Business Administration Department

BA347 New Products Management

Dr. Geoffrey Lantos Fall 2007

Special Class Activities/Team Oral Presentations

Overview

Listed below are some special in-class exercises for all class members and oral presentations that you will be carrying out in your term paper teams. The underlying idea according to Crawford and DiBenedetto is, "You cannot learn how to develop a new product concept by reading about attribute analysis or gap analysis. You must do them." (p. 10) Most of these exercises will be presented to the class by your term paper project teams. Those activities that aren't the responsibility of a specific project team will be the task of all students to be prepared to discuss. Your participation in the team presentation will count toward 2 to 8% of your final grade (in the standard grading plan).

Objectives

The purposes of these presentations are:

1. To provide an additional learning vehicle for all students in class.

2. To enhance your oral communication and professional presentation skills.

3. To develop your ability to work cooperatively with other persons (teamwork).

4. To make learning fun, enjoyable, entertaining, and relevant.

5. To provide a change of pace for the class sessions.

Evaluation of Presentations

Each team presentation should be about seven to ten minutes in length, followed by a question-and-answer session. Your classmates will be encouraged to ask you questions and critique your ideas. I will do likewise.

Team members will all receive the same score on the first two grading criteria that follow. Each individual will be graded separately on the third criterion.

Criterion Relative Importance

1. Preparation/Content 60%

*Clear central idea and purpose

*Identification of key points/issues

*Validity of information - logical, persuasive, effective reasoning and conclusions

drawn from evidence presented

*Evidence - honest use of well-researched, sufficient, specific, accurate, relevant, timely and

interesting evidence, and reference to sources when required for credibility

2. Organization and Presentation 20%

*Logically organized clear presentation (introduction, body, and conclusion)

- Introduction: captures attention, previews presentation, leads smoothly to body

- Body: effective topic divisions, smooth topic transitions, main points clear, clear

explanations

- Conclusion: summary/review of main points, effective final thought

*Teamwork - cooperation of team members in presenting a unified constructive

case, equal involvement of all team members, and assistance of each other in handling

audience questions

*Use of visual aids, graphics, handouts, etc.

*Observance of time limits

3. Delivery and Style 20%

*Poise and body action, animated, projection, eye contact, relaxed, confident

*Voice audible, expressive, forceful, pleasant, sincerer-sounding

*Articulation and pronunciation

*Language - clear, varied, economical, good word choices

*Extempore abilities - able to adapt in manner and content to audience

*Interesting - conversational, variety, humor, genuine, sincere

*Pacing - not too slow, not too fast

*Persuasiveness – confident and convincing

*Enthusiasm

*Ability to stimulate and answer questions

Total 100%

A caution is warranted for style and effectiveness of your presentations: DO NOT SIMPLY READ FROM NOTES OR INDEX CARDS. SINCE YOU WILL BE USING VISUAL AIDS SUCH AS OVERHEAD SLIDES AND POWERPOINT, THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO DO SO. If you prepare well and rehearse prior to your presentation, there is no need for notes or index cards, and you will be much more confident and relaxed in your presentation. Believe me, those presentations in which team members simply read off their notes/index cards are disastrous and boring. Also, have good eye contact with the class. You are not just making your presentation to me but to the entire class as well.

Note: Although each team is assigned a topic below, several topics are unassigned (“Project Team #X”). If you prefer to do one of these instead, please let me know ASAP but at least a week before your assigned presentation date or date your new topic is assigned below, whichever is earlier.

Day Date Activity

W 9/5 All students: Be prepared to discuss your personal interest in new products.

M 9/10 All students: Types of New Products. Bring to class a new product, a new product package, or an ad for a new product (preferably in the past year or two). Be prepared to discuss how it would be classified according to the Booz Allen Hamilton classification scheme. What are the implications of your classifcation? If you turn in an ad or product for me to keep, you will earn extra credit if it is interesting and something I don’t yet have (see syllabus, pp. 8-9).

M 9/17 All students: New Product Success/Failure Factors. Come to class with a new product, a new product package, or an ad for a new product that was recently introduced (preferably in the past year or two). Be prepared to discuss some reasons why it might have succeeded or failed. If you turn in an ad or product for me to keep, you will earn extra credit if it is interesting and something I don’t yet have (see syllabus, pp. 8-9).

W 10/3 Project team #1: Product Innovation Charter. Using as a guide Figure 3.4 (on p. 61), an outline of the product innovation charter (PIC), prepare a PIC for your proposed term paper project product. Remember that a PIC varies from organization to organization; hence your structure can deviate somewhat from the textbook's if you wish. Prepare your work for a PowerPoint presentation.

W 10/17 All students: Product Concept. Come to class ready to read off some new product concept you have come up with. The purpose is to see if we understand the form of a concept, not to judge whether the particular one you thought up is any good. This is NOT to be your project concept.

M 10/22 Project Team # X: Exercise 14 Problem Recognition. Prepare Written Application question # 1 for an in-class presentation (rather than as an individual written exercise). Your creative thinking should be done together as a team, not individually. Prepare your work for a presentation per the instructions above for Project Team #1 (9/26).

M 10/29 Project Team #2: Morphological Matrix. For this exercise we will use head coverings. Thinking about head coverings, select six meaningful columns of dimensions (per text instructions and sample matrix in Figure 7.9, p. 156), and then put at least five variations in each column. Prepare your work for a presentation per the instructions above for Project Team #1 (9/26).

W 10/31 Project Team #3: Dimensional Analysis. This is a test of your ability to recognize all of the attributes of an object, not just the determinant attributes. We will use toaster ovens. Thinking of toaster ovens, generically, please make a list of the attributes they have. Stretch your imagination. You should be able to come up with at least 50 attributes. It would be great if you could find, say, 150! (See the flashlight example in Figure 7.4 on p. 151). Prepare your work for a presentation per the instructions above for Project Team #1 (9/26).

Project Team #X: Determinant Attribute List. For this, we will use running shoes. Study this product type by examining ads, product samples, etc., and then compile a list of attributes (generic category attributes, not the specific attributes of any one brand or style of shoes) that meet the textbook criteria for determinant attributes (pp. 128-129). You will probably have 8 to 15 of them. Prepare your work for a presentation per the instructions above for Project Team #1 above.

Project Team #X: Determinant Gap Map. For this, please take the broad category of drinks. Select two of the most meaningful determinant attributes for this category (do not use price as one). Then, use those two attributes to construct a two-dimensional determinant gap map (pp.128-129) on which you place all of the drinks you know something about. Next, find one or two gaps in the map where there would be a potential new product opportunity. Be broad in your definition of drink (e.g. milkshake, bottled water, milk, sports drinks, wine, coffee, "new age" beverages, energy drinks, etc., not brands unless the brand is a unique form). Prepare your map for a presentation as previously instructed.

M 11/5 Project Team #4: Exercise 16: Alternative Evaluation: The Process and Evaluative Criteria. Prepare Written Application Questions # 3 a. and b. Question 3c. is optional.

.

M 11/26 Project Team #5: Full Screen. For your term paper project product, prepare a full screen using the procedure discussed in Chapter 10. Prepare your scoring model for a presentation as previously instructed.

M 11/26 Project Team #X: Protocol. For your term paper project product, write out a product protocol that would be appropriate to give to R&D to guide them in work on your concept (see sample in Figure 12.3 on p. 261). Prepare your protocol for a presentation.

...

M 12/3 Project Team #6: Product Use-Test (PUT) Plan. This is a document of recommendation for testing the physical, near-finished version of your project product, such as you might write to the director of new products. (You are role playing as a new products manager working on your concept.) Assume that the technical people have given you what they feel is the good or service called for in your protocol for your term paper project product. Review what you learned in the concept test interviews and what additional thoughts you have had. Then, write out a brief recommendation as to how you would plan to do the use testing in order to fulfill the protocol and achieve any other objectives for product use testing which you feel are important. Use the testing dimensions discussed on pp.344-351. Prepare your PUT for a presentation as previously.

Not fall 06 All students: Branding. Be prepared to evaluate your project's brand name using criteria in the text and given in class.

Not fall 06 All students: Packaging. Bring to class a package for a consumer package good. Be prepared to evaluate it using criteria you'll be given in class.

M 12/10 Project Team #7: Plan for Market Testing (MT). This is an assignment similar to the PUT above. Do not get into the details of each recommended test, but, for your term paper project product, briefly describe each type of test you recommend, along with reasons for each test you suggest (see summary Exhibit 18.3, p. 420). Prepare your MT plan for a presentation as previously.

Not fall 06 Project Team #X: Launch Control Plan. For your project product use the ideas on pp. 445-449 to find and define three potential problems your launch might have to deal with. Then, describe how you would measure each of them, and plan an appropriate course of action for dealing with them, if any actually came about, including stand-by plan of action and how you would time each one (see Figure 19.7 on p. 456). Prepare your launch control plan for a presentation.

Not fall 06 Project Team #X: Product Launch. Select a widely publicized new product introduction. Describe all of the activities, internal departments, and external organizations involved in this launch. Issues you can discuss include responsibility for launch, strategic launch decisions, unexpected events/problems/ last minute changes, coordination of marketing and other functional areas, distributor reactions, advertising used, etc.