Abstract
This paper reviews product development research with focus on performance indicators. The following are the four primary indicators of product development performance: (1) degree of success, (2) survival, (3) product competitiveness, and (4) development productivity and development lead-time. From 1960 to 1980, when the field of product development research was established, most studies adopted indicator (1). In contrast, after 1990, indicator (4) became mainstream. The trigger for this transition was the comparative study of international product development projects in the automobile industry by Harvard University's Kim Clark and Takahiro Fujimoto (Clark & Fujimoto, 1991). They proposed the groundbreaking empirical research method of statistically analyzing organizational structure, process, and strategies that influence the three product development performance indicators: development productivity, development lead-time, and total product quality.
