Risk management in product innovation projects

In product innovation projects risk management has become increasingly important. Technological and commercial developments ask for effective and efficient product innovation. Systematic diagnosing and management of risks can help to make product innovation projects successful. In this paper a method is described which has been developed on the basis of case study investigations of product innovation projects within a multinational supplier of glass parts for the audio and video industry and a multinational company in the lighting industry. Later on the method has been applied in other industrial areas: automobile tyres, propellors for ships. It has proven so far to be a valuable tool to detect the key risks in technologically and organizationally complex product innovation projects