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2018 | Book

Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

The Crucial Role of Domain Knowledge in Evaluating Early-Stage New Product Ideas

Author: Florian Denker

Publisher: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

Book Series : Forschungs-/Entwicklungs-/Innovations-Management

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

Florian Denker explores the role of an individual’s domain knowledge for the proficient evaluation of early-stage new product ideas in the front-end of innovation. The results of his study show that in order to ensure an effective evaluation, evaluators of early-stage new product ideas should have comprehensive knowledge of consumers’ needs and wants, as well as distinct knowledge about the opportunities and limits of available technologies in the respective domain. In this context, the results show that not only firm-internal experts can have this knowledge. Users and, in particular, so-called "lead users" (i.e. users who are ahead of the majority on major market trends and innovations), could also be suitable for effectively evaluating early-stage new product ideas.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
Launching a “differentiated product with unique customer benefits and superior value for the user” (Cooper, 1999: 117) is one of the foremost drivers of firms’ profitability (Cooper, 2011). Two central activities need to be undertaken, with equal proficiency, at the very beginning of the new product development (NPD) process to lay the foundation for successfully developing and launching such innovative new products (Evanschitzky et al., 2012): (i) generating high quality new product ideas, and (ii) selecting the most promising ideas for inclusion in a firm’s innovation funnel (Girotra, Terwiesch, and Ulrich, 2010). Thus, generating a large number of ideas is in itself not sufficient; firms must also select their early-stage ideas very carefully, as choosing the right idea sets the basis for future commercial success (Kornish and Ulrich, 2014).
Florian Denker
Chapter 2. Frame of reference
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to provide a frame of reference for the study’s research questions. I will therefore introduce the innovation concept (section 2.1) by distinguishing between innovation as an outcome (section 2.1.1) and innovation as a process (section 2.1.2). Subsequently, I will highlight the front-end of innovation as the innovation process phase that is most relevant in the context of this study (section 2.2). The chapter closes with a short introduction to the open innovation paradigm, and the major idea evaluation challenges that firms need to face when obtaining large numbers of new product ideas from external sources (section 2.3).
Florian Denker
Chapter 3. Theoretical foundation
Abstract
This chapter starts with a short introduction to the different streams of research that have provided the theoretical foundation for this thesis (section 3.1). This is followed by portraying idea evaluation as a core activity in the front-end of innovation (section 3.2). As part of this portrayal, the discussion will focus on: (i) why proficient idea evaluation is important for NPD success, (ii) how new product ideas are evaluated, and (iii) who should evaluate early-stage new product ideas.
Florian Denker
Chapter 4. Research design
Abstract
This chapter starts with a brief introduction to the research setting to justify my reasons for choosing the 3D printing domain (also referred to as additive manufacturing) for the empirical study (section 4.1). I subsequently provide a detailed description of the quantitative online survey used to collect the data (section 4.2). This portrayal covers the layout and sequence of the online survey (section 4.2.1), the selection and manipulation of the new product ideas to be evaluated (section 4.2.2), as well as the operationalization of the theoretical constructs and their transformation into concrete items and measures (section 4.2.3).
Florian Denker
Chapter 5. Empirical findings
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to present the study’s empirical findings. The chapter begins with a descriptive analysis of the data gathered in the survey and a first interpretation of the proposed hypotheses (section 5.1). Subsequently, multiple regression modeling is introduced as the method of choice to statistically test the proposed hypotheses (section 5.2).
Florian Denker
Chapter 6. Discussion of findings and implications
Abstract
In this last chapter, I discuss the study’s findings in the light of the proposed hypotheses, as well as the study’s contribution to theory and practice. This chapter closes with the study’s limitations and highlights opportunities for future research.
Florian Denker
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
The Crucial Role of Domain Knowledge in Evaluating Early-Stage New Product Ideas
Author
Florian Denker
Copyright Year
2018
Electronic ISBN
978-3-658-19784-1
Print ISBN
978-3-658-19783-4
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-19784-1