Success and failure factors in developing new banking and insurance services

[摘要] The development and introduction of new products is essential for a firm'ssurvival. Numerous activities are administered in developing Dew serviceproducts. New product development management has control over theproficiency and choice of activities performed. The objectives of this studywere to discover the factors that underlie the proficiency and developmentactivities performed, and to see which are prone to lead a new service tosuccess or result in failure. Unique characteristics of services suggest adifferent emphasis on development activities than are normally associatedwith the development of goods. Any differences in factors between thesample of banks and insurers were also investigated.Results from a self-administered questionnaire and interviews with SouthAfrican banks and insurers were attained by factor analyses, Mann-Whitney U tests and Step-wise discriminant function analysis, It wasfound that successful projects are; synergistic with the fum's resourcesand skills, they embody a competitive advantage and rely on a degree ofservice newness that is not too uncomfortable for consumers, they are alsodeveloped with insight into consumer's behaviour. Banks are better atconducting detailed prediction studies than insurers. Comparatively,insurers are better at integrating cross-functionally all the necessarydepartments. Step-wise discriminant analysis revealed sales growth andprofit objectives to be the performance measurements that significantlypredict and classify new successful services.No factors for failed service products were found. Limitations of theresearch are acknowledged and suggestions are made for further researchinto the topic.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand