New Product Development Process: From Idea Generation to Launch

This assignment explores the journey from ideas generation through to the launch of a new product or service. It examines the processes behind new product development (NPD) and it also considers the potential risks involved

By the end of this unit a student will be able to:

1 Explain and demonstrate processes involved in new product or service development.

2 Assess the life-cycle stage of the products or services in a company’s portfolio and evaluate whether innovation, adaption or renovation are needed fr the individual products or services.

3 Design and pitch a new or renovated product or service.

4 Demonstrate an ability to critically reflect on the skills of team working, creative development and presentation.

Team working is an important component of both learning/development and also within business/marketing functions, so one of the aims of this unit’s assessment is to create a ‘team-working environment’ that seeks to replicate real-world experiences.

You are a working for a business consulting company namely London Business Consulting (LBC) Limited. Your team has just been commissioned to develop a proposal of a new or improved product or service, in the form a creative, dynamic and detailed PITCH to the board of directors of the assigned client company. For your reference, following must be included in the PITCH:

• Overview of the company.
• New or improved product or a service proposed.
• Market opportunity for the proposed product or a service.
• Marketing strategy proposed.  
• Synopsis of the competition and industry.
• Financial overview.
• Capital/Investment required (If any).

Also, ensure that product or service is developed using the NPD including:

• Ideas generation.
• Ideas screening/selection.
• Concept Development and Testing
• Marketing Strategy
• Business analysis.
• Product development
• Testing
• Commercialization

Now that your group Presentation/ Pitch is over, you are assignment another task by the same client. You are required to prepare an individual report including the following:

1. An introduction to the organisation and partner companies (if applicable).
2. An overview of the different products and services offered in their company’s portfolio.
3. An evaluation of a range of the products and services in relation to their lifecycle stage.
4. An evaluation of how to manage the lifecycle stages and the choice of appropriate product line management choices. Provide justification for your recommended choices.  
5. Reflective statement – reflecting on the creative process, the group dynamics and the presentation/pitch that was completed in Part A. Your reflection should cover the following:

• An explanation of each of the NPD processes applied for new or improved product/service development.
• An explanation of how each stage of the process was applied and the techniques and methods used.
• What were your contributions and which part of the pitch was presented by you?
• How did the team function?
• How did the team undertake the assignment?
• How did the team organize and plan their work?
• What was the level of interaction between the team members?
• Did the group discussion enable creativity within the teamwork?
• Did the team work well together or was it dysfunctional? If the latter, how was this dysfunctionality eventually managed, if at all?
• What was the quality of the final presentation?
• With hindsight what should have been undertaken differently and why?