Stage-Gate (Cooper)

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Usage of Stage-Gate. Applications

• Product Development, Innovation.
• Component of Portfolio Management.

Steps (stages) in the Stage-Gate model. Process

The Stage-Gate process is preceded by a Discovery stage, which was added in a later version of the original model which had only 5 phases. It contains pre-work designed to discover opportunities and to generate new ideas.

1. Scoping. A quick, preliminary investigation of each project. Provides inexpensive information by desk research to enable narrowing the number of projects.
2. Build the Business Case. A much more detailed investigation by primary marketing and technical research. The business case must include a product definition, a product justification and a project plan.
3. Development. A detailed design and development of the new product, along with some simple product tests. Also a production plan and a market launch plan are developed.
4. Testing and Validation. Extensive product tests in both the marketplace, the lab and the plant.
5. Launch. Beginning of full production, marketing and selling. Market launch, production / operations, distribution, quality assurance. Post-Launch Reviews are performed.

In reality, it is necessary to drill down further into the sub-activities to provide detailed and operational instructions for the innovation team.

Strengths of Stage-Gate methodology. Benefits

• Well-organized innovation can be a source of competitive advantage.
• Accelerated product development. Necessary because of shortening product life cycles.
• Increased success chance of new products. Prevents poor projects early and helps to redirect them.
• The model breaks down the complex innovation process in large corporations in a number of smaller pieces.
• Provides overview, which enables prioritization and focus.
• Integrated market-orientation.
• Cross-functional. Involves input and participation of employees from various functions in the organization. No separate R&D or Marketing Stage. But see above Discovery.
• Can be combined with various performance metrics, such as Net Present Value, etc.

Limitations of Stage-Gate. Disadvantages

• Although within a stage activities can be conducted in parallel, the Stage-Gate approach is basically sequential (waterfall). Some innovation experts believe that product development should actually be organized in parallel, using loops.
• The original Stage-Gate framework did not deal with the Discovery process and the activities to create new ideas.
• A tension exists between organizing and creativity. Both are very important within innovation.

Book: Robert G. Cooper - Product Leadership - Pathways to Profitable Innovation

Forum Forum discussions about Product Development. Stage-Gates are Not Limitative The stage gate model is a widely used model, not only for product innovation but also for all projects. It is part of the Prince2 project management method. Note that the the phases and number of gat... 51   Involving End Users in the Innovation Process Is it reasonable to involve end users in the innovation process within the company (during product development) at all the stages of the Stage-Gate model?... 41   5 comments Politics and Innovation in Countries 1. The political leadership has the major say to promote innovation since it controls the environment, and environment is the first thing which gives scope for development of innovation. 2. Depending... 36   1 comments Stage-Gate Process for Product Quality Improvement Has anyone applied the stage-gate process in an actual new product development for the specific purpose of improving product quality and customer satisfaction? What were the results?... 34   Innovation in Emerging Economies How do we create an enabling environment for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in emerging economies?... 22   3 comments Iteration in Stage-Gate Model (Cooper) This model is good for new product development but its execution appears to be sequential in nature. (How) is the idea of iteration incorporated in the model?... 14   1 comments Innovation versus Improvisation What separates innovation from improvisation?... 14   4 comments Estabish a Distributed Innovation Group In an article entitled "Teaming Up to Crack Innovation and Enterprise Integration, James Cash, Michael Earl and Robert Morison suggest to establish a Distributed Innovation Group (DIG) to deal with th... 14   1 comments Process for New Product Introduction What is the typical process that a company should follow to introduce a new product in the market? What is time to market?... 5   2 comments Agenda for a Stage-Gate Meeting? What does the process for a typical Stage-Gate meeting look like? What would be the typical agenda for such meeting?... 3   1 comments Start a new topic about Product Development Sign up for free

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Best Practices The best, top-rated topics about Product Development. Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions. 🥇 Fostering Innovation by Leaders The main challenge to improve innovation is how to develop leaders which stimulate and sustain innovation instead of just looking at the bottom line figures. An innovative culture is the consequence ... 33   15 comments 🥈 Tip: 10 Red Flags for Innovation Interesting statement for discussion in Business Week: "There's no surefire way to guarantee success in innovation". Stefan Lindegaard offers 10 helpful suggestions or common pitfalls to avoid." Ver... 32   11 comments 🥉 The 5 Elements Innovation Framework (Bouquet et al.) In an interesting article, IMD professors Bouquet, Barsoux and Wade are criticizing existing innovation frameworks for being UNREALISTIC (being overly linear [like the Waterfall and Stage-gate approac... 19   6 comments

Expert Tips Advanced insights about Product Development. Here you will find professional advices by experts. Consultancy Tips Teaching Tips Practical Implementation Tips Success Factors for Stage-Gate Implementation Imlementing Stage-Gate Processes In his article “Implementing a Stage-Gate Process: A Multi-Company Perspective”, O’ Connor analyzed several cases... How to Find Good Product Ideas? List of 10 Approaches Discovering New-Product Ideas, Creative Approaches In his book “Product Leadership: Creating and Launching Superior New Products”, Robert Cooper suggests following ten way... Stage-Gate Implementation CSFs Implementing the Stage-Gate Process So far Stage-Gate method has been widely recognized as the best New Product Development Process, although there can be s... Innovation Pitfalls Avoiding Innovation Traps Note that Stage Gate is focused mainly on the innovation PROCESS. Harvard Professor R. Moss Kanter describes 4 common in... Advantages and Disadvantages of Stages and Gates Innovation Management, Stage-Gate Implementation Advantages: + Stage - Gate processes have been highly appreciated as they tend to confine investment in the next stage ... Setting up a Stage-Gate Organization. Best Practices Stage-Gate Roles and Responsibilities To obtain successful outcomes from Stage-Gate it is essential to define roles and responsibilities of all people involve... Benefits of Outsourcing Innovation Improving Innovation Performance Michael A. Stanko, Jonathan D. Bohlmann and Roger J. Calantone (“Outsourcing Innovation”, Executive Adviser, November 20... Innovating Bottom-up or Top-down Corporate Innovation Approaches I just read an interesting article by professor Deschamps on encouraging innovation within large organizations. Deschamp... 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Cooper's Innovation Diamond (tm) More Factors Leading to Succesful Product Innovation Also look at Cooper's Innovation Diamond (2005) with (besides the Stage-Gate System) three more factors leading to succe... Another Product Launch Method: 4 I's Stage-Gate Alternatives I use a Process of 4 I's when coaching planning processes. The process is similar to S/G above but the 4-I's are easier... When Should a Firm Consider to Outsource Innovation? Outsourcing Best Practices, Innovation According to Michael A. Stanko, Jonathan D. Bohlmann and Roger J. Calantone in the article “Outsourcing Innovation” (Exe... Pitfalls and Obstacles in Product Development Strategy Product Development, Product Portfolio Management Although product development can be an important growth strategy, it is necessary to keep in mind that several factors t... 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Key Behaviors of Innovative Organizations Innovation Management, Culture Change, Organizational Change, Innovative Culture, Organizational Culture Many large-scale attempts to make organizations more innovative are experiencing organizational inertia, barriers and/or... Alternate Product Launch Method Stage-Gate Alternatives Steelcase CEO James P. Hackett describes the following product launch stages: - THINK (Ponder, Query, Read and researc... The Mandate of NPD and the Degree of Change that is Required New Product Development, NPD Process Improvement When using the Stage-Gate process, a strategic implementation plan is advisable to avoid stakeholders’ disappointment re... Control and Measurement Method Tracking Stage-Gate Performance To deeply understand performance and effects of Stage-Gate as NPD Process on an organization, an effective measurement a... Characteristics of Organizations with an IT-driven Business Transformation Strategy IT-driven Strategy, IT-led Strategy, Competitive Potential, Innovation Accelerators, Disruptive Innovation Today organizations need to move quickly through a wide range of business transformations, often caused by new and compl... How to Lead an Innovation Team Best Practices, Innovation Team Management In order to become a great innovation team leader, Ram Charan suggests in the article "P&G's Innovation Culture" (strate... How to Design Experiments to Support Decision-making on Strategic Innovations Strategic Innovation, Strategic Decision-making, Strategic Experimenting, Experiments, Strategic Testing, Innovation Tes The probability of success of a major innovation is difficult to assess. Statistics and other datasets only provide info... Creating Organizations to Produce Breakthrough Innovations Best Practices, Critical Factors, Creating an Organization to lead Radical Innovation Since 50 years, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been very successful in producing a... The Role of Diversity in Personal Traits on Innovation and Innovativeness Innovation, Increasing Organizational Innovativeness New research by Hewlett, Marshall and Sherbin proves that diversity (of personal and team traits) drives innovation and ... A Closer Look at How Change and Innovation Decisions are Made Decision-making on Organizational Change, Innovation Decision-making, Contingent, Participative Decision-making Kim, T (2015) elaborates on decision making on "non-routines" or innovations. According to him, non-routines can be seen... What Makes a Company Innovative? 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