Abstract
Increasing technological and market changes present companies with business opportunities which demand that firms match their capabilities to these changes. In short, the greater the change in the firm's environment, the greater the need to develop the product mix in consonance with the environment. This need for the development and redevelopment of the product mix—which is the essence of product policy—has resulted in a continual interest on the part of both academics and practitioners in innovation and new product development (NPD) (Rothwell et al. 1974, Gardiner and Rothwell 1985, Cooper 1979, 1984, Johne and Snelson 1987, Parkinson 1980). Yet to equate product mix change with product proliferation leads to an incomplete understanding of product policy which eclipses the crucial tasks of identifying and withdrawing products which no longer contribute to the company's goals. This article addresses the latter issue by discussing the way in which products like these come under the scrutiny of management and it explores the various triggers of product deletion.

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