The effect of type of innovation on new product development process

It is well-known that new product development process (NPDP) differs depending on innovation type. This demand for NPDP adjustment derives from innovation type differences regarding to the level of uncertainty and risk, the resources required, the performance difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to present how radical NPDP distinguishes from the incremental NPDP. The conclusion is that there are two major factors through which the incremental NPDP differs from the radical NPD, which we named them the process impetus and the process deployment. The NPDP impetus is related to the sources of new product idea. Usually, a radical new product starts with a strategic vision or by accident. On the opposite side, the new product ideas for incremental products are usually determined as a response to the competition action or for a better fulfillment of the customer needs. It is more customer-driven than technological-driven. The NPDP deployment is linked to the disposition in time of activities. Because of high market and technology uncertainty, the radical NPDP is more exploratory, it has many iterations, many prototype testing, it is a "probe and learning process" (Lynn, Morone and Paulson, 1996). The incremental NPDP, is more formal and more structured, with little iteration. These two elements determine differences in each NPDP stages. The process impetus, has a considerable influence on the early stages of the NPD process and the process deployment determines differences especially for design and testing stages.