This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lilien, G. L. Articles by Hippel, E. v. Search for Related Content

Performance Assessment of the Lead User Idea–Generation Process for New Product Development

Smeal College of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Faculty of Commerce and Economics, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia
Strategic Services, ASI Associates, 333 N. Washington Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
3M Company, 7840 Mississippi Lane, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota 55444–2152
MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
G5L(psu.edu
pamm(unsw.edu.au
ksearls(asiassociates.com
mds44(mninter.net
evhippel(mit.edu

Traditional idea generation techniques based on customer input usually collect information on new product needs from a random or typical set of customers. The "lead user process" takes a different approach. It collects information about both needs and solutions from users at the leading edges of the target market, as well as from users in other markets that face similar problems in a more extreme form. This paper reports on a natural experiment conducted within the 3M Company on the effect of the lead user (LU) idea–generation process relative to more traditional methods. 3M is known for its innovation capabilities— and we find that the LU process appears to improve upon those capabilities. Annual sales of LU product ideas generated by the average LU project at 3M are conservatively projected to be $146 million after five years—more than eight times higher than forecast sales for the average contemporaneously conducted "traditional" project. Each funded LU project is projected to create a new major product line for a 3M division. As a direct result, divisions funding LU project ideas are projecting their highest rate of major product line generation in the past 50 years.

Key Words: new product development; lead users; idea generation
History: Received: September 1, 2001;

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Kuruzovich, S. Viswanathan, R. Agarwal, S. Gosain, and S. Weitzman Marketspace or Marketplace? Online Information Search and Channel Outcomes in Auto Retailing Information Systems Research, June 1, 2008; 19(2): 182 - 201. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Hauser, G. J. Tellis, and A. Griffin Research on Innovation: A Review and Agenda for Marketing Science Marketing Science, November 1, 2006; 25(6): 687 - 717. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. A. Shane and K. T. Ulrich 50th Anniversary Article: Technological Innovation, Product Development, and Entrepreneurship in Management Science Management Science, February 1, 2004; 50(2): 133 - 144. [Abstract] [PDF]