The application of new product development tools in industry: The case of Singapore

Literature suggests that new product development (NPD) is critical for industrial firms to gain a competitive advantage. Intriguingly, the systematic application of NPD tools in industry, despite the extensive effort that has been invested and the benefits that can be obtained, remains mostly uncommon. By conducting ten semi-structured interviews with selected academics and industrialists and using a sample of 67 industrial firms in Singapore for questionnaire survey, this empirical study investigates the diffusion and adoption of NPD tools in industry. It also probes the factors which may affect the application of NPD tools. Our findings reveal that the application of NPD tools is still under-exploited in most of the industrial companies in Singapore. Although the application of NPD tools is affected by many factors, the most significant are management support in the company and the innovativeness orientation of the company. Surprisingly, we found that the usefulness of tools has little influence on whether a tool is adopted or not.