Chapter 1 Flashcards
(47 cards)
Q: What three broad target markets can new products serve?
A: The consumer market, the B2B (business-to-business) market, or both.
Q: Which type of new offering combines tangible and intangible elements? Give an example.
A: A mixed good-and-service offering, e.g., a mobile-phone subscription (handset + service plan).
Q: State the two overarching reasons firms study new-product development.
A: (1) New products solve a firm’s most pressing problems. (2) The development process is notoriously difficult.
Q: Name three forces that drive companies to globalize their R&D.
A: Lower overseas costs, the firm’s broader globalization, and competitive advantage from global teams.
Q: Define “global innovation culture.”
A: A culture open to world markets, sensitive to diverse customer needs, and respectful of different national environments.
Q: List six classic causes of new-product failure.
A: Weak customer insight, underfunded R&D, poor upfront homework, inadequate quality focus, lack of senior-management backing, and “chasing a moving target.”
Q: After a failure, what twin goals should management pursue?
A: Minimize dollar losses and extract learning from the failure.
Q: Which functions should ideally sit on a cross-functional new-products team?
A: Marketing, R&D, engineering, manufacturing/production, design, and any other key functional areas.
Q: Differentiate product versus process innovation.
A: Product innovation creates new market offerings; process innovation improves how those offerings are made or delivered.
Q: What is a serendipitous new product?
A: One discovered by accident rather than through a planned search.
Q: List the six official categories of new products.
A: New-to-the-world, new-to-the-firm, additions to existing lines, improvements/revisions, repositionings, and cost-reductions.
Q: Which two categories usually carry the greatest technical and commercial uncertainty?
A: New-to-the-world and new-to-the-firm products.
Q: What single factor most strongly predicts new-product success?
A: A unique, superior product.
Q: Why does the NP (new-product) field have its own dense vocabulary?
A: It is simultaneously expanding (adding tasks) and a “melting pot” of many disciplines that must communicate.
Q: Identify three distinct job titles in new-product work.
A: Functional representative, project manager/team leader, and new-products process manager.
Q: What document links a firm’s innovation activities to its overall objectives?
A: The Product Innovation Charter (PIC).
Q: Name the three high-level strategic elements that frame innovation.
A: (1) New-product process, (2) PIC, and (3) product portfolio strategy.
Q: In the basic five-phase NP model, what happens in Phase 1?
A: Opportunity identification and selection.
Q: Which phase of the NP process converts a concept into a physical prototype?
A: Phase 4 – Development.
Q: What do we call the points between phases where the team decides whether to continue, revise, or stop?
A: Evaluation tasks or decision points (gates).
Q: Why are modern NP activities said to be “overlapping”?
A: Multiple phases run in parallel to shorten cycle time and share learning.
Q: Summarize the main aim of the NP process regarding risk.
A: To systematically reduce risk and uncertainty from idea to launch.
Q: Define a “fuzzy gate.”
A: A conditional go decision made before all data are complete, allowing faster progress.
Q: What three adjectives characterize “third-generation” NP processes?
A: Overlapping, fuzzy (gates), and flexible.
