Useful books in our library and/or my
office library include:
1.
Bobrow and Shaver, Pioneering New Products
2.
Cagan and Vogel, Creating Breakthrough Products
3.
Cooper, Robert G., Winning at New Products
4.
Dolan, Managing the New Product Development Process
4. Frand, Art
of Product Development
5. Gruenwald, New Product Development
6.
Hisrich and Peters, Marketing Decisions for New and Mature Products
7.
Kahn,
Product Planning Essentials
8.
Kuczmarski, Innovation
9.
Kuczmarski, Managing New Products, second edition
10.
Moore
and Pessemier, Product Planning and
Management: Designing and Delivering Value
10. Onkvisit and Shaw, Product Life Cycles and Product Management
11. Servi, New
Product Development and Marketing
12. Souder, Managing
New Product Innovations
13 Sheth, Bringing
Innovation to Market
14. Ulrich and Eppinger, Product Design and Development
15. Urban, Essentials
of New Product Marketing
16. Von Hippel, The Source of Innovation
17. Wizenburg, The New Products Handbook
18. Zangwill, Lightning Strategies for New Products
See Crawford's bibliography on pp. 513-516
for a brief description of the content of most of these books as well as of
others not on this list.
You can also link to
the Product Development Management Association Web site (www.pdma.org), which
provides links to the Journal of Product
Innovation Management, the PDMA’s scholarly journal, and Visions, the PDMA’s
practitioner-oriented newsletter. Another
useful website is BusinessWeek.com’s popular Innovation & Design channel
businessweek.com/innovate. And, you have
a handout called “List of Websites.”
Evaluation of Papers
Each assignment will be evaluated on
the following criteria:
Criterion
Relative
Importance
1. Content
70%
Conciseness,
accuracy, and completeness of answer (highly informative/sufficiently
detailed); application of course theory; originality of ideas and creativity;
logic of analysis; use of examples and evidence (including documented outside
sources).
2. Organization,
Presentation, and Appearance
15%
Organization includes matters such as:
a)
Coherence—the paper is sequentially logical,
paragraphs and sentences are in the right order, topics are developed within
paragraphs, each paragraph represents a single topic, transitions between
sections, paragraphs, and sentences flow smoothly and logically; the paper
flows smoothly;
b)
Unity—introduction and conclusion (summarizes
and provides closure), the theme is clear, everything in the paper defends or
explains the theme;
c)
Development—everything is fully explained.
Presentation
and appearance involves matters such as neatness and proper
formal paper format: title page, bibliography, endnotes, headings and
subheadings,
page
numbers, margins, and proper use of exhibits and illustrative charts.
3. Clarity
of Communication
15%
a)
Writing style—the
paper is clearly and concisely written, not to impress but to express (make the
reader understand); active voice; verb tense consistent; professional tone
(absence of contractions, appropriate vocabulary, no colloquialisms, etc.);
interesting.
b)
Mechanics—grammar,
syntax, spelling, punctuation, word divisions.
Total 100%
Specific Assignments (Note: All "recent" examples
must be last 12 months unless permission is asked and granted.)
GROUP #1 WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE OCTOBER 3
Assignment One: Overview of New Products—Successes and
Failures
a. New
Product Failure
Select
a new product that was recently unsuccessfully introduced into the marketplace
on either a test market, regional, national, or international basis. Or, describe your own bad new product idea
that will probably fail in the marketplace.
Required:
1. Describe the product's core, tangible, and augmented
components.
2. Classify the type of "new
product" according to the Booz,
Allen, and Hamilton classification scheme.
Also, describe the product in terms of newness to the firm and newness
to the market. What are the
managerial implications?
3. Why do you believe the organization
developed the product? (Or, for your own
idea, why should or should not an organization of your choosing develop the
product?)
4. Either through an interview with a
company executive or through secondary sources (business-oriented publications
or the Internet), or, for your own idea, through your own reasoning and any
available outside information, summarize the key reasons for the failure of the
new product in the market. Could the
product have succeeded if mistakes had been corrected?
OR
b. New
Product Success
Select
a new product that was recently successfully introduced into the marketplace on
either a test market, regional, national, or international basis. Or, describe your own new product idea that
will probably succeed in the marketplace.
Required:
1. Describe the product's core, tangible, and augmented
components.
2. Classify the type of "new
product" according to the Booz,
Allen and Hamilton classification scheme. Also, describe the product in
terms of newness to the firm and newness to the market. What are the managerial implications?
3. Why do you believe the organization
developed the product? (Or, for your own idea, why should an organization of
your choosing develop the product?)
4. Either
through an interview with a company executive or through secondary sources
(business-oriented publications or the Internet. (Or, for your own idea, through your own
reasoning and any available outside information), summarize the key reasons for
the success of the new product. Were any
mistakes made which, if avoided, could have meant an even more successful new
product?
OR
Assignment Two: Categories
of Innovations and Product Characteristics that Influence New Product Adoption and Diffusion of Innovations
a. Select three different new products
recently introduced into the marketplace on either an international, national,
regional, or test market basis, each of which displays a different degree of
innovativeness according to Robertson's classification of innovations
(continuous, dynamically continuous, discontinuous).
Required:
1. Briefly explain which degree of
innovativeness each product displays and why.
2. What are the marketing implications of
your classification for brands in each product category?
3. Pick one of these three products and
describe it in terms of innovation attributes (e.g., relative advantage,
compatibility, complexity, etc.). What
are the marketing strategy implications?
4. Select
one of these products and discuss the interpersonal communications flows within
the marketplace that you believe existed during its introduction. What are the marketing strategy implications?
OR
b.
Complete the Written Applications questions for Exercise 36 (separate handout),
but only for Questions 1 and 2 (not 1 through 4) in the In-class Applications
above.
GROUP #2 WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE OCTOBER 22
Assignment Three: The New Product Development Process
a. Choose any new product that has been
launched recently on a regional, national, or international basis. Describe as best as you can, based on
available information, the stages in the new product development process (NPDP)
that this product went through. If
information is unavailable for one or more stages, speculate on what you think
they actually did and/or should have done, using your knowledge of the NPDP,
creative thinking, and reasonable assumptions.
Your discussion should include two or
more of the following concepts: stagegates,
twin/triple streams of development, control
triad, cumulative expenditures curve,
decay curve, accelerated product
development, benchmarking, cycle time metric/time to market, and fuzzy front end.
Was there anything that was done
especially well? Especially poorly?
OR
b. Interview (a manager involved in the product
development process at a local company.
Assess that person’s role in the NPDP and how he or she interacts with
others in the organization involved in the NPDP. Explain the roles of other key NPDP
players. If they work as a formal team,
describe how the team operates (e.g., frequency and nature of meetings, nature
of decision making, reporting relationship to upper management, etc.) Describe which factors contribute to their
success or lack thereof (for example: the NPDP used, organizational structure,
education, experience, co-workers, corporate strategy, etc.)
OR
Assignment Four: Strategic Planning for New Products
Choose
any organization you wish that has recently tested and/or launched a new
product. Discuss each of the elements of
the corporate, platform, and/or product strategies outlined below. Use your knowledge of the NPDP,
your own reasonable assumptions, and creative imagination where actual
information is unavailable. (Be certain
to explain where you are using actual data and where you are using your own
ideas.)
1. Corporate
mission/strategic arena.
Implications for new product development.
2. Corporate
goals and objectives, and marketing
goals and objectives.
3. Situational
analysis: macroenvironment and microenvironment. Include only the most relevant areas,
including (if information is available) historical new product performance and
new product parameters. Describe the
consequent opportunity identification
4. New
product goals (new product growth role, profit, revenue, and share targets,
etc.)
5. Degree of innovativeness (reactive or proactive strategy, and
which specific type)
6.
Precedence:
innovation vs. imitation
7. Time/Quality/Cost
tradeoffs
8. Screening
Criteria
Be
sure to critically analyze these points in light of the organization and the
product.
OR
Assignment Five: Corporate Growth Strategies
In
discussing the role of new products in corporate strategic planning and
organizational growth, the following growth options are suggested:
a.
Market
Penetration (increase share of market, loyalty, and/or
repurchase): remerchandising,
increasing frequency and/or amount of
purchase/consumption, and seeking new uses.
b.
Market
Development: new market segment(s), channels of
distribution, or geographic rollout for existing products.
c.
New
Product Development: creating new products (any type in the
Booz, Allen, and
Hamilton
classification scheme) for existing markets.
d. Diversification: developing new products
for new markets internally, through acquisitions/mergers,
or through strategic partnerships.
Briefly
cite one or more recent examples for each of the above options. Your examples do not have to refer to the
same company trying all of the above—a different company for each option is
okay. For each of the examples, discuss and analyze what was done, why, and with what results. You may include any lessons you derive for
future growth in these or other organizations.
GROUP #3: WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE NOVEMBER 5
Assignment Six: Concept Generation
a. Choose one of the following problem
situations:
(1)
Select one of the following company or
consumer problems: the entry of Eastern European and/or other foreign firms
into the automobile market, the failure of most persons to follow a diet
successfully and/or the high rates of obesity and being overweight among
Americans, the frustrations following proposed re-regulation of the
telecommunications industry, the increased competition among colleges for
minority market college students, or the confusion created either by new
networks and technologies in broadcast, cable, and satellite TV, or by the many
different types of firms (telephone, cable, satellite, wireless, software and
hardware providers, etc.) trying to get an "on-ramp" for their customers
onto the Internet. Or, propose your own
problem area (you should clear it with me first).
(2)
Observe one or (preferably) more people
performing an everyday task to identify frustrations and difficulties
encountered. It could be as simple as
eating spaghetti without making a mess or as complex as trying to fix something
under the hood of your automobile.
(3)
Choose a product that continually annoys
you or other people you know or have otherwise heard bemoaning the product,
identifying the needs and want the developers of this product missed and
problems created. It could be as simple
as opening a package or as complex as learning to operate a new wireless
device.
Required: (for an organization
of your choice)
1. Suggest some specific ways for an
organization to do both an internal and
external search for sources of ideas for products, services, technologies,
or processes that can solve the basic problem.
2. Describe how you would use one or more
techniques of problem-based ideation
(the problem-solution route) discussed
in the text and in class to generate ideas to solve the problem.
3. Choose one
method of relationships analysis to
generate a viable idea to solve the problem.
State the idea in terms of a core
benefit proposition (CBP - major benefit plus product form or technology).
4. Use a lateral
search technique to generate a viable idea to solve the problem. State the idea in terms of a CBP.
OR
b.
Investigate two recent significant
technological advances (e.g., in consumer electronics, pharmaceutical drugs and
life sciences, computers, telecommunications, etc.).
Required:
1. For each technological development, using
the idea generation technique of your choice, generate three new product ideas
for three different business or consumer needs.
For each idea explain which concept generation technique you used to
generate the idea. State the idea in
terms of a core benefit proposition
(CBP - major benefit plus product form or technology).
2. Repeat Part 1 using a second concept
generation technique.
3. Select three of the methods of generating
new product ideas that were discussed in the text and/or in class. For each method in the context of either one
of your generated ideas or product categories above, discuss:
a.
The role of communication among
individuals (team leader, research scientists, engineers, marketers, etc.) on
the new product team.
b.
The organizational costs
of/resources deployed in employing the method.
c. Which industry or industries (e.g.,
automobiles, banking services, consumer
electronics, insurance,
health care services, consumer toiletries, office supplies, etc.) would
find each method valuable
and why.
OR
c.
1. Complete the In-class Application Question #1 and Written Application
Question #1 for Exercise 14: Problem Recognition (separate handout).
GROUP #4 WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE NOVEMBER 26
Assignment Seven: Analytical Attribute Analysis, Mapping
Consumer Perceptions and Preferences, and Positioning
a. Choose one of the following
product-markets: toothpaste, a bank in your local community,
compact cars, breakfast cereals,
hardcover books, barbers or hair salons, frozen entrees, or
electronic communication devices
(or another product-market of your choice).
Required: Use a sample of six or more target market
consumers for your research to answer the following questions. Be sure to describe each research technique
that you used.
1. Employing the research technique of your
choice (either individually administered surveys or a focus group), list the determinant attributes in the
product/market. (To verify these, you
can crosscheck against attributes mentioned on packaging and in ads for brands
within the product category.) Classify
each as a physical attribute or customer benefit (functional, symbolic, or experiential benefit).
2. Using
your own judgement (e.g., most frequently mentioned in ads or on packaging), or
else a sample of six or more target consumers, (rather than statistical
techniques), determine the two most important factors/dimensions from these
attributes. (A factor or dimension is
either a combination of two or more correlated attributes or else one of the
very most important attributes.) How did
you determine these dimensions and what will you call them?
3. Using a simple attitude rating technique
(e.g., 5-point Likert scales), determine consumer perceptions of brand
performance on the factors by having your consumers rate five different
alternative brands in the product-market on the two dimensions. Summarize your results using averages.
4. Using the technique of your choice, find
out each consumer's ideal brand on
the two dimensions.
5. Draw a preference gap/joint space map along the two dimensions based on
the above information, including both perceptions
and preferences.
6. For both a new brand entering the market
and for one of the existing brands in the market, describe strategy
implications for positioning, benefit segmentation, next-generation products, and/or other
new product and marketing strategy decisions.
OR
b. Complete the Written Application Question #2 a, b,
and c for Exercise 16 (separate handout).
