Home Depot Products What motivated producers to create the products that Home Depot sells? Author Lexis Higgins explains that when it comes to creating new products to market, there is what he calls an "ideal climate" for "new product development" (NPD). The motivation must be there in order to follow these guidelines: a) "goal clarity" (well understood objectives for the product); b) "resources" (there must be adequate economic and other forms of support for the project); c) "encouragement" (emotional support for the launch must be a driver); d) "freedom" (the flexibility and ability to take the project in any direction); and e) "integrity" (management does what it says it will do) (Higgins, 2007).

The company involved in developing the product needs more than motivation and vision to make their product successful. To start with there should be "idea generation" (an informal session can come up with ideas; it doesn't have to be formal); "idea assessment" (demand for the product, does it make sense or it is just a novel idea with no utility); "concept testing" (self-explanatory); and before "final version development" there must be choosing the best idea and developing a prototype (Higgins, 42).

How did producers decide...

Also, Higgins points out that the best decisions on combinations of resources must be made utilizing "cross-functional teams." Using people with different educational backgrounds and employees coming from a variety of cultural and social backgrounds should be part of teams that make decisions on what products would work and which ones are not likely to take hold. Brian Tracy writes in Entrepreneur magazine that after a team mulls over questions like, is there a demand for this product, and would you buy it yourself, the nuts and bolts of how the product will be assembled from what resources is addressed. Jane. S. Lopus and Amy M. Willis write that firms face the problem of deciding "how to produce their product. This means deciding "which resources to use in this process"; and since resources cost money, firms have to be careful to choose resources that will make a profit (Lopus, et al., 2003). If costs "…are too high and/or revenue too low," the project will not succeed (Lopus, 75).
Who made / makes these resources available, and why? The managers and owners of companies "…have to…