Competitive Advantage with New Product Development: Implications for Life Cycle Theory

The article draws on product life cycle (PLC) and new product development (NPD) literature to demonstrate the strategic significance of the intersection of the two streams. This paper makes a unique contribution by illustrating when to employ NPD strategies and demonstrates the resulting interaction with the product life cycle. NPD strategies often fail when assumptions about the nature of the PLC curve are incorrectly perceived. NPD strategies also impact the PLC in a reflexive manner, opening up opportunities to alter the competitive landscape.