Title: Searching for radical new product ideas: exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis for construct validation

Authors: John Nicholas; Ann Ledwith; Davide Aloini; Antonella Martini; Anna Nosella

Addresses: Enterprise Research Centre ER1030, University of Limerick, Engineering Research Building, Limerick, Ireland ' Enterprise Research Centre ER1030, University of Limerick, Engineering Research Building, Limerick, Ireland ' Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy ' Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy ' Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Stradella San Nicola 3, 36100 Vicenza, Italy

Abstract: This paper focuses on the practices and techniques that can be used at the front end of innovation to search for radical or discontinuous new product ideas. It addresses a gap in the literature by using empirical data to identify the dimensions of a firm's capability to search for new ideas for potential radical innovation. A review of the literature on the front end of innovation was conducted and used to develop an understanding of the practices applied by firms to search for radical new product ideas. From this a questionnaire was developed to collect data for an exploratory factor analysis of a sample of firms and subsequently a confirmatory factor analysis of a separate sample firms. The results from both samples are consistent and identify five dimensions of the search capability that can be used to search for radical new product ideas.

Keywords: radical innovation; search capability; discontinuous innovation; search practices; fuzzy front end; radical new ideas; new product ideas: exploratory factor analysis; confirmatory factor analysis; construct validation; product development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2015.068779

International Journal of Technology Management, 2015 Vol.68 No.1/2, pp.70 - 98

Published online: 29 Apr 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article