Bringing Innovation in New Product Development (NPD) by leveraging External Sources: Opportunity or Hype?

Naheed Bashir
Alliance Manchester Business School, university of Manchester, UK

Abstract: This paper examines the role of external sources may be called knowledge sources such as customers, suppliers and competitors in new product development (NPD).  Adopting a qualitative perspective, this study is built an in-depth study of leading multinational companies (MNCs) around the world from the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. This paper explores that among these sources, which source is more influential that significantly contributes to the product innovation. The findings have highlighted that customers appeared to be huge sources of knowledge providers in innovation for NPD while suppliers provide technical competencies in the development of new products, yet competitors do not contribute to innovation in product development at all. This study offers a practical guideline for the managers in MNCs.

Keywords: New: Product Development, Innovation, Customers, suppliers, Competitors, MNCs..