Product Development Decisions: An empirical approach to Krishnan and Ulrich

This paper investigates whether decisions considered as common in new product development literature are also empirically valid. The decisions made in the different phases constituting new product development, is a topic that has extensively been studied in the literature. Our study is based on Krishnan and Ulrich’s (2001) literature review. Despite the relevance of their theoretical contribution, their work has not been empirically proven yet. Therewith, we aim to link the theoretical and empirical fields in the context of new product development and product innovation management. <p> The research is grounded on innovative companies in the Valencian Region (Spain). Using the statistical tool of factor analysis, we test if the groups of decisions identified by Krishnan and Ulrich can be confirmed in our empirical sample. Our results lead to three main conclusions. The data show that Krishnan and Ulrich’s questions are indeed taken into account during new product development process. In addition, our results are in line with the features already identified in the Valencian innovation system. However, the way the questions are grouped according to the theory and the empirics differ substantially.