HC8-creating new products and services (2)

Question 1

four main types of team structure for new product development:

Answer 1

1. functional structure: traditional hierarchical structure communication by function managers according to standard and codified procedures
2. lightweight product manager structure: traditional hierarchical structure, project manager provides an overarching coordinating structure
3. lightweight product manager structure: led by product manager with influence over personnel and strategic directions of the areas critical to the project.
4. Project execution teams: full-time project team where functional staff leace their areas work on the project, under the project leader direction

Question 2

Every stage in the stage-gate model consists of:

Answer 2

1. deliverables: results of completed activities brought to decision point.
2. criteria to knock-out and prioritize
3. Outputs: decision with plan for next stage

Question 3

four discriminative phases of implementation:

Answer 3

• Concept generation – identifying the opportunities for new products and services.
• Project assessment and selection – screening and choosing projects which satisfy certain criteria.
• Product or service development – translating the selected concepts into a physical product or a new service.
• Product or service commercialization – testing, launching and marketing the new product or service.

Question 4

scrum

Answer 4

stretch goals, rapid cycles of prototyping require self-managed and cross-functional teams

Question 5

lean start-up

Answer 5

1. Build-measure-learn: design a hypothesis to test an idea and then adjust the project on the basis of that feedback.
2. Minimum viable product: the minimum configuration of the new venture idea that can be used to run a build-measure-learn cycle.
3. Validated learning: work with data that provide useful information and help learning about the venture
4. Innovation accounting: using data to ensure resources are being well spent
5. Pivoting: testing ideas out on customers and adapting them according to feedback from several learning cycles
6. Single unit flow: working in small batches and completing the tasks on those rather than working in high volume
7. Line stop/Andon cord: stop production when an error occurs and continue once they are fixed
8. Continuous improvement: keep reviewing and improving the core product and the process delivering it
9. Kanban: put improvement projects around the core product idea into ‘buckets’, which are processed and progressed in a systematic fashion
10. Five whys: diagnostic tool that helps to find the root causes of problems and directs action
    towards solving those problems rather than treating symptom

Question 6

factors influencing product success or failure

Answer 6

-Product advantage
- Market knowledge
- Clear product definition
- Risk assessment
- Project organization
- Project resources
- Proficiency of execution
- Top management support

Question 7

Challenges in open innovation boil down to four issues

Answer 7

• Conditions and context, e.g. environmental uncertainty and project complexity
• Control and ownership of resources
• If you do not have ownership of resources you are forced to ask others to provide them
• Coordination of knowledge flows
• Creation and capture of value