NPDWithoutBorders

Enabling Growth By Putting People First

NPDWithoutBorders

NPDWithoutBorders is a state of mind, an expertise, and a proven approach for innovation and business growth.

NPDWithoutBorders is a keen, innate appreciation for the opportunities brought about by differences, and the ability to leverage on and manage people with cross-disciplinary, cross-national, cross-cultural, and other background and expertise needed to reach innovation and international market development goals.

NPDWithoutBorders is know-how to help companies and organizations seize opportunities presented by global markets whether at the front-end of the product cycle, to design a global platform, or at the back-end, such as finding new opportunities for a mature product.

NPDWithoutBorders is a market and user driven approach to evaluating and preparing for foreign market opportunities qualitatively as much as quantitatively, a "last mile" that is all too often not prepared for, or skipped, resulting in costly failures, retreats, or significant cost increase.

While many companies are now exporting, a significant number only succeed at much higher cost than needed. This is not due to lack of market research, or identifying the suitable market, but due to lack of in-depth, qualitative, understanding of users, cultures, trends, and other soft but important aspect of market and user dynamics. Read how even OXO, the well-known maker of houseware products, realized that "universal design" does not mean "global design" and how its first attempt at expanding in Japan was rejected, resulting in unplanned product redesign. This rejection would have been anticipated using the NPDWithoutBorders approach!

NPDWithoutBorders is for government, public/private, and nonprofit organizations that want to help their constituents find new opportunities and grow through innovation and international market development.

NPDWithoutBorders is for smart companies that:

Don't wait until their home market researches saturation to consider new product categories and international market options. If they did, by the time they are ready to expand, competitors may have already taken the better share of desired markets or, worst, entered the home market!
Know it is not uncommon that foreign markets present better opportunities to get started (weaker / non existing competitors, etc.).
Realize that their business' products or services may be more attractive to clients in foreign markets than they are in the home market, and the very survival of their brand and business may depend on foreign markets.

Companies like Global Market Insite, a US-based provider of multilingual solutions and services that, from humble starts in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, later launched in the US and has become a power house in their field worldwide and in their home country. Companies like East Canvas Product, a provider of duffel bags and knapsacks to the US army in the 1960s that almost went out of business and now, known as Eastpak and serving young consumer markets, generates 90% of its business in Europe, 5% in Asia, 5% in the Americas with only 2% in the US (2006 data). Companies like General Motors, whose Buick brand is now more popular and best seller in China than in the US!