Exam 10: Developing and Managing Products

SCENARIOS Jabra Corporation After years of development and testing,Jabra Corporation of San Diego,California,unveiled the Jabra 1000 ear-bud phone.The entire device fits in your ear.It resembles those tiny in-ear speakers that let you listen to a Walkman in private--except that Jabra's unit is a transmitter as well.It picks up your voice by amplifying sound vibrations in your bones.Therefore,there's no microphone boom to jut out in front of your face.Because the bone vibrations must be amplified,a special chip in the part of the system that connects to the base of your phone uses noise-cancellation technology to screen out background sounds.This anti-noise chip generates a mirror image of outside noises,and the colliding sound waves erase each other.The main electronics package--about the size of a deck of cards--also monitors the quality of the phone line and automatically raises the volume of voice transmissions when the connection is weak.This tech-talk isn't cheap: the ear-bud phone lists for $329. -Refer to Jabra Corporation.The Jabra 1000 is technically advanced and somewhat difficult for people to understand.Thus,the _____ of the product may affect the rate of diffusion.

Reynolds,the manufacturer of aluminum foil,developed plastic wrap in an array of different festive colors.This is an example of a new product.

The main goal of the global product development process is to:

SCENARIOS Jabra Corporation After years of development and testing,Jabra Corporation of San Diego,California,unveiled the Jabra 1000 ear-bud phone.The entire device fits in your ear.It resembles those tiny in-ear speakers that let you listen to a Walkman in private--except that Jabra's unit is a transmitter as well.It picks up your voice by amplifying sound vibrations in your bones.Therefore,there's no microphone boom to jut out in front of your face.Because the bone vibrations must be amplified,a special chip in the part of the system that connects to the base of your phone uses noise-cancellation technology to screen out background sounds.This anti-noise chip generates a mirror image of outside noises,and the colliding sound waves erase each other.The main electronics package--about the size of a deck of cards--also monitors the quality of the phone line and automatically raises the volume of voice transmissions when the connection is weak.This tech-talk isn't cheap: the ear-bud phone lists for $329. -Refer to Rapala.As a global marketer,Rapala uses a one product-one message strategy.This means it:

Market researchers have determined nine categories of lifestyles for computer users.One of the categories is described as "Hand-Shakers," who are typically managers who do not possess any computer skills but rather allow their assistants to provide all necessary technological knowledge.In terms of the diffusion process,"Hand-Shakers" would most likely be classified as _____ for office technology.

SCENARIOS Jabra Corporation After years of development and testing,Jabra Corporation of San Diego,California,unveiled the Jabra 1000 ear-bud phone.The entire device fits in your ear.It resembles those tiny in-ear speakers that let you listen to a Walkman in private--except that Jabra's unit is a transmitter as well.It picks up your voice by amplifying sound vibrations in your bones.Therefore,there's no microphone boom to jut out in front of your face.Because the bone vibrations must be amplified,a special chip in the part of the system that connects to the base of your phone uses noise-cancellation technology to screen out background sounds.This anti-noise chip generates a mirror image of outside noises,and the colliding sound waves erase each other.The main electronics package--about the size of a deck of cards--also monitors the quality of the phone line and automatically raises the volume of voice transmissions when the connection is weak.This tech-talk isn't cheap: the ear-bud phone lists for $329. -Refer to Rapala.Fishing lures are most likely in the _____ stage of their product life cycle.

Profits typically reach their peak during the growth stage of the product life cycle.

The Sumatra Coffee Company has two new products.One is a simple hand-cranked coffee grinder.The other is a combination grinder and brewer that also can be used to dispense hot milk.Of these two,the hand-cranked grinder will probably be diffused more quickly because it is less complex.

SCENARIOS Jabra Corporation After years of development and testing,Jabra Corporation of San Diego,California,unveiled the Jabra 1000 ear-bud phone.The entire device fits in your ear.It resembles those tiny in-ear speakers that let you listen to a Walkman in private--except that Jabra's unit is a transmitter as well.It picks up your voice by amplifying sound vibrations in your bones.Therefore,there's no microphone boom to jut out in front of your face.Because the bone vibrations must be amplified,a special chip in the part of the system that connects to the base of your phone uses noise-cancellation technology to screen out background sounds.This anti-noise chip generates a mirror image of outside noises,and the colliding sound waves erase each other.The main electronics package--about the size of a deck of cards--also monitors the quality of the phone line and automatically raises the volume of voice transmissions when the connection is weak.This tech-talk isn't cheap: the ear-bud phone lists for $329. -Refer to Music Industry.The time from the 1940s through the 1960s corresponds to which stage of the product life cycle for phonograph records?

Top managers at a company that publishes regional magazines considered making maps,but then decided maps were not within the company's corporate mission.Which stage of the new-product development process did its new-product development process reach?

Canesta has developed a virtual keyboard out of light to be used with cell phones and personal digit assistants.The product beams an image of a keyboard on a desk,allowing the user to type on the image.The words are picked up by the user's digital device.In a meeting with Canesta corporate officials,you (a leading marketing consultant)are asked if the new virtual keyboard will be quickly accepted by the U.S.consumer.You tell them that this depends on many product characteristics--as a matter of fact all of the following EXCEPT:

A company finds out that members of its target market are likely to collect more information and evaluate more brands than early adopters.They are cautious and thoughtful and do not try the product without asking someone else.The customers' dominant characteristic is deliberateness.In terms of the diffusion process,these customers are most likely:

The process by which the executives at a large multinational company based in New York learned about a company called 25^th Hour that provides personal assistants who will run errands for a charge of $17 per hour,is an example of:

Diffusion is the process by which the adoption of an innovation spreads.

The development of a strawberry-flavored cake mix by Duncan Hines would not be considered a new product since the company was already making cake mixes.It would simply be called a line extension.

SCENARIOS Jabra Corporation After years of development and testing,Jabra Corporation of San Diego,California,unveiled the Jabra 1000 ear-bud phone.The entire device fits in your ear.It resembles those tiny in-ear speakers that let you listen to a Walkman in private--except that Jabra's unit is a transmitter as well.It picks up your voice by amplifying sound vibrations in your bones.Therefore,there's no microphone boom to jut out in front of your face.Because the bone vibrations must be amplified,a special chip in the part of the system that connects to the base of your phone uses noise-cancellation technology to screen out background sounds.This anti-noise chip generates a mirror image of outside noises,and the colliding sound waves erase each other.The main electronics package--about the size of a deck of cards--also monitors the quality of the phone line and automatically raises the volume of voice transmissions when the connection is weak.This tech-talk isn't cheap: the ear-bud phone lists for $329. -Refer to Jabra Corporation.The Jabra 1000 described above is what type of new product?

Until the mid-1990s,MGP Ingredients,Inc.,sold ethanol and animal feed.A steep drop in its sales led the company to focus on developing the first low-carb proteins and starches.The company was able to use existing manufacturing equipment to develop these food additives in response to the growing popularity of the Atkins Diet and similar food regimens.The realization that MGP could use the popularity of the Atkins Diet as a catalyst for success would have occurred in which stage of the new-product development process?

Describe how a multinational corporation can most efficiently and effectively meet the needs of the global market.

Razor scooters gained instant popularity because walkers and runners frequently saw people on the scooters zipping by them and it looked like the users were having fun.This information suggests the adoption rate of the Razor scooter was most affected by which product characteristic?

A personal care item such as a new flavor of dental floss may have a slow rate of adoption because it is not a highly visible item in homes.Also,this item is not often discussed among friends and coworkers.This is an example of how the characteristic of _____ can work to slow the adoption process.