Combined MCDM approaches for century‐old Taiwanese food firm new product development project selection

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this paper is to integrate the analytic network process (ANP) and a technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) to help Taiwanese managers in century‐old food industry firms make better decisions for new product development (NPD) project selection. Design/methodology/approach The balanced scorecard (BSC) which links financial and non‐financial, tangible and intangible, inward and outward factors can provide an integrated viewpoint for decision makers in selecting optimal NPD projects. Considering the interrelated perspectives and criteria of BSC, ANP is used to obtain the weights of the criteria. TOPSIS is used for simplifying ANP to rank the alternatives. After reviewing the literature on BSC, the study collected criteria for selecting optimal NPD projects. Likert nine‐point scale questionnaires based on the BSC criteria were received from 34 senior executives to obtain the importance of criteria. Findings Based on the geometric mean values, the top 12 criteria are: Capabilities, Well‐being, Satisfaction, Lead‐time, Risk, Facility, Reputation, Loyalty, New customer, Market, Profitability and New market to structure the hierarchy for century‐old Taiwanese food business NPD project selection. Practical implications Using the hierarchy based on four perspectives and 12 important criteria, century‐old Taiwanese food businesses may select the optimal NPD projects more effectively. Moreover, the practical application of the proposed approach illustrated is generic and also suitable for century‐old Taiwanese food businesses. Originality/value In 2008, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) established an association to help century‐old businesses to maintain growth and competitive advantage. To maintain continuous competitive advantage, developing new products is necessary. However, NPD is a risky process. The vital issue in NPD is how to select the optimal projects for new products. The majority of century‐old Taiwanese businesses are in the food industry. This paper contributes to a more effective selection of optimal NPD projects for century‐old Taiwanese food firms.

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