WorksheetsIntroduction to Product and Service Innovation
Total questions: 23
Worksheet time: 12mins
According to the New Product Development Strategy, which of the following best describes products obtained through a firm’s own development efforts?
Only entirely new-to-the-world products
Only products purchased from another company
Original products, improvements, modifications, and new brands developed internally
Only products produced under a licensing agreement
Which statement best captures why new products matter to both customers and companies?
They mainly replace failing products at the end of their life cycle.
They bring new solutions and variety to customers’ lives and are a key source of company growth.
They reduce marketing expenses by eliminating the need for promotion.
They allow firms to avoid competition entirely.
Which of the following is NOT listed as a reason why new products fail?
Priced too high
Poorly advertised
Executive push despite negative research
Excessive customer demand that overwhelms supply
Which financial constraint can directly cause a new product to fail?
The company may run out of money in its effort to widely market the product.
Competitors may ignore the product.
The product has no price.
The idea is too creative.
Which stage is the starting point in the systematic new product development process illustrated with arrows from left to right?
Idea generation
Product development
Commercialization
Test marketing
Beyond formal R&D processes, whose ideas can companies leverage to generate new product concepts?
Only external consultants
Only customers and suppliers
Executives, salespeople, scientists, engineers, and manufacturing staff
Only the marketing department
What is the primary purpose of internal “hackathons” sponsored by companies?
To evaluate finished products with customers
To take employees away from work to relax
To develop new ideas during short, focused events
To replace the need for R&D
Recognizing “hidden” ideas from R&D projects requires managers to do what?
Ignore unexpected discoveries
Apply discoveries only to their original project
Think broadly about other applications for discoveries
Avoid cross-functional collaboration
Which statement best describes how technology platforms support idea generation today?
They eliminate the need for human creativity
They help managers generate, churn through, and evaluate thousands of product design ideas that meet required specifications
They only store final product specifications
They slow down the screening process
Which statement best describes repurposing existing products as a new product development strategy?
Creating a brand-new product from scratch with no relation to current offerings
Modifying, reformulating, and repackaging an existing product to enter new markets or segments
Bundling multiple products together to increase average order value
Copying a competitor’s design without changes
Which statement about external idea sources is emphasized?
Internal R&D is the only reliable source of ideas
Companies can gather new product ideas from suppliers, distributors/retailers, and competitors in the external environment
Only customers provide actionable ideas
External sources are useful only in mature markets
Which statement best captures the rationale for learning from innovation leaders outside an industry?
It ensures strict benchmarking within the same sector.
External leaders can offer unexpected and valuable service insights.
It reduces the need for customer research entirely.
It guarantees immediate cost savings without experimentation.
Companies often use which tools to collect ideas for developing new products and redesigning existing ones?
Customer surveys and interviews
Supplier audits
Financial ratio analysis
Patent litigation
What does crowdsourcing involve in the context of idea generation?
Limiting ideation to a firm’s R&D department
Inviting broad communities—customers, employees, independent scientists and researchers, and the public—into the innovation process
Outsourcing manufacturing to lower-cost countries
Purchasing competitors’ patents
Which stage immediately follows idea generation in the major stages of new product development?
Idea screening
Concept development and testing
Marketing strategy development
Commercialization
Why is idea screening critical early in new product development?
It guarantees market success for all ideas
Later-stage development costs are higher, so firms must focus on profitable ideas
It replaces the need for test marketing
It primarily determines pricing strategy
In the R-W-W (real, win, worth doing) framework used for screening, which of the following is NOT one of the core questions?
Is the idea real?
Can it win by offering a sustainable competitive advantage?
Is it worth doing for the company’s growth strategy?
What should be the final commercialization date?
Which elements are included in the first part of the marketing strategy statement?
Planned price, distribution, and marketing budget for the first year
Target market, planned value proposition, and sales/market-share/profit goals for the first few years
Long-run sales and profit goals with marketing mix strategy
Product features and technical specifications
Which activity best describes the business analysis stage in new product development?
Designing and building a prototype
Estimating sales, costs, and profit projections to judge financial attractiveness
Launching the product to the market
Running promotional campaigns to create awareness
In business analysis, companies may review the sales history of similar products and conduct market surveys primarily to:
Determine production line layout
Estimate sales for forecasting and risk assessment
Set final retail prices
Choose distribution partners
After preparing the sales forecast in the business analysis stage, management can estimate expected costs and profits for which functions?
Only marketing and sales
Marketing, R&D, operations, accounting, and finance
Operations and logistics only
R&D and design only
What triggers the transition from business analysis to product development?
Approval from marketing department
Passing the business test by satisfying company objectives
Completion of prototype testing
Securing external funding
Which combination is most consistent with the maturity stage conditions?
Low cost per customer; declining profits; declining number of competitors
Low cost per customer; high profits; stable number of competitors beginning to decline
High cost per customer; negative profits; few competitors
Average cost per customer; rising profits; growing number of competitors
