PDD C4

Question 1

What are the 4 types of product development projects?

Answer 1

1. New product platforms
2. Derivates of existing platforms
3. Incremental improvements to existing products
4. Fundamentally new products

Question 2

What are new product platforms?

Answer 2

• Major development effort to create a new family of products based on a new, common platform
• The new family may address familiar product categories but add compelling new features or technology
• Ex: Cordless vacuum

Question 3

What is a derivative of an existing platform?

Answer 3

• Extend existing product platform to address familiar or adjacent markets with new products or features
• Ex: Adding a new head to a cordless vacuum

Question 4

What is a incremental improvement to an existing product?

Answer 4

• Adding or modifying some features of existing products to keep it current and competitive
• Often released with a new model number but same name
• Ex: Cordless vacuum with better battery life

Question 5

What us a fundamentally new product?

Answer 5

• Radically different product or production technology that may address new and unfamiliar markets
• Riskier
• Ex: Autonomous vacuum

Question 6

What are the 5 steps of the product planning process?

Answer 6

1. Identify opportunities
2. Evaluate and prioritize projects
3. Allocate resources and plan timing
4. Complete pre-project planning
5. Reflect on the results and process

Question 7

What are the 4 types of competitive strategy?

Answer 7

1. Technology leadership
2. Cost leadership
3. Customer focus
4. Imitative

Question 8

What is technology leadership?

Answer 8

• The firm focuses on basic research and development of new technologies and on the deployment of these technologies through product development

Question 9

What is cost leadership?

Answer 9

• The firm focuses on production efficiency through economies of scale, superior manufacturing methods, low-cost labor, or better management
• Design for manufacturing methods is emphasized in the product development process

Question 10

What is customer focus?

Answer 10

• The firm works closely with new and existing customers to asses their changing needs
• Utilizes product platforms to quickly create derivative products to meet these needs
• Can result in a broad product line to address the many needs of customers

Question 11

What is imitative strategy?

Answer 11

• The firm closely follows market trends and waits for competitors to identify which new products are successful, then launches new products to imitate the competitions success
• Requires a fast development process

Question 12

What are technological trajectories?

Answer 12

• Represented by S-curves, which display product performance overtime with respect to a variable
• Used to determine when to adopt a new technology in a product line

Question 13

What are product platforms?

Answer 13

• A set of assets shared across a group of products
  
  • Components, sub-assemblies
• Allows for the rapid development of derivative products
• Product platforms are 2-10 times more expensive than derivative products

Question 14

How are portfolios balanced?

Answer 14

• Portfolios are mapped along useful dimensions like risk, return, and attractiveness so managers can consider the implications of planning decisions
• Usually based of the firm’s competitive strategy
• Compare projects of the same category

Question 15

What is the product-process change matrix?

Answer 15

• Compares extent of product changes with extent of product production changes
• Used to highlight imbalances in portfolios and compare the portfolio to a competitive strategy

Question 16

How are resources allocated?

Answer 16

• By quarter, month, or year
• Primary resource is person-hours/months
• Other resources include shop facilities, prototyping equipment, production lines, and testing facilities
• Estimates of required resources are compared to available resources to create a utilization ratio

Question 17

What are common target utilizations?

Answer 17

• 80 to 90% to allow for contingencies and responsiveness
• If the ratio is greater than 100% or too low the project will not be completed on schedule causing projects to be eliminated

Question 18

What are the key components of mission statements?

Answer 18

1. Product description
2. Benefit proposition
3. Key business goals
4. Target market(s)
5. Assumptions and constraints
6. Stakeholders

Question 19

What is the product description?

Answer 19

• A brief, one-sentence description identifying the basic function of the product

Question 20

What is the benefit proposition?

Answer 20

• Details the reasons a customer would want to purchase the product

Question 21

What are the key business goals?

Answer 21

• Project goals that support the strategy
• Goals for time, cost, and quality

Question 22

What are the target markets?

Answer 22

• Identifies the markets that should be considered in the development effort

Question 23

What are the assumptions and constraints?

Answer 23

• Guides for the development effort that restrict the range and scope, often supported by research

Question 24

What are the stakeholders?

Answer 24

• The groups of people affected by the products success or failure

Question 25

What are factors that affect assumptions and constraints?

Answer 25

• Customer needs
• Manufacturing
• Service
• Environment