Managing Corporate Culture, Innovation, and Intrapreneurship

The new business development stage represents the high point to which every prior stage of the venturing process has been building-the full-scale market introduction of the new product. Before launching the product, the nature, scale, and timing of the launch must be determined. Selecting and implementing the optimum introductory marketing program is extremely important and represents the principal task of marketing during this stage. Although manufacturing has been involved in the technical development process from early on, it is during this stage that they really come under the gun to ramp-up production to meet demand. Because of limited capacity, the new product introduction may be divided into an initial regional introduction, followed by a nationwide rollout as capacity expands. Although this stage constitutes the culmination of the Corporate Venturing process, it also marks the beginning or introductory phase of the product's life cycle. Procedures must be developed to monitor the results of the product launch and to correct any problems during introduction.

The full-scale launch of a new product is the stage of new product development that requires the largest commitment of money and managerial resources. ¹ No matter how well the product is designed and tested, the launch presents risks. Marketing and production must be well coordinated, and the time of the launch must be planned carefully. Without such planning, profits are jeopardized. In this section, we will determine the nature, scale, and timing of the launch.

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