This paper describes a method of knowledge capture and utilisation in new product development that can be used to improve firms existing performance. The method is intended to provide an effective bridge between expert knowledge generated internally, and the incorporation of best practice knowledge in the field. Past development projects (both successful and unsuccessful) provide the ba sis for analysis, allowing key "success" factors to be teased-out from the data. To supplement internally generated expertise, a large da tabase of new product's knowledge from the past literature is used to complement the analysis. From this data, a risk assessment frame work is developed that can be used to alert managers to the dangers of overlooking key activities and processes, and their likely effects on the new products process as a whole.
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