Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch

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Summary: Its All Here!
Review: Bob Cooper provides a clear roadmap for new product success. Figuring out the smartest, most consistent way to create winning products can be the key to long term success. Yet setting up systems and process to help employees achieve these results without burdening them with unecessary bureaucracy is a challenging task. Using a solid research base and the experiences of dozens of corporations, Bob Cooper lays out a clear yet flexible blueprint for managing new product development. Its all here for those who are interested. I have read many books on this subject but this is the one I use and refer too all the time. An excellent resource.

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Summary: The Father of the Stage-Gate Approach Speaks
Review: Bob Cooper, the author of this book, is the originator of the stage-gate approach to new product development, and is recognized as such by the federal government who registered this phrase under his company. He initially described the approach in a couple of excellent articles written in the late 1970s but this book, first written in the late 1980s and updated twice since, is really the best source for the stage-gate process. Although his writing can be dry and his tone preachy, you can't argue with the base information and the conclusions. He studied 3000 new products in hundreds of companies to identify what separates the winners from the losers in new products, and stage-gates are one of the keys, along with cross-functional teams and a clear understanding of the customer's needs. Today over 96% of companies in a recent survey use stage-gates, and the best at bringing new products to market, the organizations that are the most profitable and growing the fastest, do it well. This book lays out how to do it well. If you want to install a stage-gate process, and you need to, if your company doesn't have one, this is your best source.

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Summary: Interesting treatise on taking new products to market
Review: Cooper does a great job presenting the value of his "stage gate" system for developing and launching new products while minimizing risk of failure. A bit academic, but useful advice for all product managers in any industry.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting treatise on taking new products to market
Review: Cooper does a great job presenting the value of his "stage gate" system for developing and launching new products while minimizing risk of failure. A bit academic, but useful advice for all product managers in any industry.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting treatise on taking new products to market
Review: Cooper does a great job presenting the value of his "stage gate" system for developing and launching new products while minimizing risk of failure. A bit academic, but useful advice for all product managers in any industry.

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Summary: Insightful!
Review: New products accelerate consumerism and a truly innovative launch can re-ignite corporate balance sheets, but new product attrition is high. For every seven new product ideas floated, about four enter development, one and a half are launched and only one succeeds (25% to 45% of new products flop). Yet intrepid corporations innovate and live to recount their tales to happy shareholders. The book presents every conceivable detail of the launch process - evaluation, management, best practices, game plans and even the seemingly impossible, incorporating new ideas into corporate thinking. So, what are the shortcomings? Well, there's not enough service industry info and there is too much redundancy. Processes are listed, sub-processes are listed and sub-sub-processes, until the reader gets lost in lists and stages. Still, if you retain the energy to try, this book provides the theoretical and operational framework for launching new products. All you need is that billion dollar idea. We recommend this book to idea people in marketing, technology, R & D and sales.

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Summary: Thorough Textbook for Serious New Products Dev. Managers
Review: REVIEW: (Rev of 2nd edition) It is now widely accepted that innovation is a core competence that is required by nearly all organizations. As a result, many companies have been very successful at generating new innovations. However, generating innovations is just the first step and an excess of innovations in many companies has created a need for good management processes to deal with them. These are the issues addressed by this book and there may be no other place where these issues are addressed as thoroughly and well as here. The author provides a thorough review and analysis of each step of the development process from idea to commercial launch. While the book can be slow reading at times, I firmly believe the author's method of separating the process into stages and providing screening mechanisms between the stage are excellent advice. Following these methods should lead to: (1) accelerated product development, (2) increased success rate of new products, and (3) a more effective and efficient new products development process. Accordingly, the book should be especially useful to those managers responsible for portfolios of new products. If this is you, this book is highly recommended.

STRENGTHS: The book provides a very thorough review and analysis of the new product development process from innovation through to launch. The author has done a very thorough review of the research in this field and the book does an excellent job of citing other material. The book also contains an appropriate use of graphics for illustrating some points.

WEAKNESSES: While the book doesn't focus on any particular industry, its teachings are probably most applicable to more traditional product companies (e.g. P&G, DuPont). Also, (and this maybe an unfair comment for a book targeted at products) the book probably isn't that helpful for innovations in services which may be even more important in modern companies than product innovation (e.g. GE and IBM are currently pushing services). Another concern, the book is fairly "textbook like" and only those seriously interested in the subject may find it easy/enjoyable to read. Some passages seem to drag on and I often wished the author would have been more concise and not tried to so thoroughly justify every point.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Product development managers, new business managers, and others responsible for bringing innovations to market should read this book. Those responsible for _portfolios_ of new products/innovations may especially find this book useful.

ALSO CONSIDER: Jeffrey A Timmons - New Venture Creation; Guy Kawasaki - Rules for Revolutionaries; Peter F. Drucker - Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Rating:
Summary: Thorough Textbook for Serious New Products Dev. Managers
Review: REVIEW: (Rev of 2nd edition) It is now widely accepted that innovation is a core competence that is required by nearly all organizations. As a result, many companies have been very successful at generating new innovations. However, generating innovations is just the first step and an excess of innovations in many companies has created a need for good management processes to deal with them. These are the issues addressed by this book and there may be no other place where these issues are addressed as thoroughly and well as here. The author provides a thorough review and analysis of each step of the development process from idea to commercial launch. While the book can be slow reading at times, I firmly believe the author's method of separating the process into stages and providing screening mechanisms between the stage are excellent advice. Following these methods should lead to: (1) accelerated product development, (2) increased success rate of new products, and (3) a more effective and efficient new products development process. Accordingly, the book should be especially useful to those managers responsible for portfolios of new products. If this is you, this book is highly recommended.

STRENGTHS: The book provides a very thorough review and analysis of the new product development process from innovation through to launch. The author has done a very thorough review of the research in this field and the book does an excellent job of citing other material. The book also contains an appropriate use of graphics for illustrating some points.

WEAKNESSES: While the book doesn't focus on any particular industry, its teachings are probably most applicable to more traditional product companies (e.g. P&G, DuPont). Also, (and this maybe an unfair comment for a book targeted at products) the book probably isn't that helpful for innovations in services which may be even more important in modern companies than product innovation (e.g. GE and IBM are currently pushing services). Another concern, the book is fairly "textbook like" and only those seriously interested in the subject may find it easy/enjoyable to read. Some passages seem to drag on and I often wished the author would have been more concise and not tried to so thoroughly justify every point.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Product development managers, new business managers, and others responsible for bringing innovations to market should read this book. Those responsible for _portfolios_ of new products/innovations may especially find this book useful.

ALSO CONSIDER: Jeffrey A Timmons - New Venture Creation; Guy Kawasaki - Rules for Revolutionaries; Peter F. Drucker - Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book is both instructional and inspirational with plenty of data to support its message.