Exploring How Product Development Practices Differ for Radical, More Innovative and Incremental Innovations

Researchers have argued that what may be sound management practice for the development of incremental innovations may well be detrimental to the development of radical innovations. Accordingly, researchers have sought to document differences in development practices for these two classes of innovations. Much of the research that has looked at development practices for radical innovations consists of qualitative, case studies. Because these studies involve so many different types of innovations, developed at different times and under very different circumstances, they provide only a preliminary understanding of how development best practice may indeed differ for different innovation types. This research explores differences in new product development practices among three project types - incremental, more innovative, and radical. To our knowledge, no cross-organizational, quantitative studies have been conducted that document how development practices differ with respect to all three classes of innovations. Using a sample of 82 business units considered "exemplary" product developers, we investigate how development practices differ across these three classes of innovation with respect to process, organization, strategy, culture, and senior management commitment. While it is commonly accepted that incremental and radical innovation should be managed differently, the results of this study suggest otherwise. The management of new product development activities across project types may be more similar than previously thought

I. INTRODUCTION

This research explores differences in new product development practices among three project types or levels of innovativeness - incremental, more innovative, and radical innovations. Many researchers argue that the development of radical innovations is a fundamentally different process than the development incremental innovations. Thus, what may be sound management practice for the development of incremental innovations may well be detrimental to the development of radical innovations [6], [24], [31]. Accordingly, researchers have sought to document differences in development practices for these two classes of innovations [27], [28], [29]. Much of the research that has looked at development practices for radical innovations consists of qualitative, case studies. Because these studies involve so many different types of innovations, developed at different times and under very different circumstances, they provide only a preliminary understanding of how development best practice may indeed differ for different innovation types.