To develop this knowledge, the product development team or product development management needs:

     to outline the development needed;

     to determine the outcomes of the different stages of the project;

     to identify the activities needed in each stage of the project;

     to study the present knowledge and resources;

     to identify the knowledge and resources needed;

     to identify problems in design, commercialisation and launching;

     to time the project overall and for different stages.

In outlining the development needed, the team will have the black boxes of the four stages in the product development process - product strategy development, product design and process development, product commercialisation and product launch. From the innovation management plan, it needs to recognise the outcomes needed overall and those needed at different points in the product development process. Then the team can identify the major activities needed in each black box. As will be discussed in the next chapter, it may already have a framework for the product development process for projects at the different levels of innovation, and therefore can relate the project into the particular framework. The team also needs to identify any problem areas in the product development process for each project - any risks of failure in the product or the project.

From this, the team can identify the knowledge and resources needed for each project and relate this to the present knowledge and resources available. Where there are shortfalls, it will need to identify possible sources. In the case of knowledge, if it is not in the company and there is not information outside, the team will need to identify how this knowledge can be created and when it is needed. The team can also start to time the overall project and the stages in the project.