MarketingManagement.pdf

managers review the criteria at each gate to judge whether the project deserves to

move to the next stage. The gatekeepers make one of four decisions: go, kill, hold, or

recycle.

Stage-gate systems put strong discipline into the innovation process, making its

steps visible to all involved and clarifying the project leader’s and team’s responsibil-

ities at each point. Some of the companies that rely on the stage-gate process are Mo-

bil, 3M, Hewlett-Packard, and Seattle-based Fluke, a pioneer in handheld electronic

instruments. Lego, the Danish toy maker, replaces about one-third of its product line

every year with new products. Since the late 1980s, Lego has been relying on a stage-

gate new-product process to ensure that everything comes together for rapid product

launches.^10

Developing

Marketing

(^334) Strategies
New-Product Development Not Just
for Engineers: The Wisdom of
Cross-Functional Teams