Exploring intuition as a dynamic capability in radical new product and service development – a conceptual approach

Consensus exists in the relevant literature that new product development (NPD) and new service development (NSD) are crucial for companies’ ability to sustainably survive and ability to deliver value and profit for their shareholders in both the medium and long run. Nevertheless, both NPD and NSD models have been criticized in relation to adaptability to radical innovation, more specifically, their lack of recommendation to managers on how present NPD and NSD models can help manoeuvring in high-risk situations. Thus, in this chapter the authors aim to provide insights on the capabilities needed for managing on a market characterized by high risk and uncertainty. Specifically, they discuss and embrace intuition as a dynamic capability in decision-making, supplementing the classical cognitive perspective and contributing to the understanding of the managerial ‘black box’ that is addressed in the strategic management literature. The main outcomes of the chapter are twofold. First, a possible understanding of intuition components and how they are linked to the development of products and services is offered. Second, the structure of the proposed intuition NPD and NSD framework will potentially improve the information-gathering system – for example, information intelligence system – which further will lead to a better decision-making foundation.