"NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESSSomething that didn`t exist before its invention was tough to be believed upon as itsounded unreal. For instance, computer made it possible to store everything into onesystem; internet brought the world close to each other; laptops gave an easieraccess to classic apparatus of desktop computer etc. One does not have to be aninventor like Thomas Edison but the global business demands organizations toenlarge the product offerings to its customers. (August 21, 2006) If one sells acheaper and quality laptop, there are many others who would sell it for a cheap pricewith various product offerings. It can be stated that most organizations now come upwith product increments rather than new inventions. However, the innovation andcreativity factor makes the difference. Despite of adopting various innovative designsand procedures, over 80% of the new product fails in the market as due to the riskiernature of the NPD process. As Barclay and Benson (1990) argues that the series ofactivities ranging from various structures, cultures, skills, resources and above all,people, makes it a riskier process. Thus, failure of one single activity may lead to thefailure in the entire plan.Various researches have proven that prior to the development process, a firm has toconsider the challenges like changing technology, shorter life cycles, and higherconsumer expectations and above all, a strengthened global competition. Toovercome these challenges, proper research should be carried out and thus theconsumers should be involved in the design process of a well planned structure ofthe development process. (Rob Smart, 2006; June 9)Involving consumers means utilizing the most effective resource that providesinformationregarding their needs. NPD practitioners concede information as a factorreducing vagueness and ambiguity. (Kyriakopoulos and deRuyter, 2004; 442)Moreover, the information further helps in better coordination between differentfunctions and departments which eventually affects the performance of the NPDprocess. (Moenaert and Souder, 1990; Griffin and Hauser, 1996; 442) However,the way information is utilized, developed and managed in the overall process makesthe difference in determining the success or failure. (Ottum and Moore, p.258) Theknowledge of information should be transparent as it is observed the ambiguity lies10 about the type of required information at different phases. (Frishammar, 2005;Zahay et al., 2004; 443)With the passage of time, producers’ interest in designing a product is nowcomplimented with the growing interest of the consumers in the developmentprocess as they are the ones for which the producer tends to direct its resources todeliver a product or a service. It would not be wrong to say that the long term vigourof an organization strongly depends on providing the existing and new customerswith an ongoing flow of improved and new products. (Kuczmarski et al, 1992) Forinstance, US markets over 10,000 new products every year and a huge populationmarkets these new products. (Crawford, 1994)This reflects the involvement of theconsumer in marketing the new products. Being a complicated and a difficult process, the success rate of NPD process isstaggering which alarms organizations for alteration. For instance, Apple withdifferentiated technology and superior quality has taken the consumer interest intocontext and thus has delivered its products and services accordingly. As per theconducted interviews by various top executives at Apple, it is discovered that theywere focussing on innovation, consumers and acknowledged to provide the best butnot being the first. (Reena Jana, 2010;Jan 27) At the same time, Apple Lisa whichaimed the business customers failed to attract customers due to its high price tagand got supplemented by a low priced IBM PCs. It can thus be said research isextremely an important tool in order to identify and understand the target market.Despite of a large number of new product failures, organizations still find it difficult totake lessons from the past and make a successful strategy for development process.11 DEVELOPING INNOVATIONThe broadened vision of various enterprises aims at achieving the objectives throughcreativity and strategic leadership. Innovation is a broad term which many has failedto define. For instance, invention and innovation are thought to be as terms withsimilar meaning. However, the latter is concerned with a different notion of thinkingabout existing product or and services. It is also thought as an activity leading toradical changes frequently whileSingleton and Bester (2007)argues that theequivalent small changes are often overlooked despite of being innovative. Thebasic purpose of innovation is to deliver a better value to consumers.Innovation is any other form of skill which can be observed in every otherorganization. For instance, HP which was going in bad debts due to lack of customerorientation overcame the problem by identifying the customers` desires. It arguedthat the new products would take over ten years as per their established investmentcycle. However, the technological combination with new applications made theproduction cycle to take the shortest possible time. If it does not, it would be laggingbehind its competitors. The timing of innovation and the business environment isanother crucial aspect. For instance, the fuel crises gave an opportunity toautomobile industry to develop innovative products providing fuel efficiency. (VinodKhosla, Google inc., 2008; 26) He further argues that failure of activities lead togeneration of innovative idea. An idea is only an aspect of innovation; the latterrequires a rational business commotion with well-defined objectives with ananticipation factor of the expected outcomes. (Singleton and Bester, 2007; 26)Innovation is observed in various product forms in the business world; breakthroughproduct, discontinuous innovation, product extensions, competitive displacement andmarket inventions. For instance, giants like Sony, W.L. Gore and 3M have adoptedsome or the other form of the mentioned innovation techniques. One can beinnovative and thus dominate but this is not necessarily true for every company. IBMbecame the top most corporations on account of its professional sales force and notbecause of the innovativeness. But at the same time, it lagged behind the rivalcomputers in early 1960s due to innovative technology which proves the importanceof innovation in the developing world. (Jim Collins, 1997; May 1) Companies like12 "