New product development process in innovative SMEs: An exploratory study

Innovation is one of the drivers of the economy that can ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs in an increasingly competitive world. As governments are making it a priority to increase the commitment of SMEs to innovation strategies, it seems essential to question their ways of innovating, including the processes involved to successfully develop a new product idea and bring it to market. The high failure rates in new product development (NPD) also justify the relevance of this question. We propose to answer it through an exploratory study involving five Canadian SMEs (province of Quebec) that have been successful in innovation. Contrary to what the literature suggests, our results show the formalization of the process, allowing managers to quickly adjust their activities during development to reduce the risk of failure. These findings are, however, contingent on managers’ experience in NPD, presence of some expertise and collaboration with their key customers.
Codes JEL: M100, M190