New Product Development: Models & Factors For Success In NPD- Report Writing Assignment

Internal Code: 1GIHE

Report Writing Assignment:

Task: This task requires you to critically evaluate the new product development practice of your own organisation or an organisation that would like to work with. (If you do not have direct access to an organisation you can complete this task using secondary research). Your task: 1. Drawing on relevant literature on new product (or service) development models and factors for success in NPD - identify and discuss in detail critical success factors and issues that are relevant to the organisation you have chosen to study. 2. Prepare a detailed analysis of the organisation's new product development practices, discussing in detail areas of strength and weakness. Make sure that you include in this discussion any specific details of the organizational context or industry context that are relevant for your analysis. As well as making your own observations, you can draw on interactions and conversations you may have had with relevant parties such a customers, suppliers and/or company employees. 3. Finally make detailed recommendations for areas in which the company could improve their new product development practice. It is important in this section that you justify your recommendations by linking back to your earlier analysis and relevant NPD literature that you have previously discussed. Assessment task 4 provides the opportunity for you to share findings from your assignments, gain further insights into NPD and NSD in a variety of contexts, and reflect on and consolidate your learning on new product development success factors. Participation is compulsory in Week 13 where you will discuss assessment item 4 with your peers. Task 4A: Individual presentation  Your task is to reflect on your experience in completing Assessment 3 (individual report on NPD practices) and draw out a number of key issues to present to your colleagues in a short, snappy but insightful presentation. This will be an in-class group presentation.  Instructions regarding numbers in groups and makeup of groups will be provided in class. Your presentation needs to include: A. Brief background to company/market B. Key issues that came out of your critical analysis of an organisation's new product development practice C. Recommendations for improvement D. Personal comments on what you learnt. E. Commentary that reflects an understanding of relevant NPD or NSD theory Part B: Individual reflection Your task in assessment 4B is to reflect on and write about how your understanding of new product or service development has been developed and/ or changed by the presentations (Task 4A) on new product development practices and success factors across a variety of organisations. Consider what you have become aware of/ or had reinforced by completing your own presentation as well as listening to those of others. Underpin you discussion with reference to relevant NPD theory. Your reflection on NPD should focus on the differing perspectives and contexts provided by your class members (What did you learn from each other? What new insight or opinion was offered?), as well as similarities and differences in key aspects of new product development practice between the organisation you studied and the organisations studied by your fellow students.