Key Success Factors of New Products / Product Innovations

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Economics / Business: Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, grade: 1,7, International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef - Bonn, language: English, abstract: The new information age has seen an impressive shift to global markets and cross-border competition, resulting in customers increased expectations for higher quality products, competitive prices and better and faster services. Hence, companies aiming at striving success are focussing more and more on generating fast, innovative, and efficient solutions to satisfy customers' expectations and to create value for shareholder. In view of that, the quest for new products capable to bestow the company with the differential advantage to position itself against its competitors has never been more critical than ever before. However, although innovations are generally seen as the engine of growth, only a small number survive the first year and generate significant value for shareholders. Thus, managers all around the world are keen to identify key factors of success to reduce uncertainty in the new product development process. Yet, history teaches us that product innovation is a complex and dynamic process whose success is difficult to measure, to forecast and which call for talented managers capable to identify and harmonize an array of exogenous, endogenous and consumer perception factors of success simultaneously. Most notably, consumers perception is difficult to map and far more complex to manage. Only new products and innovations that timely offer superior and unique benefits that are perceived as such by customers are marketable and sustainable in the long run and thus generate value for shareholders.