ABSTRACT
In order to increase NPD success rates, an increasing number of companies are adopting a systematic approach to evaluating the success of developments and then interpreting their findings to drive a continuous process of improvement. However, in the current turbulent competitive environment it is not sufficient simply to carry out a retrospective analysis of how a product has performed once it has reached the market-place. Rather, because performance in the development process has a significant effect upon the commercial success of the product development, performance needs to be measured regularly from the start of a programme and continued until well after product launch. Comparing the actual results or outcomes with goals and targets helps identify areas of excellence and weakness that can be used to set the agenda for improvement.
