Improving new product development by screening manufactured goods for potential disbenefits and negative consequences

Purpose – New types of manufactured goods can have disbenefits and negative consequences, as well as benefits and positive consequences. However, disbenefits and negative consequences have received little consideration within manufacturing literature related to new product development (NPD). The purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary analysis, and propose improvements to NPD screening processes, which can facilitate reduction of disbenefits and negative consequences that can arise from new manufactured goods.

Design/methodology/approach – The research comprised a review of the literature relating to: new product development processes; disbenefits of manufactured goods; and negative consequences arising from manufactured goods.

Findings – There is often broad consensus about the disbenefits of manufactured goods. However, some disbenefits are not stopped before they have contributed to potentially irreversible negative global consequences. This can be because there is often disagreement about, for example, the composition and extent of negative consequences.

Practical implications – NPD processes should be improved to facilitate reduction of disbenefits and negative consequences. In particular, the screening of new manufactured goods as they progress from idea to concept to development should be improved.

Originality/value – The originality of the paper is that it provides descriptions of underlying characteristics that differentiate disbenefits and negative consequences. These descriptions can enable better understanding of how negative unintended consequences arise from the introduction of new types of manufactured goods. The value of this paper is that it proposes improvements to NPD screening processes that can facilitate reduction of disbenefits and their negative consequences.