Scrapping new product development efforts: when to keep going, when to fold

Purpose The innovative process of new product development remains unique within most organizations. This uniqueness stems from the requirements of the new product development manager to grapple with both the universe of emerging technologies from which a new feature or improvement must be found and to simultaneously maintain a constant awareness of the requirements of an ever-changing customer base. Amongst all of this uncertainty, there is still a time when new product development managers choose to ignore the warning signals that a project is failing and continue to commit resources. This paper refers to this as irrational commitment. This paper aims to examine the uncertainty of new product development and the reasons for this irrational commitment to failed projects. Design/methodology/approach The paper used a structured systematic review of literature to identify the most common types of irrational commitment in new product development and their impact on the corporation. Findings The paper provides insights into the causes and effects of management irrationally committing to new product development projects that are doomed to failure. It suggests that the three major areas of knowledge that need to be better integrated into the decision-making process are technology trends, marketing knowledge and the capabilities of the company itself. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen research approach of using a systematic review of literature, primary research needs to be conducted in the future to validate and refine the findings of the paper. Practical implications The paper provides leadership with guidelines to avoid irrationally committing to failed new product development efforts. Originality/value This paper adds to the literature on innovation systems.