What Are the Performance Indicators for Successful New Product Development Projects in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises?*

Abstract

New product development (NPD) has become essential for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to ensure their competitiveness and survival. However, NPD is fraught with pitfalls that can lead to project failure. To increase the likelihood of success, SMEs need to monitor the performance of their NPD projects using accurate indicators. The literature is underdeveloped when it comes to the indicators used by SMEs, with most research focusing on larger companies. Our research aims to fill this gap by taking a closer look at the indicators used by five Canadian SMEs that have successfully carried out NPD projects. Drawing on resource-based view theory, we identify the stages and activities carried out and the indicators used at different points in the NPD process of SMEs characterized by some resource constraints. Situation awareness theory helps to select quality criteria in the identification of indicators such as measurability. Our results show that a wide variety of indicators are used by SMEs to measure different dimensions of performance. Many of these indicators have not been previously identified in the literature.