Winning At New Products: Accelerating The Process From Idea To Launch, Second Edition [Paperback]

Robert G. Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 1993

Getting high-quality new products to market on time is one of the most crucial aspects of succeeding in business. It’s also the most difficult to achieve. With Winning at New Products you will be better prepared to create and execute a winning game plan for launching innovative and market-driven new products. Successfully implemented by such companies as DuPont, Exxon, Proctor & Gamble, and Corning, the systematic game plan presented leads you step-by-step along the road to success, from generating product ideas to launching them to consumers.This second edition contains a major new section on the practicalities of implementing the game plan, drawn from years of putting the author’s strategies to work. In addition, the book addresses present-day business conditions which require much faster development times and multinational perspective. You will learn how to: Get great new product ideas from your customers Screen and prioritize new product projects Incorporate customer input for design and development of products Conduct proper concept analyses and test markets Develop a market launch plan to generate new product sales Develop and implement a new product game plan Accelerate the process to speed you new products to market and much more. You will also discover the 15 key lessons for new product success, and be able to anticipate the many pitfalls.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert G. Cooper is a professor of marketing at McMaster University. Founder of the widely employed StageGate product development process, he lives in Oakville, Ontario. Scott J. Edgett is associate professor of marketing at McMaster University and director of the Product Development Institute. He lives in Ancaster, Ontario. Elko J. Kleinschmidt is professor of marketing and international business and director of the engineering and management program at McMaster University. He lives in Ancaster, Ontario.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; Second Edition edition (September 20, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201563819
• ISBN-13: 978-0201563818
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,661,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough Textbook for Serious New Products Dev. Managers, November 14, 2001

By 

Bradley A. Swope (State College, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition (Paperback)

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

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Father of the Stage-Gate Approach Speaks, February 8, 2005

By 

J. Groen "Jerry Groen" (GURNEE, ILLINOIS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition (Paperback)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, June 3, 2004

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition (Paperback)

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.