Stage-Gate Hybridization Beyond Agile. Conceptual Review, Synthesis and Research Agenda

This research provides insights to managers involved in NPD projects who rely on the Stage-Gate process and are now considering hybridizing it with Agile, Design Thinking, or Lean Startup.

The integration of these methodologies has been found to enhance the performance of the Stage-Gate approach, particularly in the face of uncertain business environments. However, these hybrid models necessitate distinct innovation competencies and mindsets, potentially increasing costs and cultural clashes.

This study — based on a systematic literature review and case studies from four pioneering manufacturers — supports managers in gaining a deeper understanding of how to design Stage-Gate hybrid models and when to deploy them.

Phases of integration and hybrid models

The literature indicates that Design Thinking can be employed during the ideation and concept phases, as it enables the development of a product concept based on customers’ needs and problems through the generation and testing of a wide range of ideas.

The Lean Startup methodology is deemed suitable for the business case stage, where the NPD process requires a validation of the product-market fit. The development and testing of Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) enable firms to ascertain whether to continue, pivot in a new direction, or terminate the project before going down the wrong road and proceeding with a full market launch. Finally, although originally employed during the development and testing phases, firms have started to use Agile in all phases of the process, from ideation to market launch, with the aim of developing the product incrementally and adapting to evolving requirements throughout the life of a project. It is worth noting that the relationship between the three methodologies and the hybrid models is not necessarily one-to-one. In fact, the study identified a unique model of Stage-Gate hybridization with Agile (i.e., Agile/Stage-Gate), and two possible models of Stage-Gate hybridization with Design Thinking (i.e., Design Thinking/Stage-Gate, Design Thinking and Lean Startup/Stage-Gate). The “Design Thinking/Stage-Gate” hybrid model leverages Design Thinking to generate and rapidly test a multitude of ideas for an already established product vision (e.g., a company in the food and beverage industry aiming to produce a new biscuit with dried fruit). By developing "pretotypes" such as sketches, storyboards, and physical models, and analyzing user interactions with them, the design team iteratively refines the product idea worth pursuing (e.g., nuts into a rounded square shape).

The “Design Thinking and Lean Startup/Stage-Gate” hybrid model extends the application of Design Thinking to the definition of product specifications (e.g., 100% integral flour, 2 centimetres in diameter) and involves the development of an MVP to test business and product assumptions in a real market setting (e.g., selling the product in a retailer shop for 3 months to test different shelves and prices).  Finally, the “Agile/Stage-Gate hybrid model” divides each phase into a series of sprints, culminating in the delivery of "protocepts" — tangible artifacts between a product idea and a prototype — that are presented to key stakeholders to gather feedback and enable incremental development of the product.

Hybridization structures: nested and handed-over

While the prevailing perspective of the literature regards Stage-Gate as a strategic framework that accommodates the integration of Agile, Design Thinking, or Lean Startup at the execution level, resulting in a “nested hybridization” wherein these methodologies are embedded into specific process stages, an alternative hybridization perspective exists where Stage-Gate is not always the reference framework. In this “handed-over hybridization”, certain stages of the Stage-Gate process are entirely covered by activities and decisions made by the Design Thinking, Lean Startup, or Agile teams, facilitating a handover of outcomes (e.g., from Design Thinking to Stage-Gate or from Stage-Gate to Agile). For example, some firms activate Design Thinking as a stand-alone process and then activate the Stage-Gate from stages 2 or 3 depending on the outcome of Design Thinking.

Decision variables

The study identifies four key dimensions that innovation managers should consider when deciding whether to activate a hybrid model: project type, market, technology, and learning gap. As project size, innovativeness, complexity, and uncertainty increase, the suitability of hybrid models also increases. Additionally, the literature reports that hybrid models offer the greatest benefits in newer market and technological contexts, where uncertainty is higher and maturity is not yet achieved. Lastly, the less knowledge available about the customer and the product category, the greater the need for activation of hybrid models.

The four aggregated dimensions can be viewed from both internal and external perspectives. Market and technology dimensions provide an external view, focusing on market and technological assessment. Project type and learning gap dimensions offer an internal view, emphasizing the organization's need to learn in the context of the specific project.

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The Authors at the Department of Management

NICOLÒ COCCHI – PhD Student

Academic disciplines: Business and Management Engineering

Teaching areas: Innovation Management

Research fields:  New Product Development, Design Thinking, Open Innovation

Nicolò Cocchi is a PhD student in general management. He is also affiliated with Oper.Lab, the Observatory for Open Innovation at DiSA. He got his MSc in management engineering from the University of Pisa. He was a visiting MSc student at the School for Business and Society, University of York, and at the Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino. Following the completion of his MSc, he worked as a predoctoral researcher at the Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

CLIO DOSI – Junior assistant professor

Academic disciplines: Business and Management Engineering

Teaching areas: Business organization

Research fields:  Innovation Management, Innovation design methodologies, Open Innovation

Management engineer with PhD in General Management. Her research is about the organizational dynamics that enable innovation: she is passionate at understanding how organizations manage and design innovation. Visiting scholar at Esade business school (2022), HPI Hasso Plattner Institute (2020), and Cass Business School (2014). She is a CERN Ideasquare fellow. She supports the Design factory of the University of Bologna where she coordinates Oper.Lab, the Observatory for Open Innovation at DiSA.

MATTEO VIGNOLI – Associate Professor

Academic disciplines: Business and Management Engineering

Teaching areas: Organizational change; Project management

Research fields:  Innovation Management, Design Thinking, Open Innovation

Matteo received his Ph.D. from the University of Padua and was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and Ryerson University. He is a member of the Design Thinking ME310/SUGAR network and the CBI initiative at CERN. Member of the University of Bologna Open Innovation board and spokesperson of Oper.Space, Academic Director of various BBS Open Programmes, Founder and Trustee of the Future Food Institute. Matteo’s focus is “building the future” with Design Thinking Innovation.