and communicate (Grunert and van Trijp, 2014). Technical-food and packaging scientist Marketing and business economics Technical-packaging engineer and analytical chemistry. Greek company developing food and packaging innovations Italian company developing packaging materials.
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