"I", "J" & "K"

Question 1

Idea

Answer 1

The most embryonic form of a new product or service. It often consists of a high-level view of the envisioned solution needed to solve the problem identified by a person, team or firm.

Question 2

Idea Generation (Ideation)

Answer 2

All of those activities and processes that lead to creating broad sets of solutions to consumer problems. These techniques may be used in the early stages of product development to generate initial product concepts, in the intermediate stages for overcoming implementation issues, in the later stages for planning launch and in the post-mortem stage to better understand success and failure in the marketplace. (See Chapter 17 in The PDMA HandBook 2nd Edition.)

Question 3

Idea Exchange

Answer 3

A divergent thinking technique that provides a structure for building on different ideas in a quiet, non-judgmental setting that encourages reflection.

Question 4

Idea Merit Index

Answer 4

An internal metric used to impartially rank new product ideas.

Question 5

Implementation Team

Answer 5

A team that converts the concepts and good intentions of the “should-be” process into practical reality.

Question 6

Implicit Product Requirement

Answer 6

What the customer expects in a product, but does not ask for, and may not even be able to articulate.

Question 7

Importance Surveys

Answer 7

A particular type of attribute testing in which respondents are asked to evaluate how important each of the product attributes are in their choice of products or services.

Question 8

Incremental Improvement

Answer 8

A small change made to an existing product that serves to keep the product fresh in the eyes of customers.

Question 9

Incremental Innovation

Answer 9

An innovation that improves the conveyance of a currently delivered benefit, but produces neither a behavior change nor a change in consumption.

Question 10

Individual Depth Interviews (IDI’s)

Answer 10

A qualitative market research technique in which a skilled moderator conducts an open-ended, in-depth, guided conversation with an individual respondent (as opposed to in a (focus) group format). Such an interview can be used to better understand the respondent’s thought processes, motivations, current behaviors, preferences, opinions, and desires.

Question 11

Industrial Design (ID)

Answer 11

The professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value, and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer [Industrial Design Society of America]. (See Chapters 24 and 25 of The PDMA HandBook 2nd Edition.)

Question 12

Information

Answer 12

Knowledge and insight, often gained by examining data.

Question 13

Information Acceleration

Answer 13

A concept testing method employing virtual reality. In it, a virtual buying environment is created that simulates the information available (product, societal, political, and technological) in a real purchase situation at some time several years or more into the future.

Question 14

Informed Intuition

Answer 14

Using the gathered experiences and knowledge of the team in a structured manner.

Question 15

Initial Screening

Answer 15

The first decision to spend resources (time or money) on a project. The project is born at this point. Sometimes called “idea screening.”

Question 16

Injection Molding

Answer 16

A process that utilizes melted plastics injected into steel or aluminum molds which ultimately result in finished production parts.

Question 17

In-licensed

Answer 17

The acquisition from external sources of novel product concepts or technologies for inclusion in the aggregate NPD portfolio.

Question 18

Innovation

Answer 18

A new idea, method, or device. The act of creating a new product or process. The act includes invention as well as the work required to bring an idea or concept into final form.

Question 19

Innovation-Based Culture

Answer 19

a corporate culture where senior management teams and employees work habitually to reinforce best practices that systematically and continuously churn out valued new products to customers.

Question 20

Innovation Engine

Answer 20

The creative activities and people that actually think of new ideas. It represents the synthesis phase when someone first recognizes that customer and market opportunities can be translated into new product ideas.

Question 21

Innovation Steering Committee

Answer 21

the senior management team or a subset of it responsible for gaining alignment on the strategic and financial goals for new product development, as well as setting expectations for Portfolio and Development Teams.

Question 22

Innovation Strategy

Answer 22

The firmís positioning for developing new technologies and products. One categorization divides firms into Prospectors (those who lead in technology, product and market development, and commercialization, even though an individual product may not lead to profits), Analyzers (fast followers, or imitators, who let the prospectors lead, but have a product development process organized to imitate and commercialize quickly any new product a Prospector has put on the market), Defenders (those who stake out a product turf and protect it by whatever means, not necessarily through developing new products), and Reactors (those who have no coherent innovation strategy). (See Chapter 2 of The PDMA HandBook 2nd Edition.)

Question 23

Innovative Problem Solving

Answer 23

Methods that combine rigorous problem definition, pattern-breaking generation of ideas, and action planning that results in new, unique, and unexpected solutions.

Question 24

Integrated Architecture

Answer 24

A product architecture in which most or all of the functional elements map into a single or very small number of chunks. It is difficult to subdivide an integrally designed product into partially-functioning components.

Question 25

Integrated Product Development (IPD)

Answer 25

A philosophy that systematically employs an integrated team effort from multiple functional disciplines to develop effectively and efficiently new products that satisfy customer needs.

Question 26

Intellectual Property (IP)

Answer 26

Information, including proprietary knowledge, technical competencies, and design information, which provides commercially exploitable competitive benefit to an organization.

Question 27

Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

Answer 27

The discount rate at which the present value of the future cash flows of an investment equals the cost of the investment. The discount rate with a net present value of 0.

Question 28

Intrapreneur

Answer 28

The large-firm equivalent of an entrepreneur. Someone who develops new enterprises within the confines of a large corporation.

Question 29

ISO-9000

Answer 29

A set of 5 auditable standards of the International Organization for Standardization that establishes the role of a quality system in a company and which is used to assess whether the company can be certified as compliant to the standards. ISO-9001 deals specifically with new products.

Question 30

Issue

Answer 30

A certainty that will affect the outcome of a project, either negatively or positively. Issues require investigation as to their potential impacts, and decisions about how to deal with them. Open issues are those for which the appropriate actions have not been resolved, while closed issues are ones that the team has dealt with successfully.

Question 31

Journal of Product Innovation Management

Answer 31

The premier academic journal in the field of innovation, new product development and management of technology. The Journal, which is owned by the PDMA, is dedicated to the advancement of management practice in all of the functions involved in the total process of product innovation. Its purpose is to bring to managers and students of product innovation the theoretical structures and the practical techniques that will enable them to operate at the cutting edge of effective management practice. Web site: www.pdma.org/journal.

Question 32

Kaizen

Answer 32

A Japanese term describing a process or philosophy of continuous, incremental improvement.

Question 33

Invention

Answer 33

Taking pre-existing knowledge and combining in such a way as to develop something that has never before existed

Question 34

Internal Secondary Sources

Answer 34

Sales force records, transactions, competitor activity, inventory records, customer records, transfer records, website visitor records