Despite the remarkable expansion of microfinance over the past several decades, the industry remains in a developmental period of experimentation and rapid growth, exploring which approaches work best under different circumstances. Widespread diffusion and local adaptation of techniques and...

Information Technology and Product Development: A Research Agenda presents important new research from varied disciplines aimed at developing new theoretical concepts and insights on the application of IT in product and service innovation. Drawing on the work of researchers in such varied...

Innovation is one of the main drivers of business success. Using computers and special software applications in support of innovations cannot only shorten the whole process of bringing an initial idea to life, but it can improve the overall decision making process. Moreover, aligning innovation...

We report on a survey of the innovation activities and characteristics of 153 users of outdoor-related consumer products. We find a high level of innovation by these consumers. Thirty-seven percent report that they have developed ideas for new or improved products, and more than 9% report...

In a study of New Product Development (NPD) projects, the fuzzy front end of innovation is explored. The New Product Development process is a multistage process. Therefore, the study examines two sorts of impact that the fuzzy front end has on the success of New Product Development: a direct...

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...