Prof. Marco Iansiti
Harvard Business School
Career Focus The course is intended for a broad set of business careers in which the conceptualization, design and development of new products plays an important role. This includes careers in the management of product development, marketing, manufacturing and strategic planning, as well in the general management of product-based businesses. The course is designed for a broad audience (not just engineers), although students with an engineering background should find it a broadening and enriching experience.
Educational Objectives The course focuses on the processes that companies use to conceive, design, and develop new products. It examines the full range of activities in the design and development process, including laying a foundation of knowledge and capability; creating new product or process concepts; integrating marketing, manufacturing, and engineering; and the commercial introduction of new products. The issues in the course cut across functional boundaries; we deal with problems in industrial design, marketing, manufacturing, science, and engineering. Our concern is with the managerial skills and capabilities needed in effective practice.
In addition to case discussions and lectures, the course includes hands-on, team-based exercises in design and development. The centerpiece of the course is a "live" project in which student teams conceptualize and design a new product. Teams will work on actual products and design problems in real companies and will present their work to the companies involved at a "design fair" which concludes the course.
Content and Organization Managing Product Development is divided into four parts. The first part of the course focuses on laying the foundations for product development. We will introduce concepts and frameworks that will be used throughout the course. In addition, students will have opportunity to participate in a development exercise that will introduce them to the basic challenges in product development. The second part of the course covers the building blocks of product development. We introduce the fundamental activities, tools and processes that characterize design and development. The teams will start the design projects at this time. The third part of the course deals with the organization and management of development processes, including project management and the integration of marketing, manufacturing, and engineering. The final module focuses on linking product and process development to business strategy through the creation of a development strategy. The presentation of the results of the design projects concludes the course.
Required Book: K. B. Clark and S. C. Wheelwright, Managing New Product and Process Development, text and cases (The Free Press: New York, 1993).
Case List: (not included in above)
The Final Voyage of the Challenger 9-691-037, Rev. 6/91
Texas Instruments, Inc.: Educational Products 9-683-001, Rev. 10/84
McAlisdaire Imaging, PLC: AE-1 Project (A) 9-690-069, Rev. 11/91
Honeywell Residential Division: New Product Development 9-689-035, (no rev. date; ©1989)
Becton Dickinson: Advanced Diagnostics Division 9-693-100, Rev. 5/93
NEC 9-693-095, Rev. 12/93
Microsoft Corporation: Office Business Unit 9-691-033, Rev. 5/93
Fiat (A) N9-694-041, Rev. 4/94
Fiat (B) N9-694-042, Rev. 4/94
1. Monday 24 January
We will dedicate the introductory session of the course to a discussion of what drives outstanding design. The session will focus around a set of concrete product examples. These will be used to shed some light on the managerial causes for product development success and failure. No case preparation is required. Instead the assignment is for you to reflect on examples of good and bad design that you have encountered during your lifetime, and to bring to class either:
or:
(2) An example of poor design: a product you really hate.
I would prefer if you bring the actual product to class. However, if the product is not easily transportable (say, if it is an airplane, or a favorite toy from your youth) please bring a picture or prepare a thorough description in words.
Questions:
2. Can you guess anything about the way your product was developed? For example, if the components fit together well, in a consistent fashion, this might indicate that the design team well integrated; if the product fits your needs well, this might indicate that the user requirements were thoroughly analyzed, etc...
3. What is your definition of good design? What do you see as the role of management in its achievement?
Suggested Reading: K. B. Clark and S. C. Wheelwright, Managing New Product and Process Development, text and cases (The Free Press: New York, 1993); Chapter 1.
2. Tuesday 25 January
Prepare: The Final Voyage of the Challenger 9-691-037, Rev. 6/91
The case is a historical account of the events that led to the space shuttle Challenger disaster. The case gives us an opportunity to examine the problem solving processes around the development of the shuttle rocket booster system, and the critical interactions between scientists, engineers, and managers immediately before launch.
Questions:
2. Why was the Challenger launched?
3. Monday 31 January
Prepare: Designing a "Satellite Launcher"
This class session provides an opportunity for students to try out their own design and manufacturing skills in a development exercise. Teams of 5-7 students will design and build a composite beam that is part of a system used to "launch" a squash ball (the "satellite"). Each team will receive a kit of materials as well as guidelines on beam design and construction. Team performance will be based on launch distance and beam weight, and will be evaluated in a contest to be held in class.
4. Tuesday 1 February
Prepare: Texas Instruments, Inc. Educational Products 9-683-001, Rev. 10/84
This case examines the development of a new consumer product based on speech synthesis technology. The case describes TI's approach to managing the development of a new product based on novel technology, including research, concept development, and engineering.
Questions:
2. Characterize their approach to: linking advanced technology to commercial applications; defining user needs; developing the concept for the new product.
3. Given the situation in May 1978, should Gene Frantz introduce the product at the Consumer Electronics Show? If so, at what price? If not, what should he do?
5. Monday 7 February
Introduction to the Design Projects
The day will be divided into a morning and an afternoon session. Because of the time involved in the afternoon session, there will be no required class assignment for Tuesday, February 8th.
Read: Design Project Assignment (to be picked up at Morgan T70, Thursday, February 3rd)
Morning Class Session (regular class time and location): This class will be devoted to a discussion of the design projects. The session will cover the following topics:
Afternoon Class Session (3:00 - 4:30; room assignment will depend on project and will be announced in the morning session): This session will be led by company participants. They will discuss the design projects in some detail and be available for questions and discussion.
Assignment: After reading your "Design Project Assignment" you should think through what questions you would like to ask the company representatives, such as what additional company-specific information you might like to have access to.
6. Tuesday 8 February
The Nature of Industrial Design
No preparation required because of afternoon session on the previous day
This class session will be led by Michael Barry and Jeneanne Marshall Rae from GVO Inc.. GVO is a leading industrial design and contract product development firm based in Palo Alto, California. Their clients have ranged from Apple to Johnson Controls, and their product designs from personal communicators to baby diapers. Michael Barry has an engineering and design background and is a Vice President, Jeneanne Rae, a recent HBS graduate, is in charge of Eastern U.S. sales.
7. Monday 14 February
The Identification of User Needs
Read: The Voice of the Customer (the note will be handed out in class; extra copies will be available from Alice Trelegan, Morgan T70 after Monday, February 7th)
Background for Assignment: Your firm, HBS Classics Inc., would like to study the customer requirements for electric tea kettles. Tea kettles are used to heat hot water for making tea or coffee. Electric tea kettles are powered by a wall outlet, and therefore offer the convenience of being usable in an office environment. HBS Classics was founded by you and four section mates on February 13th, 1994. The basic concept behind it is to provide a new distinctive line of appliances for use in the home or office. After a long and arduous board meeting last night at the Boathouse, you are now convinced that the first product should be an electric tea kettle. The initial target market will be HBS students, with subsequent expansion to other young professionals.
The next steps are to gain an understanding of the requirements of your future customers and generate some preliminary tea kettle concepts.
Assignment: Your assignment is to explore tea kettle customer needs and generate a tea kettle concept that satisfies those needs. The concepts and methodologies explored in the "Voice of the Customer" note should come in useful.
2. What other methods for identifying customer needs would you consider using if you had more time?
3. You should draw a tea kettle concept on an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. This drawing should then be Xeroxed onto a transparency, so that we can display it in class.
(Note: if you prefer, feel free to team up with other class mates and come up with a joint customer needs list and concept.)
8. Tuesday 15 February
Prepare: Great British Kettles: The UKettle Project Design Management Institute (to be distributed in class)
The case examines the development of an electric tea kettle. You should evaluate both the product design and the development process in light of your own experience identifying tea kettle customer needs and generating product concepts.
Questions:
2. What is the UKettle concept? Where did it come from? How would you evaluate it?
3. Do you think the introduction of design for disassembly in the UKettle project was a good idea? Why did they decide to do it?
9. Wednesday 16 February
No Class: Project work. You should meet with your team to work on your design project. You should focus on your team's organization. You might want to elect a project leader. Then you should begin to plan how you are going to perform the identification of customer needs, and prepare for the upcoming Project Plan Team Meeting.
10. Tuesday 22 February
Project Plan Team Meeting
No Regular Class: Project work. Instead of regular class this week you should prepare for and participate in a one hour team meeting with Prof. Iansiti. A list of possible times has been distributed in class. Call Alice Trelegan (495-6007) to schedule a time for your team. All meetings will take place in Morgan T50.
Purpose: The idea is to have a good, open discussion of design issues and approach, and help you get your project started in a productive direction. The meeting will begin with an informal presentation of your team's initial project mission and plan. We will then discuss the project's scope and nature, and brainstorm about ways in which the different aspects of the assignment might be approached.
Preparation: You should meet with your team and discuss your project assignment. Focus on assessing the scope of the project, and the nature of the challenges involved.
Use your judgment and imagination! Don't interpret the assignment from the companies too literally. You should also discuss how your team should be organized, and begin planning your project. Focus on the early project stages, particularly the identification of customer needs. If you have time, you might want to conduct a few preliminary interviews and/or focus groups, to begin to get a feel for the techniques and for your customers.
You should then generate a brief (10-20 minutes) presentation of your current plans. The presentation could include, for example:
2. Project Organization. How do you plan to organize? Who is taking over responsibility for which part of the project?
3. Rough Project Plan. A slide with a rough outline of when you plan to conclude various project phases, such as identification of basic customer needs, product concept selection, model building, etc...
4. Customer Needs Identification. How do you plan to gather customer needs information for your project? Who are you planning to interview? Which techniques are you planning to use? Why?
5. Results of early data gathering efforts. What have you discovered so far? Have you contacted any customers yet? Have you gone to Lechemere? Talked to fellow students? Talked to industry experts?
6. Questions and concerns. What issues are of particular concern to your team right now? What would you like to discuss during the rest of the meeting?
The presentation should be informal. The idea is to generate questions and issues, to give the rest of the meeting some substance, not to make it seem as though everything has been decided and done.
Meeting: The meeting will last about an hour and begin with your presentation. We will spend the rest of the time discussing possible approaches for conducting customer research and design, technology trends, or any other open issues you might have.
11. Wednesday 23 February
No Class: Project work.
12. Monday 28 February
Structured Methods Lecture & Taguchi Airplane Exercise
Prepare: Taguchi, G., and Clausing, D. "Robust Quality" Byrne, D. M., and Taguchi, S. "The Taguchi Approach to Parameter Design" (Both available from Baker 20.)
This class will be devoted to an exercise, lecture, and discussion on structured methodologies for product design, experimentation, and testing. We will use Taguchi methods to optimize paper airplane design. This will be followed by a discussion on the potential and limitations of the methodology.
Questions:
2. What is the potential of the Taguchi approach to design? What are its limitations?
13. Tuesday 1 March
Design for Manufacturability
Prepare: Ulrich, K. T. and Eppinger, S. D. "Design for Manufacturing"
This class will focus on design for manufacturing ("DFM"). It will include an exercise based on your assignment, and will wrap up the first part of the course on "Building Blocks of Product Development".
Questions:
2. What is the potential of DFM? What are its dangers?
14. Monday 7 March, and 15. Tuesday 8 March
Project Team Presentations
During this week your team will meet with Prof. Iansiti and the three other teams in your "cluster" to discuss your project experience so far. The focus should be on techniques for needs identification and on early product concepts. You will meet for one one hour and twenty minute class period, at the time and location indicated below. The other class period should be dedicated to project work.
Purpose: There are two basic objectives. The first is for you to have an opportunity to bounce the results of your early customer and concept investigations off of a broader audience. The second is for you to see what other teams have tried and discovered so far, and share your experience with them. The class discussion should be open and informal.
Preparation: Each team will have a 20 min time block for presentation and discussion. You should prepare a short (10-12 min) presentation describing your mission and your project experience so far. This should include, if available, any early tentative information on customer needs, competitive/technology assessment and any early product concepts. The rest of the 20 minute block will be spent discussing your approach, answering questions, etc....
16. Monday 21 March
Prepare: McAlasdaire Imaging, PLC: AE-1 Project (A) 9-690-069, Rev. 11/91
This case marks the beginning of the course module on product development process and organization. Chapters 6, 7 and, especially, chapter 8, in the Clark and Wheelwright book will be quite relevant to the next three cases.
Questions:
2. How would you characterize the development process used on the AE-1? What would you have done differently? Why?
3. If you were in McAllister's position (project manager on the AE-1), what would you do, especially in light of the outcome of the 22 August 1988 meeting?
17. Tuesday 22 March
Prepare: Becton Dickinson: Advanced Diagnostics Division N9-693-100
This case examines product development challenges at Becton Dickinson. The focus is on the Advanced Diagnostics Division (BDAD). The division was created to combine the expertise of the company in immunodiagnostics, to efficiently deliver products to a diverse set of markets. The case describes BDAD's model for product development and discusses in some detail the role of the program manager. This model can be contrasted with that of Quidel, a small biotech company.
Questions:
2. How would you characterize the program manager's role at BDAD? What evidence do you have?
3. Should the new format test be developed internally or at Quidel? What should Forlenza do, given his circumstances?
18. Monday 28 March
Prepare: Quantum Corporation Business and Product Teams (casebook)
Questions:
2. What is your evaluation of Quantum's progress to-date in developing and applying team concepts?
3. How effective have the major teams been? What accounts for their primary differences in effectiveness?
4. How would you recommend that Dave Brown address the team-related issues raised at the end of the case? Why? Are there other team issues that you would add as high priority on his list?
5. Develop an overall plan of action for addressing these issues. How should they be linked to other aspects of Quantum's management approach? How should they measure and track their progress in implementing that plan? (Be specific as to actions taken, their timing, and the results expected.)
19. Tuesday 29 March
Prepare: Microsoft Corporation: Office Business Unit 9-691-033, Rev. 5/94
The case focuses on the development of Word for Windows at Microsoft corporation. The project was aimed at the development of a wordprocessor for Microsoft's emerging Windows operating system, and was considered critical for the company. The project provides a view of product development in the software industry, and covers the evolution of Microsoft and its environment during the 1980s.
Questions:
2. How would you analyze the performance of Microsoft's product development process - e.g., time to market, engineering productivity, product quality, financial performance?
3. What is your overall evaluation of Microsoft's development process? What are its weaknesses? What are its strengths?
4. How should Microsoft's development process evolve in the future? What specific suggestions would you have for Jeff Raikes?
20. Monday 4 April No Class: Project work.
21. Tuesday 5 April, and 22. Wednesday 6 April
Design Reviews
During this week, you will meet with your project's company representatives for a 1 hour session. Class will not meet at the scheduled time. The timing and location of your team's design review will be handed out separately.
Purpose: The objective of the design review is for you to receive some feedback on your project from product development professionals. The idea is to give you a chance to learn from them and to discuss your team's approach and design choices. The session is not graded.
Preparation: The focus of the session is up to you. There is no fixed pre-established format that you need to follow. However, the more concrete you make the discussion, the more interesting and worthwhile it ought to be. I would suggest you prepare some materials similar in format to the one hour session we had on project planning. These materials could be focused on the status of your assessment of customer needs, technology, and on a preliminary product concept. Make sure you don't "filter" your work too much (e.g. in a series of simple bullet points, for example). You should try to communicate as much of the rich experience you have had as possible - the impressions you got from talking to customers, for example, or the uncertainties that you have at this time. Quotes can be quite useful. A picture (or a simple model) speaks a thousand words. I would encourage all of you to put your ideas on paper by drawing or constructing a preliminary product concept.
23. Monday 18 April No Class: Project work.
24. Tuesday 19 April
Prepare: NEC 9-693-095, Rev. 12/93 The case investigates a series of product development projects at NEC that built capability in the development of supercomputers. The emergence of parallel computer architectures is now threatening this capability base, however, and NEC managers are evaluating possible responses.
Questions:
2. There are three basic options for future projects to be performed by NEC's packaging engineering group. The first two focus on the requirement of developing a new traditional vector supercomputer by 1993, and a new mainframe by 1995. The third deals with the development of new parallel computer concepts. These efforts would precede a formally approved parallel computer project which would probably begin around the middle of 1992. The options focus on the bipolar packaging group which currently consists of 36 engineers. The CMOS packaging group is already stretched to its limit in developing packaging systems for laptops, personal computers and workstations over the next three to four years. These options can be outlined in some detail:
(1) Extension of the SX-3 module. The combination of polyimide and ceramics that had rendered the SX-2 and SX-3 successful could once again be stretched to provide the performance necessary for the 1993 traditional vector supercomputer and the 1995 mainframe. The project would not be easy, since the SX-3 design is already close to several limitations of the materials. The entire bipolar packaging group would essentially have to be dedicated to the effort to be certain they would finish in less than three years, as required. This would probably be the last supercomputer generation based on this module concept, given the limitations of the materials.
(2) Glass ceramic module. This option involved introducing the glass ceramic technology that had been considered as the third option in the SX-2 project. Glass ceramics had thermal and electrical characteristics that were superior to those of the materials used in the SX-2 and SX-3 projects. Scientists envisioned large performance improvements, that would suffice for at least two generations of future vector supercomputers. (IBM had recently introduced a mainframe module based on glass ceramics, which exhibited impressive performance characteristics.) This project would be an "all-out" technical effort, involving more resources than the first option. These would include at least the entire bipolar packaging group plus ten scientists from the R&D laboratory (the total number of scientists with expertise in high performance packaging.) Meeting the tight time schedule for the introduction of the 1993 vector supercomputer was a concern, but could probably be done.
(3) Feasibility study of parallel computer module. This option involved the systematic evaluation of parallel computer packaging concepts. At this point in time, there are several ways that parallel computers could evolve, since there is no established dominant design in the industry. The senior management of the firm has implied that parallel computers will eventually be manufactured in the same facility in Fuchu City as the vector machines. Additionally, the results of the software and integrated circuit studies performed so far imply that future parallel computers will probably be based on CMOS microprocessors. The challenge for NEC's packaging group will be to find a way to package between 100 and 1,000,000 of these microprocessors as close to each other as possible. There are many ways that these exploratory projects could be implemented. First, the packaging engineering group could devote some engineers to discussing and building parallel processor models. The necessary resources would depend on the number of technical approaches to be considered, involving something like six engineers for each approach. Second, NEC could initiate studies with outside suppliers. This would be expensive, however, and the packaging group would have to make a strong case for it to senior management. Third, the group could simply wait a year or two, since a full scale parallel computer project had not yet been approved. If approved, the project would not begin until 1992.
As Watari, which of the above options would you choose? Why?
25. Wednesday 20 April
Read: Mastering Chaos at the High-Tech Frontier Harvard Business Review, Nov.-Dec. 1993
Fire in the Valley Wired, Jan. 1994 The readings focus on Silicon Graphics Inc., a workstation computer company based in Silicon Valley. Its development strategy provides some interesting similarities and contrasts with that of NEC. The class discussion will be devoted to comparing the two development approaches, focusing on emerging trends in the computer industry.
Questions:
2. Compare and contrast SGI's general approach to product development to that followed by NEC in supercomputer development. What are the differences? Do you see any underlying similarities?
3. What should the ideal computer development organization of the late 1990s look like? What are the critical characteristics of an effective development process in this turbulent environment?
26. Monday 25 April No Class: Project work.
27. Tuesday 26 April
Prepare: Fiat (A) N9-694-041, April 8, 1994
The case focuses on the evolution of Fiat's development organization and on the development of a new car, the Tipo B. Paolo Cantarella, the recently appointed General Manager of Fiat Auto, needs to decide whether the proposed automobile concept should be developed further or whether the project should be redirected.
Questions:
2. What is your evaluation of the Uno project? What were its strengths and weaknesses? Why was it so successful?
3. What is your evaluation of the Tipo B project? What is your evaluation of the Tipo B's design?
4. As Cantarella, what would you do? Which option(s) would you choose? Why?
28. Wednesday 27 April
Prepare: Fiat (B) N9-694-042, April 8, 1994
The case is an update to the Fiat (A) case, and looks in some detail at the "Punto" project, which followed the Tipo B. The case also focuses on the evolution of the automobile industry as a whole, and inquires into which development capabilitites will lead to Fiat's effectiveness in the future.
Questions:
2. Is the Punto an appropriate automobile concept for the current European market?
3. What will the ideal European automobile of the future be like? Is the Punto concept consistent with this?
4. What are the next steps for Fiat's development organization? What should Cantarella do?
29. Monday 2 May Class will not meet at the regular times. The Design Fair will take place in the afternoon. The schedule is as follows:
3:00 - 4:00 Set up for design fair in Kresge. Preparation of team displays. Tables will be provided.
4:00 - 6:00 Design Fair in Kresge. The Fair will be open to the company sponsors and local guests (students, practitioners and academics).
6:00 - 7:30 Company debriefing sessions in classrooms to be announced later. This will involve an informal discussion of the lessons learned from the projects. No special preparation is required. Bring your prototypes.
7:30 - 8:30 Dinner. Pizza will be provided (warning - Kresge apparently has a monopoly on local Pizza supply, so beware).
8:30 - 9:00 Some final thoughts and comments in Aldrich 112.
30. Tuesday 3 May
This class will be devoted to summarizing the course and discussing ways in which it could be improved in the future. There is no required preparation, but please turn in one copy of your team's contract book.