Deck 7: Product Development

Question 1

All product development efforts influence the way in which firms are organized and compete.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Increasing product cycle time helps companies by increasing the amount of time that your products can be on the market before becoming obsolete.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Concurrent development helps to reduce cycle time because it requires you to complete each step in the development process before you start subsequent steps.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Concurrent development may be risky by undertaking steps of the development process before completing the prior stages of the process.

Question 5

Modularity is the degree to which a complex product can be built from smaller components.

Question 6

Although potentially beneficial, modularity can increase your cost of product development.

Question 7

A disadvantage of modularity is that is does not work well unless you can define technical standards that ensure that different components interface correctly.

Question 8

A product platform is a common technological base to which different features are added, to create a family of products, each targeted at different customers.

Question 9

A cost associated with product platforms is that lower-level products have to be under designed so that they can share systems and components with higher-level products.

Question 10

The Kano method describes a statistical tool that allows someone to assess the relative importance to customers of different product features and to identify the best combination of features to meet their needs.

Question 11

The Kano method differs from conjoint analysis because data is gathered from potential customers about how both the presence and absence of a product feature affects their satisfaction.

Question 12

Indifferents are those attributes whose lack of functionality decreases satisfaction and presence of functionality increases satisfaction.

Question 13

A positioning concept test presents the product concept along with mock advertisements.

Question 14

Through the effective use of product development tools, more than half of all new products introduced to the market generate positive economic returns.

Question 15

Design for manufacturing helps to ensure that new products don't fail late in the development process when the cost of failure is very high.

Question 16

The house of quality helps make your designs coherent by showing the complementary changes that need to be made to satisfy customers or to create a competitive product.

Question 17

Prototyping helps firms to gather accurate information from their customers about their product preferences by providing a focal point for discussion of the product's design.

Question 18

A disadvantage of stage gates is that it increases the possibility of undertaking activities for which insufficient information about upstream stages has been gathered.

Question 19

Which of the following statements best describes the opening vignette about Apple Computer's introduction of the first personal digital assistant (PDA)?

A) most products are successful if enough research is conducted first
B) innovative products are usually successful
C) supporting technologies are necessary for products to be successful
D) unnecessary features are important to include to introduce new products

Question 20

What can be defined at the creation of new products by companies?

A) product cycle time
B) product development
C) modularity
D) prototypes

Question 21

What can be defined as a measure of how long it takes companies to develop new products or services?

A) concurrent development
B) product platforms
C) product development
D) product cycle time

Question 22

How do reduced product cycles help companies?

A) decreases the amount of time that a product can be on the market before becoming obsolete
B) slows the development of product adaptations
C) decreases the likelihood that market conditions and customer needs will be the same when the product is introduced as when product development was initiated
D) delays product development efforts until more is learned about markets

Question 23

Which of the following polices would be least likely to reduce product development time without reducing the quality of product attributes?

A) interdependent product development efforts
B) strong senior management support for rapid product development
C) experienced product development teams
D) focused project teams

Question 24

If while developing a new product, you were undertaking some product development steps simultaneously rather than sequentially, you would most likely be using:

A) modularity
B) product platforms
C) concurrent development
D) conjoint analysis

Question 25

What can be defined as the degree to which a complex product can be built from smaller components that can be created independently, but function together?

A) platforms
B) modularity
C) concept testing
D) prototyping

Question 26

What is a benefit of modularity?

A) makes it possible to undertake very complex product development efforts
B) permits the customization of products to customer needs
C) allows you to lower production development costs
D) all of the above

Question 27

What approach did Microsoft shift to when developing Vista in order to make it easier to add new features?

A) modularity
B) concept testing
C) prototyping
D) Kano

Question 28

When products are modular, what type of company is most likely to win competitive battles?

A) the most innovative ones
B) the least innovative ones
C) the most efficient ones
D) the least efficient ones

Question 29

Research has shown that modularity makes the most sense when:

A) a product is composed of components that are very similar to each other
B) customer demand is homogeneous
C) the pace of technological change is high
D) all of the above

Question 30

What is a common technological base to which different features are added, to create a family of products, each targeted at different customers?

A) modularity
B) component
C) platform
D) Kano

Question 31

Which of the following would not generally be considered a benefit of product platforms?

A) they allow you to offer greater variety to customers without straining organizational efficiencies
B) they permit you to reduce your costs
C) they help you to reach the broad market
D) they shorten the product cycle time

Question 32

Which of the following is a cost associated with product platforms?

A) products created off a product platform are more distinctive
B) need less cross-functional coordination
C) lower-level products have to be over designed so they can share systems and components with higher-level prices
D) all of the above are costs associated with product platforms

Question 33

Given the advantages and disadvantages associated with product platforms, what is the ideal condition for using them?

A) dynamic industry that is capital intensive
B) dynamic industry that is not capital intensive
C) static industry that is capital intensive
D) static industry that is not capital intensive

Question 34

Which method allows you to assess the relative importance to customers of different product features and to identify the best combination of features to meet their needs?

A) Kano method
B) perceptual map
C) concept testing
D) conjoint analysis

Question 35

Which method typically uses a factorial design?

A) perceptual map
B) concept testing
C) conjoint analysis
D) all of the above use factorial designs

Question 36

If you were working for Michelin and you were interested in determining how much your brand name affects the likelihood that customers would buy your mountain bike tires as compared to one of your competitors, you could use with of the following procedures?

A) conjoint analysis
B) Kano method
C) perceptual map
D) all of the above could be used

Question 37

Which of the following is not a limitation associated with conjoint analysis?

A) it can only be conducted if a product or service can be specified as a collection of independent attributes
B) doesn't assess the relative importance to customers of different products features
C) respondents must be familiar enough with the product category to express their preferences
D) need to know what product attributes are salient to potential customers

Question 38

If you did not feel that the relationship between product features and the satisfaction of customer needs was linear, you would want to use which of the following methods?

A) Kano method
B) conjoint analysis
C) factorial analysis
D) all of the above could be used

Question 39

Which method differentiates product attributes into must haves, delighters, linear satisfiers, and indifferents?

A) conjoint analysis
B) perceptual maps
C) Kano method
D) concept testing

Question 40

Which attribute is defined as one that does not provide any additional satisfaction to customers as performance becomes more functional but whose absence makes customers dissatisfied?

A) must haves
B) delighters
C) linear satisfiers
D) indifferents

Question 41

Which product attribute is defined as one whose lack of functionality does not make customers dissatisfied, but whose presence will add satisfaction?

A) must haves
B) delighters
C) linear satisfiers
D) indifferents

Question 42

Which product attribute is defined as one whose functionality has no effect on satisfaction either positively or negatively?

A) must haves
B) delighters
C) linear satisfiers
D) indifferents

Question 43

Which product attribute is defined as one whose lack of functionality decreases satisfaction and presence of functionality increases satisfaction?

A) must haves
B) delighters
C) linear satisfiers
D) indifferents

Question 44

Which of the following methods provides a visual display of the perceptions of customers about the different features of competing products?

A) concept testing
B) conjoint analysis
C) Kano method
D) perceptual mapping

Question 45

Which method would tell you whether one product is perceived as better than another at meeting customer's needs, and what features would need to be changed for your new product to be perceived as better than those of your competitors?

A) concept testing
B) perceptual mapping
C) Kano method
D) conjoint analysis

Question 46

For which procedure are customers presented with a new product and are observed for, or asked for, their reaction?

A) perceptual mapping
B) Kano method
C) concept testing
D) conjoint analysis

Question 47

Which variety of concept test presents the product concept along with mock advertisements?

A) positioning concept test
B) perceptual concept test
C) core idea concept test
D) all of the above

Question 48

Which variety of concept test presents the product concept along with mock advertisements?

A) positioning concept test
B) perceptual concept test
C) core idea concept test
D) all of the above

Question 49

What percent of all new products introduced to the market generates negative economic returns?

A) less than 10 percent
B) between 20 and 30 percent
C) between 30 and 40 percent
D) more than 50 percent

Question 50

Which product development tool helps to ensure that your new products don't fail late in the development process?

A) Web-based tools
B) prototyping and stage gates
C) house of quality
D) design for manufacturing

Question 51

Which product development tool helps you to ensure that your new product has the features that your market research indicted that customers' value?

A) Web-based tools
B) prototyping
C) house of quality
D) design for manufacturing

Question 52

Which product development tool helps you to ensure that you can actually manufacture any new products that you design?

A) Web-based tools
B) stage gates
C) house of quality
D) design for manufacturing

Question 53

Which product development tool creates a visual matrix that compares weighted product attributes with weighted customer needs providing a basis for an improved conversation between marketing and design personnel.

A) Web-based tools
B) prototyping
C) house of quality
D) design for manufacturing

Question 54

Which of the following is a reason why the house of quality product development tool is valuable in a wide variety of product development settings?

A) it helps to make trade-offs between product attributes in an informed manner
B) it helps make designs coherent by showing the complementary changes that you need to make to satisfy customers
C) allows the voice of customers to be carried through to manufacturing
D) all of the above

Question 55

Which product development tool involves minimizing the losses that come from failed efforts to develop products that work or meet customer needs?

A) Web-based tools
B) prototyping
C) house of quality
D) design for manufacturing

Question 56

Which product development tool is most likely to increase the chance that a product will fail earlier rather than later?

A) prototyping
B) web-based tools
C) house of quality
D) design for manufacturing

Question 57

Which product development tool typically takes the form of computer simulations?

A) Web-based tools
B) house of quality
C) prototyping
D) design for manufacturing

Question 58

What step typically comes first in the product development process?

A) test pilot
B) identify opportunity
C) test market
D) design product

Question 59

Which product development tool provides a decision tree that permits evaluation of the option to continue a project at particular milestones?

A) Web-based tools
B) stage gates
C) house of quality
D) design for manufacturing

Question 60

With which product development tool are you required to make a "go" or "no-go" decision at different milestones?

A) design for manufacturing
B) house of quality
C) Web-based tools
D) stage gates

Question 61

What is the typical first stage in the stage gate product development process?

A) idea screening
B) building a business case
C) design and development
D) product verification and validation

Question 62

For which product development tool is there a set of rules that structures the new product design process to make products easier to manufacture, thereby reducing costs and improving quality?

A) Web-based tools
B) design for manufacturing
C) house of quality
D) stage gates

Question 63

Define product cycle time and explain how reducing product cycle times can be beneficial to a company.

Question 64

Describe the process of concurrent development and indicated how it can be used to help reduce product cycle time.

Question 65

Define and distinguish between modularity and product platforms. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Question 66

Compare and contrast conjoint analysis and the Kano method. Explain the situations in which each tool should be used.

Question 67

Define concept testing. Describe the differences between a positioning concept test and a core idea concept test.

Question 68

Compare and contrast the various product development tools (e.g. Web-based tools, house of quality, prototyping, stage gates, and design for manufacturing).