The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

5.3. The Process Sponsor

Implementation requires resources, and it is the process sponsor who is ready to back the NPD process with the resources that it needs to thrive. The effective process sponsor delivers the appropriate people and physical resources to the NPD process and its individual projects when and where the next steps call for them.

NOTE

The process sponsor owns the smooth operation the NPD process.

The likely candidate for process sponsor is either someone who controls these resources directly or has considerable influence with those who do. Primary candidates are traditional managers of the design or development functions. As the NPD process is institutionalized, the process sponsor's span of control over resources is likely to grow. Management, therefore, needs to take this into account when identifying a candidate for process sponsor. The immediate position may remain somewhere in the current management hierarchy, but this leader will likely play a larger role in future process-oriented initiatives.