Week 5 assignment
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APPENDIX D
Guidelines for Evaluating a New Products Program This is a unique checklist. It is made for use by anyone evaluating the new products program of some organization—an internal review, a consultant, whatever. It presumes the organization uses all of the recommended methods, and it would be nice if the world worked this way. But product innovation managers face many problems—people, resources, competition, and so on. They make many compromises, so if you use these guidelines to evaluate a program, think of the gaps as suggestions or possible considerations. Most people who have tried the form find that they have to say no (or a very qualified yes) to a third or more of the items. The form is especially good at covering important activities that are especially difficult or of recent development.
The terminology used in this checklist matches that used throughout this text, but occasionally a second statement has been added for clarity.
If the form is being used within an organization, a good approach is for two or more people with experience in the firm’s new products activity to go through the list separately, checking each item individually, as they know it. Then the scorings can be discussed in a joint session to bring out differences, which in turn can be discussed for clarification and possible remedial action.
Yes M aybe No Some
____ ____ ____ 1. The senior m anagers of this firm or division (general m anager plus top key functional heads) are com m itted to innovation in general. They want innovation in all phases of the operation, including that of product line.
____ ____ ____ 2. This m anagem ent attitude toward innovation has been clearly and unequivocally com m unicated throughout the organization.
____ ____ ____ 3. Senior m anagem ents, both at corporate and at division, have gone through a planning exercise that established the overall goals for the product innovation function in each division.
____ ____ ____ 4. Outside directors know the future role for product innovation and support actions to achieve it.
____ ____ ____ 5. We have an innovation reward system . It includes insulation against punishm ent for failure, and there is evidence for all to see.
____ ____ ____ 6. The firm ’s or division’s top executive has assessed the ability and inclination of each senior functional m anager to generate innovation, particularly product innovation. This assessm ent has included input from persons reporting to those senior m anagers.
____ ____ ____ 7. General m anagers have learned the art of delegating full authority on new product projects while still sharing fully in the responsibility for them . (This m anagerial approach is unique to the product innovation function.)
____ ____ ____ 8. New product project responsibility is nonfunctional. That is, project leaders report in such
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a way that they are free of functional constraints and biases. Specifically, responsibility for new products is no longer housed in R&D.
____ ____ ____ 9. Senior m anagem ent attem pts to assess the productivity of the new products program . Standards of m easurem ent have been established and com m unicated.
____ ____ ____ 10. If senior m anagem ent is dissatisfied with the overall product innovation program , specific causes have been determ ined and rem edial plans put into place. Continuing dissatisfaction is not acceptable.
____ ____ ____ 11. The firm ’s failure rate on m arketed new products is som ewhere between 10 percent and 20 percent. Less than that suggests no com m itm ent to innovation, and m ore than that suggests an inadequately m anaged program .
____ ____ ____ 12. Senior m anagem ent has studied the industry’s new product situation and has shared ideas with other industry leaders. Work is under way to find industrywide solutions to obstacles hindering product innovation in this industry.
____ ____ ____ 13. Specific people in each division have been charged with opportunity identification—the creative assessm ent of technologies and m arkets available to the division.
____ ____ ____ 14. Senior m anagem ent is aware of the fundam ental conflict between process innovation and product innovation. Efforts are taken to keep either from dom inating the other and to see that decisions at the interface are m ade at general-m anagem ent levels.
____ ____ ____ 15. The firm has an overall process for developing new products, and its phases are known to participants.
____ ____ ____ 16. Product innovators on each project know their group’s focus (arena of operation or turf).
____ ____ ____ 17. They also know the general goal and specific objectives of their project.
____ ____ ____ 18. Each project group is m aking use of both m arket drive and technology drive. That is, they are working to resolve one or m ore specific problem s in a selected m arketplace, and they are bringing to that solution one or m ore technologies at which the firm is very good.
____ ____ ____ 19. There are no hidden agendas on our new product projects.
____ ____ ____ 20. All people playing m ajor roles in new product groups are rewarded in som e way that reflects the group’s accom plishm ent of assigned goals/objectives.
____ ____ ____ 21. For every new products project, it is clear who is the one person heading up that project and responsible for its success.
____ ____ ____ 22. Every project is assigned one of three projectization levels—functional m atrix, balanced m atrix, or project m atrix. We try to avoid the purely functional approach, and we use a venture (spinout) only when absolutely necessary. Players understand projectization.
____ ____ ____ 23. We recognize the values of design. To the extent appropriate, we actively integrate both industrial (esthetic/functional) designers and engineering (technical/functional) designers as key team players.
____ ____ ____ 24. Our technical/m arketing/m anufacturing people are close together physically. Preferably, they are no farther than a five-m inute walk apart.
____ ____ ____ 25. We use the concept of the rugby scrum rather than that of the relay team ’s hand-off. All functions are represented at all phase points in the project, including project specification and postlaunch.
____ ____ ____ 26. Managers of new products projects understand that they are really nontitled general m anagers and that they should m anage their team of people as a general m anager would. They also understand what a network is and how one should be built and m anaged.
____ ____ ____ 27. We actively use upstream and downstream coupling by building in roles for suppliers and other vendors as well as direct involvem ent of potential custom er personnel. These people are alm ost like m em bers of the team .
____ ____ ____ 28. We have an overall concept evaluation system in place and use it to carve out a special system for each project.
____ ____ ____ 29. A basic m arket or technology study is m ade of each strategic arena before ideation begins, and that study is updated as needed during the project’s life.
____ ____ ____ 30. We believe in building the m arketing plan right alongside the building of the product. It is a twin-stream s, or coincident, operation.
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____ ____ ____ 31. We accept the idea that new products com e into existence only after they have been successfully established in the m arketplace. Even after they go to m arket, they are still only concepts (being m odified as necessary) until we m eet the objectives set for them .
____ ____ ____ 32. We have proactive concept generation. That is, we don’t just wait for new ideas to com e in from the field, the lab, etc.
____ ____ ____ 33. Our technical people are fam iliar with what custom ers think about products now on the m arket, what they use, and how.
____ ____ ____ 34. To the extent possible, our new concepts begin their lives stem m ing directly from solutions to proven problem s/needs of the intended custom ers.
____ ____ ____ 35. We use a quantitative scoring m odel for screening concepts prior to any substantial developm ent expenditures.
____ ____ ____ 36. After screening, we m ake sure that technical people have a statem ent of the product requirem ents (product attributes in benefit form at and any other deliverables). The m arketing people also receive a statem ent of m arketing requirem ents (what the m arketing program is to accom plish—m arket penetration, speed, etc.). The product requirem ents speak to what the product should do for the custom er. Both sets of requirem ents com bine into a product protocol statem ent.
____ ____ ____ 37. We do user-based product use testing on every item we develop, whether a good or a service. At least part of the testing is with typical potential users who are not our friends.
____ ____ ____ 38. We believe product use testing should m easure whether the product actually works as we had hoped, and also whether it solves the problem we started with and is satisfactory overall to the custom er. That is, if we have been using beta testing, we want to do gam m a testing too.
____ ____ ____ 39. Our m arketing program also is tested by exposure to the intended consum ers of the new product. The testing m ethod used is situational, but at the very least a rollout is em ployed.
____ ____ ____ 40. Our m arketing efforts recognize that getting trial use is the m ost critical (and difficult) of the several steps to sales success.
____ ____ ____ 41. When m arketing a new item , we have identified each potential problem that would be very dam aging and that has a reasonable probability of com ing about. We have agreed in advance what we would do about each, if it occurs.
____ ____ ____ 42. We use postlaunch tracking system s for guiding the product to success. That is, we have set up m easuring system s to track each critical problem and give us early warning. We have also agreed in advance about what will constitute evidence that each problem is actually com ing about.
____ ____ ____ 43. Marketing strategy is built around the accom plishm ents of awareness, trial, availability, and repeat use (satisfaction). The plan clearly shows how each will be achieved.
____ ____ ____ 44. Marketing plans for new products are distributed in draft form to all persons who are key to the launch process, certainly to the basic functions of technical, production, and finance.
____ ____ ____ 45. Unless the new item is itself a line extension, we have at least the next two line extensions to it already on their way down the pike. Each follow-on item is intended to foreclose an option our adaptor com petitors would find lucrative.
____ ____ ____ 46. All financial evaluations are m uch m ore than net present value calculations. In fact, we try to use a sales or profit threshold test rather than a specific dollar test.
____ ____ ____ 47. We try to anticipate ways in which custom ers will m isuse a new product, we develop legally sufficient warnings for those m isuses, and we keep records relevant to all aspects of product liability.
____ ____ ____ 48. Attention is given to any potential conflicts between the ethics of an operation and the ethics of the people working on it. Attem pts are m ade to resolve these.
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INDEX
A Aaker, David A., 430n, 434n AAR (After Action Review), 506, 508 Abandonm ent, 510 Abraham , Don, 67n, 68n Absolute screens, im posing, 203 Accelerated product developm ent (APD), 37 Accelerated tim e to m arket, 295 Acceleration com petency, 355 Acceptance risk strategy, 200 Accum ulated data, exam ining prior to launch, 494 Achilles’ Heel technique, 554 ACNielsen, 478, 480 Acquisition, acquiring m arket strengths, 74 Activity category, for exploration, 135 Ad hoc team m em bers, 359–360 Adam s, Dan, 315n Adam s, Marjorie, 7n, 367n Adaptive conjoint analysis, 178 Adaptive custom izers, 417 Adaptive product, developing, 78 Adequate warning, 519–520 Adler, Thom as, 178n Adopter categories, 269 Advanced Photo System (APS), 486 Advertising agencies, 546 Affinity groupings, 303 After Action Review (AAR), 506, 508 After use dangers, 520 Aggressive entry, 411 Aggressive technical innovation strategy, 357 Åhlström , Pär, 41 Aid to m anagem ent, protocol as, 312 Aim an-Sm ith, Lynda, 349n, 361n Air Multiplier (fan), 135 Air Products, 505 Airblade (hand dryer), 135 Ajam ian, Greg A., 32n AkPharm a Inc., 111 Albaum , Gerald S., 247n Albright, Richard E., 516n Ali, Abdul, 40n, 41n All com m odity volum e (ACV), 208 Allegiance to functional areas, 104 Allen, Peter, 516n Alleven, Monica, 439n Alliances, 450–451 Allyn, Welch, 76 Alpha tests, 388–390 Alternative-fuel cars, 539 Am azon, 46, 416 Am bidextrous firm s, 52
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Analogy, 186–187 Analysis, m anagerial side of, 262 Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), 255–258 Analytical attribute techniques, 154, 156, 553–554 And also technique, 552 Anders, George, 535n Andersen, Scot, 127n Ang, B. W., 244n Ang, Swee Hoon, 432n Angioplasty stent, 117 Anheuser-Busch, 436, 530 Announcem ents, 441, 444 Anscheutz, Ned F., 16n, 105n, 222n, 225n, 320n, 331n, 364n, 390n, 501n, 502n, 510n Antil, John H., 205n Apple Com puter, 11, 40, 105, 114, 121, 425 Apple iPad, illustrative PIC for, 72 Apple Newton personal digital assistant, 510 Appleyard, Melissa M., 118n Applications engineering, 78 Aquafresh White Trays case, 127–129 AR perceptual gap m ap, 157 AR perceptual m apping, 167 Arbitrary nam es, protection of, 425 Archer, Trevor, 115n Arm & Ham m er, 14 Art and entertainm ent, testing concepts, 217 Assum ption of risk defense, 523 Asynchronous m ode, m eeting in, 370 A-T-A-R concept (awareness-trial-availability-repeat), 204–205 A-T-A-R m odel, 205–209
forecasting sales using, 267–268 launch control patterns, 496 requirem ents, 451–457 sales forecast, 237
Attribute analysis techniques, 156 Attribute Dependency Tem plate, 183 Attribute extension, 553 Attribute perceptions questionnaire, 160 Attribute ratings (AR) perceptual gap m apping, 158 Attribute(s)
hanging together, 161 positioning to, 421 relative im portances of as percentages, 175 types of, 155
Augm entation dim ensions in a protocol, 301 Augm ented product concept, 294 Auto industry, new product process, 52 Autom obile project screening, 256 Availability, 208, 452–453 Avert Virucidal Tissues, 401 Avlonitis, George J., 509n, 510n Avoidance strategy, 200 Avoidance techniques, 556 Avon, new products, 228 Awareness, 207, 208, 451–452, 503
B B&L (Bausch & Lom b), 73, 149 Baba, Yasunori, 342n baddesigns.com Web site, 381 Bagla, Gunjan, 530, 530n, 532n Bai, F., 244n Baig, Edward C., 259n
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Baker, Kenneth G., 247n Baking soda, use of, 14 Balanced entry, 411 Balanced m atrix option, 354 Bangle, C., 336n Bannon, Lisa, 74n Barbera, Brad, 303n, 325n Barczak, Gloria, 7n, 19n, 71n, 190n, 340n, 352n, 361n, 369n, 373n Barnes, Brooks, 218n Barrier problem s, overcom ing, 456–457 Barriers
bridging between-field, 555 to creativity, 104 overcom ing to m arket orientation, 367 to trial, 455–456
Bart, Christopher K., 70n, 71n, 73n BASES, 235 BASES group, data banks of, 220