New product development in Chinese SMEs : Key success factors from a managerial perspective

Purpose – The importance of innovation to the performance of firms has led to numerous studies conducted to identify the critical successful factors in new product development (NPD). However, most of these studies were conducted within the context of the developed economies or for large enterprises; relatively little is known about how firms, especially small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs), develop new products in many of the emerging markets. This paper tries to bridge the gap by examining the key success factors of NPD in Chinese SMEs. Different from the traditional approach regarding the success factors in each stage of NPD as homogeneous, the key success factors in each stage of the NPD process are examined from a managerial perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The data used in this study were collected through a multi‐stage procedure including in‐depth field interviews and surveys. Two rounds of pretests were used to refine the measurements, and the 74 questionnaires retuned in the third round were used to analyze the key success factors for NPD through score ranking and principal component analysis. Findings – Chinese SMEs do not regard financial return as the primary criterion in the idea‐generation stage. Although the key success factors are relatively quite different in various stages, technological, marketing, commercial, and managerial factors are important across all stages. Research limitations/implications – The samples were from Beijing Incubator Alliances, which might not be representative. Practical implications – The results will be interesting to both researchers and managers who want to know how the Chinese SMEs develop their new products. Originality/value – Very few studies were conducted on how the Chinese SMEs develop new products, and this research contributed to this important topic. Various success factors were examined for each stage of the NPD process from a managerial perspective, rather than viewing the success factors in each stage of NPD as homogeneous, as most previous research has suggested.