Deck 11: Managing the New Product Development Process

Question 1

The R&D engineers are often the ones most able to identify the maximum performance capabilities and minimum service requirements of a new product.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Project champions are more likely to be from marketing.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)provides faster and more flexible manufacturing than traditional methods.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The House of Quality uses a scale from one to ten to evaluate competing products.

Question 5

In FEMA,problems are classified according to the time at which they occurred.

Question 6

Parallel development processes are universally endorsed.

Question 7

When measuring a company's new product development process performance,it is best to use multiple measures.

Question 8

The majority of new product development projects result in an economic return.

Question 9

In stage 1 of the stage-gate process,the team builds a business case that includes a defined product,its business justification,and a detailed plan of action for the next stages.

Question 10

QFD was developed in Germany.

Question 11

In the product development process,expenditures increase as uncertainty increases.

Question 12

Fuchs Development was trying to decide whether to have a short or long product development cycle.The R&D director said that a shorter cycle is usually better and this is a correct assessment.

Question 13

Those who advocate Quality Function Deployment (QFD)say its one drawback is that it hinders cross-functional communication.

Question 14

If R&D engineers fail to communicate directly with manufacturing engineers,features may be planned that cannot be manufactured.

Question 15

One way to reduce direct labor and material handling cost is to minimize the number of parts for a product.

Question 16

Suppliers may be actual members of the product team.

Question 17

Computer-aided design (CAD)can provide more designs to choose from,but this slows down the new product development process while project members decide from these designs.

Question 18

The criteria in the go/kill decision points are the questions or metrics used to make the decision regarding whether or not to kill the project or allow it to proceed.

Question 19

A firm can benefit from developing "antichampions".

Question 20

A lead user for a product will often give you an earlier and more accurate idea of whether a new product will be successful in the marketplace compared to other customers.

Question 21

Talkaphone discovered that teens preferred text messaging and that senior citizens preferred cell phones that could take pictures.It was too expensive to provide the highest quality of both these functions in a cell phone; so they provided a second-tier level of quality,but included both features to appeal to both markets.As a result

A) they will probably sell lots of cell phones to the teen market, but not to the senior citizen market.
B) they will probably sell lots of cell phones to the senior citizen market, but not to the teen market.
C) they will probably sell lots of cell phones to both the teen market and the senior citizen market.
D) they will probably not sell lots of cell phones to either market.

Question 22

Talkaphone decided to emphasize text messaging capabilities in its cell phones and to only incorporate a basic photographic capability.This led to slow sales most likely because

A) the text messaging feature was not compelling enough.
B) the text messaging feature was too advanced for customers.
C) Talkaphone invested in one feature at the expense of one that customers valued more.
D) Talkaphone's cellphone was too expensive.

Question 23

Jasbar Industries has developed a product with a very short product development cycle.Which of the following results can it expect?

A) Sales will be slow as consumers will already be committed to other products.
B) Jasbar will be able to provide complementary goods to enhance the attractiveness of its product.
C) Jasbar will be unable to fully amortize the fixed costs of development before the product becomes obsolete.
D) Jasbar will not be able to upgrade its product.

Question 24

Bob King,a Senior Vice President at Associated Grocers,called a meeting between the production team and the pricing department.These two groups had an ongoing conflict regarding the development and implementation of a software pricing program.Bob is the product champion for this project and probably wants to stimulate _____ between these two departments.

A) communication and cooperation
B) creative conflict
C) resolution diversity
D) design suggestions

Question 25

Pioneer Cleaning Equipment has a basic concept for a new floor buffing machine and a business plan for that machine.Which stage in the stage-gate process comes next?

A) Stage 5, launch the product by producing and selling it.
B) Stage 4, verify and validate the process for the new product, its marketing, and production.
C) Stage 3, begin the actual design and development including the details of manufacturing, marketing, and operations.
D) Stage 2, build a business case to justify the project.

Question 26

Even though WordPerfect had a great product that fit customer requirements,it lost critical market share to Word for Windows as it was slow in coming out with its windows-based word processing program.This was probably due to the fact that its

A) expected profit margin was too high.
B) product development cycle time was too long.
C) program was too inferior to the Word program.
D) target market was heterogeneous in nature.

Question 27

Android Systems developed a robot that was very popular and sold well.However,it never recovered the full cost of product development.This points out that the development efforts must be both

A) effective and efficient.
B) relevant and discounted.
C) organic and fast-paced.
D) active and replicable.

Question 28

The Marketing Director of Pambiotics says that the company should use _____ rather than a large sample of customers to test market its new PDA because they have the same general needs as the marketplace,but are likely to face them earlier than the bulk of the market.

A) focus groups
B) lead users
C) "antichampions"
D) significant suppliers

Question 29

A _____ of a product is an early working prototype of a product released to users for testing and feedback.

A) beta version
B) dummy
C) replica
D) placebo

Question 30

Dr.Aznuck is a Professor of Information Systems at Mountain Home University.She was asked to be a beta tester for the latest version of Microsoft Office a year before it was released because she tends to use such programs in an advanced way and often develops her own solutions to problems with the programs.She made several suggestions for its improvement.She would be called a(n)

A) lead user.
B) alpha user.
C) expert technician.
D) consumer advocate.

Question 31

Paul is an Executive Vice President in a bank.Recently the bank President asked Paul to use his influence to ensure that the online banking project was developed and implemented.Paul is being asked to be a

A) devil's advocate.
B) project champion.
C) senior vice-president.
D) "yes" man.

Question 32

Pioneer Cleaning Equipment wants to use The House of Quality in designing and developing a new floor buffing machine.What is the last step Pioneer will have to take?

A) Determine the relative value or weight of customer requirements.
B) Evaluate the new design based on the design targets.
C) Identify engineering attributes that determine the performance of the buffing machine.
D) Evaluate competing products to determine how well they meet customer needs.

Question 33

Bob King is a Senior Vice President at Associated Grocers,and has been assigned to be the project champion for the development and implementation of a software pricing program.Both the buying department and the pricing department have determined that the new software pricing program is worthless,but they do not tell Bob.This is probably because

A) of Bob's seniority.
B) they lack a sense of ownership for the project.
C) they have different goals.
D) they cannot prove that it is worthless.

Question 34

Project champions

A) will increase the likelihood that a product will be successful in the market place.
B) are more likely to support projects that benefit the entire organization.
C) can come from any level in the organization.
D) are more likely to be involved with radical innovation projects.

Question 35

Pioneer Cleaning Equipment has begun the actual design and development including the details of manufacturing,marketing,and operations of a new floor buffing machine.Which stage in the stage-gate process comes next?

A) Stage 5, launch the product by producing and selling it.
B) Stage 4, verify and validate the process for the new product, its marketing, and production.
C) Stage 3, form a focus group to make sure the product meets user expectations.
D) Stage 2, build a business case to justify the project.

Question 36

You are considering involving the suppliers of the electronic components used in the DVD player/recorder your company manufactures in the concept development and design of a new version of the product.Research has shown that including suppliers will result in

A) bringing products to the market more slowly because getting their input takes time.
B) an increased cost because you must pay them for their contributions.
C) a higher quality of product as you incorporate their ideas into the design.
D) short-term supplier relations.

Question 37

Pioneer Cleaning Equipment wants to use The House of Quality in designing and developing a new floor buffing machine.What is the first step that Pioneer should take?

A) Identify customer requirements.
B) Determine the relative value or weight of customer requirements.
C) Identify engineering attributes that determine the performance of the buffing machine.
D) Evaluate competing products to determine how well they meet customer needs.

Question 38

An "antichampion" is

A) a person who is out to sabotage a new project.
B) one who plays the role of the "devil's advocate."
C) a person who uses subjective criteria.
D) a person in a competing firm who sabotages market tests by promoting his company's products more heavily than normal.

Question 39

Which of the following statements is true about parallel development processes?

A) It enhances the probability that R&D will design products that are difficult to manufacture.
B) It requires costly iterations between design stages.
C) It shortens overall cycle time.
D) It initiates product design once concept development is complete.

Question 40

The go/kill decision points in the stage-gate process include deliverables that are

A) finished products ready to ship.
B) inventory ready to move to the next production stage.
C) results of the previous stage which will be inputs for the gate review.
D) an action plan for the dates of the next gate.

Question 41

Pioneer Cleaning Equipment wants to use The House of Quality in designing and developing a new floor buffing machine.This will

A) result in a common language and framework for project team members to use.
B) blur the relationship between product attributes and customer requirements.
C) conceal the competitive shortcomings of the company's existing products.
D) lead to design trade-offs.

Question 42

Which of the following might be used to determine a company's overall innovation performance?

A) Return on innovation
B) Average cycle time
C) Percent of development projects meeting deadlines
D) Percent of development projects staying within or under budget

Question 43

Dr.Aznuck is a Professor of Information Systems at Mountain Home University.She conducts courses in computer applications.Why might she be asked to be a beta tester for the latest version of Microsoft Office before it is released?

Question 44

Joe attended a workshop where the Quality Function Deployment (QFD)method of new product development was explained.During the workshop he asked the following question,"This all seems very complex and quantitative to me.I prefer qualitative checks instead.They are less confusing." If you were the workshop leader,how would you address Joe's concern?

Question 45

Pioneer Cleaning Equipment has decided to use Design for Manufacturing (DFM)in designing and developing a new floor buffing machine.This will most likely result in a buffing machine that

A) has more parts, but is faster.
B) allows users to make many adjustments.
C) eliminates fasteners for buffing pads, and other parts of the machine.
D) utilizes more jigs and fixtures.

Question 46

Talkaphone discovered that teenagers preferred text messaging and that senior citizens preferred cell phones that could take pictures.It was too expensive to provide the highest quality of both these functions in a cell phone so they provided a second-tier level of quality,but included both features to appeal to both markets.What is likely to happen?

Question 47

Pioneer Cleaning Equipment Company is experimenting with a faster and quieter machine to buff floors.To develop this concept the company is contemplating using the lead user method of concept development.Explain how this method would work and what the advantages of it are.

Question 48

TeknoWorld has undertaken a failure modes and effects analysis of a digital identification system it has developed.The scores are as follows: Severity = 4
Likelihood of occurrence = 2
Inability of controls to detect it = 3
What is the risk priority number of the digital identification system?

A) 24
B) 6
C) 2.67
D) 1.5

Question 49

According to FEMA,firms should

A) focus first on the failure modes that have the highest scores for severity of risk, but occur less often and are less detectable.
B) focus first on the failure modes that have the highest scores for severity of risk, occur more often and are less detectable.
C) focus first on the failure modes that have less severe impacts, occur less often but are more detectable.
D) focus first on the failure modes that have less severe impacts, but occur more often and are less detectable.

Question 50

Explain the value of the stage-gate process of new product development.