How Companies are Reinventing Their Idea–to–Launch Methodologies
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Design your innovation process for today’s innovation requirements – a faster, leaner, more agile and more focused system. Reinvent your process to build-in the latest thinking, approaches and methods to move to the next-generation Stage-Gate system. In this article you will learn some of the ways that companies have modified and improved their idea-to-launch methods. If your idea-to-launch system is more than five years old then it’s time for a serious overhaul.

EFFECTIVE GATING Make product innovation more productive by using gates with teeth By Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Most firms suffer from having far too many projects in their product development pipelines, for the limited resources available. Worse yet, the great majority of initiatives are low value projects to the corporation. While your company might have installed a Stage-Gate^® system, the gates – vital decision-making and resource allocation points – often lack teeth.

This new article, authored by Dr. Robert G. Cooper, explains how “Gates with Teeth” help to prune the development portfolio of weak projects, and deal with a gridlocked pipeline.

Accelerate Your ‘Best’ New Product Projects
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper

The tough economy has become a new source of motivation for executives looking to implement ‘good sense’ practices. Of particular interest is the best practice of deploying a systematic, disciplined approach to yielding wise investment decisions and sound resource allocations to accelerate your best projects’ time-to-profit.

Make Your New Product Process Agile and Adaptable with Spiral Development
by Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Smart, fast failures via spiral development is a practice worth implementing suggests Dr. Robert Cooper in this brief Best Practice Series article.  The most strongly correlated driver of profitable new product success is a superior product. According to Dr. Robert Cooper, you stand to win a resounding 98% of the time if you can get the right customer input at the right time throughout the stages of a disciplined Stage-Gate process.  How does one balance the need for speed, a sharp product definition and adapting to changing customer information? Dr. Cooper outlines 6 specific points throughout your idea-to-launch process when you should be tapping into your customers for feedback.

What Leading Companies are Doing to Re-invent their NPD Processes
by Dr. Robert G. Cooper

The original design of Stage-Gate^® was based on Dr. Robert Cooper’s research results of his groundbreaking studies of successful NPD project teams – how they drove their projects to market quickly and effectively.  Today, leading companies are reinventing their innovation processes, making them faster, leaner, and more effective.  At the same time, they are building in best practices in portfolio management, voice-of-the-customer methods, open innovation, ideation techniques, and so on.  In this article, Dr. Cooper outlines some of the actions that leading firms – such as Emerson Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, ITT Industries and GlaxoSmithKline – are taking as they move toward a NexGen Stage-Gate system.

Ten Tips for Successfully Implementing a Stage-Gate^® Product Innovation Process
by Dr. Scott J. Edgett and Michelle Jones

In this article Scott Edgett and Michelle Jones share the top ten lessons that have stood the test of time as different organizations have designed and implemented their own Stage-Gate processes. Each of these tips will contribute to the speed of adoption and the ultimate ‘stickiness’ of the process within your organization. As product innovation is a critical competitive weapon in helping your organization achieve its strategic goals for growth, the effort invested in developing an implementation plan will provide repeated payoffs in the future.

Benchmarking Best Practices: Performance Results and the Role of Senior Management by Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett

Senior Management must lead the way in New Product Development by providing both the leadership and commitment of necessary resources.  The Best Performing Companies identified in the ‘Best Practices in Product Innovation Benchmark Research Study’ conducted jointly by Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett with the American Productivity and Quality Center, clearly demonstrate leadership commitment on a variety of dimensions.  This executive summary highlights the top 8 practices of leaders of the top performing companies.

Perspective: The Stage-Gate Idea-to-Launch Process – Update, What’s New and NexGen Systems Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Stage-Gate has become a popular system for driving new products to market; but there are many misconceptions and challenges in using Stage-Gate.1 Challenges faced in employing Stage-Gate are identified including governance issues, over-bureaucratizing the process, and mis-applying cost cutting measures such as Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing in product innovation. Solutions are offered, including better governance methods: “gates with teeth”, clearly defined gatekeepers and gatekeeper rules of engagement; and ways to deal with bureaucracy, including leaner gates.

Ideation for product innovation: What are the best methods?
Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett

Surprisingly, little research has been done to evaluate the burgeoning number of techniques and methods used in the front end of product innovation, particularly ‘ideation’, where ideas come into the funnel before they are weeded out and evaluated.  In this first-of-a-kind study, Dr. Robert Cooper and Dr. Scott Edgett shed light on the comparative value of 18 of the most popular ideation sources including Voice of the Customer, Open Innovation and the Disruptive technologies methods.  This article, published in PDMA’s Visions magazine in March 2008, outlines the results of the research.

Maximizing Productivity In Product Innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett

Recent evidence suggests that productivity in new product development (NPD) is declining; that is, we are seeing less output (measured in terms of impact on the business) for the same relative spending level.
This article outlines seven practices or principles which, according to studies of NPD practices and performance, will increase NPD productivity after they are embraced.

The Thought Column with Bob Cooper, Creator of the Stage-Gate^® Idea-to-Launch Process Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Productivity in new product development (NPD) is down when measured by output over input. Companies are still spending the same amount of money on R&D as a percentage of sales that they always did; but the percentage of sales from new products was down from about 32% to 28% over a 10-year period. This is about a 14% drop in NPD productivity, which is a significant cause for concern. Download this article and find out how to improve your NPD productivity.

Winning Business In Product Development: The Critical Success Factors,
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt

A formal new product process isn’t enough – you need a high-quality process, a clear and visible strategy, enough people and money, and a respectable R&D budget. How does your program rate on these 10 metrics?

Managing Technology Development Projects - Different Than Traditional Development Projects Dr. Robert G. Cooper

The fact is that traditional systems just don’t work for Technology Development projects. Why? Traditional new product processes are designed for fairly well-defined and predictable projects. But TD projects are, by their nature, high risk projects with many unknowns and great technical uncertainties. Download this article and learn what leading companies are adopting to handle these vital TD projects.

10 Ways to Make Better Portfolio and Project Selection Decisions
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett

Good portfolio management (PM) is a key to success in New Product Development (NPD). But good PM still frequently eludes even the biggest brightest corporations. In this article, Bob Cooper and Scott Edgett outline ten ways to make better portfolio and project selection decisions.

Keywords: NexGen Stage-Gate^®, lean, rapid, innovation productivity, scalable

Formula for Success in New Product Development
Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Many businesses use the Stage-Gate^® process to conceive, develop, and launch new products. As proficient companies have implemented, modified, adapted, and improved methodology, it has morphed into a faster, leaner, and more effective tool. The next generation process, or NexGen Stage-Gate^® builds in seven principles of lean, rapid, and profitable new-product development to maximize productivity in product innovation.

Keywords: NexGen Stage-Gate^®, lean, rapid, innovation productivity, scalable

Winning at New Products: Pathways to Profitable Innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper

What are the secrets to success in new product development (NPD) that these winning businesses share? This whitepaper highlights the key factors and drivers that distinguish the best performing business in NPD from the rest. Those factors and drivers that are common across high-productivity, best performing businesses in NPD were uncovered in a recent and major APQC study into best practices. Prescriptions on how to translate these best practices into action in your business are also outlined in this paper.

Keywords: Stage-Gate^®, APQC, benchmarking, success drivers, best practices

Succeeding at New Product Development the P&G way: A key element is using the “Innovation Diamond”
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Michael S. Mills

New products are engines to growth and profitability for many companies, including Procter and Gamble (P&G). In this article, the authors explore the drivers of new product performance with a particular focus on P&G’s best practices. The “Innovation Diamond” is used as an integrative and guiding framework to help management focus on what’s important to success: innovation strategy, a solid idea-to-launch process, portfolio management, and the right climate and leadership.

Keywords: Stage-Gate^®, The Procter and Gamble Company, Innovation Diamond™, Leadership, Portfolio Management

Your NPD Portfolio may be harmful to your business’s health
Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Recent NPD studies contain a number of surprises: Most shocking is that the impact of new product development (NPD) on the sales and profits of many corporations is down, when looked at in terms of contribution to total sales and profits. How has this happened, and why? In this article, Dr. Robert Cooper takes a hard look at the facts and examines a number of possible reasons for this trend. He also provides recommendations on how companies can rebalance their NPD portfolios to become more profitable.

Keywords: Portfolio, benchmarking, speed, incremental projects, new product projects

From Experience: The Invisible Success Factors in Product Innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper

Dr. Cooper lowers the microscope on the state of product innovation and examines the common reasons for poor results. The critical success factors are noticeably absent from the typical new product project. The article outlines how companies can recognize one of the seven common innovation problems that Dr. Cooper refers to as the new product development “Blockers” to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Keywords: Product innovation process, critical success factors, blockers, portfolio approaches, and capacity analysis

Overcoming the Current Crunch in NPD Resources
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett

The resource crunch is a crippling disease sweeping the new product development (NPD) landscape. The significant gap between resources required and NPD resources available has resulted in many negative consequences: projects taking too long to market, under-performing new product projects, and development portfolios that contain too many low value projects. This article explores the resource crunch problem and its causes, and also offers solutions.

Keywords: Portfolio management, resource allocation, resource deficiencies, pipeline gridlock and new product strategy

NPD Practices: The dark side of time and time metrics in product innovation
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett

Dr. Cooper and Dr. Edgett examine how time and time metrics are having a negative impact on product innovation today. The effects of two manifestations of this problem are examined in detail: too great an emphasis on measures of short term profitability and too sharp a reduction in time-to-market. The paper examines what can be done to counteract these negative pressures and how to enhance the product innovation process.

Keywords: Profitability, metrics, resource planning, speed-to-market, and go/kill decisions

Optimizing the Stage-Gate Process – Part 2
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett & Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt

Dr. Cooper, Dr. Edgett and Dr. Kleinschmidt focus on the methods and techniques that help companies achieve better project selection and prioritization. The paper examines how to build more effective go/kill decisions points – tough gates – and to move towards successful portfolio management.

Keywords: Stage-Gate^®, portfolio management, prioritization, gate meetings, and go/kill decisions

Optimizing the Stage-Gate^® Process – Part 1
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett & Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt

Dr. Cooper, Dr. Edgett and Dr. Kleinschmidt report on their observations and experiences working with a multitude of companies, and on the practices the companies have incorporated into their product innovation processes. The following practices are explored in the paper: the addition of a discovery stage at the front end of the innovation process, harnessing fundamental research more effectively, and building in more effective go/kill decision points to move towards portfolio management.

Keywords: Stage-Gate^®, discovery, voice of customer research (VoC), fundamental research, and technology developments

Portfolio Management for New Product Development: Results of an Industry Practices Study
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett & Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt

This paper reports the results of a survey questionnaire sent to IRI member companies participating in an ongoing best practices study (results as of October 2001). Dr. Cooper, Dr. Edgett and Dr. Kleinschmidt examine the consequences of poor portfolio management practices. They outline the results of the study including the role of portfolio management at the participating companies and why industry considers it to be so important. The article then examines popular tools, methods and models employed by these companies to make go/kill decisions and to help prioritize projects.

Keywords: Industrial Research Institute (IRI), portfolio management, tools, models, and methods.

Portfolio Management: Fundamental to New Product Success
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett & Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt

This article reports result from an on-going, large sample research study into portfolio management best practices. The goals of the research are to study industry current and best practices in portfolio management, and to gain insights to guide in the design and implementation of superior portfolio management methods. The article outlines new managerial problems faced in portfolio management. It details how various portfolio tools and model are employed by managers to make Go/Kill decisions and to help prioritize projects.

Keywords: Portfolio management, methods, new products strategy, project ranking and prioritization.

Portfolio Management for New Products: Picking the Winners
Dr. Robert G. Cooper & Dr. Scott J. Edgett

New product portfolio management is about how you invest your business’s product development resources – project prioritization and resource allocation across development projects. This paper addresses the four goals of portfolio management and the importance of having an established, high quality Stage-Gate^® system in place.

Keywords: Stage-Gate^®, new product process, portfolio management, project prioritization, and resource allocation.

Doing it Right – Winning with New Products
Dr. Robert G. Cooper

This paper examines the two ways to win at product innovation: doing projects right and doing the right projects. Dr. Cooper explores the critical success factors that make the difference between winning and losing at innovation. He outlines key components of the authentic Stage-Gate^® system and the four goals of successful portfolio management.

Keywords: Stage-Gate^®, new product process, critical success factors, portfolio management, and scoring criteria.

New Problems, New Solutions: Making Portfolio Management More Effective
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett & Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt

This article incorporates the results of management interviews conducted with IRI member companies in an ongoing best practice study (results as of March/April 2000). It isolates the four common difficulties experienced by the participants along with the proposed solutions. Dr. Cooper, Dr. Edgett and Dr. Kleinschmidt discuss the benefits of each of the two approaches to integrating a portfolio management process with a product innovation process, and outline common portfolio management methods and tools used by the companies in the study to help them to do the right projects.

Keywords: Stage-Gate^®, Industrial Research Institute (IRI), portfolio management, resource capacity analysis, and methods.

An Investigation into the New Product Process: Steps, Deficiencies, and Impact on Performance
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt

In a comprehensive study of 252 new products histories at 123 firms, Robert Cooper and Elko Kleinschmidt looked critically at the new products management process. Each company was shown a set of 12 activities which formed a general "skeleton: of a new product process.

How New Product Strategies Impact on Performance
By Dr. Robert G. Cooper

What is involved in a successful new product program? Is it high spending on risky R&D? Is it close contact with customers? Is it the overall competitive strength of the firm? Well, it might be any of these things, and more according to Robert G. Cooper, depending on your definition of success. In an exhaustive examination of the new product strategies and performances of 122 industrial products firms, Cooper found that the strategy that a firm elects for its new product program is closely linked to the performance results that firm achieves. But what’s performance?