An Evolutionary Approach to New Product Launch Literature

In recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in the new product launch (NPL) area. With regard to the fragmentary nature of the NPL research, each focuses on only part of the complex NPL puzzle. The question... [ view full abstract ]

In recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in the new product launch (NPL) area. With regard to the fragmentary nature of the NPL research, each focuses on only part of the complex NPL puzzle. The question has been raised about whether they lost their ways among the trees and they never saw the whole wood. This paper uses the analogy of the evolution theory to gain a better understanding of the cumulative growth of NPL and sheds light on the new important topic of NPL within the new product development (NPD) literature, especially in a time of rapid change of information technology. It then attempts to encourage researchers from different disciplines to proliferate the NPL knowledge. The paper ends with recommendations for future research.