The Breakfast of Champions: Associations Between Champions and Product Development Environments, Practices and Performance

Abstract

According to conventional wisdom, if an innovative new product development (NPD) effort is to stand any chance for success, the project must have a champion. The role of the champion has taken on almost mythic proportions, through oft‐told tales of the development of such disparate products as instant cameras, automobiles, and microprocessors. Notwithstanding the purportedly essential role that champions play, however, we have only anecdotal evidence of the manner in which effective champions operate and the benefits that they offer. Stephen K. Markham and Abbie Griffin suggest that before we can explore questions about how champions affect product development performance, we must address an even more fundamental issue: whether champions actually influence performance. Using data from the 1995 PDMA study of best practices in product development, they test various widely held assumptions about champions and NDP performance. Specifically, they investigate the association between championing and the following variables: NPD performance at the program, firm, and project levels; industry characteristics; and project‐ and firm‐related NPD characteristics. In several respects, the results of their study run counter to current beliefs about product development champions. For example, the study suggests that champions are just as likely to be found in large firms as they are in small firms. Similarly, the results indicate that the likelihood of finding a champion does not differ significantly between technology‐driven firms and marketing‐driven firms. For the firms in this study, champions are no more likely to support radical innovations than they are to back incremental innovations or product line extensions. The results of the study suggest that champions do not directly affect firm‐level NPD performance. Instead, the results of this study associate increased championing with higher levels of NPD program performance, which positively affects firm‐level performance. The results of this study also do not support the notion that a champion can directly improve the market success of a particular project.

Radical Innovation Across Nations: The Preeminence of Corporate Culture

“…First among these is the empowerment of product champions. By this practice, a firm empowers an individual with resources to explore, research, and build on promising, but uncertain, future technologies (Howell and Higgins 1990;Markham and Griffin 1998;Shane 1994). In effect, empowerment embeds within the firm the enterprising spirit that enabled it to initiate the original innovation that brought it success.…”

New Product Development

“…u Early involvement of a business-executive champion (The business or executive champion denotes the person who has direct or indirect influence over resource allocation and uses this power to channel resources to new projects. This is different from the product champion researched by Markham and Griffin (1998) and Markham (1998) and discussed later in the concept definition section.). u A collaborative culture that encourages knowledge creation.…”

“…Ideas may be generated or enriched by others through the efforts of a key individual or "champion" (Markham 1998;Markham and Griffin 1998). Once the idea is identified, many different creativity techniques can be applied to generate and expand upon it.…”

New product development

“…Among these empirical studies, there is an emphasis on case study methodology. Articles have also been classified as positive descriptive and empirical/conceptual and theoretical (Gruner and Humburg, 2000;Li and Calantone, 1998;Campbell and Cooper, 1998;Markham and Griffin, 1998;Littler et al, 1995;Scrader and Copfert, 1998;Reindfeish and Moorman, 2001;Biemans, 1995). While some of these studies are not specifically investigating the management issue, they have contributed to the understanding of the phenomenon through their descriptions and explanations of certain enabling and prohibiting relationship processes and so they are included in Table 1.…”

“…Motivating certain individuals to take an active role in the development can have a fundamental impact on the success of the project. Numerous authors refer to individuals [from both manufacturing and consumer companies] who are capable of marshalling support, overcoming obstacles and virtually pulling the development project to completion by their sheer will and energy as product champions (Biemans, 1992: Markham andGriffin, 1998). These are individuals characterised by energy and passion and who will act as the driving force behind the venture.…”