Teaching Chapter 4: Product Planning
Timing
This session is ideally scheduled toward the beginning of the course. In a project- based course, students are not likely to develop products within the planning constraints of a corporate structure. In this case, since the essential project material needs to be front loaded, this session may be able to wait until the second half of the course. We have successfully used this material both ways.
Objectives and Strategy
Product development teams generally begin with a project mission statement. For MBA students, this idea will relate strongly to concepts of corporate strategy. Engineering students may be more familiar with beginning a technical challenge with a list of technical requirements. It is important to use this session to explain the cross-functional planning process which develops the product development team's mission statement. This is also a good opportunity to discuss the broader, multiple-product, multiple-project context of product development in established firms.
Session Outline
The session can be divided into five parts:
Product Development Opportunities
This brief part of the session is a discussion of sources of product development opportunities, including:
This process is generally handled by a planning staff which collects, documents, and reviews opportunities on a regular basis.
Market Competition
It is helpful to present and discuss examples of the graphical methods used to plan products with respect to the competition:
The Xerox Lakes examples can be used or examples from other companies.
Technology
The concept of technology S-curves is very powerful. (See Exhibit 4-5) Students will readily accept that the concept applies to almost every industry. It is useful to draw and discuss examples of S-curves with the class. It is also useful to debate what dimensions of product performance should be on the vertical axis. Sometimes we need to represent two dimensions of performance simultaneously.
Also discuss the use of a technology roadmap (see Exhibit 4-7). One critical point to bring up here is the link between the product plans and research planning across the R&D organization.
Portfolio Planning
Discuss the difference between a product and a platform. When is a platform appropriate? When is a new platform necessary?
Then discuss how to achieve a balanced portfolio. The product-process change map (see Exhibit 4-8) is a method worthy of a deep discussion about aggregate planning. What should the portfolio look like for different types of firms? For Xerox?
Mission Statements
Finally, a discussion of how to develop a mission statement for each project is important. (See Exhibit 4-10) Discuss the essential elements of the mission statement, particularly the role of assumptions and constraints. It is great to show an example of a mission statement from a real project. We have also shown a video at this point, used by a project team to explain the team’s mission to new team members.
In-Class Exercise
An interesting exercise to use in class is based on a case study. Assign a reading describing a company’s new product line. Structure a discussion around the product plan which may or may not be evident from the product platform presented in the article.
Another successful exercise can be based on the concept of S-curves. Ask the class to draw S-curves for a particular industry with which everyone is familiar. Choosing an industry such as fast food can yield a good discussion. What are the disruptive technologies here? What dimensions of performance are affected?
This session is ideally scheduled toward the beginning of the course. In a project- based course, students are not likely to develop products within the planning constraints of a corporate structure. In this case, since the essential project material needs to be front loaded, this session may be able to wait until the second half of the course. We have successfully used this material both ways.
Objectives and Strategy
Product development teams generally begin with a project mission statement. For MBA students, this idea will relate strongly to concepts of corporate strategy. Engineering students may be more familiar with beginning a technical challenge with a list of technical requirements. It is important to use this session to explain the cross-functional planning process which develops the product development team's mission statement. This is also a good opportunity to discuss the broader, multiple-product, multiple-project context of product development in established firms.
Session Outline
The session can be divided into five parts:
- Product development opportunities.
- Market competition.
- Technology.
- Portfolio planning.
- Mission statements.
Product Development Opportunities
This brief part of the session is a discussion of sources of product development opportunities, including:
- Marketing/Sales
- Research/Technology Development (Xerox PARC)
- PD Teams
- Manufacturing
- Customers
- Suppliers
- Other business groups (Xerox Supplies Division)
This process is generally handled by a planning staff which collects, documents, and reviews opportunities on a regular basis.
Market Competition
It is helpful to present and discuss examples of the graphical methods used to plan products with respect to the competition:
- Product Plan (Exhibit 4-2)
- Segment Map (Exhibit 4-4)
The Xerox Lakes examples can be used or examples from other companies.
Technology
The concept of technology S-curves is very powerful. (See Exhibit 4-5) Students will readily accept that the concept applies to almost every industry. It is useful to draw and discuss examples of S-curves with the class. It is also useful to debate what dimensions of product performance should be on the vertical axis. Sometimes we need to represent two dimensions of performance simultaneously.
Also discuss the use of a technology roadmap (see Exhibit 4-7). One critical point to bring up here is the link between the product plans and research planning across the R&D organization.
Portfolio Planning
Discuss the difference between a product and a platform. When is a platform appropriate? When is a new platform necessary?
Then discuss how to achieve a balanced portfolio. The product-process change map (see Exhibit 4-8) is a method worthy of a deep discussion about aggregate planning. What should the portfolio look like for different types of firms? For Xerox?
Mission Statements
Finally, a discussion of how to develop a mission statement for each project is important. (See Exhibit 4-10) Discuss the essential elements of the mission statement, particularly the role of assumptions and constraints. It is great to show an example of a mission statement from a real project. We have also shown a video at this point, used by a project team to explain the team’s mission to new team members.
In-Class Exercise
An interesting exercise to use in class is based on a case study. Assign a reading describing a company’s new product line. Structure a discussion around the product plan which may or may not be evident from the product platform presented in the article.
Another successful exercise can be based on the concept of S-curves. Ask the class to draw S-curves for a particular industry with which everyone is familiar. Choosing an industry such as fast food can yield a good discussion. What are the disruptive technologies here? What dimensions of performance are affected?