According to the authors, how fast and how often a company can develop new products can determine whether or not it survives. Nayak and Deschamps integrate activities in R&D, strategy, product development, and marketing to form a comprehensive view of the product creation process that leads to value creation for three stakeholder groups--employees, customers, and owners.

They first identify seven "core competencies" of a world-class product creation process: understanding customers, developing a product strategy and portfolio, using a disciplined development process, incorporating concepts of program management, encouraging effective teamwork, marshalling resources, and facilitating the process. The book concludes by showing managers how to mobilize for large-scale and continuous organizational change and improvement.