Overview and prioritization of critical success factors in NPD models for the chemical industry

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to review NPD models and identify critical success factors for new product development in the chemical industry. Design/methodology/approach: The systematic review of the literature was applied in the paper and the AHP method was used to build a hierarchical model for determining the importance of CFSs. Findings: The paper characterizes the concepts of new product development and general models of new product development. Older (pre-2000) and newer generation studies were included among the models described. Data analysis of new product development studies in the chemical industry was carried out. Based on the literature analysis, key factors determining the success of a new product were selected, with a division into general and typical elements of the industry in question. Research limitations/implications: The prioritization of CFSs will allow in the next step the analytic hierarchy process of NPD models, on the basis of which it will be possible to determine which of the analyzed models is most suitable for chemical products. Practical implications: Most chemical products are designed using trial-and-error techniques based on experimentation, making NPD in the chemical industry more iterative. This often involves generating a huge number of chemical components, and this means that the search area can be very large. It is therefore reasonable to look for decision support tools to facilitate the selection of necessary components. The selection of chemical product ideas should be based not only on an analysis of what is possible to produce, but also on an analysis of what the market would like to buy. The specifics of chemical products and changes related to 21st century trends are forcing the determination of appropriate CFSs for the chemical industry. Originality/value: The chemical industry is one of the world’s key industries, whose products are used in almost every area of life. Despite this high relevance, there has been no attempt to date to systematize the issues of developing new product lines or portfolios in this industry. Keywords: new product development model (NPD), critical success factors (CFSs), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), prioritization, chemical industry. Category of the paper: research paper, general review.