市场营销外文翻译.docx

市场营销外文翻译.docx

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市场营销外文翻译

IEEETRANSACTIONSONENGINEERINGMANAGEMENT,VOL.EM-34,NO.3,AUGUST1987DefiningtheNewProductStrategyROBERTG.COOPERAbstract—Newproductsarecriticaltothegrowthandsurvivalofmostcorporations.Thenewproductstrategyisthemasterplanthatguidestheproductinnovationeffortsofthefirm,andlinksnewproductdevelopmenttothecorporateplan.Thisarticlelooksfirstatwhataproductinnovationstrategyis,itsroleinthecorporation,andwhyaninnovationstrategyisessentialtoaneffectivenewproductprogram.Next,thearticlefocusesonthedevelopmentofanewproductstrategy,beginningwithobjectivesandmovingtoarenaselection.Amatrixapproachtoarenadefinitionandselectionisused.Empiricaldatafromresearchbytheauthorisemployedinthemodeltoprioritizenewproductarenas.INTRODUCTIONNEWproductsarecentraltothegrowthandprosperityofthemoderncorporation.Increasingly,progressivemanagementsrecognizethatanewproductortechnologystrategyshouldbeanexplicitandcentralelementofthecorporatestrategy.Thisarticleisaboutnewproductstrategyatthecorporatelevel—abouttheneedforanewproductstrategy,andaboutdefininganddevelopingsuchastrategy.THEIMPORTANCEOFANEWPRODUCTSTRATEGYNewproductdevelopmentandtechnologybearanintegralrelationshiptoacompany'sstrategicthinkingbyhelpingtodefinetherangeofthatcompany'schoices.Formanycompanies,newproductsandtechnologieshavebecometheleadingedgeofcorporatestrategy,openingupnewmarketandnewbusinessopportunities.Therapidgrowthofcountlessfirmsinoffice-of-the-future,bioengineering,microelectronics,androboticsisevidenceofthegrowthpotentialofawellconceivednewproductstrategy.Similarly,manyoftoday'scorporategiants,suchasXerox,IBM,Polaroid,andTexasInstruments,werefledglingcompaniesonlydecadesago,butbecamegreatbecauseofnewproductchoicesmadebymanagementinearlieryears.Thecompaniesthataremostlikelytosucceedinthedevelopmentandlaunchofnewproductsarethosefirmswhichimplementacompanyspecificapproach,drivenbycorporateobjectivesandstrategies,withawell-definednewproductstrategyatitscore.ThesearesomeoftheconclusionsofastudyofbusinesspracticesbyBooz-Allen

andHamilton.Therewereotherrecommendationsaswell,butaproductinnovationstrategyrankshighonthelistofthekeystosuccess.Somefirmsdodevelopsuchstrategies.Forexample,productinnovationchartersweredescribedbyCrawfordinhisstudyof125firms.Henotesthatfirmsarenowbeginningtopullallthemultifunctionalelementsofanewproductstrategytogetherinonedocument,whichspecifiesthetypesofmarkets,products,technologies,andorientationthefirmwillpursuewithitsnewproductprogram.PROBLEMInspiteoftheimportanceofnewproducts,managementcanfindlittlehelpfromthetraditionalliteratureintheformulationofanewproductstrategy.Fewguidelineshavebeendevelopedtoassistthemanagerinthechoiceofareasandthedirectionforthenewproductprogram.Thatis,thereexistfewconceptualframeworksorprovenmethodologiesforformulatinganewproductstrategy.Moreover,littleempiricalresearchhasbeenundertakentodeterminethecomponentsandresultsoffirms'newproductprograms:

thatis,howcompaniesdirectlyorindirectlychoosenewmarketsandareasoftechnology,andorganizeandfocustheirR&Deffortsindifferentways.Althoughtherearemanystrategydevelopmentmodelsinusetoday,mostdealwithresourceallocationandstrategydevelopmentforthefirm'sexistingbusinessunitsandexistingproductlines.Forexample,variousportfoliomodelshavebeendeveloped,essentiallyvariationsoftheBostonConsultingGroupmodel—cashcows,stars,dogs,andwildcats.Whiletheseportfolioorresourceallocationmodelsmaysuggestnewareasforproductdevelopment,thesemodelsweredevelopedprincipallytodealwithproductsorbusinessesthatthecompanyalreadypossesses.Similarly,thePIMSmodel,anotherpopularstrategydevelopmentaid,looksatalternatestrategiesandtheirimpactonprofitability,butagainlargelyforexistingbusinessesinthecompany.Inshort,thesestrategymodelsdealwithwhatisratherthanwithwhatmightbe.Whatislackingintheseapproachesisasystematicprocedureforgeneratingandchoosingnewstrategicoptions,includingnewproductsandnewbusinesses.THEPRODUCTINNOVATIONCHARTERInabusinesscontext,strategyhasbeendefinedas"theschemeswherebyafirm'sresourcesandadvantagesaremanaged（deployed）inordertosurpriseandsurpasscompetitorsortoexploitopportunities".Morespecifically,strategicchangeisdefinedasarealignmentofthefirm'sproduct/marketenvironnent".Strategyiscloselytiedtoproduct

andmarketspecification.Coreyidentifiesmarketselectionandproductdelineationasthetwokeydimensionsofcorporatestrategy.Productinnovationstrategy,whilecloselyrelatedtocorporatestrategy,tendstobemorespecific.Inrecentyears,theterm"productinnovationcharter"—orPICforshort—hasbeenused.ThePICchartstheentirestrategyforafirm'snewproductprogram.Itistheessentiallinkbetweentheproductdevelopmentprogramandthefirm'scorporatestrategy.ThePIChastwokeyelements:

ThePICspecifiestheobjectivesofthegame,therolethatproductinnovationwillplayinhelpingthefirmachieveitscorporateobjectives.Itanswersthequestion:

wheredonewproductsandproductinnovationfitinthecompany'soverallplan?

Thisrolethenistranslatedintospecificobjectivesforthenewproductprogram.Statementssuchas"By1990,30percentofourcorporatesaleswillcomefromnewproducts—productsthatwewilldevelopandlaunchinthenextfiveyears"aretypicalobjectivesfoundinthePIC.ThePICspecifiesthearenasinwhichthegamewillbeplayed.Thatis,itdefinesthetypesofmarkets,marketapplications,technologies,andproductsthatthenewproductprogramwillfocuson.Thesearenasprovideafocustothefirm'sproductdevelopmentprogram.WHYHAVEAPRODUCTINNOVATIONCHARTERATALL?

DevelopingaPICishardwork.Itinvolvesmanypeople,especiallytopmanagement.Why,then,gotoalltheeffort?

Mostofuscanprobablynamecountlessfirmsthatdonotappeartohaveamasterplanfortheirnewproductprogram.Howdidtheygetby?

DoingBusinesswithoutaninnovationCharterRunninganinnovationprogramwithoutaPIClikerunningawarwithoutamastermilitarystrategy.There'snorudder,there'snodirection,andoften,wedon'tendupwherewe'dliketobe.AnewproductprogramwithoutaPICwillinevitablyleadtoanumberofadhocdecisionsmadeindependentlyofeachother.NewproductandR&Dprojectsareinitiatedsolelyontheirownmerits,withlittleregardtotheirfitintothegranderscheme.Theresultisthatthefirmfindsitselfinunrelatedorunwantedmarkets,products,andtechnologies.Objectives:

TheLinktoCorporateStrategy

WhattypesofdirectiondoesaPICgiveafirm'snewproductprogram?

First,theobjectivesofaPICtietheproductdevelopmentefforttightlytothefirm'scorporatestrategy.Newproductdevelopment,sooftentakenforgranted,becomesacentralpartofthecorporatestrategy,akeyplankinthecompany'soverallstrategicplatform.Thequestionofspendingcommitmentisdealtwithbydefiningtheroleandobjectivesofthenewproductprogram.Toooften,theR&Dornewproductbudgetiseasypreyinhardeconomictimes.Insomefirms,R&Disviewedassoftmoney—aluxury.Butwithproductinnovationasacentralfacetofthefirm'scorporatestrategy,withtheroleandobjectivesofproductinnovationfirmlyestablished,cuttingthisbudgetbecomeslessarbitrary.Thereiscontinuitytotheresourcecommitmenttonewproducts.TheArenas:

GuidingtheGamePlanThesecondfacetofthePIC,thedefinitionofarenas,iscriticaltoguidingandfocusingthenewproductefforts（seeFig.1）.Thefirststepinthenewproductprocessisideageneration.Butwheredoesonesearchfornewproductideas?

Unlessthearenasaredefined,theresultisascattergunsearcheffort,undirected,unfocused,andineffective!

Asecondkeystepinthenewproductprocessisideascreening.ThefirstcriterionforthisearlyGO/KILLdecisionis:

"Doestheproposedproductfallwithinthecompany'smandateforitsnewproductprogram?

"Thisusuallytranslatesinto:

isthisthekindofmarket,product,andtechnologythatweasacompanyhavedecidedisfairgameforus?

Withoutadefinitionoffairgame—arenas—goodluckintryingtomakeaneffectivescreeningdecision!

Thedefinitionofarenasalsoguidesresourceandmanpowerplanning.Ifcertainmarketsaredesignatedtoppriorityarenas,thenthefirmcanacquireresources,skills,andknowledgetobebetterabletoattackthosemarkets.Similarly,ifcertaintechnologiesaresingledoutasarenas,thefirmcanhireandacquireresourcestobolsteritsabilitiesinthosefields.Resourcebuildingdoesn'thappenovernight.Onecan'tbuyasalesforceonamoment'snotice;andonecan'tacquireacriticalmassofkeyresearchersorengineersinacertaintechnologyatthelocalsupermarket.Puttingtherightpeople,resources,andskillsinplacetakesbothleadtimeandadirection,hencetheneedforthedefinitionofarenas.Where'stheEvidence?

TheargumentforaPIC,althoughlogical,appearssomewhatacademic.Onecan'thelpbutthinkaboutallthosecompaniesthathavesucceededwithoutagrandstrategyforproductinnovation.Thenwhere'stheevidenceinsupportofaPIC?

Thereisn'tmuch,

unfortunately.Onereasonisthatnottoomanystudieshaveinvestigatedtheroleandimpactofaninnovationstrategy.Mostofthebusinessresearchintoproductinnovationhasfocusedontheindividualproductprojectastheunitofanalysis—forex