Drivers of new product success in the Italian sport shoe cluster of Montebelluna

Purpose - The purpose of this empirical research is to identify the key success factors engrained in the new product development (NPD) practices of companies that belong to the Italian sport shoe cluster of Montebelluna. Design/methodology/approach - Statistical analyses were undertaken on data collected through a questionnaire submitted to a conveniently selected group of the population of firms localized in Montebelluna. A series of one-way ANOVAs was run on the NPD performance metric. We then measured the Pearson correlation between the degree of new product success and the factors that were found to be statistically significant. We converted the response variable into a dummy and then we tested the hypotheses with the normalized Cramer's V-square to discriminate between the best performers and the rest. Finally, we performed a regression analysis to build a model that explains a large part of the variation in new product success. Findings - Three macro factors have a positive influence on new product success: extended team approach (also cross-company); customer orientation; and the use of advanced ICTs for new product development. Research limitations/implications - Further investigation is needed on the role of networking with suppliers in new product development. Practical implications - Sport shoe manufacturers should: proactively develop close relationships with their customers aimed at NPD; integrate lead users in the NPD process; and implement strategies to overcome their inhibition from investing in advanced ICTs for NPD. Originality/value - Some factors that have been found as being important drivers of new product success in other researches do not seem to play a relevant role in the companies we analyzed. The study highlights the strategic role of lead users in contributing to the enhanced performance of successful companies.