Screening and scoring new product ideas: what does a quantitative evaluation approach ensure during early product selection?

Introduction / Context:
Firms often evaluate many product ideas but can resource only a few. Quantitative screening models (e.g., scoring models, conjoint inputs, risk-adjusted NPV) help make this process explicit and repeatable. Such models structure criteria (market size, fit, technical risk, margin potential) and weight them, guiding management attention and improving comparability across proposals.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• We consider early-stage selection prior to full business cases.
• Quantitative models use explicit criteria and weights.
• Management must focus on the most influential factors.

Concept / Approach:
By enumerating criteria and assigning weights, a quantitative approach ensures that important factors cannot be ignored and that each factor’s contribution is proportional to its significance. The resulting composite scores improve transparency and facilitate discussion about trade-offs, while sensitivity analysis reveals how changes in weights or assumptions affect rankings.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
Stage-gate and portfolio management literature advocate weighted scoring for early selection, confirming both attention to key factors and their relative weighting.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• (a) alone or (b) alone is incomplete; good quantitative evaluation does both.
• Neither/None contradict the purpose of quantitative screening.

Common Pitfalls:
Using too many criteria (diluting focus); failing to calibrate weights; treating model outputs as final decisions without managerial judgment.

Final Answer:
both (a) and (b)