THE SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACTWhat factors affects New Product Development (NPD) and are the factors the same in different industries? These are two of the main questions explored when three organizations in different industries are studied from the perspectives of knowledge, motivation and organizational context. Focus is on the early phases of NPD, however the entire NPD process is included to better understand the results of the actions and factors throughout the process. The indications that knowledge and knowledge management are key tools in order to stay competitive in the market place are looked closer at and the empirical cases illustrate the use of knowledge within the given sub-cases and the implications thereof