Technological advancements, especially in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have enhanced greatly the competition spurred by the globalization of the world economies. Even small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are no more immune to the challenges that the globalization brings...

To stay ahead of the competition, firms need to constantly adapt to the changing environment by identifying new opportunities and product innovations. The search for future discontinuities and trends using external knowledge sources enables firms to develop a foresight capability to proactively...

The level of cognitive distance determines how detailed objects, persons or events are mentally construed. The higher the level of cognitive distance between two individuals, the lower the level of detail in mental representation of each other. In product development, a detailed conception of...

The level of cognitive distance determines how detailed objects, persons or events are mentally construed. The higher the level of cognitive distance between two individuals, the lower the level of detail in mental representation of each other. In product development, a detailed conception of...

To stay ahead of the competition, firms need to constantly adapt to the changing environment by identifying new opportunities and product innovations. The search for future discontinuities and trends using external knowledge sources enables firms to develop a foresight capability to proactively...

The fast transformation of technologies into new products or processes is one of the core challenges for any technology-based enterprise. Within the innovation process, we believe, the early phases (fuzzy front end) to have the highest impact on the whole process and the result (Input-Output...

In research as well as in practice, process models are an expatiated element of innovation management. They fulfill different tasks. In practice, for instance, process models are used as a management tool to standardize development activities. Researchers try to identify activities to be found...

The intensive concern with customer needs and problems is one of the key contributors to the success of innovation management. During the seventies, numerous procedures were developed, in theory as well as in practice. These procedures entered literature as so called need-assessment approaches...

In new product development (NPD) unacceptably high failure rates have often been related to insufficiencies during the early development phases. Nevertheless, only little effort is devoted to the early phases, in theory as well as in practice, and managers often indicate the front end as being...