Over the past 20 years, the field of new product development (NPD) has grown exponentially—both geographically and in terms of corporate structure. Just two decades ago,
it appeared to be a middle-management function at most corpo-rations, and no one had ever heard the title “Chief Innovation
Officer.” The field was centered in North America and Western
Europe, and “innovation” was not a household world.
Today, many facets of the field have changed. Interest in in-
novation as an engine of growth has spread around the globe.
PDMA’s own network of global affiliates has grown from one
(the U.K.) in 2005 to 17 as of this year. And an innovation study
by Accenture (based on research by the Economist Intelligence
Unit) found that innovation has reached the C-Suite—with 19
percent of the major corporations polled already having an
official Chief Innovation Officer, and another 10 percent of
companies saying the function now reports to another executive
in the C-Suite.1
But this growth has not translated into the emergence of a
standard NPD structure or a standard set of titles. As one of our
writers, Steve Treibel, points out, “NPD organization structure
varies greatly…. There is no ‘right’ structure.” 2 Apparently the
situation was very similar 20 years ago, when Laurence P.
Feldman reported on the results of a PDMA survey in Journal
of Product Innovation Management on “the new product profes-
sional.” 3 He found “a total of 90 different titles for present posi-
tions” and “the names of the departments in which respondents
worked currently were characterized by extreme diversity.”
Despite this continuing complexity, and a lack of new
research on NPD organizational structure, Visions has forged
ahead to create a Special Section on NPD Job Trends today—
filled entirely with original material—to update our readers
about what’s happening in the field, how it is growing, and
how they might succeed in it.We believe the timing is right for
this—due to the maturing of the field and the fact that at many
companies growth of the NPD function and its staffing were
held back due to the economic downturn of 2008-2009. We
hope this Special Section can assist our readers in their career
advancement in this changing environment.
The career path in New product Development
april Klimley
Visions editor-in-chief
Endnotes: (1) Innovation report from Accenture (2008) ( www.accenture.com) ( 2) Treibel, p. 20, this issue of Visions, ( 3) Laurence P. Feldman, “A
Profile of the New Product Professional,” Journal of Product Innovation Management (JPIM), Vol. 8, No. 4 (Dec., 1991) pp. 252-266.
New Study
personal contacts remain
more valuable than ever in job
searches—despite Web 2.0 tools
Kathy Morrissey
Kathy Morrissey, partner, Strategy2Market, inc., and NpD Recruiting
( kmorrissey@npdrecruiting.com)
In today’s fast-moving Internet world, it’s hard to determine the best way to stay in touch with professional peers—or search for a new
position. To find out how NPD professionals are faring in the post-recession environment and what tools they’re using to search for new
positions, PDMA teamed up with NPD Recruiting to do an online survey of NPD job trends in May 2010.
Although Web 2.0 has provided new tools for employers and candidates, traditional approaches such as maintaining a solid network, keeping up visibility in the field, and establishing
personal connections were all found to be key in a successful job
search, according to a survey conducted in May by PDMA and NPD
Recruiting. It was found that Web 2.0 hasn’t so much changed the
job seeker’s main strategies as it has created efficiencies and allowed
the professional to extend the reach of his or her network.
Respondents reported the most successful job search tactics
included contacting former colleagues for leads, pursuing new
skills and certifications to enhance their resume, and contacting
the manager of the appropriate department in a company they
would like to work for.
Hiring managers reported the most successful tactics for finding
candidates included hiring a retained search firm, tapping into their
network, and soliciting recommendations from current employees.
Our study was undertaken to determine how NPD professionals
are faring as the economy moves out of recession—and then share
those experiences. NPD Recruiting and PDMA co-sponsored this
survey with the objective of looking into the current state of em-ployment and job hunting for NPD professionals. We emphasized
job search tactics to determine prevalence and effectiveness within
