APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 6428 New Product Development and Service Innovation

Responsible for the course
Erik Olson

Department
Department of Marketing

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
This course is designed to expose students to the process of new product and service development and marketing’s role in working with other functional areas such as R&D, finance, and manufacturing to develop products and services that customers want and need. Please note that references to “product” development issues below can also include service products.

Learning outcome
The objective of the course is to train future marketing managers in the science of new product development, so that they can more effectively gather new ideas and turn them into profitable new products.

Prerequisites
Bachelor degree qualifying for admission to the MSc Programme

Compulsory reading
Books:
Rainey, David L. 2005. Product innovation : leading change through integrated product development. Cambridge University Press

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.
Reading and Case Packet


Recommended reading

Course outline
The design of the course is meant to encourage discussion of the issues, theories and methods that are used in firms with the best new product development practices. The following topics will be covered:

- The New Product Development (NPD) Process and its implications for new product success.
- Innovation types and service innovation.
- Putting the Voice of the Customer into NPD: marketing research for large and small firms.
- Internal Marketing: product champions, resource procurement, and the political process in NPD.
- Organizing for NPD: cross-functional teams – interacting with other functional areas of the firm.
- Financial implications: estimating the costs and revenues from a new product.
- Branding and New Products: brand champions, design elements of the brand, and brand extensions.
- New Product Launch into the Market.

Computer-based tools
It's learning

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

Students are expected to be well prepared for each discussion by reading the assigned literature and cases. Students will also be responsible for developing a new product proposal using the techniques discussed in class. This proposal will also be the basis for a short student presentation to the class, where feedback from the instructor and classmates can help in improving the final paper.

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
Your course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
- 50 % - New Product Development Proposal (group work for up to 3 students)
- 30% - Proposal Presentation
- 20% - Class Participation
All parts of the evaluation need to be passed in order to get a grade in the course.

In this course class attendence is mandatory. Unexcused absence can result in a lower score. Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

Examination code(s)
GRA 64281 continuous assessment accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 6428.

Examination support materials
Exam aids at written examiniations are explained under exam information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on examaids

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.