Taking the guesswork out of new product development: how successful high‐tech companies get that way

The authors report on their findings from an ongoing seven‐year research project on the intersection of entrepreneurship, marketing and technology. The focus of their research is to identify factors that lead to better, faster and less expensive new product and service development. The present study investigates new product development practices in high‐technology small‐to‐medium enterprises (SMEs), including electronics and computer, biotechnology, military software, space, and electronic machinery companies. Gathering data from 60 new product development projects, the authors found that successful project teams perform certain practices better than unsuccessful ones. These include project visioning, process proficiency, management support, documentation systems, established project deadlines, team processes, and communication. Further, the authors identified critical success factors in the new product development projects as process proficiency, effective filing system, an established project deadline, information coding, and reduced formal communication within teams.