Syllabus

UNIT – I

Defining Product, Types of products.

Successful Product development –

characteristics, duration and cost,

challenges. Development Process:

Generic Process- Adapting to product

types - Stage gate model - New

Service Development Process

UNIT – II

Product Planning Process – Product

Life Cycle - Technology Life Cycle –

Disruptive Technologies- Product

Specification - Concept Generation –

Brain Storming
UNIT – III

Concept Selection – Concept

Screening - Concept Scoring -

Concept Testing- Product

Architecture - Platform Planning -

Robust Design- Collaborative Product

development

UNIT – IV

Project - Definition –Scope –

Significance – Project Proposal -

Project management -Functions -

organization - planning - human

aspects and pre-requisites.

UNIT – V
Project Monitoring and Control –

Project Report – Types and Format

– Project Evaluation – Types and

Methodology – Appraisal Report

REFERENCES

1. Bruce T. Barkley, Project

Management in New Product

Development, Tata McGraw Hill,

2008.

2. Chitale A.K. and R.C. Gupta,

Product Design and

Manufacturing, PHI, 2008.

3. Deborah E. Bouchoux,

Intellectual Property Rights,

Delmar, Cengage Learning,

2005.
4. Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D.

Eppinger, Product Design and

Development, Tata McGraw–Hill,

Third Edition, reprint 2008.

5. Kerber, Ronald L, Laseter,

Timothy M., Strategic Product

Creation, Tata- McGraw Hill,

2007.
 Content

Chapter No Chapter Name

1 Defining Product

2 Product Planning Process

3 Concept Selection

4 Project - Definition

5 Project Monitoring and Control

 Unit I

Product Design and Project

Management
1.1 Definition of Product

1.2 Types of Products

1.3 New Product Development

Process

1.4 Stage-Gate Model

1.5 Service Development Process

1.6 Review Questions

1.1 Definition of Product

In marketing, a product is anything

that can be offered to a market that

might satisfy a want or need.

 1.2 Types of Products

In retailing, products are called

merchandise. In manufacturing,

products are bought as raw materials

and sold as finished goods.

Commodities are usually raw

materials such as metals and

agricultural products, but a

commodity can also be anything

widely available in the open market.

In project management, products are

the formal definition of the project

deliverables that make up or

contribute to delivering the

objectives of the project. In

insurance, the policies are considered

products offered for sale by the
insurance company that created the

contract.

In economics and commerce,

products belong to a broader

category of goods. The economic

meaning of product was first used

by political economist Adam Smith.

A related concept is sub-product, a

secondary but useful result of a

production process. Dangerous

products, particularly physical ones,

that cause injuries to consumers or

bystanders may be subject to product

liability.
Product classification

A product can be classified as

tangible or intangible. A tangible

product is a physical object that can

be perceived by touch such as a

building, vehicle, gadget, or clothing.

An intangible product is a product

that can only be perceived indirectly

such as an insurance policy.

Intangible Products can further be

classified into Virtual Digital Goods

("VDG") that are virtually located on

a computer OS and accessible to

users as conventional file types, such

as JPG and MP3 files, without

requiring further application process

or transformational work by
programmers, and as such the

use may be subject to license

and/or rights of digital transfer,

and Real Digital Goods ("RDG") that

may exist within the presentational

elements of a data program

independent of a conventional file

type, commonly viewed as 3-D

objects or a presentational item

subject to user control or virtual

transfer within the same visual
media program platform. Open

Source Code, GNU Linux, or even

Android, may manipulate and/or

convert base Virtual Digital Goods

("VDG") into process-oriented Real

Digital Goods ("RDG"), as part of an

application process or manufactured

service that may be viewed on

Personal Data Assistant ("PDA") or
other hand-held tangible devices or

OS computer.

A third type in this is services.

Services can be broadly classified

under intangible products which can

be durable or non durable. Services

need high quality control, precision

and adaptability. The main factor

about services as a type of product

is that it will not be uniform and will

vary according to who is performing,

where it is performed and on whom/

what it is being performed.

Product by use

In its online product catalog, retailer

Sears, Roebuck and Company divides

its products into “departments”, and

then presents products to potential

shoppers according to (1) function

[2]
or (2) brand. Each product has a

Sears item-number and a

manufacturer's model-number. Sears

uses the departments and product

groupings with the intention of

helping customers browse products

by function or brand within a

traditional department-store

structure.

Product by association

A product line is a group of products

that are closely related, either

because they function in a similar

manner, are sold to the same

customer groups, are marketed

through the same types of outlets, or

fall within given price ranges. Many

businesses offer a range of product

lines which may be unique to a single

organization or may be common

across the business's industry. In

2002 the US Census compiled

revenue figures for the finance and

insurance industry by various product

lines such as "accident, health and

medical insurance premiums" and

"income from secured consumer

loans". Within the insurance industry,

product lines are indicated by the

type of risk coverage, such as auto

insurance, commercial insurance and

life insurance.
National and international

product classifications

Various classification systems for

products have been developed for

economic statistical purposes. The

NAFTA signatories are working on a

system that classifies products called

NAPCS as a companion to North

American Industry Classification

System (NAICS). The European Union

uses a “Classification of Products by

Activity” among other product

classifications. The United Nations

also classifies products for

international economic activity

reporting.
The Aspin wall Classification

System classifies and rates products

based on five variables:

1. Replacement rate (How

frequently is the product

repurchased?)
2. Gross margin (How much profit is

obtained from each product?)

3. Buyer goal adjustment (How

flexible are the buyers’

purchasing habits with regard to

this product?)
4. Duration of product satisfaction

(How long will the product

produce benefits for the user?)

5. Duration of buyer search

behavior (How long will

consumers shop for the

product?)
The National Institute of

Governmental Purchasing (NIGP)

developed a commodity and services

classification system for use by state

and local governments, the NIGP

Code. The NIGP Code is used by 33

states within the United States as

well as thousands of cities, counties

and political subdivisions. The NIGP

Code is a hierarchical schema

consisting of a 3 digit class, 5 digit

class-items, 7 digit class-item-groups

and an 11 digit class-item-group-

detail. Applications of the NIGP Code

include vendor registration,

inventory item identification, and

contract item management, spend

analysis and strategic sourcing.

Product Model

A manufacturer usually provides an

identifier for each particular type of

product they make, known as a

model, model variant, or model

number. For example, Dyson Ltd, a

manufacturer of appliances (mainly

vacuum cleaners), requires

customers to identify their model in

the support section of the website.

Brand and model can be used

together to identify products in the

market. The model number is not

necessarily the same as the

manufacturer part number (MPN).

Because of the huge amount of

similar products in the automotive

industry, there is a special kind of

defining a car with options (marks,

attributes), that represent the

characteristics features of the

vehicle. A model of a car is defined by

some basic options like body, engine,

gear box and axles. The variants of

a model are built by some additional

options like color, seats, wheels,

mirrors, trims, entertainment and

assistant systems etc. Options, which

exclude each other (pair wise), build

an option-family. That means, that

you can choose only one option by

each family and you have to choose

exactly one option. This kind of

product definition fulfills the

requirements of an ideal Boolean

Algebra and can be helpful to

construct a product configuration.

Sometimes, a set of options (car

features) are combined to an

automotive package and are offered

by a lower price. A consistent car

definition is essential for the

production planning and control in

the automotive industry, to generate

a master production schedule, which

is the fundamental for the enterprise

resource planning.

In addition, a specific unit of a

product is usually (and has to be)

identified by a serial number, which

is necessary to distinguish products

with the same product definition. In

the case of automotive products it's

called the Vehicle Identification

Number VIN, an international

standardized format.

1.3 NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

PROCESS

In business and engineering, new

product development (NPD) is the

complete process of bringing a new

product to market. A product is a set

of benefits offered for exchange and

can be tangible (that is, something

physical you can touch) or intangible

(like a service, experience, or belief).

There are two parallel paths involved

in the NPD process: one involves the
idea generation, product design and

detail engineering; the other involves

market research and marketing

analysis. Companies typically see

new product development as the first

stage in generating and

commercializing new product within

the overall strategic process of

product life cycle management used

to maintain or grow their market

share.

The eight stages of New Product

Development

1. Idea Generation is often called

the “NPD” of the NPD process.

◦ Ideas for new products can

be obtained from basic

 research using a SWOT

analysis (Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities

& Threats). Market and

consumer trends, company's

R&D department,

competitors, focus groups,

employees, salespeople,

corporate spies, trade

shows, or ethnographic

discovery methods

(searching for user patterns

and habits) may also be used

to get an insight into new

product lines or product

features.

◦ Lots of ideas are generated

about the new product. Out

of these ideas many are

 implemented. The ideas are

generated in many forms.

Many reasons are

responsible for generation of

an idea.

◦ Idea Generation or

Brainstorming of new

product, service, or store

concepts - idea generation

techniques can begin when

you have done your

OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS to

support your ideas in the

Idea Screening Phase

(shown in the next

development step).
2. Idea Screening

◦ The object is to eliminate

unsound concepts prior to
devoting resources to them.

◦ The screeners should ask

several questions:

▪ Will the customer in the

target market benefit

from the product?

▪ What is the size and

growth forecasts of the

market segment / target
market?

▪ What is the current or

expected competitive
pressure for the product
idea?

▪ What are the industry

sales and market trends

 the product idea is

based on?

▪ Is it technically feasible

to manufacture the

product?

▪ Will the product be

profitable when

manufactured and

delivered to the

customer at the target

price?

3. Concept Development and

Testing

◦ Develop the marketing and

engineering details

▪ Investigate intellectual

property issues and

search patent databases

▪ Who is the target market

and who is the decision

maker in the purchasing

process?

▪ What product features

must the product

incorporate?

▪ What benefits will the

product provide?

▪ How will consumers

react to the product?

▪ How will the product be

produced most cost

effectively?

▪ Prove feasibility through

virtual computer aided

rendering and rapid

prototyping
 ▪ What will it cost to

produce it?

◦ Testing the Concept by

asking a number of

prospective customers what

they think of the idea –

usually via Choice Modeling.

4. Business Analysis

◦ Estimate likely selling price

based upon competition and

customer feedback

◦ Estimate sales volume based

upon size of market and such

tools as the Fourt-Woodlock

equation

◦ Estimate profitability and

break-even point
5. Beta Testing and Market

Testing

◦ Produce a physical prototype

or mock-up

◦ Test the product (and its

packaging) in typical usage

situations

◦ Conduct focus group

customer interviews or

introduce at trade show

◦ Make adjustments where

necessary

◦ Produce an initial run of the

product and sell it in a test

market area to determine

customer acceptance
6. Technical Implementation
◦ New program initiation

◦ Finalize Quality management

system
◦ Resource estimation
◦ Requirement publication
◦ Publish technical
communications such as

data sheets
◦ Engineering operations
planning
◦ Department scheduling

◦ Supplier collaboration

◦ Logistics plan

◦ Resource plan publication

◦ Program review and

monitoring

◦ Contingencies - what-if
planning
7. Commercialization (often

considered post-NPD)

◦ Launch the product

◦ Produce and place

advertisements and other

promotions

◦ Fill the distribution pipeline

with product

◦ Critical path analysis is most

useful at this stage

8. New Product Pricing

◦ Impact of new product on

the entire product portfolio

◦ Value Analysis (internal &

external)

◦ Competition and alternative

competitive technologies
 ◦ Differing value segments

(price, value and need)

◦ Product Costs (fixed &

variable)

◦ Forecast of unit volumes,

revenue, and profit

These steps may be iterated as

needed. Some steps may be

eliminated. To reduce the time that

the NPD process takes, many

companies are completing several

steps at the same time (referred to

as concurrent engineering or time

to market). Most industry leaders

see new product development as a

proactive process where resources

are allocated to identify market

changes and seize upon new product

opportunities before they occur (in

contrast to a reactive strategy in

which nothing is done until problems

occur or the competitor introduces an

innovation). Many industry leaders

see new product development as an

ongoing process (referred to as

continuous development) in which

the entire organization is always

looking for opportunities.

For the more innovative products

indicated on the diagram above,

great amounts of uncertainty and

change may exist which makes it

difficult or impossible to plan the

complete project before starting it. In

this case, a more flexible approach

may be advisable.

Because the NPD process typically

requires both engineering and

marketing expertise, cross-functional

teams are a common way of

organizing projects. The team is

responsible for all aspects of the

project, from initial idea generation

to final commercialization, and they

usually report to senior management

(often to a vice president or Program

Manager). In those industries where

products are technically complex,

development research is typically

expensive and product life cycles are

relatively short, strategic alliances

among several organizations helps to

spread the costs, provide access to

a wider skill set and speeds up the

overall process.

Also, notice that because both

engineering and marketing expertise

are usually critical to the process,

choosing an appropriate blend of the

two is important. People respond to

new products in different ways. The

adoption of a new technology can be

analyzed using a variety of diffusion

theories such as the Diffusion of

Innovations theory.

A new product pricing process is

important to reduce risk and increase

confidence in the pricing and

marketing decisions to be made.

Bernstein and Macias describe an

integrated process that breaks down

the complex task of new product

pricing into manageable elements.

The Path to Developing

Successful New Products points

out three key processes that can play

critical role in product development:

Talk to the customer; Nurture a

project culture; Keep it focused.

Fuzzy Front End (Product

Innovation)

The Fuzzy Front End is the messy

“getting ended” period of new

product engineering development

processes. It is in the front end

where the organization formulates a

concept of the product to be

developed and decides whether or

not to invest resources in the further

development of an idea. It is the

phase between first consideration of

an opportunity and when it is judged

ready to enter the structured

development process (Kim and

Wilemon, 2007; Koen et al., 2001). It

includes all activities from the search

for new opportunities through the

formation of a germ of an idea to the

development of a precise concept.

The Fuzzy Front End ends when an

organization approves and begins

formal development of the concept.

Although the Fuzzy Front End may

not be an expensive part of product

development, it can consume 50%

of development time and it is where

major commitments are typically

made involving time, money, and the

product's nature, thus setting the

course for the entire project and final

end product. Consequently, this

phase should be considered as an

essential part of development rather

than something that happens “before

development,” and its cycle time

should be included in the total

development cycle time.

Koen et al. (2001, pp. 47– 51)

distinguish five different front-end

elements (not necessarily in a

particular order):

1. Opportunity Identification

2. Opportunity Analysis

3. Idea Genesis

4. Idea Selection

5. Concept and Technology

Development

The first element is the opportunity

identification. In this element, large

or incremental business and

technological chances are identified

in a more or less structured way.

Using the guidelines established

here, resources will eventually be

allocated to new projects.... which

then lead to a structured NPPD (New
Product & Process Development)

strategy.
The second element is the

opportunity analysis. It is done to

translate the identified opportunities

into implications for the business and

technology specific context of the

company. Here extensive efforts may

be made to align ideas to target

customer groups and do market

studies and/or technical trials and

research.
The third element is the idea genesis,

which is described as evolutionary

and iterative process progressing

from birth to maturation of the

opportunity into a tangible idea. The

process of the idea genesis can be

made internally or come from outside

inputs, e.g. a supplier offering a new

material/technology or from a

customer with an unusual request.

The fourth element is the idea

selection. Its purpose is to choose

whether to pursue an idea by

analyzing its potential business

value. The fifth element is the

concept and technology

development. During this part of the

front-end, the business case is

developed based on estimates of the

total available market, customer

needs, investment requirements,

competition analysis and project

uncertainty. Some organizations

consider this to be the first stage of

the NPPD process (i.e., Stage 0).The

Fuzzy Front End is also described in

literature as “Front End of

Innovation”, “Phase 0”, “Stage 0” or

“Pre-Project-Activities”. A universally
acceptable definition for Fuzzy Front

End or a dominant framework has not

been developed so far. In a glossary

of PDMA, it is mentioned that the

Fuzzy Front End generally consists

of three tasks: strategic planning,

concept generation, and, especially,

pre-technical evaluation. These

activities are often chaotic,

unpredictable, and unstructured. In

comparison, the subsequent new

product development process is

typically structured, predictable, and

formal. The term Fuzzy Front End

was first popularized by Smith and

Reinertsen (1991). R.G.Cooper

(1988) describes the early stages of

NPPD as a four step process in which

ideas are generated (I), subjected to

a preliminary technical and market

assessment (II) and merged to

coherent product concepts (III)

which are finally judged for their fit

with existing product strategies and

portfolios (IV). In a more recent

paper, Cooper and Edgett (2008)

affirm that vital predevelopment

activities include:

1. Preliminary market assessment

2. Technical assessment
 3. Source-of-supply-assessment:

suppliers and partners or

alliances

4. Market research: market size

and segmentation analysis, VoC

(voice of the customer) research

5. Product concept testing

6. Value-to-the customer

assessment

7. Product definition

8. Business and financial analysis

These activities yield vital

information to make a Go/No-Go to

Development decision.

In one of the most earliest studies

using the case study method,

Khurana and Rosenthal defined the

front-end to include the interrelated

activities of:

• product strategy formulation and

communication

• opportunity identification and

assessment

• idea generation

• product definition

• project planning

• executive reviews

Economical analysis, benchmarking

of competitive products and modeling

and prototyping are also important

activities during the front-end

activities.
The outcomes of FFE are the

• mission statement

• customer needs

• details of the selected concept

• product definition and

specifications

• economic analysis of the product

• the development schedule

• project staffing and the budget

• a business plan aligned with

corporate strategy

In a paper by Husig, Kohn and

Huskela (2005) a conceptual model

of Front-End Process was proposed

which includes early Phases of

Innovation Process. This model is

structured in three phases and three

gates:

• Phase 1: Environmental

screening or opportunity

identification stage in which

external changes will be

analyzed and translated into

potential business opportunities.

• Phase 2: Preliminary definition of

an idea or concept.

• Phase 3: Detailed product,

project or concept definition, and

Business planning.

The gates are:

• Opportunity screening

• Idea evaluation

• Go/No-Go for development

The final gate leads to a dedicated

new product development project.

Many professionals and academics

consider that the general features of

Fuzzy Front End (fuzziness,

ambiguity, and uncertainty) make it

difficult to see the FFE as a

structured process,but rather as a set

of interdependent activities ( e.g.

Kim and Wilemon, 2002). However,

Husig et al., 2005 argue that front-

end not need to be fuzzy, but can be

handled in a structured manner. In

[16]
fact Carbone showed that when

using the front end success factors

in an integrated process, product

success is increased. Peter Koen

argues that in the FFE for

incremental, platform and radical

projects, three separate strategies

and processes are typically involved.

The traditional Stage Gate (TM)

process was designed for incremental

product development, namely for a

single product. The FFE for

developing a new platform must start

out with a strategic vision of where

the company wants to develop

products and this will lead to a family

of products. Projects for

breakthrough products start out with

a similar strategic vision, but are

associated with technologies which

require new discoveries.

It is worth mentioning what

incremental, platform and

breakthrough products are.

Incremental products are considered

to be cost reductions, improvements

to existing product lines, additions to

existing platforms and repositioning

of existing products introduced in

markets.

Breakthrough products are new to

the company or new to the world

and offer a 5-10 times or greater

improvement in performance

combined with a 30-50% or greater

reduction in costs.

Platform products establish a basic

architecture for a next generation

product or process and are

substantially larger in scope and

resources than incremental projects

Adoption deals with the transfer

(conversion) between an old system

to a target system in an organization.

So if a company works with an old

software system, it may want to use

a new system which is more efficient,

has more work capacity etc. So then

a new system needs to be adopted,

where after it can be used.

There are several types of adoption

that can be used to implement a

system. The types ‘big bang’,

‘parallel adoption’ and ‘phased

adoption’ form the main types that

are used to adopt a system. The big

bang relates to the cosmological

theory (Big bang) where the start of

the cosmos happened at one moment

in time. This is also the case with

the big bang adoption type where the

new system is adopted on one date.

In case of parallel adoption the old

and the new system are running

parallel so all the users can get used

to the new system, but still can do

their work using the old system.

Phased adoption means that the

adoption will happen in several

phases, so after each phase the

system is a little closer to be fully

adopted by the organization

Define Adoption to Product Types

The adoption type has to be defined

in front of the adoption phase and

will be chosen based on the goals

to be achieved and on the type of

system to be implemented. The three

types of adoption, Big Bang, parallel

adoption and phased adoption, are

ranging from an instant switch to a

strategy where users progressively

start using the new system over a

certain period of time (can be weeks,

months or even years).

The actual selection is done by

prioritizing the goals to be achieved

and then matching a strategy against

it (Eason, 1988). Eason defines the

following goals:
• Possible existence of needed

“critical mass” to make the

system work,

If a large critical mass is needed

for the system to work a big bang

strategy might seem the answer.

(Rogers, 1995)

• Need for risk control, if risk

is involved. Minimizing risk to

operation of the organization is

key. Parallel and phased

introduction might control this

risk.

• Need for facilitation of the

change.

The organization has to be ready

for the changeover. Socio

 technical preparations such
as training sessions and

ready-made scenarios must be

clear.

• Pace of change over

The speed at which the

organization is changing over to

the new system.

• Local design needs

The system might be adjusted

to the users needs, In this the

chosen strategy must provide the

opportunity to do so.

Table Eason Matrix

The actual selection of adoption type

depends on far more factors then

these goals, but they create a

window to choose one of the types.

Other criteria are called variables

(Gallivan, 1996). Gallivan suggests

that the appropriate adoption types

depends on:
Innovativeness of the

individuals

Attributes of the ones that are to

adopt the innovation/system

The type of innovation

Is it a process or product innovation?

Attributes of the innovation

itself

Preparedness, communicability and

divisibility

The implementation

complexity.

How complex is the implementation

or what is it is extent?
These variables are of a higher level

than the criteria of Eason and should

be handled as such. Based on table

1 and on the mentioned higher level

variables by Gallivan, one can make

a selection of an appropriate strategy

to choose.

Prepare an organization for

adoption

Figure 1: Organization preparation Process

In order to prepare the organization

for the adoption of the new system,

the changes that will take place need

to be determined. This is necessary

to be able to have a plan or an

overview of the changeover, and can

be done by creating requirements for

the system. Once the management

has determined the requirements in

a report of determined changes, they

need to agree upon them to be able

to move on with the change-process.

If there is no agreement, the

management needs to discuss the

requirements again and again until

they do agree. If agreement is

achieved and the agreement contract

is signed, the organization can take

further steps. So now the test-phase

can be prepared, in which the validity

of the data that will be used will be

checked and in which trials will be

held (Eason, 1988).

1.4 STAGE-GATE MODEL

A stage-gate model is a technique

in which a (product, process, system)

development process is divided into

stages separated by gates. At each

gate, the continuation of the

development process is decided by

(typically) a manager or a steering

committee. The decision is based on

the information available at the time,

including e.g. business case, risk

analysis, availability of
necessary resources (money,
people with correct competencies)

etc.

The stage-gate model may also be

known as stage-limited commitment

or creeping commitment.

The stage-gate model was developed

and first suggested by Robert G.

Cooper (McMaster University) in his
book Winning at New Products,

published in 1986. The stage-gate

model is based on empirical findings
of numerous “NewProd" Studies

conducted by R.G.Cooper (e.g.

1985,1992,1994).

The stage gate model refers to the

use of funnel tools in decision making

when dealing with new product

development. “Gates” or decision

points are placed at places in the

product development process that

are most beneficial to making

decisions regarding continuance of

product development. These

production areas between the gates

are idea generation, establishment of

feasibility, development of capability,

testing and validation and product

launch. At the conclusion of each of

these areas of development of a new

product, it is the responsibility of

senior management to make a

decision as to whether or not the

product should continue to be

developed. The passing of gate to

gate can be accomplished either

formally, with some sort of

documentation, or informally,

decided upon based on the

preferences and culture of the

organization. Stage-Gate® is a

registered trademark. In Europe, the

owners are Jens Arleth, Stage-

Gate.EU and Robert G. Cooper,

Product Development Institute Inc.

In Canada and USA, the owner is

Product Development Institute Inc.

Stages

A common model is composed of the

following stages: ideation,

preliminary analysis, business case,

development, testing, launch. A

stage gate model is a conceptual and

operational road map for moving a

new project from idea to launch -

a blueprint for managing the new-

product process to improve

effectiveness and efficiency. The

traditional Stage-Gate process has

five stages and five gates. The stages

are:

1. Scoping

2. Build Business Case

3. Development

4. Testing and Validation

5. Launch

Conventionally, the gates between

stages have the same number as the

stage following them. In the front

of process, there is a preliminary or

ideation phase, called Discovery, and

after the 5th stage the process ends

with the Post-Launch review. Major

new product projects go through the

full five-stage process. Moderate risk

projects, including extensions,

modification & improvements, use

the short XPress version. Very minor

changes (e.g. Sales force &

Marketing requests) may be executed

using a lighter process (Stage-Gate

Lite). Each stage consists of a set

of prescribed, cross-functional, and

parallel activities undertaken by a

team of people from different

functional areas. Stages have a

common structure and consist of

three main elements: a)Activities,

b)Integrated Analysis,

c)Deliverables. Activities consist

mainly in information gathering by

the project team to reduce key

project uncertainties and risks. An

integrated analysis of the results of

the activities is undertaken by the

project team. Deliverables of stages

are the results of integrated analysis

that are used as input for the next

Gate.

Gates

Gates provide various points during

the process where an assessment of

the quality of an idea is undertaken.

It includes three main issues:

 • Quality of execution: Checks

whether the previous step is

executed in a quality fashion.

• Business rationale: Does the

project continue to look like an

attractive idea from an economic

and business perspective.

• Action plan: The proposed action

plan and the requested resources

reasonable and sound.

A gate meeting can lead to four

results: go, kill, hold, recycle.

Gates have a common structure and

consist of three main elements:

Deliverables, Criteria and Outputs.

• Deliverables: What the project

manager and team deliver to the

decision point. These

deliverables are decided at the

output of the previous gate,and

are based on a standard menu of

deliverables for each gate.

• Criteria: Questions or metrics on

which the project is judged in

order to make the Go/Kill/Hold/

Recycle and prioritization

decision.

• Outputs: Results of the gate

review -a decision (Go/Kill/Hold/

Recycle),along with an approved

action plan for the next gate, and

a list of deliverables and date for

the next gate.

The stages in more detail

Discovery (stage 0)

The discovery stage is the first part

of any product development, whether

or not the stage gate model is being

utilized. During this basic stage the

development team is simply deciding

what projects the company wants

and is capable to pursue. During this

stage it is common for companies to

take part in idea generation activities

such as brainstorming or other group

thinking exercises. Once the idea

generation team has selected a

project that they would like to go

forward with, it must be passed on to

the first gate and therefore screened

by the organization's decision

makers. When searching for new

product ideas it is beneficial for an

organization to look to the outside

world to suggest business

opportunities. Using methods such as

those found in empathic design can

be quite helpful. Communicating with

customers to understand how and

why they use products can produce

great strides in idea generation.

Specifically, communicating with lead

users can provide great feedback to

the developers, as these customers

are most likely to feel most

passionately about the product. In

addition to communication with lead

users, it may be helpful for

developers to communicate with

suppliers. By understanding all of the

types of business that their materials

are being used for, developers may

be able to act upon previously

untapped possibilities.

Scoping (stage 1)

The second stage of the product

development process is scoping.

During this step the main goal is to

evaluate the product and its

corresponding market. The

researchers must recognize the

strengths and weaknesses of the

product and what it is going to offer

to the potential consumer. The

competition must also be evaluated

during this stage. It is important for

the researchers to understand who

and what is already in the market

as well as what can potentially be

developed. By determining the

relative level of threat from

competitors, the management team

will be able to recognize whether or

not they should go forward with the

production of the product, whether

or not they should pass the product

onto the next stage.

Building the Business Case

and Plan (stage 2)

Once the new product passes through

gate one after the scoping phase, the

next phase in the stage-gate model is

building the business case and plan.

This stage is the last stage of concept

development where it is crucial for

companies to perform a solid analysis

before they begin developing the

product. In comparison to the other

stages in the stage-gate model this

phase is generally difficult, complex,

and resource-intensive. However,

companies must put forth a strong

effort in this stage for it is directly

related to the success and

development of a new product. There

are four main steps that comprise

this stage: Product Definition and

Analysis, Building the Business Case,

Building the Project Plan, and

Feasibility Review.
Product Definition and
Analysis

The first step, Product Definition and

Analysis, is composed of a series of

activities that will give you the

information to define and justify the

development of a new product. One

of the first of these activities is the

user needs and wants study where

you will try to determine what

creates value for the consumer. This

addresses questions about the

product such as what benefits does

the product provide and what

features should the product have.

During this time the company should

conduct surveys and interviews with

existing and potential customers,

along with staff members. Next, the

company must conduct a market

analysis. They must determine the

market size and segmentation, rate

of growth, buyer trend and behavior,

and what channels to reach these

buyers. Once the market analysis is

complete the company must then

conduct a competitive analysis. It is

important to know how your

competitors operate in addition to

their strengths and weaknesses. This

will not only help you build a great

product, but will also help in

determining how and where to launch

your new product. Together these

activities will help define the product

and provide a foundation for the

marketing strategy. Next, the

company must build a technically

feasible product concept, which

includes the substance and methods

needed to produce the new product.

Once this is completed the company

can then produce a production and

operations cost analysis along with

a market and launch costs analysis.

Next, the company can begin to test

the concept they have developed.

This is when early prototypes are

developed then presented to staff

and consumers to gain feedback and

gauge customer reaction. From this

the company can make the necessary

changes and see the sales potential

of the product. This feedback will also

help the company build a solid

product definition. Lastly, the

company will then conduct the

business analysis, risk analysis, and

financial analysis of the new product.

These activities collectively make up

the Product Definition and Analysis,

the first of four steps.

Building the Business Case

Now one can move on to the second

step, Building the Business Case. The

business case is a document that

defines the product and provides the

rationale for developing it. This

document will vary in format

amongst companies, but the primary

components are the following: results

of the activities of Product Definition

and Analysis; legal and regulatory

requirements; safety, health, and

environmental considerations;

assumptions made to draw the

conclusions you have, and why you

believe they are valid and

reasonable; and out-of-bounds

criteria that indicate certain changes/

events which will mandate an

emergency business case review.

This document will be referred to

throughout the development process

and edited when necessary.

Building the Project Plan
The third of the four steps is Building

the Project Plan. This includes a

scheduled list of tasks and events

along with timelines for milestones

throughout the development process.

Also included in the project plan are

the personnel, time, and financial

resources needed to complete the

project. The project plan includes an

expected launch date for the release

of the new product.

Feasibility Review
The last step of building the business

case and plan is the Feasibility

Review. This is when management,

along with other departments of the

company, reviews the rationale for

pursuing the product. They analyze

the information provided by the

previous steps in this process to

decide whether or not the product

should move forward. If it is decided

to be pursued then it passes through

gate two and moves on to the

Product Development stage.

Development (stage 3)

During the development phase of the

stage-gate process, plans from

previous steps are actually executed.

The product's design and

development is carried out, including

some early, simple tests of the

product and perhaps some early

customer testing. The product's

marketing and production plans are

also developed during this stage. It is

important that the company adheres

to their overall goal of the project,

which is reflected in these production

and marketing plans. Doing this will

allow them to definitively decide who

they will market their product to and

how they will get the product to that

target audience. The development

team maps out a realistic timeline

with specific milestones that are

described as SMART: Specific,

Measurable, Actionable, Realistic,

and Time bound. The timeline is

frequently reviewed and updated,

helping the team stay on task and

giving management information

about the product's progress. The

development stage is when the

product truly builds momentum as

the company commits more

resources to the project and makes

full use of cross-functional teamwork

as the marketing, technical,

manufacturing, and sales

departments all come together to

offer their expert opinions. Having a

diverse development ensures that

the product continues to meet the

company's technical and financial

goals. A diverse team also allows

specific roles and leadership

positions to develop as team

members make contributions using

their strongest attributes. With

members having clearly defined

roles, tasks can be performed

concurrently ensuring a much more

efficient development process. The

ultimate deliverable of the

development stage is the prototype,

which will undergo extensive testing

and evaluation in the next stage of

the stage-gate process.

Testing and Validation (stage

4)

The fourth step in Stage-Gate

processing is the testing and

validation period. The purpose of this

stage is to provide validation for the

entire project. The areas that will be

evaluated include: the product itself,

the production/manufacturing

process, customer acceptance, and

the financial merit of the project.

Testing and Validation is broken up

into 3 phases of testing: Near

Testing, Field Testing, and Market

Testing. Again, the main point of

these tests is to validate your

product.

Near Testing

The main objective in the first phase,

near testing, is to find any bugs or

issues with a product. The key point

to remember here is that the product

is no longer a prototype anymore and

that it has almost all the features

of the commercial model. Testing will

be done initially by in-house staff,

customers, and partners who are

close to the firm. It is important to

remember those testing have an

understanding of how the product

should perform, so they know what

it should or shouldn't be doing.

Members of the research

development team are usually

present to observe the participants

using the product and take any notes

or data that may be useful.

Field Testing

Field Testing, or beta testing, is done

by those who can provide valuable

feedback on the product. This usually

lasts a long period of time and the

participants can include customers,

partners, or anyone who is not

familiar with the producing company.

At this juncture the product fully

resembles its planned launch model

in all aspects; therefore the

participant's interaction rate will be

higher because they know all the

features and benefits. During this

segment there are three primary

objectives to be achieved. The first

objective is to see how much the

participant is interested. It is also

worthwhile to note which individual

attribute they prefer and, obviously,

if they would buy the product. Next,

figure out how the customer uses the

product and look at its durability.

Take a look at what environment the

customers will be using the item in.

Recording and analyzing the

feedback received will be the final

step in the field testing stage. The

feedback can be used as a tool to

help adjust any minor design

improvements that need to be made.

The Sales and Marketing team will

also be a beneficiary of this feedback.

They can use the information to help

with their sales presentation and

make it easier when they are trying

to market the product.

Market Testing

The last phase in the Testing and

Validation stage is the market

testing. Unlike the other two, this is

completely optional. It all boils down

to this: A solid marketing plan and

launch plan along with a confidence

in the products ability to sell: go to

the launching stage. If there is a

doubt in any of these plans there

are two options to proceed with. One

option is a simulated market test.

Customers will be exposed to new

products in a staged advertising and

purchasing situation. The goal of this

test is to obtain an early forecast

of sales from the observations and

making any necessary adjustments.

The second option involves trial sells.

This test is done through specific

channels, regions, or consumer

demographics.
Product Launch (stage 5)

The product launch is the fifth and

final stage of the stage- gate process

and is the culmination of the product

having met the proper requirements

of the previous stage-gates. The

product launch stage is one of the

most important, if not the most

important stage of product

development. Development teams

must come up with a marketing

Strategy to generate customer

demand for the product. The

company must also have to decide

how large scale they anticipate the

market for a new product to be and

thus determine the size of their

starting volume production. In

addition part of the launch stage is

training sales personnel and support

personnel who are very familiar with

the product and that can assist in

market sales of this product. Having

a smooth launch process is an

important part in the stage-gate

process because it translates to

faster time to profit, but if done

thoroughly and well step by step, a

smooth launch process should also

result in more effective marketing,

a knowledgeable and prepared sales

force, and ideally early customer

acceptance. Another aspect which

companies often misjudge during the

launch process is the topic of setting

a product price. Companies must

dedicate sufficient time to price

setting during the launch process to

avoid either undershooting or

overpricing the potential market.

Finally, distribution is a major

decision making part of the launch

process. Selecting a distributor or

vender for a product must be done

with careful though and potential

sales in mind. Taking all of these

factors of the launch process into

consideration is key to a successful

product launch and in general a

successful product.
 1.5 SERVICE DEVELOPMENT
PROCESS

Service Innovation (service

development process)

0@= ;GF;=HL G> Service Innovation

O9K >AJKL <AK;MKK=< AF )AD=K 

9F< @9K :==F <=N=DGH=< AF L@= H9KL 

<=;9<=K %L AK MK=< LG J=>=J LG E9FQ

L@AF?K 0@=K= AF;DM<= :ML FGL DAEAL=<

LG

 %FFGN9LAGF AF K=JNA;=K AF service

products Ð F=O GJ AEHJGN=<

K=JNA;= HJG<M;LK ;GEEG<ALA=K GJ

HM:DA; K=JNA;=K +>L=F L@AK AK
;GFLJ9KL=< OAL@ WL=;@FGDG?A;9D

AFFGN9LAGFX L@GM?@ K=JNA;=

 products can have technological

elements. This sense of service

innovation is closely related to

Service design and “new service

development”.

2. Innovation in service processes

– new or improved ways of

designing and producing

services. This may include

innovation in service delivery

systems, though often this will

be regarded instead as a service

product innovation. Innovation of
this sort may be technological,

technique- or expertise-based,or

a matter of work organization

(e.g. restructuring work between

professionals and

paraprofessionals).
 3. Innovation in service firms,

organizations, and industries –

organizational. innovations, as

well as service product and

process innovations, and the

management of innovation

processes, within service

organizations.

Service Innovation is hard to define;

one of the many helpful definitions

comes from Finland's research

agency, TEKES:

Service innovation is a new or

significantly improved service

concept that is taken into practice. It

can be for example a new customer

interaction channel,a distribution

system or a technological concept or

a combination of them. A service

innovation always includes replicable

elements that can be identified and

systematically reproduced in other

cases or environments. The

replicable element can be the service

outcome or the service process as

such or a part of them. A service

innovation benefits both the service

producer and customers and it

improves its developer's competitive

edge. A service innovation is a

service, product or service process

that is based on some technology or

systematic method. In services

however, the innovation does not

necessarily relate to the novelty of

the technology itself but the

innovation often lies in the non-

technological areas. Service

innovations can for instance be new

solutions in the customer interface,

new distribution methods, and novel

application of technology in the

service process, new forms of

operation with the supply chain or

new ways to organize and manage

services. One disagreement with this

definition is that there are many

cases of innovations whose benefit

to the customer is somewhat dubious

(e.g. overseas call centers). A

comprehensive definition of service

innovation was proposed by Van Ark

et al. (2003): Service Innovation can

be defined as “a new or considerably

changed service concept, client

interaction channel, service delivery

system or technological concept that

individually, but most likely in

combination, leads to one or more

(re)new(ed) service functions that

are new to the firm and do change

the service/good offered on the

market and do require structurally

new technological, human or

organizational capabilities of the

service organization.” This definition

covers the notions of technological

and non- technological innovation.

Non-technological innovations in

services mainly arise from

investment in intangible inputs.

Service Innovation Research

Much literatures on what makes for

successful innovations of this kind

comes from the New Service

Development research field (e.g.

Johne and Storey, 1998; Nijssen et

al., 2006). Service design

practitioners have also extensively

discussed the features of effective

service products and experiences.

One of the key aspects of many

service activities is the high

involvement of the client/customer/

user in the production of the final

service. Without this co production

(i.e. interactivity of service

production), the service would often

not be created. This co production,

together with the intangibility of

many service products, causes

service innovation to often take

forms rather different from those

familiar through studies of innovation

in manufacturing. Innovation

researchers have, for this reason,

stressed that much service

innovation is hard to capture in

traditional categories like product or

process innovation. The co

production process, and the

interactions between service provider

and client, can also form the focus of

innovation.
Areas of innovation – den

Hertog's model

1
Thus den Hertog (2000) who

identifies four “dimensions” of

service innovation, takes quite a

different direction to much standard

innovation theorizing.

1. The Service Concept: refers to

a service concept that is new to

its particular market – a new

service in effect, or in

Edvardsson’s (1996, 1997)

terminology, a “new value

proposition”. Many service

innovations involve fairly

intangible characteristics of the

service, and others involve new

 ways of organizing solutions to

problems (be these new or

familiar ones). Examples might

include new types of bank

account or information service.

In some service sectors, such as

retail, there is much talk about

“formats”, such as the

organization of shops in different

ways (more or less specialized,

more or less focused on quality

or cost-saving, etc.).

2. The Client Interface: refers to

innovation in the interface

between the service provider and

its customers. Clients are often

highly involved in service

production, and changes in the

 way in which they play their roles

and are related to suppliers can

be major innovations for many

services. Examples might include

a greater amount of self-service

for clients visiting service

organizations. There is a French

literature on service innovation

that focuses especially on this

type of innovation, identifying it

as innovation in “servuction”.

3. The Service Delivery System:

also often relates to the linkage

between the service provider and

its client, since delivery does

involve an interaction across this

interface. However, there are

also internal organizational

arrangements that relate to the

ways in which service workers

perform their job so as to deliver

the critical services. Much

innovation concerns the

electronic delivery of services,

but we can also think of, for

instance, transport and

packaging innovations (e.g.

pizza delivery system). An

emerging concept of SDP is the

idea of taking a "factory"

approach to Service Innovation.

A "service factory" approach is

a standardized and industrialized

environment for more effective

service innovation, development

and operations for the IP era.

4. Technological Options: these

most resemble familiar process

innovation in manufacturing

sectors. New information

technology is especially

important to services, since it

allows for greater efficiency and

effectiveness in the information-

processing elements that are, as

we have seen, prevalent to a

great extent in services sectors.

We also often see physical

products accompanying services,

such as customer loyalty cards

and “smart” RFID cards for

transactions, and a wide range

of devices for communication

services.
In practice, the majority of service

innovations will almost certainly

involve various combinations of these

four dimensions. For instance:

• A new IT system (technology

dimension) may be used to

enable customer self-service

(interface dimension) as in the

case of a bank contacting its

customers.

• The ability to track one's order

or the location of an item that

one has posted or is expecting to

receive.

• Services may be delivered

electronically, as in the case of

much online banking and cash

withdrawals from ATMs.

 • A new service allowing a client

to examine various options and

calculate what they would be

paying with different types of

accounts.

• A new service will often require a

new service delivery system, and

changes at the client interface.

An elaboration of this model to

suggest six dimensions of innovation

was developed in the course of work

on creative sectors, by Green, Miles

and Rutter. [10] As well as

Technology and Production process,

four dimensions were specified whose

linkages are very strong in creative

sectors like videogames, advertising

and design: Cultural Product,

Cultural Concept, Delivery and User

Interface.

The service innovation literature is

surprisingly poorly related to the

literature on new product

development, which has spawned a

line of study on new service

development. This often focuses on

the managerially important issue of

what makes for successful service

innovation. See for example Johne

and Storey (1998), who reviewed

numerous New Service Development

studies.
Services Features and Innovation

Potential: Miles (1993) influential

article on'Service Innovation'

It is commonplace to note that many

service firms and processes have

characteristics different from

manufacturing and manufacturers.

Professor Ian Miles of the Manchester

Institute of Innovation Research

(MIoIR), The University of

Manchester, is one of the

internationally recognized scholars

on the study of 'Service Innovation'.

He coined the term in his 1993 article

in the journal FUTURES, (Vol 25, No.

6, pp. 653–672,). He listed a series

of characteristic features of services,

and associated these with particular

types of innovation. Such innovations

are often aimed at overcoming

problems associated with service

characteristics like the difficulty in

demonstrating the service to the

client, or the problems in storing and

building up stocks of the service.

After Miles (1993), numerous studies

were made, one of the more recent

studies that reaches similar

conclusions was from a qualitative

survey of service organizations by

Candi (2007).

Note that the “product” related

innovations below have a lot in

common with new service

development as discussed above. In

the following list, features of services

are linked to innovation strategies by

the symbol.

1. Features of services

associated with service

production

1. Technology and Plant (Low

levels of capital equipment;

heavy investment in

buildings. Reduce costs of

buildings by use of

teleservices, toll-free phone

numbers, etc.)

2. Labour (Some services

highly professional, esp.

requiring interpersonal

skills); others relatively

 unskilled, often involving

casual or part-time labour.

Specialist knowledge may be

important, but rarely

technological skills (other

than Information
Technology). Reduce

reliance on expensive and

scarce skills by use of expert

systems and related

innovations; Relocation of

key operations to areas of

low labor costs (using

telecommunications to

maintain coordination).

3. Organization of Labor

Process (Workforce often

engaged in craftlike
 production with limited

management control of

details of work. Use IT to

monitor workforce (e.g.

tachometers and mobile

communications for
transport staff; Aim for

‘flatter’ organizational

structures, with data from

field and front-office workers

directly entering databases

and thence Management

Information Systems.)

4. Features of Production

(Production is often non-

continuous and economies of

scale are limited.

Standardize production
 (e.g.’fast-food’ chains),

reorganize in more
assembly-line-like feature

with more standard

components and higher

division of labor.)

5. Organization of Industry

(Some services state-run

public services; others often

small-scale with high

preponderance of family

firms and self-employed.

Externalization and
privatization of public

services; combination of
small firms using network

technologies; IT-based
service management
systems.)
2. Features of services

associated with service

product

1. Nature of Product

(Immaterial, often

information-intensive; Hard

to store or transport;

Process and product hard to

distinguish. Add material

components (e.g. client

cards, membership cards).

Use telematics for ordering,

reservation, and if possible –

delivery. Maintain elements

of familiar’user-interfaces’.)
 2. Features of Product (Often

customized to consumer

requirements. Use of

Electronic Data Interchange

or Internet, for remote input

of client details; use

software to record client

requirements and match to

service product.

3. Features of services

associated with services

consumption

1. Delivery of Product

(Production and

consumption coterminous in

time and space; often client

or supplier has to move to

meet the other party.

 Telematics; Automated

Teller Machines and

equivalent information

services.)

2. Role of Consumer (Services

are consumer-intensive,
requiring inputs from

consumer into design/

production process.

Consumer use of

standardized menus and new

modes of delivering orders.)

3. Organization of Consumption

(Often hard to separate

production from

consumption; Self-service in

formal and informal

economies commonplace.
 Increased use of self-

service, utilizing existing

consumer (or intermediate

producer) technology – e.g.

telephones, PCs – and user-

friendly software interfaces.)

4. Features of services

associated with services

markets

1. Organization of Markets

(Some services delivered via

public sector bureaucratic

provision; Some costs are

invisibly bundled with goods

(e.g. retail sector).

Introduction of quasi-

markets and/or privatization

of services; New modes of

 charging (pay per society),
new reservation systems;
more volatility in pricing
using features of EPOS and
related systems.)
2. Regulation (Professional
regulation common in some
services. Use of databases

by regulatory institutions
and service providers to
supply and examine
performance indicators and
diagnostic evidence.)
3. Marketing (Difficult to
demonstrate products in

advance. Guarantees;
demonstration packages
(e.g. demo software,
shareware, trial periods of

use).)
Additionally, a number of more

general tendencies in the innovation

process in services have been noted.

These include:

1. The industrialization of services,

involving efforts to standardize

services, to yield service

products of predictable

characteristics and quality, with

economies of scale and improved

delivery times. This typically

involves the introduction of high

levels of division of labor, with

the use of prepackaged and

automated elements (such as

 pre-prepared meals, word

processed templates for form

letters, and the like).

Standardization of the service

products has become a

competitive strategy for many

firms.

2. Organizational is innovation.

Survey data suggest that

services place particular

emphasis on organizational

change. Many important

innovations in services involve

combinations of specific new

technologies together with

organization change. The role of

organizational innovations in

services is very apparent –

 developments such as

supermarkets and other self-

service facilities are extremely

significant in the development of

modem service industries. Such

organizational innovations will

often have a technological

dimension, whether this be very

basic (e.g. shopping trolleys), or

relatively high-tech (EPOS –

electronic point of sale –

equipment or ATMs linked into

networks).

3. An important trajectory of

organizational change has been

towards self-servicing, without

necessarily following this

development all the way toward

 the vision of the client sitting at

home interacting with the service

provider via a remote terminal.

Instead, reorganization of the

facilities of the service provider

permits customer self-service in

the service establishment, saving

on labor costs and often

increasing user satisfaction as it

is possible to make decisions

anonymously and at one's own

pace.

4. Beyond self-servicing, the

involvement of clients as co-

producers is particularly

important for knowledge-

intensive business services, with

the emphasis being laid upon

 clients’ role in advancing the

expertise of service suppliers,

and identifying new avenues for

its application. Web2.0 has

brought “user innovation” to the

fore in electronic services.

Service innovation and public

policy

In recent years policy makers have

begun to consider the potential for

promoting services innovation as part

of their economic development

strategies. Such consideration has, in

part, been driven by the growing

contribution that services activities

make to national and regional

economies. It also reflects the
emerging recognition that traditional

policy measures such as R&D grants

and technology transfer supports

have been developed from a

manufacturing perspective of the

innovation process.

The European Commission and the

OECD has been particularly active in

seeking to generate reflection on

services innovation and its policy

implications. This has resulted in

studies such as the OECD's reports

into knowledge intensive services,

and the European Commission Expert

Group report on services innovation

– the report of the group, “Fostering

[2]
Innovation in Services” as well as
[3]
various TrendChart studies. The
European Commission has also

launched a number of Knowledge

Intensive Services Platforms

designed to act as laboratories for

new public policies for services

innovation. Few economic

development agencies at the member

state level, and fewer still at the

regional level, have translated this

new thinking on services innovation

into policy action. Finland is an

exception, where knowledge

intensive business services have

been a focus of much regional work.

Finland has been active in thinking

about the policy implications of

services innovation. This has seen

TEKES – the Finnish Funding Agency

for Technology and Innovation –

launch the SERVE initiative, designed

to support ‘Finnish companies and

research organisations in the

development of innovative service

concepts that can be reproduced or

replicated and where some

technology or systematic method is

applied . Germany has also

undertaken initiatives for services

R&D, and Canada and Norway have

programs as well.

Ireland has been considering a

services-focused innovation policy,

with Forfas– its national policy and

advisory board for enterprise, trade,

science, technology and innovation –

having undertaken a review of

Ireland's existing policy and support

measures for innovation, and

outlined options for a new policy and

framework environment in support of

service innovation activity.

At the regional level, limited

information is available on how

Europe's regions are responding to

the challenges presented by service

innovation. [CM International] has

recently published a European survey

on services innovation and regional

policy responses. The results of this

suggest that very few regions in

France, the UK and Ireland have an

explicit focus on services and

innovation. Many do, however,
express a desire to address this issue
in the coming future

1.6 Review Questions

1. Define Product

2. Explain the different types of

product

3. Explain the different stages

involved in the new product

development.

4. Explain the stage gate model.

 Unit II
2.1 Product Planning Process

2.2 The Product Life Cycle

2.3 Technology Life Cycle

2.4 Disruptive Technology

2.5 Brainstorming

2.6 Review Questions

2.1 PRODUCT PLANNING PROCESS

Product Planning Process is the

ongoing process of identifying and

articulating market requirements

that define a product's feature set.

Product planning serves as the basis

for decisions about price, distribution

and promotion. Product planning is

the process of creating a product idea
and following through on it until the

product is introduced to the market.

Additionally, a small company must

have an exit strategy for its product

in case the product does not sell.

Product planning entails managing

the product throughout its life using

various marketing strategies,

including product extensions or

improvements, increased

distribution, price changes and

promotions.

Phases of product planning

Developing the product

concept

The first phase of product planning is

developing the product concept.

Marketing managers usually create

ideas for new products by identifying

certain problems that consumers

must solve or various customer

needs. For example, if we take a

small computer retailer may see the

need to create a computer repair

division for the products it sells. After

the product idea is conceived,

managers will start planning the

dimensions and features of the

product. Some small companies will

even develop a product mock-up or

model.
Studying the market
The next step in the product planning

process is studying the competition.

Most small companies will order

secondary research information from

vendors such as the NPD Group and

Forrester Research. Secondary

research usually provides details on

key competitors and their market

share, which is the percent of total

sales that they hold in the
marketplace. Some companies may

also do a SWOT analysis (strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and
threats), according to NetMBA.com,

which will help them compare their

strengths and weaknesses against

those of key competitors. The

business can then determine places
in which it has an advantage over

the competition to identify areas of

opportunity. For example, a small

company with a high-quality image

may be able to find additional

markets for its products.

Market research

A small company should consider

doing both qualitative and

quantitative marketing research for

its new product. Focus groups are an

example of qualitative information.

Focus groups allow companies to ask

their consumers about their likes and

dislike of a product in small groups.

A focus group allows the company

to tweak the product concept before

testing it through phone surveys—a

more Jay-Z quantitative marketing

research function. Phone surveys

enables a company to test its product

concept on a larger scale, the results

of which are more predictable across

the general population.

Product introduction

If the survey results prove favorable,

the company may decide to sell the

new product on a small scale or

regional basis. During this time, the

company will distribute the products

in one or more cities. The company

will run advertisements and sales

promotions for the product, tracking

sales results to determine the

products potential success. If sales

figures are favorable, the company

will then expand distribution even

further. Eventually, the company

may be able to sell the product on a

national basis.

Product life cycle

Product planning must also include

managing the product through

various stages of its product life

cycle. These stages include the

introduction, growth, maturity and

decline stages. Sales are usually

strong during the growth phase,

while competition is low. However,

continued success of the product will

pique the interest of competitors,

which will develop products of their

own. The introduction of these

competitive products may force a

small company to lower its price. This

low pricing strategy may help

prevent the small company from

losing market share. The company

may also decide to better

differentiate its product to keep its

prices steady. For example, a small

cell phone company may develop

new, useful features on its cell

phones that competitors do not have.

 2.2 THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
Managing Your Product to
Maximize Success
We're regularly bombarded by

advertisements telling us about

exciting new features of existing

products: a car that now has SatNav

as standard, perhaps; a brand of
shampoo with a new, improved

formula; or a snack that now

contains even more delicious fruit.

Yet, at the same time, if we go to

the shops, there are hundreds of

products which are seemingly not

advertised at all.

So why are some established

products regularly given make-overs

and generous new marketing

budgets, while others are apparently
left to sell themselves? One answer
is that the marketers are acting

according to where the item is in its

product lifecycle.

Understanding the Model

Just as people go through infancy,

childhood, adulthood and old age, so

too do products and brands. And just

as we swing from being needy, to

being overall contributors to our

families or to society, and then back

to being needy again over the course

of our lives, so – in effect – do

products.

The four phases usually used to

describe a product's life cycle are:

 • Introduction.
• Growth.

• Maturity.

• Decline.

• Tip:

Sometimes a pre-launch

Development phase is also included,

but as the main application of the

idea of the product lifecycle is to

guide the type of marketing used,

we'll not consider it here.

During the earlier parts of the

product lifecycle, the cost of

promoting the product may be larger

than the revenue it brings in.

However, for successful products that

are marketed effectively, the product

will become increasingly profitable

during the Growth and Maturity

phases. A typical lifecycle for a well-

managed product is shown in Figure

1, below.

Figure 1: A Typical Product

Lifecycle

As products moves from lifecycle

phase to lifecycle phase, the

elements of the marketing mix used

to promote them change.

• During the Introduction phase,

there will most-likely be heavy

promotional and advertising

activity designed to raise

awareness of the new product,

and to seek sales amongst early

adopters – adventurous

consumers who like to own

cutting edge products.

Depending on the nature of the

product, it will either have a

premium price so that its

development costs can be

recouped quickly (this is the

approach used with most high-

tech products) or be priced low

to encourage widespread
adoption–what marketers call

“market penetration”.
• Moving on to the Growth phase,

promotional activities will tend to

focus on expanding the market

for the product into new

segments – usually either

geographic or demographic – and

supporting this by expanding the

product family, for example with

new flavors or sizes (cartons of

fruit drinks specifically sized for

kids lunch boxes, for instance).

• By the time a product reaches its

Maturity phase, the company

producing it needs to reap

considerable rewards for the

time and money spent

developing the product so far.

The product's features may continue

to be refreshed from time to time,

and there will still be some promotion

to differentiate the product from the

competition and increase market

share. However, the marketing

activity and expenditure levels may

be much lower than earlier on in the

lifecycle.

Finally, once the product begins to

Decline, marketing support may be

withdrawn completely, and sales will

entirely be the result of the product's

residual reputation amongst a small

market sector. (Elderly people, for

example, may go on buying brands

that they started using forty or even

fifty years earlier.)

By this stage, the most important

decision that needs to be made is

when to take the product off the

market completely. It can be

tempting to leave a declining product

on the market – especially if it served

the company well in its time, and

there's a certain sentimental

attachment to it. However, it is

essential that the product is not

allowed to start costing its producer

money, and this can easily happen if

production costs increase as volumes

drop.
More importantly, the old product's

very existence can absorb managers’

time and energy, and can discourage

or delay the development of a new,

potentially more profitable

replacement product.

Controlling the Length of

Lifecycle Phases

The duration of each lifecycle phase

can be controlled, to a certain extent.

This is particularly true of the

Maturity phase: this is the most

important one to extend from a

financial point of view because this is

the period when the product is at its

most profitable.
Typical tactics designed to extend the

maturity phase include:

• Increasing the amount of the

product used by existing

customers (this is why food

producers issue recipe cards that

use their ingredients).

• Adding or updating product

features.

• Price promotions to attract

customers who use a rival brand.

• Advertising to encourage trial of

the product people who don't use

this category of product at all.

Limitations of the Model

One criticism of the product lifecycle

concept is that it in no way predicts

the length of each phase, and nor can

it be used to forecast sales with any

accuracy.

Another is that the model can be self-

fulfilling: If a marketer decides that

a product is approaching its Decline

phase, and so stops actively

marketing it, the product's sales will

almost inevitably decline. This might

not have happened had it been

managed as if it was still in its

Maturity phase.
Furthermore, it's possible that by

improving a product aggressively on

an ongoing basis, growth can

continue for a long time. Just think of

the market for

PCs in the 1980s and 1990s:

Successful producers launched new

and better products month after

month after month.

Successful marketers need to draw

on a wide range of data and analysis

to help them decide which phase a

product is in, and whether that phase

can be extended. And while this

model is useful and thought-

provoking, they need to base their

decisions on a good understanding of

the facts.
Key Points

The Product Lifecycle model

describes how products go through

the four phases of Introduction,

Growth, Maturity and Decline after

they are launched. Each phase

requires a different mix of marketing

activities to maximize the lifetime

profitability of the product. In

general, this involves early

investment to help secure revenue

later on.

While the model does not predict

sales, when used alongside carefully

analyzed sales figures and forecasts,

it provides a useful guide to

marketing tactics that may be most

appropriate at a given time.

 2.3 THE TECHNOLOGY LIFE-CYCLE
(TLC)

The Technology Life-Cycle (TLC)

describes the commercial gain of a

product through the expense of

research and development phase,

and the financial return during its

“vital life”. Some technologies, such

as steel, paper or cement

manufacturing, have a long lifespan

(with minor variations in technology

incorporated with time) whilst in

other cases, such as electronic or

pharmaceutical products, the lifespan

may be quite short.

The TLC associated with a product or

technological service is different from

product life-cycle (PLC) dealt with in

product life-cycle management. The

latter is concerned with the life of

a product in the marketplace with

respect to timing of introduction,

marketing measures, and business

costs. The technology underlying the

product (for example, that of a

uniquely flavored tea) may be quite

marginal but the process of creating

and managing its life as a branded

product will be very different.

The technology life cycle is concerned

with the time and cost of developing

the technology, the timeline of

recovering cost, and modes of

making the technology yield a profit

proportionate to the costs and risks

involved. The TLC may, further, be

protected during its cycle with

patents and trademarks seeking to

lengthen the cycle and to maximize

the profit from it.

The typical life-cycle of a

manufacturing process or production

system from the stages of its initial

conception to its culmination as

either a technique or procedure of

common practice or to its demise.

The Y-axis of the diagram shows the

business gain to the proprietor of the

technology while the X-axis traces its

lifetime.

The “product” of the technology may

just be a commodity such as the

polyethylene plastic or a

sophisticated product like the ICs

used in a smart phone.

The development of a competitive

product or process can have a major

effect on the lifespan of the

technology, making it shorter.

Equally, the loss of intellectual

property rights through litigation or

loss of its secret elements (if any)

through leakages also work to reduce

a technology's lifespan. Thus, it is

apparent that the management of the

TLC is an important aspect of

technology development.

In the simplest formulation,

innovation can be thought of as being

composed of research, development,

demonstration, and deployment.

Most new technologies follow a

similar Technology Maturity Lifecycle

describing the technological maturity

of a product. This is not similar to a

product life cycle, but applies to an

entire technology, or a generation of

a technology.
Technology adoption is the most

common phenomenon driving the

evolution of industries along the

industry lifecycle. After expanding

new uses of resources they end with

exhausting the efficiency of those

processes, producing gains that are

first easier and larger over time then

exhaustingly more difficult, as the

technology matures.

The four phases of the

Technology Life-Cycle
The TLC may be seen as composed of

four phases:

a.
The Research And

Development (R&D) phase

(sometimes called the "bleeding

 edge") when incomes from inputs
are negative and where the

prospects of failure are high

b. The ascent phase when out-of-

pocket costs have been

recovered and the technology

begins to gather strength by

going beyond some Point A on

the TLC (sometimes called the

“leading edge")

c. The maturity phase when gain

is high and stable, the region,

going into saturation, marked by

M, and

d. The decline (or decay phase),

after a Point D, of reducing

fortunes and utility of the

technology,
S-curve

The shape of the technology lifecycle

is often referred to as S-curve:

Technology perception

dynamics

There is usually technology hype at

the introduction of any new

technology, but only after some time

has passed can it be judged as mere

hype or justified true acclaim.

Because of the logistic curve nature

of technology adoption, it is difficult

to see in the early stages whether the

hype is excessive.
The two errors commonly committed

in the early stages of a technology's

development are.

• Fitting an exponential curve to

the first part of the growth curve,

and assuming eternal

exponential growth.

• Fitting a linear curve to the first

part of the growth curve, and

assuming that take-up of the

new technology is disappointing.

Rogers’bell curve
Similarly, in the later stages, the

opposite mistakes can be made

relating to the possibilities of

technology maturity and market

saturation.

Technology adoption typically occurs

in an S curve, as modeled in diffusion

of innovations theory. This is because

customers respond to new products

in different ways. iffusion

D of

innovations theory, pioneered by

Everett Rogers, posits that people

have different levels of readiness for

adopting new innovations and that

the characteristics of a product affect

overall adoption. Rogers classified

individuals into five groups:

innovators, early adopters, early

majority, late majority, and laggards.

In terms of the S curve, innovators

occupy 2.5%, early adopters 13.5%,

early majority 34%, late majority

34%, and laggards 16%.

The four stages of technology life

cycle are as follows:

•
Innovation stage: This stage

represents the birth of a new

product, material of process

resulting from R&D activities. In

R&D laboratories, new ideas are

generated depending on gaining

needs and knowledge factors.

 Depending on the resource

allocation and also the change

element, the time taken in the

innovation stage as well as in the

subsequent stages varies widely.

• Syndication stage: This stage

represents the demonstration

and commercialization of a new

technology, such as, product,

material or process with

potential for immediate

utilization. Many innovations are

put on hold in R&D laboratories.

Only a very small percentage of

these are commercialized.

Commercialization of research
 outcomes depends on technical

as well non-technical, mostly

economic factors.

• Diffusion stage: This represents

the market penetration of a new

technology through acceptance

of the innovation, by potential

users of the technology. But

supply and demand side factors

jointly influence the rate of

diffusion.

• Substitution stage: This last

stage represents the decline in

the use and eventual extension

of a technology, due to

replacement by another

technology. Many technical and

 non-technical factors influence

the rate of substitution. The time

taken in the substitution stage

depends on the market

dynamics.

Licensing options

In current world trends, with TLCs

shortening due to competition and

rapid innovation, a technology

becomes technically licensable at all

points of the TLC, whereas earlier, it

was licensed only when it was past its

maturity stage. Large corporations

develop technology for their own

benefit and
not with the objective of licensing.

The tendency to license out

technology only appears when there

is a threat to the life of the TLC

(business gain) as discussed later.

Licensing in the R&D phase

There are always smaller firms

(SMEs) who are inadequately

situated to finance the development

of innovative R&D in the post-

research and early technology

phases. By sharing incipient

technology under certain conditions,

substantial risk financing can come

from third parties. This is a form of

quasilicensing which takes different

formats. Even large corporates may

not wish to bear all costs of

development in areas of significant

and high risk (e.g. aircraft

development) and may seek means

of spreading it to the stage that

proof-of-concept is obtained.

In the case of small and medium

firms, entities such as venture

capitalists (‘angels’), can enter the

scene and help to materialize

technologies. Venture capitalists

accept both the costs and

uncertainties of R&D, and that of

market acceptance, in reward for

high returns when the technology

proves itself. Apart from finance,

they may provide networking,

management and marketing support.

Venture capital connotes financial as

well as human capital.

Large firms may opt for Joint R&D or

work in a consortium for the early

phase of development. Such vehicles

are called strategic alliances –

strategic partnerships.
With both venture capital funding and

strategic (research) alliances, when

business gains begin to neutralize

development costs (the TLC crosses

the X-axis), the ownership of the

technology starts to undergo change.

In the case of smaller firms, venture

capitalists help clients enter the

stock market for obtaining

substantially larger funds for

development, maturation of

technology, product promotion and to

meet marketing costs. A major route

is through Initial Public Offering

(IPO) which invites risk funding by

the public for potential high gain. At

the same time, the IPOs enable

venture capitalists to attempt to

recover expenditures already

incurred by them through part sale

of the stock pre-allotted to them

(subsequent to the listing of the

stock on the stock exchange). When

the IPO is fully subscribed, the

assisted enterprise becomes a

corporation and can more easily

obtain bank loans, etc. if needed.

Strategic alliance partners, allied on

research, pursue separate paths of

development with the incipient

technology of common origin but pool

their accomplishments through

instruments such as ‘cross-licensing’.

Generally, contractual provisions

among the members of the

consortium allow a member to

exercise the option of independent

pursuit after joint consultation; in

which case the optee owns all

subsequent development.
Licensing in the ascent phase

The ascent stage of the technology

usually refers to some point above

Point A in the TLC diagram but

actually it commences when the R&D

portion of the TLC curve inflects (only

that the cash flow is negative and

unremunerative to Point A). The

ascent is the strongest phase of the

TLC because it is here that the

technology is superior to alternatives

and can command premium profit or

gain. The slope and duration of the

ascent depends on competing

technologies entering the domain,

although they may not be as

successful in that period. Strongly

patented technology extends the

duration period. The TLC begins to

flatten out (the region shown as M)

when equivalent or challenging

technologies come into the

competitive space and begin to eat

away market share.

Till this stage is reached, the

technology-owning firm would tend

to exclusively enjoy its profitability,

preferring not to license it. If an

overseas opportunity does present

itself, the firm would prefer to set

up a controlled subsidiary rather than

license a third party.

Licensing in the maturity

phase
The maturity phase of the technology

is a period of stable and

remunerative income but its

competitive viability can persist over

the larger timeframe marked by its

‘vital life’. However, there may be

a tendency to license out the

technology to third-parties during

this stage to lower risk of decline in

profitability and to expand financial

opportunity.

The exercise of this option is,

generally, inferior to seeking

participatory exploitation; in other

words, engagement in joint venture,

typically in regions where the

technology would be in the

ascent phase, as say, a

developing country. In addition to

providing financial opportunity it

allows the technology-owner a

degree of control over its use.

Gain flows from the two streams of
investment-based and royalty

incomes. Further, the vital life of the

technology is enhanced in such
strategy.

Licensing in the decline phase

After reaching a point such as D in

the above diagram, the earnings

from the technology begin to decline

rather rapidly. To prolong the life

cycle, owners of technology might try

to license it out at some point L when
it can still be attractive to firms in
other markets. This, then, traces
the lengthening path, LL’. Further,
since the decline is the result of
competing rising technologies in

this space, licenses may be

attracted to the general lower
cost of the older technology

(than what prevailed during its

vital life).

Licenses obtained in this phase are

‘straight licenses’. They are free of

direct control from the owner of the

technology (as would otherwise

apply, say, in the case of a joint-
venture). Further, there may be

fewer restrictions placed on the

licensee in the employment of the

technology.
The utility, viability, and thus the

cost of straight-licenses depends on

the estimated ‘balance life’of the

technology. For instance, should the

key patent on the technology have

expired, or would expire in a short

while, the residual viability of the

technology may be limited, although

balance life may be governed by

other criteria viz. knowhow which

could have a longer life if properly

protected.

It is important to note that the

license has no way of knowing the

stage at which the prime, and

competing technologies, are on their

TLCs. It would, of course, be evident

to competing licensor firms, and to

the originator, from the growth,

saturation or decline of the

profitability of their operations.

The license may, however, be able to

approximate the stage by vigorously

negotiating with the licensor and

competitors to determine costs and

licensing terms. A lower cost, or

easier terms, may imply a declining

technology.

In any case, access to technology

in the decline phase is a large risk

that the licensee accepts. (In a joint-

venture this risk is substantially

reduced by licensor sharing it).

Sometimes, financial guarantees

from the licensor may work to reduce

such risk and can be negotiated.

There are instances when, even

though the technology declines to

becoming a technique, it, may still

contain important knowledge or

experience which the licensee firm

cannot learn of without help from the

originator. This is often the form that

technical service and technical

assistance contracts take

(encountered often in developing

country contracts). Alternatively,

consulting agencies may fill this role.

 2.4 DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY

Disruptive technology is a term

coined by Harvard Business School

professor Clayton M. Christensen to

describe a new technology that

unexpectedly displaces an

established technology.

In his 1997 best-selling book, “The

Innovator's Dilemma,” Christensen

separates new technology into two

categories: sustaining and

disruptive. Sustaining technology

relies on incremental improvements

to an already established technology.

Disruptive technology lacks

refinement, often has performance

problems because it is new, appeals
to a limited audience, and may not

yet have a proven practical

application. (Such was the case with

Alexander Graham Bell's “electrical

speech machine,” which we now call

the telephone.)

In his book, Christensen points out

that large corporations are designed

to work with sustaining technologies.

They excel at knowing their market,

staying close to their customers, and

having a mechanism in place to

develop existing technology.

Conversely, they have trouble

capitalizing on the potential

efficiencies, cost-savings, or new

marketing opportunities created by

low-margin disruptive technologies.

Using real-world examples to

illustrate his point, Christensen

demonstrates how it is not unusual

for a big corporation to dismiss the

value of a disruptive technology

because it does not reinforce current

company goals, only to be blindsided

as the technology matures, gains a

larger audience and market share

and threatens the status quo.

Product Specification

A Design or Product Specification

describes the features of the

solutions for the Requirement

Specification. Sometimes the term

specification is here used in

connection with a data sheet (or spec

sheet). This may be confusing. A data

sheet describes the technical

characteristics of an item or product

as designed and/or produced. It can

be published by a manufacturer to

help people choose products or to

help use the products. A data sheet

is not a technical specification as

described in this article.

Specification (often abbreviated as

spec) may refer to an explicit set

of requirements to be satisfied by a

material, design, product, or service.

[1]
Should a material, product, or

service fail to meet one or more of

the applicable specifications, it may

be referred to as being out of

 [2]
specification; the abbreviation
[3]
OOS may also be used. In casual

usage, underspec or overspec are

used when something is worse or

better than specified (compare

overengineering), though in general

(such as for sizes) there is only a

notion of “in spec” or “out of spec”,

not “better” or “worse”. A

specification is a type of technical

standard.

A technical specification may be

developed by any of various kinds

of organizations, both public and

private. Example organization types

include a corporation, a consortium

(a small group of corporations), a

trade association (an industry-wide

group of corporations), a national

government (including its military,

regulatory agencies, and national

laboratories and institutes), a

professional association (society), a

purpose-made standards

organization such as ISO, or vendor-

neutral developed generic

requirements. It is common for one

organization to refer to (reference,

call out, cite) the standards of

another. Voluntary standards may

become mandatory if adopted by a

government or business contract.

 USAGE

In engineering, manufacturing, and

business, it is vital for suppliers,

purchasers, and users of materials,

products, or services to understand

[4]
and agree upon all requirements.

A specification is a type of a standard

which is often referenced by a

contract or procurement document.

It provides the necessary details

about the specific requirements.

Specifications may be written by

government agencies, standards

organizations (ASTM, ISO, CEN, DoD,

etc.), trade associations,

corporations, and others.

A product specification does not

necessarily prove a product to be

correct or useful. An item might be

verified to comply with a specification

or stamped with a specification

number: This does not, by itself,

indicate that the item is fit for any

particular use. The people who use

the item (engineers, trade unions,

etc.) or specify the item (building

codes, government, industry, etc.)

have the responsibility to consider

the choice of available specifications,

specify the correct one, enforce

compliance, and use the item

correctly. Validation of suitability is

necessary.
Concept Generation and Brain

Storming

Concept generation, getting the

ideas, begins with ideation and

brainstorming. This approach

originated half a century ago in Alex

Osborn's Applied Imagination, which

launched the study of creativity in

business development. Its premise is

clear. There are three things to work

with— facts, ideas, and solutions;

each deserves quality time. The

natural tendency is to leap from facts

to solutions, skipping over the play

and exploration, which is at the heart

of finding new ideas. Most of us are

experienced with fact finding, it's a
consequence of contemporary

education's preoccupation with facts.

We're also familiar with solutions;

most of us like to solve problems

and move on. Idea finding may seem

childlike (and it should be) but at

its heart is the exploration of

possibilities, free from as many

constraints as possible.

Brainstorming is not new-age

nonsense, rather it is a studied

process and practiced art for

suspending judgment, encouraging

wild ideas, and building upon those

ideas to invent something that has

value. If nothing revolutionary,

weird, or goofy surfaces, this stage

has failed. The vibe should be

upbeat—a chance to try things out, to

free associate, and to challenge the

wisdom of the present.

2.5 BRAINSTORMING

Generating Many Radical,

Creative Ideas
For decades, people have used

brainstorming to generate ideas, and

to come up with creative solutions to

problems. However, you need to use

brainstorming correctly for it to be

fully effective.

In this article, we'll look at

brainstorming: what it is, why it's

useful, and how to get the best from

it.
What is Brainstorming?

Madison Avenue advertising

executive Alex Osborn developed the

original approach to brainstorming

and published it in his 1953 book,

“Applied Imagination.” Since then,

researchers have made many

improvements to his original

technique.

The approach described here takes

this research into account, so it's

subtly different from Osborn's

approach.
Brainstorming combines a relaxed,

informal approach to problem solving

with lateral thinking. It encourages

people to come up with thoughts and

ideas that can, at first, seem a bit

crazy. Some of these ideas can be

crafted into original, creative

solutions to a problem, while others

can spark even more ideas. This

helps to get people unstuck by

“jolting” them out of their normal

ways of thinking.

Therefore, during brainstorming

sessions, people should avoid

criticizing or rewarding ideas. You're

trying to open up possibilities and

break down incorrect assumptions

about the problem's limits. Judgment
and analysis at this stage stunts idea

generation and limit creativity.

Evaluate ideas at the end of the

brainstorming session – this is the

time to explore solutions further,

using conventional approaches.

Why Use Brainstorming?

Conventional group problem solving

can often be undermined by

unhelpful group behavior . And while

it's important to start with a

structured, analytical process when

solving problems, this can lead a

group to develop limited and

unimaginative ideas.
By contrast, brainstorming provides

a free and open environment that

encourages everyone to participate.

Quirky ideas are welcomed and built

upon, and all participants are

encouraged to contribute fully,

helping them develop a rich array of

creative solutions.

When used during problem solving,

brainstorming brings team

members’diverse experience into

play. It increases the richness of

ideas explored, which means that you

can often find better solutions to the

problems that you face.

It can also help you get buy-in from

team members for the solution

chosen – after all, they're likely to

be more committed to an approach if

they were involved in developing it.

What's more, because brainstorming

is fun, it helps team members bond,

as they solve problems in a positive,

rewarding environment.

While brainstorming can be effective,

it's important to approach it with an

open mind and a spirit of non-

judgment. If you don't do this,

people “clam up,” the number and

quality of ideas plummets, and

morale can suffer.

Individual Brainstorming
While group brainstorming is often

more effective at generating ideas

than normal group problem solving,

several studies have shown that

individual brainstorming produces

more – and often better – ideas than

group brainstorming.

This can occur because groups aren't

always strict in following the rules

of brainstorming, and bad behaviors

creep in. Mostly, though, this

happens because people pay so much

attention to other people that they

don't generate ideas of their own –

or they forget these ideas while they

wait for their turn to speak. This is

called “blocking.”
When you brainstorm on your own,

you don't have to worry about other

people's egos or opinions, and you

can be freer and more creative. For

example, you might find that an idea

you'd hesitate to bring up in a group

develops into something special when

you explore it on your own.

However, you may not develop ideas

as fully when you brainstorm on your

own, because you don't have the

wider experience of other group

members to draw on.

To get the most out of your individual

brainstorming session, choose a

comfortable place to sit and think.

Minimize distractions so that you can

focus on the problem at hand, and

consider using Mind Maps to arrange

and develop ideas.

Individual brainstorming is most

effective when you need to solve a

simple problem, generate a list of

ideas, or focus on a broad issue.

Group brainstorming is often more

effective for solving complex

problems.

Group Brainstorming

With group brainstorming, you can

take advantage of the full experience

and creativity of all team members.

When one member gets stuck with

an idea, another member's creativity

and experience can take the idea to

the next stage. You can develop ideas

in greater depth with group

brainstorming than you can with

individual brainstorming.

Another advantage of group

brainstorming is that it helps

everyone feel that they've

contributed to the solution, and it

reminds people that others have

creative ideas to offer. Brainstorming

is also fun, so it can be great for

team building!

Group brainstorming can be risky for

individuals. Unusual suggestions may

appear to lack value at first sight

– this is where you need to chair

sessions tightly, so that the group

doesn't crush these ideas and stifle

creativity.

Where possible, brainstorming

participants should come from a wide

range of disciplines. This cross-

section of experience can make the

session more creative. However,

don't make the group too big: as with

other types of teamwork, groups of

five to seven people are usually most

effective.

How to Use the Tool

You often get the best results by

combining individual and group

brainstorming, and by managing the

process according to the “rules”

below. By doing this, you can get

people to focus on the issue without

interruption, you maximize the

number of ideas that you can

generate, and you get that great

feeling of team bonding that comes

with a well-run brainstorming

session!

To run a group brainstorming session

effectively, follow these steps.

Step 1: Prepare the Group

First, set up a comfortable meeting

environment for the session. Make

sure that the room is well-lit and that

you have the tools, resources, and

refreshments that you need.

How much information or preparation

does your team need in order to

brainstorm solutions to your

problem? Remember that prep is

important, but too much can limit –

or even destroy – the freewheeling

nature of a brainstorming session.

Consider who will attend the

meeting. A room full of like-minded

people won't generate as many

creative ideas as a diverse group, so

try to include people from a wide

range of disciplines, and include

people who have a variety of

different thinking styles.

When everyone is gathered, appoint

one person to record the ideas that

come from the session. This person

shouldn't necessarily be the team

manager –it's hard to record and

contribute at the same time. Post

notes where everyone can see them,

such as on flip charts or whiteboards;

or use a computer with a data

projector.

If people aren't used to working

together, consider using an

appropriate warm-up exercise, or an

icebreaker .
Step 2: Present the Problem

Clearly define the problem that you

want to solve, and lay out any criteria

that you must meet. Make it clear

that that the meeting's objective is to

generate as many ideas as possible.

Give people plenty of quiet time at

the start of the session to write down

as many of their own ideas as they

can. Then, ask them to share their

ideas, while giving everyone a fair

opportunity to contribute.

Step 3: Guide the Discussion

Once everyone has shared their

ideas, start a group discussion to

develop other people's ideas, and use

them to create new ideas. Building

on others’ideas is one of the most

valuable aspects of group

brainstorming.

Encourage everyone to contribute

and to develop ideas, including the

quietest people, and discourage

anyone from criticizing ideas.

As the group facilitator, you should

share ideas if you have them, but

spend your time and energy

supporting your team and guiding the

discussion. Stick to one conversation

at a time, and refocus the group if

people become sidetracked.

Although you're guiding the

discussion, remember to let everyone

have fun while brainstorming.

Welcome creativity, and encourage

your team to come up with as many

ideas as possible, regardless of

whether they're practical or

impractical. Use thought experiments

such as Provocation or Random Input

to generate some unexpected ideas.

Don't follow one train of thought for

too long. Make sure that you

generate a good number of different

ideas, and explore individual ideas in

detail. If a team member needs to

“tune out” to explore an idea alone,

allow them the freedom to do this.

Also, if the brainstorming session is

lengthy, take plenty of breaks so that

people can continue to concentrate.

Taking Your Brainstorming

Further

If you're not getting enough good

quality ideas, try using the

approaches below to increase the

number of ideas that you generate:

• The Stepladder Technique –

This improves the contribution of

quieter group members by

introducing one person at a time.

• Brain writing – This is a written

approach that you can use to

encourage all individuals to

generate and develop ideas.

• Online Brainstorming (also

known as Brain-netting) – An

electronic method of
 brainstorming, this uses a

document stored on a central

server, or on a Cloud-based

system.

• Crawford's Slip Writing

Approach – You can use this

approach to get plenty of ideas

from all participants, and to get

a view of each idea's popularity.

These techniques help you in specific

brainstorming situations:
• Reverse Brainstorming – This

is used to improve a product or

service.

• Star bursting – Starbursting

helps you develop questions that

you need to ask to evaluate a

proposal.
• Charette Procedure – This

helps you brainstorm with large

groups of people: (Conventional

brainstorming becomes

increasingly ineffective when

more than 10 or 12 people are

involved.)

• Round -Robin Brainstorming –

You can use this approach to get

people to contribute ideas

without being influenced by

others.

• Role storming – This technique

encourages group members to

take on other people's identities

while brainstorming, thereby

reducing their inhibitions.

The Next Step – Taking Action

After your individual or group

brainstorming session, you'll have a

lot of ideas. Although it might seem

hard to sort through these ideas to

find the best ones, analyzing these

ideas is an important next step, and

you can use several tools to do this.

Use Affinity Diagrams to organize

ideas and find common themes.

Decision Matrix Analysis and Paired

Comparison Analysis will help you

choose between different options.

You can also use the Six Thinking

Hats technique to look at ideas from

different perspectives; and Multi-

Voting can help you choose between

options as a team, particularly where

the differences between options are

quite subjective.

Review Questions

1. What are the steps involved in

planning a product.

2. Explain the stages in product life

cycle,

3. What is distributive technology?

4. Explain the concept of Brain

storming.
 UNIT - III
3.1 Concept Selection.

3.2 Product Architecture

3.3 Platform Planning

3.4 Robust Design

3.5 Collaborative Product

development

3.6 Review Questions

3.1 CONCEPT SELECTION

A Structured Method Offers

Several Benefits

A structured concept selection

process helps to maintain objectivity

throughout the concept phase of the

development process and guides the
product development team through

a critical difficult, and sometimes

emotional process.

Specifically, a structured concept

selection potential ben efits:

• A customer-focused product:

Because concepts are explicitly

evaluated against customer-

oriented criteria, the selected

concept is likely to be focused on

the customer.

• A competitive design: By

benchmarking concepts with

respect to existing designs,

designers push the design to

match or exceed their

competitors’performance along

key dimensions.
• Better product-process

coordination: Explicit

evaluation of the product with

respect to manufacturing criteria

improves the products

manufacturability and helps to

match the product with the

process capabilities of the firm.

• Reduced time to product

Introduction: A structured

method becomes a common

language among design

engineers, manufacturing

engineers, industrial designers,

marketers, and project

managers, resulting in decreased

 ambiguity, faster

communication, and fewer, false

starts.

• Effective group decision

marketing: A Structured

method encourages decision

making based on objective

criteria and minimizes the

likelihood that arbitrary or

personal factors influence the

product concept.

• Documentation of the

decision proms: A structured

method results in a readily

understood archive of the

rationale behind concept

decisions.
The syringe example is used to

present a concept selection

methodology addressing these and

other issues

Design Example

Portable Syringe

A medical supply company regained

a design firm to develop a reusable

syringe with precise dosage control

for out-patient use.

One of the existing out-

patient syringes

Two major problems with its current

product: cost (the existing model

was made of stainless steel) and

accuracy of dose metering.

The team established seven criteria

on which the choice of a product

concept would be based:

• Ease of handling.

• Ease of use.

• Readability of dose settings.

• Dose metering accuracy.

• Durability.

• Ease of manufacture.

• Portability.
The team described the concepts

under consideration with the

sketches shown

Concepts for Syringes

Overview of Methodology

A two-stage concept selection

methodology is described, although

the first stage may suffice for simple

design decisions.

• The first stage is called concept

screening.

• The second stage is called

concept scoring.

Each stage is supported by a decision

matrix, which is used by the team

to rate, rank, and selects the best

concept(s).

Concept selection is often performed

in two stages as a way to manage

the complexity of evaluating dozens

of product concepts.
Screening is a quick, approximate

evaluation aimed at producing a few

viable alternatives.

Scoring is a more careful analysis of

these relatively few concepts in order

to choose the single concept most

likely to lead to product success.

Both stages, concept screening and

concept scoring, follow a six-step

process. The steps are:

1. Prepare the selection matrix.

2. Rate the concepts.

3. Rank the concepts.

4. Combine and improve the

concepts.
 5. Select one or more concepts.

6. Reflect on the results and the

process.

Concept

Screening Matrix (“O” for same

as, “+” for better than and “-” for

worse than)
Step 4: Combine and Improve

the Concepts

Two issues to consider are:

• Is there a generally good concept

which is degraded by one bad

feature? Can a minor

modification improve the overall

concept and yet preserve a

distinction from the other

concepts?

• Are there two concepts which can

be combined to preserve the

“better than” qualities while

annulling the “worse than”

qualities?
Combined and improved concepts are

then added to the matrix, rated by

the team, and ranked along with the

original concepts.

Revised Syringe Concepts

Step 5. Select One or More

Concepts
The team selected concepts A and

E to be considered along with the

revised concept G+ and the new

concept DF.
If the screening matrix is not seen to

provide sufficient resolution for the

next step of evaluation and selection,

then the concept-scoring stage with

its weighted selection criteria and

more detailed rating scheme would

be used.
Step 6. Reflect on the Results

and the Process

An explicit consideration of whether

the results make sense to everyone

reduces the likelihood of making a

mistake and increases the likelihood

that the entire team will be solidly

committed to the subsequent

development activities.

Concept Scoring

Concept scoring is used when

increased resolution will better

differentiate among competing

concepts. In this stage, the team

weighs the relative importance of the

selection criteria and focuses on

more refined comparisons with

respect to each criterion.

Concepts

A
DF E G+
(Reference)
Lever Stop Swash Ring Dial Screw+
Master Cylinder

Selection Weighted Weighted Weighted Weighted

Weight Rating Rating Rating Rating
Criteria Scare Score Score Score

Ease of
5% 3 0.15 3 0.15 4 0.2 4 0.2
handling

Ease of use 15% 3 0.65 4 0.6 4 0.6 3 0.45

Readability
10% 2 0.2 3 0.3 5 0.5 5 0.5
of settings

Dose
metering 25% 3 0.75 3 0.75 2 0.5 3 0.75

accuracy

Durability 15% 2 0.3 5 0.75 4 0.6 3 0.45

Ease of
20% 3 0.6 3 0.6 2 0.4 2 0.4
manufacture

Portability 10% 3 0.3 3 0.3 3 0.3 3 0.3

Total
2.76 3.45 3.10 3.05
Score
4 1 2 3
Rank

Continue? No Develop NO No

Double click this page to view clearly

Concept Testing

An idea is finally developed to a point

where its benefits can be

communicated to target consumers in

order to assess their reactions.

Concept testing is a quality check

between the description of an idea

and actual product development. A

variety of approaches are available

for concept testing. All methods

involve a group of potential

consumers rating one or more

concept statements in which each

concept is presented with specific

focus on consumer needs or benefits.

The method of testing is based on the

purpose of concept testing and

should therefore provide all elements

of interest where feedback is

expected. The following are the

purposes of practical concept testing:

• to develop the original idea

further

• to estimate the concept's market

potential

• to eliminate poor concept(s)

• to identify the value of concept

features

• to help identify the highest

potential customer segment(s)

• to generate an estimate of sales

or trial rate

• to provide diagnostic

information.
What is concept testing

about?
In more technical terms, consumers

are presented with a stimulus (the

concept) and measures of reaction

are taken which, the researcher

believes are predictive of the

behavioral response, such as

eventual purchase.

Definition: Concept testing

Concept stimuli design

Concepts can be presented in many

forms, from a simple factual

statement with minimum description

of the product's attributes, to a

commercialized concept making

persuasive claims, or even to a full

mock advertisement (Peng& Finn,

2004; Lees & Wright, 2004). Many

concept tests use

‘stripped’descriptions, with or

without visual representations.

Stripped descriptions provide a list of

product characteristics in a short and

concise manner. Additionally, images

or sketch drawings of how the

product may look can be used.

‘Embellished’descriptions are another

popular format. In contrast to

stripped descriptions, they apply

commercial language, words and

phrases that are familiar from typical

advertisements. Such statements can

improve understanding about the

product as many of them focus on

problem solving; in other words,

embellished descriptions often point

out the core benefits offered by the

product to overcome the consumer's

problems.

Whatever the final result of the

design looks like, the concept

statement should be clear and

realistic and should not oversell the

concept (Crawford & Di Benedetto,

2008). Although the statement can

be worded in a commercial or

noncommercial format, the difference

between the concept and existing

alternatives in the marketplace

should be unambiguous and credible.

Other presentation formats are rough

mock-up advertisements or even

fully finished advertisements.

The following is a suggested template

for a concept, comprising the above

considerations.

Concept template

Core concept:

• Provide a statement with the

core concept in one sentence.

• Use a preliminary product name

(if available).

Benefits:
• Describe the product benefits,

based on sensory, convenience,

health, process and other

product attributes.

• Decide on stripped versus

embellished formulations.
Product information:

• Provide information about

relevant extrinsic cues such as

price, size, product-related

information.

Target users:

Tell your respondent how you would

describe him or her.

• Describe the person based on

segmentation criteria.

3.2 PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE

Problem solving in general

Researchers in product development

(and in particular in engineering

science) conceptualize the design of

a new product as a process in which

the organization creates and defines

problems and then tries to solve

them.

Despite each problem

Note that publications of Simon

related to this topic trace their roots

in the early sixties and Were one of

the first with this point of view.

However in this thesis is referred to

‘the Science of the Artificial’,

published in 1981. Solving process

being unique, it is commonly believed

that all
problemsolving processes share

common characteristics. This section

describes some basic principles of

problem solving. This will be helpful

for an understanding of the more

specific engineering design

methodologies, and will also be

useful for the organizational theory.

Presently the following issues will be

considered:

• Introduction to problem solving.

• Hierarchies in problem solving.

• Link with product development.

 3.3 Platform Planning

What is a platform?

A platform is the collection of assets

that are shared by a set of products.

These assets can be divided into four

categories:

• Components: the part designs

of a product, the fixtures and

tools needed to make them, the

circuit designs, and the programs

burned into programmable chips

or stored on disks.

• Processes: the equipment used

to make components or to

assemble components into

 products and the design of
the associated production

process and supply chain.

• Knowledge:design know-

how,technology applications and

limitations,production

techniques,mathematical

models, and testing methods.

• People and relationships:

teams, relationships among team

members, relationships between

the team and the larger

organization, and relations with

a network of suppliers.

Taken together, these shared assets

constitute the product platform.

Generally platform products share a

significant if not majority portion of

development and production assets.
In contrast, parts standardization

efforts across a set of products may

lead to the sharing of a modest set of

components, but such a collection of

shared components is generally not

considered a product platform.

Successful platform planning offers

the following potential benefits:

• Greater ability to tailor

products to the needs of

different market segments or

customers. The incremental

cost of addressing the specific

needs of a market segment or
of an individual customer may be

reduced through the platform

approach, enabling market needs
to be more closely met.
• Reduced development cost

and time. Parts and assembly

processes developed for one

model do not have to be

developed and tested for the

others. This benefit applies to

new products developed from the

platform as well as to

subsequent updates.

• Reduced manufacturing cost.

Economies of scale may be

achieved when producing larger

volumes of common parts.

• Reduced production

investment. Machinery,

equipment, and tooling, and the

 engineering time to create them,

can be shared across higher

production volumes.

• Reduced systemic complexity.

Cutting the number of parts and

processes can cut costs in

materials management, logistics,

distribution, inventory

management, sales and service,

and purchasing. (See [Ulrich et

al. 1993] for an example of the

magnitude of these costs.)

• Lower risk. The lower

investment required for each

different product developed from

a platform results in decreased

risk for each new product.

 • Improved service. Sharing

components across products

allows companies to stock fewer

parts in their production and

service parts inventories. This

translates into better service

levels and/or lower service costs.

The challenge of platform

planning

The central challenge of developing

platform products is simultaneously

meeting the needs of diverse market

segments while conserving

development and production

resources. Developing platform

products involves two sets of difficult

tasks. First, a product planning and
marketing activity addresses the

problem of which market segments

to enter, what the customers in each

segment want, and what product

attributes will appeal to those

customers. Second, a system-level

design activity addresses the

problem of what product architecture

should be used to simultaneously

deliver the different products while

also sharing many parts and

production steps across the products.

These two sets of tasks are

challenging both because the tasks

themselves are inherently complex

and because their completion

requires coordination among at least

the marketing, design, and

manufacturing functions of the firm.

These functional groups may not be

accustomed to working with each

other, and can find such cooperation

difficult due to differences in time

frames, jargon, goals, and basic

beliefs. Platform planning is also

difficult because of the many ways

it can fail. We have observed two

common dysfunctions in

organizations attempting to create

product platforms. First,

organizational forces frequently

hinder the ability to balance

commonality and distinctiveness.

One perspective can dominate the

debate. Design or manufacturing

engineers often prepare hard cost

data showing how expensive it would

be to create distinctive products,

leading to products that are too

similar from the customer's

perspective. This dysfunction was

illustrated graphically (if perhaps

inaccurately) by a Fortune magazine

cover photograph in 1983 showing

“look-alike” Chevrolet, Oldsmobile,

Buick, and Pontiac automobiles

(Fortune, 1983). Alternatively, the

marketing function may mount a

convincing argument that only

completely different products will

appeal to the different market

segments, and that commonality is

penny wise and pound foolish.

Second, even when platform planning

is attempted with a balanced team

committed to working together, the

process can get bogged down in

details, resulting in either the

organization giving up, or in products

by committee with no character and

no integrity.

Platform planning in the auto

industry

While we believe that the platform

planning method we describe below

is broadly applicable across many

types of products, we illustrate the

method using an example from the

auto industry. Throughout the paper,

we use the example of the design

of an instrument panel (i.e., the

“dashboard”) to illustrate the key

ideas. An instrument panel is a

critical part of new car's design and

plays several important functional

roles. It provides structural support

for heating, ventilation, and air

conditioning (HVAC) ducts,

components, switches, gauges, audio

components, storage areas (such as

the glove box), airbags, and a great

deal of tubing and wiring. The

instrument panel also must help

absorb the shock of a front or side

collision, and help prevent the car

body from twisting during normal

driving (which improves handling).

The instrument panel has a strong

role in the aesthetics of a new car:

the look, feel, and even smell of an

instrument panel can effect the

appeal of the car. The look and feel

of the instrument panel can also do a

great deal to distinguish one car from

another.

3.4 ROBUST DESIGN

What is robust product

design?

Robust product design is a concept

from the teachings of Dr. Genichi

Taguchi, a Japanese quality guru. It

is defined as reducing variation in

a product without eliminating the

causes of the variation. In other

words, making the product or process

insensitive to variation. This variation

(sometimes called noise) can come

from a variety of factors and can be

classified into three main types:

internal variation, external variation,

and unit to unit variation. Internal

variation is due to deterioration such

as the wear of a machine, and aging

of materials. External variation is

from factor relating to environmental

conditions such as temperature,

humidity and dust. Unit to Unit

variation is variations between parts

due to variations in material,

processes and equipment.

Examples of robust design include

umbrella fabric that will not

deteriorate when exposed to varying

environments (external variation),

food products that have long shelf

lives (internal variation), and

replacement parts that wilt fit

properly (unit to unit variation). The

goal of robust design is to come up

with a way to make the final product

consistent when the process is

subject to a variety of “noise”.

How do you make a design

robust?

Taguchi considers making a design

robust in the parameter design

portion of product or process design.

In parameter design the goal is to

find values for controllable settings

that minimize the negative effects of

the uncontrollable settings.

Experiments are used to determine

the impact of particular settings on

both the controllable and

uncontrollable factors. The idea here

is that by observing changes in a

controllable factor (such as the

thickness of boards), a value can be

found for that factor that reduces the

effect (warping) of something that

can't be controlled (the humidity

outside). The ultimate goal is to find

the optimal settings to minimize cost

by minimizing variation.

When setting up these experiments,

the factors that effect the product

need to be determined. Then the

factors can be separated into

controllable factors and

uncontrollable factors and
experiments can be set up to test

the effects of changing the values of

each factor. There are many ways to

set up these experiments. Taguchi's

method involves finding correlation

between variables. He uses

orthogonal arrays, with the inner

array consisting of control factors

and the outer array consisting of

“noise” factors. Each inner array is to

be run with each outer array. (If six

control factor experiments and three

“noise” factor experiments are

needed, there will have to be (six
times three) eighteen experimental
trials to get all the combinations).
Another method for conducting these

experiments is to make no attempt

to control the “noise” factors, but

repeatedly run the trials for

combinations of control factors. This

type of experiment allows the

operator to measure process

variability. The trials should be taken

in an environment similar to the one

in which the actual use or

manufacturing of the product is going

to take place. A third experimental

design is to identify all the control

and “noise” factors (adding the

control and noise factors yields k)

and run an analysis using at least

k +1 trials based on eight-run

experiments. (You could use an eight

run experiment for up to k=7, and

a sixteen run experiment for up to

k=15.) This will allow the interaction

between variable to be seen running

fewer tests than using Taguchi's

method.

The data found from the

experimental trials is then analyzed.

The analysis will depend on the

method of experimentation. Plot the

effect that the variables had on your

variation and/or the correlation

between factors. Using this data find

settings for the controllable factors

that are found to lower the variation

caused by uncontrollable factors.

Then after the initial experiment

trails are run and “optimal” settings

are found confirmation

experimentation is needed. By

performing a series of replica

experiments at the levels that were

picked, we can see if the values

achieved matched that of the values

the model predicted. If there is

disparity, there may be an interaction

or noise that we didn't see and thus

our experiment must be redeveloped.

What are the advantages of

robust design?

Robust design has many advantages.

For one, the effect of robustness on

quality is great. Robustness reduces

variation in parts by reducing the

effects of uncontrollable variation.

More consistent parts equal better

quality.

Another advantage is that lower

quality parts or parts with higher

tolerances can be used and a quality

product can still be made. This saves

the company money, because the

less variable the parts can be the

more they cost.

A third advantage is that the product

will have more appeal to the

customer. Customers demand a

robust product that won't be as

vulnerable to deterioration and can

be used in a variety of situations.

This method is also good, because

you are designing the robustness into

the product and process instead of

trying to fix variation problem after

they occur.

What are the disadvantages

of robust design?

One of the disadvantages of robust

design is that to effectively deal with

the noise; the designer must be

aware of the noise. If there is a noise

factor that is affecting the product

and the experiments run do not

address it (intentionally or not), the

only way that the product will be

robust to that variation is by luck.

Another disadvantage to robust

design done Taguchi's way is that

the problem becomes large quickly.

If you had a lot of different things

to consider as control variables and/

or noise variables, it would take a

great deal of time to run all the

experimental trials. Controlling noise

variables is expense, and when lots

of trials are required the dollars add

up.

Another disadvantage is that by

using orthogonal arrays, it assumes

the noise factors are independent,

which may be helpful in setting up

the experiment, but is not necessarily

a good assumption.
Some examples of why robust

design is important?

The designers of a radio had built

and tested a breadboard. After the

radio was considered a success, the

specifications were passed to

production and the radios began

being manufactured. The first

production unit's radios went into

test and failed to meet marketing's

product performance requirements,

as did the second unit. Analysis of

why the process failed produced no

results. They had been following

procedure and using standard

acceptable parts. Next the

breadboard of the original design was
inspected. It was found that the

designers had hand-tested and

picked all the component parts. They

worked much better than the

manufacturer's standard acceptable

parts. After review of the design it

was found that there was no way to

economically fix the problem without

massive redesign, so personnel were

assigned the task of manually sorting

the components, costing the

company additional time.

In this example the design of the

radio needed to be robust so that it

could handle the amount of variation

in the set of standard acceptable

parts. Because the design didn't

allow for that amount of variability,

it cost the company lost time. They

had to stop the production process

and investigate and then they had

to expend further manpower in

screening the parts.

Making a product robust is also a

concern for companies that

manufacture products for an ever-

expanding market. If products are

sold nationwide or even globally, the

differences in the environments,

conditions, and uses have to be

considered for them to be a success.

For example, a manufacturer of a

certain type of gas grill that is sold

nationally must consider the

robustness of the materials used to

make the grill. The people in

Minnesota may use the grill in the

summer only and it is stored in the

garage in the winter where the

temperature falls to freezing. The

consumers in Arizona use the grill

year round and it is stored on the

deck where it is subject to sunlight,

rain and higher temperatures. The

manufacturer must make sure that

the grill can withstand both

conditions. If the freezing

temperature cracks the valve

connection or if the heat causes the

lid to deform, they will lose the

potential buyers in the respective

area.
Conclusion

Robust design is designing a way to

make the final product consistent

when the process is subject to a

variety of “noise”. This can be done

through a variety of experimentation

methods. The results are capable of

showing how to develop a product/

process that will be robust. The

advantages of robust design are that

the products are of good quality,

cheaper, and more customer friendly

than their non-robust counterparts.

Although there are disadvantages,

having a robust product design can

give companies a large competitive

edge.
 3.5 Collaborative Product
development

th
In the beginning of the 20 century,

Henry Ford introduced a product

development management style that

still influences our way of managing

product development in the Western

World. The hierarchical management

system of organizations builds upon

the fact that top management knows

what is needed to be done and how.

Top management then uses the chain

of command to lead and guide the

activities with precision in order to

produce a product as quickly and cost

efficiently as possible. Technological

advances in the 1940-50's resulted in

projects becoming more complex and

the. US military developing Systems

Engineering and Concurrent

Engineering in order to manage the

large scale, complex, product

development projects which they

undertook. The product architecture

and the development activities

needed to be connected and

coordinated in order to oversee the

whole of the development and

produce a product in a short period

of time. During the 1970's, Pahl and

Beitz introduced a systematic

approach to Engineering Design in

order to improve the design approach

and methods used by engineering

designers. They introduced a

systematic approach to product

development in the form of a
1
methodology . Several more

researchers followed, developing the

methodology further.

In the 1980's, Freddy Olsson

introduced a new approach for

product development management

focusing on the collaborative aspect

of product development. Product

development was seen as a social

process that needed to be

coordinated, as well as the

development of the product

architecture. Andreasen and Hein

followed in the late 1980's,

introducing the concept of Integrated

Product Development. Later, Cooper

introduced and trademarked the

Stage Gate Model in order to give top

management of large corporations a

better ability to manage the product

development process. The Stage

Gate Model was based on a resource

management model developed by

NASA in the 1960s, and was called

PPP (Phased Project Planning). It has

been called the world's first stage

gate model.

Problem Statement

th
On the 25 of January, 2007, a

fellow PhD student (today a PhD) and

I held a workshop addressing current

and future industrial challenges

within product development with 19

representatives from nine large

companies located in the surrounding

area of Stockholm, Sweden. The area

of most interest, and the most

frequently discussed topic, was about

collaboration, i.e. the issue of

collaboration within the company as

well as outside the company. The

common conclusion in the workshop

was that while the technological

aspects of product development can

often be solved by the organisations

themselves, there is a great need for

external thoughts and support

regarding the aspect of collaboration

within product development.

This conclusion is supported by the

literature which describe that

organizations find themselves in a

situation where they need to

continuously improve the

performance of the product

development process in order to stay

ahead or even keep up with

competitors. The process of

developing and producing a product

is a knowledge-intense activity

influenced by many actors and

affecting many actors in the

organization. This kind of process has

both quantitative and dynamic

complexity that, if not treated as

different interacting systems, is

difficult for people in the organization

to manage. These systems are

broken down into sub systems and

dependencies are managed as a

whole. This is done in order to realize

a desired level of organizational

performance. Each decision made

must be related to the overall

competitiveness of the organization

as a whole. Haffey states: “...

organizations must address and

overcome situations where

departmental functions and activity

resources optimize their solutions or

outputs to satisfy goals that do hot

reflect or contribute to the

satisfaction of the higher-order goals

associated with an organization. In

order to promote the degree of

integration attained throughout an

organizational system, each

individual process, activity, resource

and decision must be considered

from a more holistic organizational

perspective and subsequently be

coalesced effectively within the

organization system in order to

realization of desired degree of

organisational performance”. support

the

According to Yates, a lack of

understanding of the nature of

decisionmaking in organizations is

the problem. This results in a

behavioral pattern of failure-prone

decision-making strategies and

tactics that in turn impact on the

performance of the product

development process. Currently,

there is no methodology or methods

available to “process improvers” in

product development that focus on

decision-making fundamentals in

order to improve the performance of

decisions made within the product

development process. Yates

describes a suitable analogy: “At a

superficial level, everyone

understands what hitting golf ball

entails. (“You just swing that stick,

right?”) At a similar level of

superficiality, everybody knows what

decision problems are and what

solving them entails. Unfortunately,

superficial understanding typically is

insufficient for guiding intelligent and

effective efforts to either strike golf

balls or manage decisions. Also

unfortunately, all too often,

managers have no more than a vague

grasp of the true nature of decision

problems and processes”.

In summary, this thesis concludes

that there is a lack of knowledge of

collaborative product development

process improvements that focus on

generic decision-making abilities in

relation to overall process

performance. In order to support

product development process

improvements, it is important to

develop knowledge about how the

collaborative decision-making

process can be viewed holistically (as

a system) and include its relation to

performance. This is the main
focus and the identified problem

area of the research presented in

this thesis.

Objective

Based on the problem statement, the

objective of this research is to

enhance the knowledge of

collaborative product development

process improvements that focus on

generic decision-making abilities in

relation to overall process

performance.

The approach in this research is to

view decision-making from a

fundamental level and investigate the

implications it has on process

improvement efforts. The analysis is

conducted in order to understand the

nature and success of the overall

decision-making ability of groups of

actors. The aspect of what decision-

making success is and how to

measure the success in order to

improve decision-making is an

important part of this research.

Further, the relationship between

decision-making success and product

development process success is vital

to clarify in order to create a

decision-making system within a

product development context.

This research investigates the

concept of collaborative decision-

making, which includes knowledge

from research areas outside

engineering design. Except for

engineering design science,

organizational and decision science,

for example, will be investigated in

order to gain knowledge of

organizational decision-making
models and behavior to apply in

collaborative product development

process improvements.

3.6 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Explain the term Product

Architecture

2. What is robust product design?

 UNIT- IV
4.1 Project Definition

4.2 Project management

4.3 Project Proposal

4.4 Human aspects and Pre-

Requisites

4.5 Review Questions

4.1 PROJET DEFINITION

In contemporary business and

science a project is defined as a

collaborative enterprise, involving

research or design, that is carefully

planned to achieve a particular aim.

Projects can be further defined as

temporary rather than permanent

social systems or work systems that

are constituted by teams within or

across organizations to accomplish

particular tasks under time

constraints.

Engineering project
Engineering projects are, in many

countries, specifically defined by

legislation, which requires that such

projects should be carried out by

registered engineers and/or

registered engineering companies.

That is, companies with license to

carry out such works as design and

construction of buildings, power

plants, industrial facilities,

installation and erection of electrical

grid networks, transportation

infrastructure and the like.

The scope of the project is specified

in a contract between the owner and

the engineering and construction

parties. As a rule, an engineering

project is broken down into design

and construction phases. The outputs

of the design process are drawings,

calculations, and all other design

documentation necessary to carry out

the next phase. The next phase

would normally be sending the

project plans to a developer who will

then help construct the plans

(construction phase).
 4.2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

Project management is the

application of knowledge, skills,

tools, and techniques to project

activities to meet project

requirements. Project management is

accomplished through the use of the

following 5 processes:

• Initiation

• Planning

• Execution

• Controlling

• Closure
The project team manages the

various activities of the project, and

the activities typically involve:

• Competing demands for: scope,

time, cost, risk, and quality.

Managing expectations of

stakeholders.

• Identifying requirements.

It is important to note that many

of the processes within project

management are iterative in nature.

This is partly due to the existence

of and the necessity for progressive

1
elaboration in a project throughout

the project life cycle; i.e., the more

you know about your project, the

better you are able to manage it.
The term “project management” is

sometimes used to describe an

organizational approach to the

management of ongoing operations.

This approach treats many aspects

of ongoing operations as projects to

apply project management

techniques to them. A detailed

discussion of the approach itself is

outside the scope of this document.

Project Management Knowledge

Areas

The Project Management Knowledge

Areas describes project management

knowledge and practice in terms of

the various component processes.

These processes have been organized

into nine knowledge areas, as

described below and as illustrated in

figure below.

Project Integration Management

describes the processes required to

ensure that the various elements of

the project are properly coordinated.

It consists of project plan

development, project plan execution,

and integrated change control.

Project Scope Management

describes the processes required to

ensure that the project includes all

the work required, and only the work

required, to complete the project

successfully. It consists of initiation,

scope planning, scope definition,
scope verification, and scope change

control.

Project Time Management

describes the processes required to

ensure timely completion of the

project. It consists of activity

definition, activity sequencing,

activity duration estimating, schedule

development, and schedule control.

Project Cost Management

describes the processes required to

ensure that the project is completed

within the approved budget. It

consists of resource planning, cost

estimating, cost budgeting, and cost

control.

Project Quality Management

describes the processes required to

ensure that the project will satisfy

the needs for which it was

undertaken. It consists of quality

planning, quality assurance, and

quality control.
Project Human Resource

Management describes the

processes required to make the most

effective use of the people involved

with the project. It consists of

organizational planning, staff

acquisition, and team development.

Project Communications

Management describes the

processes required to ensure timely

and appropriate generation,

collection, dissemination, storage,

and ultimate disposition of project

information. It consists of

communications planning,

information distribution, performance

reporting, and administrative

closure.
Project Risk Management

describes the processes concerned

with identifying, analyzing, and

responding to project risk. It consists

of risk management planning, risk

identification, qualitative risk

analysis, quantitative risk analysis,

risk response planning, and risk

monitoring and control.

Project Procurement Management

describes the processes required to

acquire goods and services from

outside the performing organization.

It consists of procurement planning,

solicitation planning, solicitation,

source selection, contract

administration, and contract

closeout.
In project management a project

consists of a temporary endeavour

undertaken to create a unique

product, service or result. Another

definition is a management

environment that is created for the

purpose of delivering one or more

business products according to a

specified business case.

Project define target status at the

end of the project, reaching of which

is considered necessary for the

achievement of planned benefits.

They can be formulated Specific,

Measurable (or at least evaluable)

achievement, Achievable (recently

Agreed-to or Acceptable are used

regularly as well), Realistic (given

the current state of organizational

resources) and Time terminated

(bounded) (SMART). The evaluation

(measurement) occurs at the project

closure. However a continuous guard

on the project progress should be

kept by monitoring and evaluating.

It is also worth noting that SMART

is best applied for incremental type

innovation projects. For radical type

projects it does not apply as well.

Goals for such projects tend to be

broad, qualitative, stretch/unrealistic

and success driven.

SCOPE

Most literature on project

management speaks of the need to

manage and balance three elements:

people, time, and money. However,

the fourth element is the most

important and it is the first and last

task for a successful project

manager. First and foremost you

have to manage the project scope.

The project scope is the definition

of what the project is supposed to

accomplish and the budget (of time

and money) that has been created

to achieve these objectives. It is

absolutely imperative that any

change to the scope of the project

have a matching change in budget,

either time or resources. If the

project scope is to build a building

to house three widgets with a budget

of $100,000 the project manager is

expected to do that. However, if the

scope is changed to a building for

four widgets, the project manager

must obtain an appropriate change

in budgeted resources. If the budget

is not adjusted, the smart project

manager will avoid the change in

scope.

Usually, scope changes occur in the

form of “scope creep”. Scope creep

is the piling up of small changes that

by themselves are manageable, but

in aggregate are significant. For

example, the project calls for a

building to be 80,000 square feet in

size. The client wants to add a ten

foot long, 4 foot wide awning over

one bay door. That's a pretty minor

change. Later the client wants to

extend the awning 8 feet to cover the

adjacent bay. Another minor change.

Then it's a change to block the

upwind side to the covered area to

keep out the wind. Later, it's a

request to block the other end to

make the addition more symmetrical.

Eventually, the client asks for a

ceiling under the awning, lights in

the ceiling, electrical outlets, a water

faucet for the workers, some sound-

proofing, and a security camera. By

now, the minor change has become

a major addition. Make sure any

requested change, no matter how

small, is accompanied by approval
for a change in budget or

schedule or both.

You cannot effectively manage the

resources, time and money in a

project unless you actively manage

the project scope.

When you have the project scope

clearly identified and associated to

the timeline and budget, you can

begin to manage the project

resources. These include the people,

equipment, and material needed to

complete the project

SIGNIFICANCE

One of the key features of anything

that qualifies as a project is that it

has a definite start and a definite

end. In ancient days, the Egyptians

and Romans were the champions of

project management. Their projects

primarily consisted of construction of

architectural structures that had no

precedence to follow. And almost all

of their projects were long haul

projects. But still they carried out

those projects with acute precision

and accuracy.

It would have been simple for them

to achieve all that probably because

they divided a whole project into

many smaller projects and conducted

on-going project reviews. Don't you

agree?
In software project management too,

project managers should allot some

time in their project schedules for

reviews where they ask the following

fundamental but important

questions:

What is the objective of the

project?

Have we allotted the best

possible resources?

Is this the best approach or does

anyone have a better solution?

Do we need to incorporate

requirement change?

Do we need to revise the project

plan and schedule?

It is also recommended that the

project managers get an “alligator”

peer review done to catch any hidden

alligators lurking to pounce at the

end of a project. To get an alligator

review done, it is advised that the

project managers find a fellow

project manager (reviewer) who can

spend a day or two to review the

project and is not afraid of giving a

brutally honest feedback. It will then

be up to the project manager to take

a call on his peer's review feedback.

Getting a peer review done can be

really helpful. A peer review is

usually an unbiased and a fresh

perspective which can identify risks

that you may have missed out and/

or provision for any event that has

already occurred but the results of

which have not yet surfaced.

Experts advise that any project that

is longer than a year should have

more than one on-going review.

Post project reviews are more

common. It is important for project

managers and team members to take

stock of things that went well and

those that created bottlenecks at the

end of a project. The project

managers must make a list of

‘lessons learned’and document it too.

Broadly, some of the typical elements

of a post project review are:

 To prepare a feedback

mechanism for gathering the

team's response

To identify things that went well

To identify things that struggled

and created bottlenecks

To identify things that met with

failure

To compare requirement

specifications with the end result

and measure the deviation

Just like the post project review, on-

going project reviews are highly

recommended so that the same

‘lessons learned’can be implemented

within the same project to minimize

project issues pertaining to:

 Software quality

Delivery schedule

Budget

Deviation from the requirements

Overall impact on business

So much said and done for the

projects which have a definite start

and a definite end. But not all
software projects may have a start

and an end date. Many projects turn

into long-term maintenance projects
after the development stage is over.
Such projects also need reviews at
specific intervals so that the team
members have a clear picture of what
is expected of them at different
stages. Reviews will help team

members to put in their best

performance.
 4.3 PROJECT PROPOSAL

Introduction

The Project Proposal is a team

document that is much like the PR/

PMP (Project Requirement/Project

Management Plan), the CDS

(Conceptual Design Specification)

and some of the FDS (Final Design

Specification) you did in first year,

all rolled together. It provides the

following:

• background/motivation, goal,
project requirements

• alternate design solutions,

 • justification for your choice of

solution (the “design”),

• a breakdown of the design into

parts (modules)

• a set of system tests to prove the

final outcome will meet the goal

and

• a plan (budget and timeline) to

execute the design and tests by

the end of March.

Some of what you were asked for

in first year (client analysis for

example) are not explicitly asked for

here. You are expected, however, to

provide enough reasoned information

so that both your supervisor and

administrator can understand what

you are doing, why you are doing it

and the approach you will be taking.

Using this information your

supervisor and administrator should

be able to understand the project

well enough that we can help you

to detect any serious issues and to

address them during or prior to the

design review meeting.

A good project proposal takes time

to develop and involves the entire

team, the supervisor, and the

administrator, and you will probably

find that it is not easy to generate

this document. A popular

misconception is that ‘all this writing’

takes one‘ away from the ‘real’

design. In truth, producing this

document will force you to work on

your ‘real’ design all along, only at

the most abstract, highly-efficient

system level which is often quite

unfamiliar for most students and new

engineers.

Get as much help as you can from

your supervisor. Remember,

however, that it is ultimately your

project and that you, not your

supervisor, are accountable for it. It

may be helpful to think of your team

as a consulting firm with your

supervisor as the ‘expert client’ who

has a good understanding of the

problem and the background, and

your administrator as your
manager who is monitoring your

team's progress and performance.

Expectations for the Project

Proposal Document and the

Design Review

• a proposal for a system design

which will be defended and

discussed by your team

• not a final detailed design,

although the approach for

detailed design should be

understood

• understanding of possibilities

and alternatives
It is fully understood that the

final design could differ from this

proposal as the details are

worked out and certain

approaches prove problematic.

Proposal Parts and Document

Evolution,

Note the following dependencies

diagram. The links and flow should be

established.
The expectation is that you will

develop all your deliverables

iteratively. This will be done explicitly

for the Project Proposal Documents.

You will submit two drafts (A and

B) for evaluation before the final

submission; only the final submission

will be marked. The drafts give

opportunity for you to submit work,

get feedback and improve the final

deliverable; while there is no mark

for specific content being there or

being complete, the drafts must be

submitted.

Draft A is submitted early and will

be evaluated by your administrator.

Draft B is submitted before Draft A

is returned, and this second draft is

evaluated by the Engineering

Communication people (ECC). The

final version is marked by your

administrator.

The following table gives areas you

might want to target for Drafts A and

B, and what sections are expected

for the final draft. (Every submission

should have a cover page. You can

determine when you want to include

executive summary, table of

contents, conclusion, and

references.) Notes on the sections

follow

Draft A Draft B Final Draft

Section (Evaluated by (Evaluated (Marked by

Administrator) by ECC) Administrator]

Project Background

Background and X X X
Motivation

Test Document (Embedded –

separate cover page)

X X X

Project Goal X X X

Project

Requirements
X X X
Validation and

Acceptance Tests

Double click this page to view clearly

Technical Design

Possible Solutions

and Design

Alternatives X

X
Assessment of X X
Proposed Design X
X
System-level
X
overview

Module-level
descriptions

Work Plan

Gantt chart or
similar (with work

breakdown X X
structure)
X X
X
Financial plan
X X
Feasibility
Assessment

(resources, risks)
Appendices

X
Appendix A:

Student-supervisor X
agreement form
X
Appendix B: Draft
X
B Evaluation Form

(completed by

ECC)

Appendix C: Report

Attribution Table

Appendix D,E,etc.:

Authors’appendices
Submission Dates, Times,

Places

For submission dates/times/places

for drafts and final documents, see

the master schedule. Note that not

all submissions go to the same place!

Document Format & Section Details

See the Document Guidelines for

overall information on document

format and content. The following

provides brief details on each section

of the document not covered in the

general guide.
The Test Document

The Goal, the Requirements and the

Validation and Acceptance Tests

constitute a separate subsection that

will be maintained as the project

evolves. You should have a separate

cover page for the test document but

embed it in your proposal document,

then separate it out afterwards. You

will bring it to the Design Review and

the December meeting, and a copy

will be submitted with the Progress

Report and the Final Report.

The Body

In the body you will give the

background for the project, the

project goal, the project

requirements, alternative and the

selected design for the project and

overview technical details of that

selected design.

Background and Motivation

1. Describe background for about

for the level of an engineer
rd
entering 3 year. Research is

expected to support claims.

 2. Background should be enough to

support the description of the

goal and the discussion on

alternative solutions

3. Motivation can be that it is an

interesting exercise in

technology, an alternate way of

implementing an existing

technology or have some

practical, novel place in what is

available.

Project Goal
The project goal is a solution-

independent statement that

summarizes what your design project

is to achieve. If you are doing a

“proof of concept” or “scaled-down

version” or similar, say so here!

Project Requirements

Provide a list of solution-independent

target project requirements which

will be used to evaluate the success

of your project. There are three

divisions:

• Functional requirements [must-

have to fill goal]

• Constraints [legislated or client-

enforced]

• Objectives [nice to have. Traded

off against cost, time, other

objectives]
Note:

• All must be testable. If you can't

write a test, further

decomposition or specification is

needed.

• Set a project scope

(functionality) that is doable in

the time you have. Remember

about integration, testing,

deliverables and the effects of

loading of other courses.

• See the detailed section on

requirements for information

about research projects and

software projects involving

incremental development.
Validation and Acceptance

Tests
Every requirement must have at least

one associated test to confirm it

works. One test may cover several

requirements. There are usually

additional tests specified to validate

that the goal has been satisfied.

Possible Solutions and Design

Alternatives

Describe design alternatives,

comparing with the design you

choose. Develop these alternatives

before you select one.

Assessment of Proposed

Solution
Comment about the strengths,

weaknesses, and trade-offs made in

the proposed solution. What reasons

led you to choose this solution over

some of the others you explored?

This section does not need to be long,

but ensures that you can provide

some justification for your design

decisions to date.

Describing an Initial
Technical Design

This should describe how the system

works, break the system into

modules and describe the modules

including inputs and outputs. A

system block diagram is almost

always included, with labels on
the modules and the

interconnections. Indicate which

modules you are purchasing and

which you are designing.

WorkPlan

Here are the key elements of a work

plan:

• A Gantt chart or other type of

plan that indicates a schedule of

delivery of parts of your project.

Typically this will include a work

breakdown structure in the

tasks.

• A financial plan

• A Feasibility Assessment d
 4.4 HUMAN ASPECTS AND PRE-
REQUISITES

Two major kinds of problem related

to the Project Environment are:

a. personnel performance problems

b. personnel policy problems

personnel performance is difficult for

many individuals in the project

environment because it represents a

change in the way of doing business.

Individuals ,regardless of how

competent they are find it difficult

to adapt continually to a changing

situation in which they report to

multiple managers. The employee

ants only to be recognised as an

achiever and really does not care if

the project is a success or failure.

Even if the project is a failure he can

always go back to his functional area.

Another problem lies in the project-

functional interface.(reporting to two

bosses).If both the bosses are in

total agreement about the work to

be accomplished then performance at

the interface may not hamper the

performance .But if conflicting

directions are received ,then the

individual at the interface ,regardless

of his capabilities and experience,

may let his performance suffer

because of his compromising position

In TEAM formulation for project, not

much time available for all 4 phases

of teaming (forming ,storming,

norming &performing).So team

should be chosen carefully for highly

cohesive &stable team.

Functional organizations are normally

governed by unit manning documents

that specify grade and salary for the

employees. Project offices on the

other hand ,have no such regulations

because ,by definition projects are

different from each other and

therefore, require different

structures.

• In fact opportunities to grow are

faster in PM(project mgt0

• projects recognises the
individual accomplishment

• Project mgt is successful only if

the project manager and his

team are totally dedicated to the
successful completion of the
project. This requires that each

team member of the project

team and office to have a good

understanding of the
fundamental project

requirements, which include:

◦ Customer Liaison

◦ Project Direction

◦ Project Planning

◦ Project control

◦ Project Evaluation

◦ Project Reporting
• Since the above requirements

cannot be fulfilled by single

individuals,members of the

project office, as well as

functional representatives ,must

work together as a ream this

team work concept is vital to the

success of a project.

• Ultimately ,the person with the

greatest influence during the

staffing phase is the project

manager. The personal attributes

and abilities of project managers

will either attract or deter highly

desirable individuals .Project

managers must like trouble.

They must be capable of

evaluating risk and uncertainty.

• Basic characteristics of a project
manager are;

◦ ability, evaluate risk and

uncertainty

◦ willingness to take trouble.

◦ Honesty and integrity

◦ understanding of personnel
problems

◦ understanding of project
technology

◦ Business management
competence

• management principles

• communications

◦ Alertness and quickness

◦ Versatility

◦ Energy and toughness

◦ Decision making ability

Project managers must exhibit both

honesty and integrity with their

subordinates as well as line

personnel, thus fostering an

atmosphere of trust. Impossible

promises must be avoided, they

usually follow “open door” policies for

project as well as line personnel.

Project managers must have both

business management and technical

expertise, they must understand the

technical implications of a problem,

since they are ultimately responsible

for .They may have a staff of

professionals to assist them.

Because a project has a relatively

short time duration, decision making

must be rapid and effective.

Managers must be alert and quick in

their ability to perceive “red flags”

that can eventually lead to serious

problems project managers must

demonstrate their versatility and

toughness in order to keep

subordinates dedicated to goal

accomplishment.

Executives must realize that the

project manager's objectives during

staffing are to:

• Acquire the best available assets

and try to improve them

 • Provide a good working

environment for all personnel

• make sure that all resources are

applied effectively and efficiently

so that all constrains are met ,if

possible.

As project mgt began to grow and

mature, the project manager was

converted from a technical manager

to a business manager. The primary

skills needed to be an effective

project manager in the next century

will be:

• Knowledge of the business

• Risk management

• Integration skills
Very critical sill among the above

skills is risk management, however to

perform risk management effectively,

sound knowledge of the business is

required.

1. Make sure the project staff

includes a trained and

experienced manager or

requirements analyst.

2. Proactively partner with your

customer.

3. Invest in the project's

requirements process.

4. Write a project vision and scope

document.
5. Use proven requirements

elicitation techniques such as

requirements workshops and

prototyping to evolve the real

requirements and to gain buy-in

from the stakeholders.

6. Utilize an evolutionary or

incremental approach to

development, deployment, and

implementation of the

capabilities.

Use an effective mechanism to

control changes to requirements

and new requirements.

7. Use an effective automated

requirements tool to maintain

information about the

requirements.
 8. Ensure that the facts concerning

the requirements are ac curate

and that important requirements

are not omit ted. Ascertain the

rationale for every requirement

(why it is needed).

9. Conduct inspections of all

requirements-related

documents. (Inspections are a

more rigorous form of peer

review.)

10. Enlist the support and assistance

of all members of the project

staff in helping to perform

requirements work.

11. Proactively address

requirements-related risks
4.5 REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Explain the significance of

Project Proposal.

2. Explain the role of humans in

designing a project proposal

 UNIT V
5.1 Project Monitoring and

Control

5.2 Standard Types of Project

Report

5.3 Evaluation

5.4 Review Questions

5.1 PROJECT MONITORING AND

CONTROL

Introduction

A key part of effective project

management is to skillfully manage

the actual execution of the project

and ensure that it stays on track

according to the plan. This unit

discusses techniques for monitoring
and controlling the project once it is

under way.

Where Does Monitoring &

Control Fit in PM?

Before we begin discussing the

monitor and control processes, let's

see where it fits in PM by reviewing

the five project management process

groups required for any project.

A project is initiated, planned,

executed, and closed. It is regularly

and consistently monitored through

the project from initiation to closure.

• Initiating processes are

performed to define a new

project or new phase of an

existing project. A project

charter is created, stakeholders

are identified, and the project is

started.

• Planning processes are

performed to define the scope

and objectives of the project and

plans are developed to

accomplish the objectives.

During project planning the

project management
• plan and project

• documents are developed which

are used to perform the project.

• Executing Processes are

performed to accomplish the

work of the project and satisfy

the project objectives.

• Closing Processes are performed

to finalize all activities and

formally close the project or

phase.

• Monitoring & Controlling

Processes involve tracking,

 reviewing, and controlling the

progress and performance of the

project; identify required

changes to the project

management plan, as well as

taking preventive and corrective

steps.

Monitoring & Controlling

Processes

Processes for monitoring and

controlling draw upon many

knowledge areas of PM. For example,

in earlier phases of project

management you will prepare a

schedule, a communications plan,

and a risk management plan. During

the execution of the project, you will
need to direct and execute

monitoring and controlling activities

in all of these areas.

Project team monitors the project's

progress and performance to ensure

the project is being accomplished on

time, within budget and meets

specifications.

Monitor and Control Project

Work

• Performance objectives are

detailed in the project

management plan.

• Project manager
 ◦ Tracks, reviews, and

regulates the progress of the

project.

◦ Produces reports with

project performance

information regarding the

scope, cost, resource,

quality, risk and schedule.

Performance objectives are detailed

in the project management plan. The

project manager is responsible for

tracking, reviewing, and regulating

the progress of the project.

A project manager must ensure

approved project changes are

coordinated across all knowledge

areas (example: changes in project

scope may necessitate a change in

the project schedule, project budget,

etc.).

Reports are generated to provide

project performance information

regarding the scope, cost, resource,

quality, risk and schedule.

Once the clinical community

understands the project and has

bought into it, they will come up with

an astounding number of
improvements that they could want/

need. It is up to you as the PM to

control these good intensions,

analyze them for their impact on the

system, and present the impact back

to the clinical community. Once the

impact has been presented, it is up

to the clinical community to prioritize

the improvements for

implementation. It is your

responsibility to update and inform

all parties about the impact of these

changes. It is then upper
management's responsibility to

approve or disapprove the requests.

Manager. You are really trying to

managing project constraints of

scope, time, and cost can be viewed

as a juggling act.

Establishing Project Baselines

As a project manager, you will want

to establish your project baselines —

documented values that can be used

as reference points for later

comparative purposes.
Three critical baselines are the ones

we mentioned in the previous

juggling act:

• Scope: Tasks and work packages

in Work Breakdown Structure

• Time: Planned start and end

times for all work packages

• Cost: Estimated cost for each

work package

Manage Baselines with Earned

Value Management (EVM)

• Earned Value Management (EVM)

is a technique for monitoring and

controlling your scope, time, and

cost baselines.
• EVM uses, for each work package

–
 ◦ Planned values for cost and

start/end times

◦ Actual costs

◦ Estimate of how much work

was completed

• With EVM, you can calculate

variances that show you if your

project is on track.

One way to manage to your baselines

is to use Earned Value Management

(EVM). EVM is a technique for

monitoring and controlling your

scope, time, and cost baselines.

Some of the needed values for EVM

are easy to obtain – you will have

task start and end times from your

PMP. You will know actual costs. The

value that is difficult to establish is a

key one, when a task is not entirely

complete, “What percentage of the

work has really been completed?” It

can be tempting to think that a task

is 90% complete – all that is left

is some minor touching up. People

are optimistic by nature. So often,

tasks that seem nearly complete drag

on for days or even weeks longer –

trying to complete that final 10%.

EVM provides several alternative

ways to be more objective about how

much work there is on a task, and

how much realistically has been

accomplished at any point.

 PROGRESS REPORTING

As a PM, a typical and simple way to

help monitor progress is to meet with

your team to discuss performance.

At these meetings, you will:

• Have team members report on

status of all current and planned

tasks

• Review risk management plan

and risk response activities

• Compare actual performance

against plans:

• Schedule: Planned vs. actual

completion times of tasks and

deliverables

• Costs: Budgeted costs vs. actual

costs
Remember to use meetings only if

they are really the best way to

accomplish your objective s. With

global teams and external partners,

it may not be feasible or practical for

face-to-face meetings. Perhaps team

members can routinely post

performance information to a server.

Team members can be responsible

for reviewing information. Meetings

can be conducted online or on an

exception basis as needs arise.

 TRACK PROGRESS WITH GANTT
CHART

Schedule diagrams, like this Gantt

Chart, can be valuable ools to keep

track of tasks and their status Using

this chart, assume that it is July 23rd

and you are assessing the status of

the work:

• WP 1.1 is not done

• WP 1.2 has not started

• Will deliverable 1 be delayed?

• Why hasn't WP 2.1 started?

Notice how the simple visualization

provided by the Gantt chart makes it

easy to assess status and spot critical

issues that require your attention as

a PM.

This chart shows that WP 1.2

depends on the completion of WP 1.1

–because WP 1.1 is late, it is

affecting the start of WP 1.2 – this

shows how important it is to monitor

tasks closely – one late task can

cause delays throughout the entire

schedule and put the promised

delivery of products at risk.

As stated in a previous slide, you

may have to convert you tracking

method into the software of the

clinical community. Most clinicians do

not have project software. Finding

out what they have and how you can

communicate with them should be

part of your communication plan.

How to, write a structured

Project Report

The project report is an extremely

important aspect of the project. It

should be properly structured and

also necessary and appropriate

information regarding the project. No

data fields are to be exposed in the

project field.
The aim of the project is to produce

a good product and a good report

and that software, hardware, theory

etc. that you developed during the

project are merely a means to this

end. Design document has to be

progressively converted to a project

report as and when the various

stages of project are completed.

Ideally you should produce the bulk

of the report as you go along and

use the last week or two to bring it

together into a coherent document,

How to write a Project Report

A tidy, well laid out and consistently

formatted document makes for easier

reading and is suggestive of a careful

and professional attitude towards its

preparation. Remember that quantity

does not automatically guarantee

quality. A 150 page report is not

twice as good as a 75-page one, nor

a 10,000 line implementation twice

as good as a 5,000 line one.

Conciseness, clarity and elegance are

invaluable qualities in report writing,

just as they are in programming, and

will be rewarded appropriately. Try

to ensure that your report contains

the following elements (the exact

structure, chapter titles etc. is up to

you):
Title page

This should include the project title

and the name of the author of the

report. You can also list the name

of your supervisor if you wish.

IMPORTANT: Before submission you

should assemble a project directory

which contains all your software,

READMEs etc. and your project report

(source files and pdf or postscript).

Abstract

The abstract is a very brief summary

of the report's contents. It should be

about half a page long. Somebody

unfamiliar with your project should

have a good idea of what it's about

having read the abstract alone
and will know whether it will

be of interest to them.

Acknowledgements

It is usual to thank those individuals

who have provided particularly useful

assistance, technical or otherwise,

during your project. Your supervisor

will obviously be pleased to be

acknowledged as he or she will have

invested quite a lot of time

overseeing your progress.

Contents page

This should list the main chapters

and (sub) sections of your report.

Choose self-explanatory chapter and

section titles and use double spacing

for clarity. If possible you should

include page numbers indicating

where each chapter/section begins.

Try to avoid too many levels of

subheading - three is sufficient.

Introduction

This is one of the most important

components of the report. It should

begin with a clear statement of what

the project is about so that the

nature and scope of the project can

be understood by a lay reader. It

should summarize everything you set

out to achieve, provide a clear

summary of the project's

background,relevance and main

contributions. The introduction

should set the context for the project
and should provide the reader with

a summary of the key things to look

out for in the remainder of the

report. When detailing the
contributions it is helpful to provide

pointers to the section(s) of the

report that provide the relevant

technical details. The introduction

itself should be largely non-technical.

It is useful to state the main

objectives of the project as part of

the introduction. However, avoid the

temptation to list low-level objectives

one after another in the introduction

and then later, in the evaluation

section (see below), say reference to

like “All the objectives of the project

have been met...”
Background

The background section of the report

should set the project into context

and give the proposed layout for

achieving the project goals. The

background section can be included

as part of the introduction but is

usually better as a separate chapter,

especially if the project involved

significant amount of ground work.

When referring to other pieces of

work, cite the sources where they are

referred to or used, rather than just

listing them at the end.

Body of report

The central part of the report usually

consists of three or four chapters

detailing the technical work

undertaken during the project. The

structure of these chapters is highly

project dependent. They can reflect

the chronological development of the

project, e.g. design, implementation,

experimentation, optimization,

evaluation etc. If you have built a

new piece of software you should

describe and justify the design of

your program at some high level,

possibly using an approved graphical

formalism such as UML. It should also

document any interesting problems

with, or features of, your

implementation. Integration and

testing are also important to discuss

in some cases. You need to discuss

the content of these sections

thoroughly with your supervisor.

Evaluation

Be warned that many projects fall

down through poor evaluation.

Simply building a system and

documenting its design and

functionality is not enough to gain

top marks. It is extremely important

that you evaluate what you have

done both in absolute terms and in

comparison with existing techniques,

software, hardware etc. This might

involve quantitative evaluation and

qualitative evaluation such as

impressibility, functionality, ease-of-

use etc. At some point you should

also evaluate the strengths and

weaknesses of what you have done.

Avoid statements like “The project

has been a complete success and we

have solved all the problems

associated with ...! It is important

to understand that there is no such

thing as a perfect project. Even the

very best pieces of work have their

limitations and you are expected to

provide a proper critical appraisal of

what you have done.

Conclusions and Future Work

The project's conclusions should list

the things which have been learnt as

a result of the work you have done.

For example, “The use of overloading

in C++ provides a very elegant

mechanism for transparent

parallelization of sequential

programs”. Avoid tedious personal

reflections like “I learned a lot about

C++ programming...” It is common

to finish the report by listing ways

in which the project can be taken

further. This might, for example, be

a plan for doing the project better

if you had a chance to do it again,

turning the project deliverables into a

more polished end product.

Bibliography

This consists of a list of all the books,

articles, manuals etc. used in the

project and referred to in the report.

You should provide enough

information to allow the reader to

find the source. In the case of a text

book you should quote the name of

the publisher as well as the

author(s). A weakness of many

reports is inadequate citation of a

source of information. It's easy to get

this right so there are no excuses.

Each entry in the bibliography should

list the author(s) and title of the

piece of work and should give full

details of where it can be found.

Appendix
The appendices contain information

which is peripheral to the main body

of the report. Information typically

included are things like parts of the

code, tables, test cases or any other

material which would break up the

theme of the text if it appeared in

situ. You should try to bind all your

material in a single volume and

create the black book.

Program Listings
Complete program listings should

NOT be part of the report except in

specific cases at the request of your

supervisor. You are strongly advised

to spend some time looking at the

reports of previous project students

to get a feel , for what's good and

bad. All reports from the last few

years are available in hard copy form

in the CCCF and as soft copy in the

student Projects Section. These

documents are accessible only from

TIFR IP domain.

5.2 STANDARD TYPES OF PROJECT

REPORT

Most companies involved in

managing projects often have to use

multiple types of project report to

establish communication between the

managers and the performers.

However, every report takes some

time to develop, maintain, read and

follow up.
Obviously it would be much faster

and cost-effectively to use several

standard reports formats. Standard

types of report would definitely allow

simplifying the reporting process,

minimizing time waste and avoiding

misunderstandings between teams

involved in project management.

Let's find out what standard types

of project report are used most

frequently in successful companies.

If you need to learn more about

reporting and other project

management facets, visit the best

management guide.
Type 1. Status Report
Obviously the Status Report

communicates the general status of

the project to the stakeholders. This

type of report lets the stakeholders

understand the current health of the

project in terms of the key

constraints – Scope, Time, Costs, &

Quality. The Status Report also

shows the next steps on the current

project stage, the roadblocks to be

removed until the stage starts, and

the key metrics regarding

performance.

Type 2. Risk Inventory

The Risk Inventory report includes

a summary of the risks that have

been identified, analyzed and

assessed at the project planning

phase. It shows how the risks

develop during the project

implementation and what actions are

taken to prevent risk occurrence.

The Risk Inventory report gives the

reader an idea of the general project

state in terms of the risks resolved

and risks remaining. It is used to

develop the Status Report template.

Type 3. Issue Report

The Issue Report is a summary of

the issue log which documents how

the project deals with risks that have

either come to occurrence or an

unexpected event happened. It lists

the current issues and links them to

related risks. The Issue Report

focuses the reader on what is being

actively done to address the issues.

It specifies priority per issue and a

description of how to solve the issue

or how the issue has been already

solved.

Type 4. Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is a

strategic-level report that provides a

solid understanding of the project

current state, the benefits it will

deliver, and how the project fits into

existing business strategies. This

document also describes how the

project will ultimately improve the

bottom-line of the organization.

The Executive Summary report is

written objectively with reference to

actual performance measures. It is

submitted to strategists for review

and decision making. The report

serves as the basis for understanding

the current situation arid developing

solutions to move the project back to

where it should be.

5.3 EVALUATION

Evaluation involves the systematic

collection of information about the

activities, characteristic and

outcomes of an activity or action, in

order to determine its worth or merit

(Dart et al, 1998). It is a major part

of learning, and can provide a wealth

of useful information on the

outcomes of a project or action, and

the dynamics of those who undertook

the work.

Through the identification of the

highlights and lowlights of the

project, evaluation draws conclusions

which can inform future decision

making, and assist to define future

projects and policies (Patton, 1997).

Evaluation of coastal management

projects and actions are undertaken

for a number of reasons:

• To contribute information, for

example for the review of a

coastal management strategy

• To be accountable to those who

are funding the project

• As a debrief to the group on the

completion of a project

• To reflect on how you're

developing as a group or

organization, and whether you

need to improve the way things

are being done

• To review and adjust the

management methods and

techniques used in an area

• To develop the skills and

understanding of people involved

in a project by enabling them to

reflect on, and learn from, their

experiences
• To provide information for

planning future projects

• To determine the worth of a

coastal management project

• To justify and promote a

management action to the wider

community

• To create a historical record of

management success over time

• To review management methods

and techniques, and how

effective they were

• To see if the work is contributing

to the management objectives

for an area

• To determine whether you have

met project objectives.

It is important to be aware of the

reasons for undertaking an

evaluation before commencing, as

this will define how the evaluation

process should be designed, and

what outcomes are expected as a

result.

TIMING

Evaluation can take place at any time

in a project. However, the most

appropriate timing will be governed

by the nature of the project, and the

reason for carrying out the

evaluation. It will be most effective

when it is built in as a fundamental

part of your overall project, and

should be considered while the

project is being designed.

You may decide that you will:

• carry out an initial baseline

exercise against which to

compare progress at the end of

the project

• refine the project on an ongoing

basis; therefore, evaluation will

be part of your regular project

activities

• evaluate the project at agreed

milestones, for example on a tri-

monthly basis.
Apart from required reporting on the

project, the timing and intensity of a

project's evaluation is up to project

participants. Many coastal

management actions will benefit from

being evaluated over a longer period

of time, such as one to five years

after the project has been completed.

This can allow for the impacts of

management action on aspects such

as dune stability and vegetation

health to be evident.

PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

MANUAL UNDERTAKING EVALUATION

There is no one way to carry out

an evaluation, with strengths and

weaknesses apparent in most

approaches.
A suitable approach should be

developed in consultation with

stakeholders such as the community,

local government, relevant coastal

management groups,

State government or the funding

body. It is important to ensure all

relevant parties have an

understanding of the evaluation

process, and its anticipated

outcomes.

Regardless of the method or

approach, steps involved with any

evaluation should include the

following:
Design and plan the

evaluation

1. Clarify the specific purpose or

intended outcomes of the

evaluation. Why are you doing it?

Will the evaluation be in the form

of a report or a series of stories?

2. Determine the questions you

want to answer.

3. Identify stakeholders, such as

the community, local

government, coastal

management groups, State

government or funding body, and

their requirements. They may

provide you with important

guidance, which could make the

evaluation more relevant.

 4. Identify possible sources of data.

5. Identify potential methods,

approaches and techniques.

6. Agree on the evaluation purpose

and procedures including

timeframes and indicators.

7. Prepare any materials required,

such as questionnaires.

Gather information

• This may be an ongoing

requirement or staged at key

points during the project.

Analyse the information

• This may involve preparing a

report. Check that your

conclusions respond to the

outcomes which the evaluation

was originally seeking.

Use the conclusions

• Once you have evaluated the

worth or merit of your project

tell others about what you have

learned and achieved so they too

can benefit from your

experience. This can empower

others to undertake similar

projects and make their journey

easier and more enjoyable.

 EVALUATION METHODS

Once you have worked out the

questions you would like the

evaluation to answer, you need to

consider what methods to use to

collect relevant information or data.

The table below provides a list of

some available methods. Advice on

the limitations of each method is

included as well as some additional

references. It is intended to inspire

some ideas towards how to evaluate

a project. You should seek further

advice and read additional references

before undertaking your project

evaluation.
Structured interviews

Structured interviews require that all

interviewees be asked the same

questions, in the same order.

Structured interviews can be

conducted in person, and are also

often used in surveys and opinion

polls.

Interview questions must be selected

carefully as there is no room to

change the questions once the

process has commenced. The way

questions are constructed can also

introduce bias into responses, and

expert advice should be sought if you

wish to undertake a conclusive

interview.
 PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
MANUAL

Questions are of two basic types:

closed and open. Closed questions

limit the respondent to a yes/no

answer, or to indicating a rating or

ranking on a scale presented to

them. Open questions, on the other

hand, invite the respondent to

provide an opinion. Questionnaires

may contain both types of question.

Open question example: Through

your involvement with the group and

project how has your understanding

of coastal plants increased?

Closed question example: Through

your involvement with the group and

project has your understanding of

coastal plants increased:

A: significantly

B: slightly

C: not at all?

Useful further reading on structured

interviews can be found in Foddy

(1996) Constructing Questions.

Semi-structured interviews – In
person

Semi-structured interviews are

informally guided. Some questions

are predetermined and new questions

are developed from the discussion.

Questions are mainly open,
providing an opportunity for the

respondent to provide an opinion.

Semi-structured interviews are used

to understand an interviewee's

experiences and impressions.

Open question example: How

effective do you believe the group

has been in addressing the original

objectives of the project?

Patton (1990) Qualitative methods in

Evaluation and Research provides

further reading on semi-structured

interviews.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires can be filled in

person, by telephone, or by mail.

They are used to quickly obtain

information from a wide variety of

people.

Questionnaires are typically

inexpensive, can be completed

anonymously, and are easy to

compare and analyze. It is possible to

involve many people, although it may

only appeal to a certain section of

the community, and responses from

certain sections of the community

may be limited.

Useful further reading can be found

in De Vaus, D. (1995) Surveys in

social research.
Evaluation stories

Evaluation stories are based on

collecting and reviewing stories of

significant change associated with

the activity or action being

evaluated. Stories are collected from

those most directly involved in the

project.

Example question before the project:

What is the proposed project area

like at the moment? How could the

project area be improved?

Example question after the project:

What was the project area like before

the project was undertaken? How do

you believe it has changed?

Photographic history

A photographic record of the site can

be used to evoke memories of what

a place use to be like and what it

is like today, and prompt comments

and discussion useful for evaluation.

Recording may be in the form of an

evaluation story or benefit an

interview situation.5. Project

evaluation

Direct measurements

Direct measurement of an aspect of

the site is considered objective and

less prone to bias as it physically

exists (or doesn't exist). Direct

measurements can be combined with

other evaluation information.

Examples of direct measurements

are:

• plant survival rates

• increased number of local

volunteers working in the area

• a reduced incidence of vandalism

• reduced presence of weeds

• evidence of trespassing in fenced

areas

• reduction in the level of sand

blow

• degree of community support of

changes to management

direction
 • degree of implementation of

management recommendations

• land manager support and

involvement with project

Participant observation

Data is collected by listening,

watching, and documenting what is

seen and heard. Through asking

questions, and by noting comments,

behaviours and reactions, useful

information is provided to the

evaluation process.

APPRAISAL REPORT

If only you could look into the future

to visualize a project outcome and

avoid all the pitfalls and stress. If

only you could understand the

common success factors that would

help you bring your project in on-

time and on-budget. If only you could

understand the common stress

factors that could cause the project

to overrun or fail. If only you could

get an independent observation

before you started the project. If only

you could do this without high priced

consultants that give you their

opinions of a few projects they

worked on. Well now you can with

the Single Project Appraisal available

only from The Standish Group.

Single Project Assessment is a

comprehensive, yet easy way to

assess the critical elements of an

individual project to improve the

chance of your project coming in on

time and budget. Single Project

Assessment looks at and measures

all the CHAOS critical success factors

and project best practices within your

individual project profile and delivery

organization. The process is done

online completely virtual and

asynchronously with minimal

disruption and effort to your

organization.

You will learn from this engagement

the individual project success rate as

they compare to 80,000 projects and

1,000 organizations with a similar

project. Single Project Assessment

also covers time & cost overrun

percentages, and feature deficiency

rates. You will learn what attributes

give you the greatest chance of

success and which attributes give

your project the greatest stress. The

output is a custom 2-page report for

you of your specific project that will

cover the CHAOS Success Factors

and best practices. Please see the

next two pages as an example of the

report to be delivered.

5.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Explain the methodology

involved in project evaluation

2. What are the steps involved in

designing a project report?