How to monitor the front end of innovation in the new product development: defining performance indicators. The case study of an accelerator of technology commercialization

Details

Supervisors

Gailly, Benoît

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

The new product development process represents one of the biggest opportunities for innovative firms to remain competitive and to strengthen growth. The upstream part of the process, the “front end” of innovation, is a key step as it influences the success of the product. Evaluating the front end performance is particularly challenging since typical financial measures of product development do not often apply. This paper has the ambition to define performance indicators that monitor the performance all along the front end process. In order to answer the following research question:” What are the relevant performance indicators when monitoring the front end of innovation?” the dissertation starts with a literature review followed by observations based on a case study of the accelerator of technology commercialization “Cohitec”. The results revealed the importance to subdividing the front end into distinct periods in order to find the appropriate indicators for each moment in the process. Three periods were identified namely exploration, validation and business case. The relevant indicators in the exploration part concern the technology, the value proposition and product. In the validation, the market potential is evaluated while in the business case stage, the plan of development is given evaluations. Finally, team dimension is split into team composition which is assessed at the beginning of the process and the team dynamics which must be assessed throughout the front end.