Transcript - SlideBoom

Kevin Chan
Project Managers (PM) involved with new product
development (NPD) projects should first
understand the structure of the NPD process. With
this knowledge, the PM has greater control on the
flow of the entire project and it assists in the
planning stage of the project.
The course will hopefully give you an insight into the
structure of a NPD project and various PM tools
that can be used at each part of the NPD process.
There will be examples throughout the course and
a basic case study to apply your new knowledge.
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Essential to countless companies for growth
in their market area
NPD – the entire process of realising a new
product/service to market
The process consists of several phases or
stages
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Why NPD?
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Innovation – new or improved product ideas
required for competing in the market sector
The inevitable – sales decline from an ageing
product
Examples of NPD:
 Xbox to Xbox 360
 Playstation 2 to Playstation 2 Slim
 Coca Cola Zero
Coca Cola Zero: http://www.solarnavigator.net/solar_cola/coca_cola_zero.htm
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NPD everywhere!
Used to revive or generate a
new revenue stream
NPD Process provides basic
framework to the creation of a
replacement or brand new
product
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6 Stages of the NPD Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Idea Generation
Idea Screening
Concept Development & Testing
Business Analysis
Beta & Market Testing
Commercialisation
There are slight variations on how
many stages there are in the
process but the fundamentals are
the same
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Most difficult part to get right first time
Very important – foundation for the complete
project
Ideas – good ideas are hard to find, requires
screening
Referred to as the “Fuzzy Front End” of the
NPD Process – difficult to pinpoint key idea
Must be done properly or may lead to issues
further into the project
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Generating concepts – various methods
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Employees, Customers, Salespeople
The Competition
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Screening Process – answer key questions
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Can the product be made? (Technology available?)
Is there anything else like it on the market? (The
competition)
Who would buy it?
Why would they buy it?
Will it make a profit?
Project Manager must ensure answers are obtained
– communication with all affiliated with the project
Authorisation from Top Level Manager – due to
allocating company resources to project

Idea phase not expensive
with regards to money BUT
can
be
very
time
consuming!
Clock: http://blog.wolfram.com/images/carlson/clock.gif
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Further Development of initial product idea – features
of the product
Research in potential market sector
Investigation into intellectual property – don’t want
lawsuits arising later
Application of Patent – protection of idea
Designers and technical staff work on ‘blueprints’ for
possible prototype
Obtain feedback from potential consumers to improve
product concept
Project Manager – certify that tasks within this stage of
process is completed
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Communication – highly important for PM to deal with various
teams involved in project
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Analyse the profitability of the product in depth
Constantly expanding on market research
Identify Pricing
 Potential sales

 Fourt-Woodlock Equation:
V = ( HH . TR . TU ) + (HH . TR . MR . RR . RU )
 Terms explained in accompanying notes

Project Manager – keeping organised history of
spending on the project, ready to relay information
to project team
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Implementation of a physical prototype
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Hardware, Software, Safety and Quality testing
Launch to small test group for more feedback –
refine for final launch
Project manager again needs to observe that
beta and market tests are carried out
thoroughly

Bad Example – Fallout: New Vegas...
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToKIkw3LIoQ
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Final part of NPD Process
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often considered post-NPD
Time running out
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Deadline to launch product imminent
Consider competition before launch
 Avoid
products
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conflicting
with
other
similar
Delays – Project Manager’s nightmare
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Costly in money and reputation
First to market is key for many new
products
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Use of Launch events to
promote new product
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Widely used throughout the
consumer good industry
May seem like a time to reap
the rewards but...
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Settling period once product is
with end user
Problems begin to surface as
demonstrated from the release
of Apple’s IPhone 4

Iphone 4 Issues:
Loss of signal due to antenna
design
 Discoloration of screen
 Non-scratchproof
 Incompatibility with 3rd party
accessories
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Recall of product would cost
up to £1bn!
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Sales
continued
product flaws
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despite
Reputation and popularity
major help to project
Casings
were
given
to
consumer to resolve antenna
issue
Replacements
for
screen
discoloured products
Project Manager still tied to
project and must deal with
the problems
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Not hands on – but strong connection to the
various project teams to have a clear idea of
project status
Project’s success judged on 3 aspects of Iron
Triangle
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Project Manager expected to balance
all 3 aspects of the Iron Triangle
accordingly
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Project Manager should have some of
the following attributes and skills:
Understanding of the NPD Process
 Communication Skills
 People Skills
 Organised
 Thriving under Pressure
 Enthusiasm
 Persistence
 Persuasive
 Confidence
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Various PM tools can also help with
NPD projects as well as others
Stakeholder Maps
 Gantt Charts
 Critical Path Method
 Risk Register
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Stakeholder Maps
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Stakeholders – individuals or organisations
that have a direct or indirect connection to
project
Anyone who can be affect negatively or
positively should also be considered
Placed in a stakeholder map to determine
and manage their effect on the project
Mendelow’s Stakeholder Matrix
Identifying the key stakeholders will be
advantageous for the project
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Gantt Charts
Used for planning out the project
 Identifying
tasks and associating
completion times with them
 More complex Gantt Charts include
percentage of completion in each bar
representing a specific task
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Critical Path Method
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Network analysis tool
Isolates the set of tasks that takes the longest to
execute
Any delays in these task will result in a delay for the
overall project
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Risk registers
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Effective way to record and manage risks
Organised in a table
 Row headings
 Risk Numbers
 Column headings
 Risk Name
 Probability
 Impact
 Risk Score
 Mitigation
 Contingency Plan
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Risk registers can be as simple or
complex as required
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Project Management not an exact science
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PMs can only handle situations as then come as all
projects are different
There will be similarities between NPD or any
projects so prior experience can be called upon
No project manager is perfect – learning from
mistakes is part of the job
Course has now covered NPD Process
structure & main function of the project
manager within the NPD Process
Watch the following video and note any key events
you think may be relevant as a project manager or
to anything we have covered
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYumjyXEFms
Watch the following video and note any key events
you think may be relevant as a project manager or
to anything we have covered
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4rFh62Q1Rg
Watch the following video and note any key events
you think may be relevant as a project manager or
to anything we have covered
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9rG_NOr44Q&NR=1
Watch the following video and note any key events
you think may be relevant as a project manager or
to anything we have covered
Video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCriPTBlKQk&feature=watch_response

Key Events – The iPod Revolution Part One
Return of Steve Jobs
 Company losing money – critical state
 Existing bad Apple products
 Steve Jobs eliminating bad products from market
 Reduced R&D projects – minimising investment into
bad ideas
 New colourful iMacs
 Concept of sharing music digitally over the internet Napster
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Key Events – The iPod Revolution Part Two
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Birth of iTunes – jukebox software 2001
Entry into digital music concept
Developing the iPod
 Simplicity
 User feedback
 Development snag problem 3 months before launch
 power management – dead after 3 hours, poor battery life
 8 weeks to fix problem
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Oct 2001 release of iPod
Clever Marketing – “It’s not a Mac...”
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Key Events – The iPod Revolution Part Two
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Worse timing for a new product launch
 Napster sued
 9/11
 Silicon valley economy falling apart
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The iPod
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Scepticism – expensive product
Excellent integration with software
Poor competition
Ease of use
Apple loyalists
2 months of sales – thousands of trend setters
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Key Events – The iPod Revolution Part Three
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The right target market
White ear buds project continues – Great Marketing!
Sales on the rise
Napster out of Market for music online
Steve Jobs
 Persistent, Intense, Charismatic, Self Confident,
Persuasive
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Steve Jobs starts selling music online
 Idea of selling songs rather than ‘renting’
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April 2003 - Launch of iTunes Music Store
 Major Success + special announcement...
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Key Events – The iPod Revolution Part Four
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First 18 month 700000 iPod sold
Still considered niche product
Special announcement April 2003 - Windows
compatibility – 3rd generation of iPod
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Refer back to the accompanying notes
and attempt the Questions section of
the case study.
From the release of the iPod in Oct 2001 to
April 2003, there were already 2 product
revisions made to the original iPod
making Apple into a billion dollar
company. This just shows the value of
NPD process to a company and that there
is potential for all project managers to
achieve success of the highest order with
one simple product idea.