Undergraduate Course: New Product Development (BUST10125)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The aims of this course are to examine the activities and competencies associated with the development of new products in firms, and to provide students with technical and practical knowledge and skills required to engage in new product development projects.
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| Course description |
The course will cover the process of new product development in established firms. The content will broadly cover the following topics: the role of new forms of product & service innovations in firms and their contribution to the firms competitive advantage; and the activities involved in the development of new product starting with opportunity development and concept generation up to product testing.
Syllabus
Lecture 1 - Introduction to product and service innovation
Lecture 2 - Opportunity identification and identifying customer needs
Lecture 3 - Concept generation & product specification
Lecture 4 - Concept selection & testing
Lecture 5 - Product architecture & prototyping
Lecture 6 - Product and service design
Lecture 7 - Design for 'x' approaches
Lecture 8 - Student presentations
Lecture 9 - Product development economics
Lecture 10 - "Best practices" in managing new products and services
Student Learning Experience
The course is organised around 10 sessions of 2 hours each. Teaching will include lectures, product development exercises, case studies and group work. Students will be expected to read the material in advance of the meeting, as outlined on Learn. Most of the activities during the meetings will be focused on application of theoretical concepts to case examples, and will rely heavily on interactive group work.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A pass in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (BUST08015) or equivalent.
Visiting students should have at least 3 Business Studies courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand and discuss key concepts and principles concerning the role of product and service innovation and their contribution to generate competitive advantage in firms.
- Understand and discuss key concepts and principles concerning the activities and competencies involved in new product development.
- Understand and discuss key concepts and principles concerning- the range of tools and methods that are used to manage new product development.
- Analyse the set of potential innovation triggers and strategically select those opportunities that fit with the organisational resources and strategies.
- Critically evaluate the role of design in product development, and the ability to address costs issues through better design decisions.
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Reading List
Essential reading
The course main textbook is:
Ulrich, Karl & Eppinger, Steven (2012) Product Design and Development, Fifth edition, McGraw-Hill. (additional resources available at: http://www.ulrich-eppinger.net )
Key Journal: Journal of Product Innovation Management
Recommended additional readings:
Crawford, M. and Di Benedetto, A. (2011) New products management, McGraw Hill International
Verganti, R. (2009) Design driven innovation: Changing the rule of competition by radically innovating what things mean, Harvard Business Press, Boston
Von Stamm, B. (2008) Managing innovation, design and creativity, 2nd edition, Wiley
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills and techniques specific to new product / service development:
- scanning and searching the organisational environment
to identify opportunities for innovations;
- analysing the set of potential innovation triggers and
strategically select those opportunities that fit with the
organisational resources and strategies;
- recognising the steps involved in the development of the
new products and services innovation within the
organisation;
- recognise the role of design in product development, and
the ability to address costs issues through better design decisions
- understand the influence of external and internal factors
on the economic value of a new product development
project
- learn to reflect and review the process to identify critical
success factors in product development processes;
Practical and transferable skills:
- managing independent study (reading to support and
elaborate ideas presented in lectures and discussed in
seminars);
- working in small groups in undertaking seminar activities;
- undertaking deductive and inductive reasoning;
- assessing the reasoning of others by engaging in debates;
- writing reports as part of the assessment
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| Keywords | NPD |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Raluca Bunduchi
Tel: (0131 6)51 5544
Email: Raluca.Bunduchi@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Anne Cunningham
Tel: (0131 6)50 3827
Email: Anne.Cunningham@ed.ac.uk |
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