Question

This task requires you to critically evaluate the new product development practice of your own organization or an organization that would like to work with. (If you do not have direct access to an organization you can complete this task with using secondary research).

Your task:

• • 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 organization you have chosen to study.
  • Prepare a detailed analysis of the organization’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 customer, suppliers and/or company employees.
  • 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. 

Rationale

This assignment is designed to give you the opportunity to examine in detail how new product development works in practice. Focusing on a particular organisation gives you the opportunity to appreciate how the particular context that a business operates in will influence the way it conducts new product development.