The pressures of the modern global market are placing an ever-increasing emphasis on the efficient development and introduction of new products. As a consequence the implementation of an effective business process for managing and controlling product innovation has become vital. Despite this situation, research carried out in this area has identified that the vital pre-detailed development stages of the so-called product introduction process are often the weakest. This paper presents the findings obtained from a set of detailed field studies carried out to analyse the process implemented within seven different manufacturing companies and discusses the implications of the results.
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