Strategic horizon of market success: comparing alternative “strategic landscapes” of the new product development process

Abstract

Purpose The success rate of new products is stubbornly low. This paper aims to explore the differences in how product designers and product managers approach the new product development task by comparing their perspectives on the process. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted a worldwide survey of professional product designers and managers and compared their perspectives. Findings Managers struggle to understand the problem to be solved until they see the solution in the form of an outstanding product design. Designers struggle to develop new products until they have a specific and insightful understanding of the problem that needs to be solved. Practical implications Designers’ and managers’ ways of thinking are different, and effective collaboration depends on them being cognizant of each other’s ways of thinking; the success of their work is highly interdependent. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study that simultaneously investigates both product designers and managers to reveal the paradoxical dynamics between their perspectives.