Abstract: A method for developing products for a company comprises dividing a product development process into a plurality of project phases; for each of the plurality of project phases, defining deliverables by functional groups within the company; specifying a plurality of project gates between at least two pairs of adjacent phases; defining a plurality of key initiatives of the company; for each of the key initiatives, defining at least one of tasks, tools and resources as a function of the project phases that are designed to facilitate achieving the key initiatives; and for each of the project gates, defining gate decisions to be made before proceeding to a subsequent phase.