Identifying and Prioritizing Factors Affecting the Innovation Process inNew Product Development Using Fuzzy Multi- Criteria DecisionMaking Techniques (A case study: Food Industry Companies of Sistan and Baluchestan)

Abstract

Population growth and increased food consumption have led to an increase in demand. The development of a new food product will be driven by the application of a process-oriented method of transforming ideas into products to improve market development. This research identified and prioritized factors affecting the innovation process in developing new products in entrepreneurial companies active in the food industry of Sistan and Baluchestan province. The survey population included managers and entrepreneurial companies active in the food industry of Sistan and Baluchistan province. Criteria and options related to the development of a new product have been identified by a survey of industry experts and academic professors and have been ranked with the help of Fuzzy Hierarchy Process Analysis process. The results of the research showed that development, conceptual design, prototyping, mass production and marketing and sales were the most important factors in the development of new products, respectively . The dynamicity and complexity of the concept of new product development, competitiveness of organizations as well as the emergence of science and production processes have caused new challenges in producing new products. Some researchers argue that the development of a new product is an important factor in the production of wealth in a country. However, unfortunately the importance of the new product development is not associated with the level of its success and the risk of failure in the development of new products is high (Seyed Hosseini and Iranban, 2004). The primary solutions for the food shortage problem in the past was to more cultivate and exploit the reserves, but the competition for land, owing to other human activities, has made this solution costly (Balmford& Green, 2005). Based on these conditions, many researchers active in the food area try to improve the production and development of food products using modern technologies. The development of a new product in the food industry is considered as a crucial part of the business strategy. The development of innovation in the food industry through the development of new products is essential for each company and requires high investment in financial and human resources areas (Fuller, 1994). The process of product development in the food industry should be fast and flexible given the rapid changes in market and technology. The companies active in the food industry prefer to develop existing products with gradual innovation rather than creating entirely new products through fundamental innovations.The reason behind is that investment in food product development is associated with risk and the use of gradual innovation would increase the success rate and reduce the risk (Winger and Wall, 2006). Hence, managers are interested in learning about the factors influencing the success of a new product. This research was conducted to identify and rank the factors influencing the innovation process in new products`development in entrepreneurial companies active in t...