Abstract

Research on new product development (NPD) has grown considerably over the last 30 years
interweaving with serval fields of study such as strategy, marketing, supply chain management, and
project management. This study offers an overview of the development of the NPD management
literature published over the last ten years (2008 to 2018) in 1,226 peer-reviewed articles. By applying
bibliometric analysis, we have discovered the existence of five research clusters focused on the
following main thematic areas: the NPD process, the integration of diverse knowledge sources for
NPD optimization, the relationship between NPD and corporate strategy, the role of users and
consumers in the NPD process, the supplier involvement in the NPD activities. In respect of each
area, we selected and reviewed the most relevant contributions and presented the emerging theoretical
approaches and best practices. Also, the analysis has helped us to uncover the existence of promising
research areas that have been scarcely explored. As a result, we formulated some suggestions for
further research to fill in the existing gaps.