In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) is the complete process of bringing a new product to market.
Product management should be viewed form a broader perspective by business firms, in that, it has to include new product development as part of the action plan, apart from appraising the existing product line, positioning them effectively and taking brand decisions wisely.
“Innovate or die’, is the modern entrepreneurial slogan. Unless organizations innovate and introduce new products, they cannot survive in the competitive market. Strategies defining the organization’s future are built upon the portfolio of new products.
Picture Cortesy: Coschedule
Picture Courtesy: Staenz
New product development is a multi-dimensional concept, inherent in most organizations. The process is initiated when the organizations are subject to market pressure and the firms are left with no choice other than to take up the challenge.
A List of Productivity Terms
Automation – The use of robots or other automatic equipment to do certain tasks
Business Productivity – The amount of goods or services produced by a business from a set amount of resources
Capital Goods – Manufactured or constructed items that are used to produce goods and services
Capital Investment – Funds the business has reinvested in the business
Delegate – To assign authority or responsibilty to another person
Disposable Income – The amount of income people have left to spend, or dispose of, after they have paid their taxes
Division of Labor – Dividing a large job into units, or job tasks, and assigning an individual to do each of the tasks
Efficiency – Accomplishing a task with a minimum expenditure of time and effort
Flextime – A scheduling prodcedure in which employees select their own working hours as long as they work the required number of hours
Franchise – A contractual agreement between a parent company and a franchise to distribute goods or services
Goal Setting – Establishing an objective to be reached; may apply to individuals or to businesses
Gross Domestic Product – The final market value output of all goods and services produced within a country’s geographic boundaries during a year’s time
Gross Domestic Product per Capita – The average productivity of individual workers calculated by dividing the gross domestic product by the worker hours required to produce it
Inflation – A rapid rise in prices that may occur when demand exceeds supply or when productivity declines and costs of labor go up
Inputs – All the resources used in producing goods and services
Job Orientation – Job preparation or induction in which new employees are acquainted with their surroundings, receive general information about the company and its policies, and are given specific information about their jobs
Labor – The work people do or the workers themselves
Labor Union – A group of workers who have joined together for a common purpose to improve the terms and conditions under which employees work
Mass Production – The rapid production of large quantities of product
Mechanization – The use of machines to perform certain tasks
Natural Resources – Items that are found in nature and used to produce goods and services
Outputs – The goods and services produced as the result of combining inputs
Participative Decision-Making – The involvement of several individuals in making decisions; in business, the participation of employees in decisions to be made by management
Productivity – The amount and the value of goods and services produced (outputs) from set amounts of resources (inputs)
Quality of Work Life – The general conditions in which employees work
Specialization – The process of making the best use of resources in the production of goods and servicse
Standard of Living – The general condition in which people live; quality of life
Technology – Scienctific applications to business objectives or the methods used to attain those objectives
Trend – The general direction in which something is moving
Worker Productivity – The amount of work a worker can perform in a given period of time, e.g., customers served per hour