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Stage-Gate Systems: A New Tool for Managing New Products
Abstract
Stage-Gate: A New Tool for Managing New Products
Authors note (2020): This was one of the first articles written on Stage-Gate when it was first developed. It is thus interesting from a historical perspective only. Stage-Gate® went on to be implemented in thousands of companies globally, and the PDMA (Product Development & Management Association) in the USA reports that almost 80% of firms doing product development had implemented Stage-Gate.
But Stage-Gate gas also evolved much since those early days., so this 1990 is likely no longer relevant. Stage-Gate has become 'Lean Stage-Gate', 'Iterative Stage-Gate', and the latest version, 'Agile-Stage-Gate'. A complete up-to-date description of Stages-Gate along with new articles and also new versions of Stage-Gate can be found in the paperback book Winning at New Products, 5th edition (on Amazon, also as an e-book or audio-book); for more up-to-date outlines of Stage-Gate, and its newer versions, including Agile-Stage-Gate, please also see my personal webpage, and click “Articles” at bottom of page (no charge download):
www.bobcooper.ca
Citation of the 1990 article (of historical interest only) is:
Cooper, R.G., “Stage-gate systems: a new tool for managing new products”, Business Horizons 33, 3, May-June, 1990, 44-54.
But not available online.
Stage-Gate® is a legally registered trademark in the EU and Canada of R.G. Cooper (and Associates Inc); and in the USA and Australia of Stage-Gate International.
Enjoy the benefits of Stage-Gate! Many people and firms have.
All the best, Dr. R.G Cooper, Toronto, Canada.
... According to Cooper (1990), the Stage-gate method is a structured and iterative approach to the product development process. It provides a clear and organized guide for companies throughout each product lifecycle stage, from conception to market launch. ...
... Stages are designed to generate data so that the project can thrive for the next stage (Cooper & Sommer, 2018). Cooper (1990) provides the following definitions: (a) Stage: manifest as phase, refers to the stage where the actions take place. The multidisciplinary team carries out the previously defined activities, in addition to others in parallel. ...
... It includes a series of sequential steps that must be completed before the project can progress to the next phase. Steps include detailed project assessments, market analysis, concept development, financial analysis and various validation tests (Cooper, 1990;Cooper & Sommer, 2018). ...
The article aims to present a bibliometric study that sought to identify the profile of scientific articles in the Scopus database on the term Stage-gate, in the period from 2013 to September 2023, analysing how the evolution of the dissemination of international scientific studies for the area of product development. The research methodology is quantitative through bibliometrics that evaluates scientific metrics. The author who published the most was Robert Cooper with 12 documents, the journal that most addresses the term Stage-gate is Research Technology Management with nine documents and the keyword amiss cited is Stage-gate with 9% of the citations. The country that contributes the most and contributes to the Stage-gate method is the United States with 78 documents. In conclusion, the results presented highlight the relevance of this model, the contribution of different authors, the diversity of academic sources, and the global dispersion of this concept.
... Over time, several NPD models have been developed. In 1990, Cooper introduced the stage-gate model, comprising five main phases (scoping, build business case, development, testing and validation, launch) separated by verification and control gates (Cooper, 1990). ...
... As such, innovation managers should be aware of potential continued idea advancement outcomes from project no-go or termination decisions, often moving ideas temporally or laterally rather than extinguishing them. While some product development processes, such as Stage-Gate (Cooper, 1990;Cooper & Sommer, 2016), promote rational decision-making through various project-rating schemes and structured meetings, innovation work and management involves a nonrational and political side as well (Röth et al., 2019). Recognizing continued latent potential as well as continued resource strain from championing responses to failure can help to gain a more holistic view of innovation efforts in organizations. ...
While past research has shown that championing plays a key role in sheltering and advancing novel ideas towards implementation, relatively little is known about how adversity and failure are dealt with through championing behaviour. The current embedded case study draws from 43 interviews in a large industrial technology organization, examining new product and service development idea pathways. We found four types of championing responses in the 61 instances where initial idea advancement efforts did not bear fruit: lateral shifts, reworking, temporal shifts and moaning. In each of these, the idea was seen as valuable by the developer, but the attribution of initial failure and perceptions of effort-to-performance and performance-to-outcome expectancies varied in distinct combinations of conforming and nonconforming types of championing with varying intensity. Taken together, the results contribute towards understanding the multidimensional nature and temporal dynamics of championing in persisting under adversity by illuminating factors that contribute to championing response type decisions and opportunities to better support idea development efforts in organizations.
... 1. Stage-Gate Systems: these divide the innovation process into different work tasks, from idea generation to implementation and post-implementation (Cooper, 1990). Stage-Gate Systems divide the process into stages, and each stage is more costly, risky, and resource-intensive than the previous one. ...
Innovation is how organisations develop solutions to meet new challenges. The task involves recombining existing and new elements and capabilities to serve a new objective, frequently in new and evolving contexts. While recognising and acknowledging the work done by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in setting international standards, fostering international cooperation, and delivering capacity building, this article argues that new contexts and new opportunities frequently arise from crisis scenarios. The context for international organisations has been evolving in recent years, and COVID-19 could be an accelerator of these changes. The WCO, like many other international organisations, faces new challenges in an environment of uncertainty, and the way to stay relevant is through innovation. This article proposes a set of practical tools and steps towards implementing innovation processes in the WCO that can result in the creation of value for its Members and the Secretariat.
... A key component to revenue growth in the premium marine sector is the strengthening of product offerings spearheaded by designers (Allinson, 2020). Product innovation is essential within the premium marine sector and typically follows a traditional linear 'stage gate' process first proposed by Cooper (1990) as a framework to control new product development. Best practice for delivering innovation projects in this linear process is through cross-functional teams (Du Preez and Louw, 2008). ...
Design and manufacturing innovations are important competitive attributes in the premium marine sector. The adoption of an open innovation process has the potential to deliver behavioural and technological transformation. This pilot study illustrates an open innovation approach to explore the benefits of digital innovation when designing new products within the premium marine industry. The research demonstrates how an open innovation approach will flourish when focused on co-creation in collaboration with a network of cross-functional partners.
... Historically, to standardise, and further, optimise the process, a broad selection of design process models and standards (BS 7000 1 and VDI 2221 2 ), have been conceptualised [61]. Some examples of established process models include systematic, stage-gate, vee, and cyclic models [60,3,[62][63][64][65]10]. Smith and Morrow [18] however, determine that all models share an element of similarity, positing that whilst their structures may differ, ultimately, they are all based on the underlying belief that a structure exists. ...
The tensions between prototype iteration and its associated costs, both in terms of time and resource, are identified as a critical challenge in contemporary prototyping practices. Whilst it is acknowledged that increased prototyping correlates to improved products and greater product innovation, the cost of prototype iteration, particularly in the later stages of the development process is a key factor in determining the extent of prototyping that is undertaken, thus the potential for product success.
Addressing this challenge, the research presented in this thesis investigates the development of a methodology for prototype remanufacturing in New Product Development (NPD). Remanufacturing, defined as the restoration of used products to a like-new functional state, emerges as a strategic approach with potential to significantly improve the efficiency of prototype iteration. By remanufacturing, an existing prototype could be ’edited’ to embody only the necessary change between design iterations, promising to reduce not only the time and cost associated with prototyping but also aligning with the shift towards sustainable practices in NPD.
This thesis therefore aims to investigate the unique challenges and opportunities that remanufacturing presents when applied in the context of prototyping in NPD. The research adopts a methodological framework encompassing: a comprehensive analysis of design change between high-fidelity prototype iterations, exploring the potential benefits of remanufacturing, and the formalisation of remanufacturing strategies for prototype remanufacturing. Central to this research is the development and optimisation of a computational-remanufacturing tool, designed to enhance the computational efficiency of the prototype remanufacturing process. The research addresses key issues such as the fidelity-efficiency trade-off in prototyping and the need for rapid iteration processes, particularly in the later stages of NPD. Through a series of case studies, simulations, and empirical evaluations, the thesis demonstrates the practical feasibility and benefits of implementing a remanufacturing method in prototype development.
In conclusion, the research establishes remanufacturing as a method with significant potential to augment the prototyping process. Findings show remanufacturing to yield significant time and resource savings whilst maintaining a relative level of prototype fidelity and functionality between design iterations. The research offers a novel approach to prototype development, in particular towards iteration, marked by increased efficiency and sustainability. The thesis concludes with guidance for the integration of remanufacturing strategies to support design and engineering practitioners.
Advanced materials are rapidly being developed in different material categories. They share little commonalities apart from their novelty, which raises concerns that these materials may fall into a regulatory gap...
We present a typology in which commonly encountered project types and widely used project management process types are matched. This generates four propositions: (1) Process types match project types but do not cover all encountered project types; (2) a formal project management change process should be articulated; (3) the project management processes represent a portfolio that can help managers address project types (or other nonroutine challenges for the organization) in productive ways; and (4), while array and wicked projects cannot be fully addressed by any one of the project management processes, combinations of the processes may be able to deliver such projects.
In a comprehensive study of 252 new product histories at 123 firms, Robert Cooper and Elko Kleinschmidt looked critically at the new products management process. Each company was shown a set of 13 activities which formed a general “skeleton” of a new product process. This article examines how this structure was modified by the companies and how well various stages of the process were reportedly executed. The results show a variety of practices among the surveyed companies. While the presence of activities cannot guarantee successful new products, certain activities were singled out as particularly weak. Firms should consider placing more emphasis on market studies, initial screening activities, and preliminary market assessment. The article provides a thoughtful assessment of the level of implementation of current practices in new products management.
New Product Pressures Bro Uttal, Speeding New Ideas to Market, Fortune Cooper is a professor of mar-keting at McMaster University
- D S Hopkins
- E L Bailey
D.S. Hopkins and E.L. Bailey, New Product Pressures, Conference Board Record 8(6), 1971, pp. 16-24. Bro Uttal, Speeding New Ideas to Market, Fortune, March 1987, pp. 62-66. Robert G. Cooper is a professor of mar-keting at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, 54 Business Horizons / May-June 1990