文档介绍：Rajesh Sethi & Zafar Iqbal
Stage-Gate Controls, Learning
Failure, and Adverse Effect on Novel
New Products
This article argues that Stage-Gate controls have the potential of restricting learning in a new product development
project and thus hurting the performance of novel new products. Specifically, the authors examine whether control
on new product development exercised through rigorous gate review criteria increases project inflexibility, which in
turn leads to increased failure to also focus on whether the effect of project inflexibility is worsened when
there is turbulence in the firm’s technological and market environment. Furthermore, the authors study whether
failure to learn can have an adverse effect on new product performance when the product is novel. Finally, they
examine whether a certain relaxation in gate evaluation (gate conditionality) that has been suggested recently
mitigates the adverse effect of rigorously enforced controls. The results, which are based on a survey of 120
projects that used the Stage-Gate process for new product development, show that repeated application of strictly
enforced and objective evaluation criteria for improved control makes projects more inflexible. Gate conditionality
does not mitigate the adverse effect of gate review criteria. Project inflexibility leads to learning failure, and this
effect is worsened when the technological environment of the firm is turbulent. In turn, learning failure adversely
affects the market performance of novel new products.
Keywords: Stage-Gate controls, learning failure, project inflexibility, process improvement, product development
teams
uring the past two decades, there has been a strong among new product researchers that gate controls are not
desire on the part of senior managers to control the suitable for all types of products. For example, it has been
Dnew product development process in their firms. suggested that the Stage-Gate process is i