Holistic Product Development: A Broad Perspective

Aggressive development of new products is one of the most effective way of increasing shareholder value and minimizing the risk of being rendered obsolete by the disruptive innovations of others. This holds true whether the organization produces airplanes or snack foods, computer chips or financial services. And, yes, a service is as much a product as is a physical one. Many see new product development as the responsibility of marketing. Others assign it to engineering. The truth is that, in any organization with an eye to the future, new product development is the responsibility of virtually every department, with overall leadership provided by top management. In order for all involved to work together effectively, each must understand how product development fits organizational strategy, the principles of the activity and the roles of all participants. Unlike the countless books that address the various aspects of product development; strategy, customer research, creativity, the development process, and so on, this book brings it all together to present a holistic understanding of the broad subject of new product development. Whether you work in the public or private sector; whether your organization makes a physical product or your product is better known as a service, this book is for you. It's for you whether you are a novice or experienced practitioner; whether you work in finance, production, marketing, sales, engineering, quality, or any of the other disciplines upon which success depends. The book is for you whether you wish to understand the whole picture or simply to learn how to do your own job more effectively. If you are an owner or executive, the book is most especially for you. Oh, and if you are still a student who cannot now know where your career will lead but want to be on the leading edge of an organization, it's very much for you. Among the many important topics are: Disruption; what it is and how it can propel your organization to unimagined heights or see it sent to oblivion. Strategy; how to create a new product strategy that supplements that of the overall organization by aligning efforts and focusing resources. Leveraging the investment; how clear organizational and new product strategies and a climate and culture that actively encourage collaboration and measured risks is essential. Customer centricity: how to understand customer needs before he understands them himself by observing more than asking. Creativity; how to engender creativity and channel it towards the generation of breakthrough products. Process; how adherence to a disciplined yet flexible process, led by top management, will help to accelerate game-changing products to market. Effective product introduction, including such issues as positioning and pricing. Intellectual property; the importance of patents and trademarks in protecting your investment, what they mean and how to obtain them. And Product Safety and Products Liability; The moral and legal imperative to develop safe products and the ramifications of failing to do so.

A graduate of Lehigh University, Jack Welsch (legally "John"and not to be confused with former GE president, Jack Welch) has had over 4decades of experience in engineering and new product development at all levelsand has been awarded 38 U.S. and many foreign patents.  He has been directly involved with the phasedand gated process for new product development since 1979 and has spent much ofhis time and energy in the implementation and refinement of the process.

While most of his career has been spent in management andexecutive positions in manufacturing companies, he has taught the businessaspects of product development as an adjunct instructor at both Lehigh andWilkes Universities.

He has been a speaker on the subject at conferences atCornell, Lehigh and Wilkes Universities and was honored to be a featuredspeaker at the prestigious Stage-Gate® Innovation Summit hosted by notedStage-Gate® guru, Dr. Robert Cooper.

He is currently Principal of J. H. Welsch Consulting,L.L.C., which is dedicated to helping organizations to improve their newproduct development process.