The Role Of Functional Units In New Product Development (NPD) Process

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Abstract

New product development is said to be the lifeblood of a company. This is especially more true today than ever before in the history. Companies that simply wish to exist must now evolve new products at an increasing rate to enhance their competitive posture or even to survive. There are no sacred niches that can be harvested for long periods of time We must also be aware of the fact that companies must grow through new product development. To survive and flourish in the long run, the core technology must grow in the organization. Technology is growing at an ever increasing rate and must be integrated into product development otherwise the market niche of today will be obsolete and displaced by companies with the newer technology In this research the role of functional units of Tazh Company in New Product Development (NPD) process has been examined. 42 questionnaires were distributed among Tazh top and middle management levels and functional department's experts and the data were analyzed. Findings show that Tazh ability score in NPD was 3.121 and this means that the capacity of this company in NPD is almost good. "Top management" and "marketing & sales" departments had relatively higher importance than other functional areas. "Financial" department with 13.41 % had the lowest importance. Other functional areas with 16.18 % importance stood between these groups. In the final section of this paper, after conclusion, some recommendations were presented.

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