In: Operations Management
Please answer this in around 300 words. No copy and paste from another source. Explain why the process of new product development is frequently represented as a linear process and why this does not reflect reality?
New product development is mostly a linear process. This is a development that keeps on changing one stage to another from its starting point to endpoint. This progress is done by the researcher's experience and observes them, but it is in a straight line that moves efficiently. A new product development process is a concept where it is been tried to launch the product in the market, a series of stages are followed to make this process like idea generation to the launch of the product in the market.
The process focuses on my activities which are internal and external as idea generation, idea screening, development of the idea and concept, their testing, externally business strategy, sales and marketing strategy, marketing testing and commercialization. All the concept needs a linear process, as every experience is new for the researchers, many testing is being done to get an estimated result from the feedback. Many data are collected with primary data research like observation, survey, experimentation. The result and experience are unknown so the new product development process becomes virtual, not a real concept. For example: Before launching an iPod every concept was imaginary a new product development was made from the idea of radio pocket, so the marketing testing was a linear process. After the testing team makes changes according to the requirement and trends as if the survey and consumer requirement say they need more durable and better quality packaging researcher work on it and makes changes in the plan and the follows it. This development has one more aspect which is finance and organization business exists from the profit, ultimately they have to be in the other growth stage so the cash outflow precedes inflows. The company has their own process to deal and explain the cash flow being cumulative not a linear. When a product is introduced in the market it does share market and gives revenue but later it is added gradually and all this is linear and is the imagination of the research team.
This is all a linear view, just mapping out of the success, failure or progress of the new launch. The idea needs to be validated so it observed and is virtually interrelated to every step.
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