NEW PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

True / False Questions

1. By definition, new products are limited to significant technological innovations. False

2. New products can be tangible goods or services. True

3. Radical innovation that displaces or obsoletes current products and creates totally new product categories is critical to
the future growth and survival of a firm. True

4. Business firms expect, and get, a high percentage of their sales and profits from new products. True

5. A firm's global presence is no guarantee that it will automatically know how to efficiently manage its global
operations. True

6. Firms with a global innovation culture have the most effective global new product programs. True

7. An ideal new products team is essentially self-directed with limited or no cross-functionality. False

8. The term "product innovation" usually applies to functions, especially those of manufacturing or distribution. False

9. New-to-the-firm products revolutionize existing product categories or define wholly new ones. False

10. New-to-the-world products are less likely to require consumer learning. False

11. The number one reason for new product success is a unique superior product. True

12. The terms "product idea," "product concept," and "product prototype" are interchangeable and they are all about the
same thing. False

13. Product portfolio management refers to the procedure that takes a new product idea through concept evaluation ,
product development, launch, and post-launch. False

14. Research has shown that at least 40 percent of firms assign a marketing manager whose job it is to manage the
phased new products process. False

15. In a new product process, an evaluation task that includes conditional "Go" decisions is sometimes called a fuzzy
gate. True
16. The new products process essentially turns a profit flow into an opportunity. False
17. In the project evaluation phase of the new products process, a full screen uses a scoring model of some type and
results in a decision to undertake development, but never to quit. False

18. The development and launch phase of the new products process comprise what is popularly called the "fuzzy front
end". False

19. A batch concept is generated during the concept evaluation phase of the new products process. False

20. A fully screened product passes the test of fit with a company's situation. True

21. One of the benefits of accelerating time to market is that the product will be on the market for a longer period of time
before becoming obsolete. True

22. Firms that strive for mindshare think not about the speed of an individual product‘s development and launch, but
rather about creating a dominant position in the mind of the customer. True

23. A recommended way to cope when facing a high-turbulence environment is to encourage inflexibility by freezing a
product concept until the last possible moment. False

24. Using the cash-to-cash metric to complement speed-to-market helps a firm manage just the moment of launch, not
the whole launch phase. False

25. As opposed to goods, services are mass produced. False

26. Firms that launch new-to-the-world products into the market incur a significantly lower long-term survival rate than
those that enter the market later. True

27. Discovery-driven planning requires that managers make assumptions about the future in order to build their forecasts
and targets, recognizing that these assumptions may be quite wrong. True

28. Discovery-driven planning is typically seen in less-uncertain markets, where past results cannot be used to build
predictable forecasts of the future. False

29. In order to move promising radical innovation projects forward, senior management at some firms establishes a self-
directed management team charged with moving an R&D innovation project to business operating status. False
30. Technology-driven innovation doesn't really solve a customer problem, and therefore there is no application that can
be brought to market. True

Multiple Choice Questions

31. The value of an established brand is called its _____.
C. brand equity

32. A single overall plan for a product industry is typically known as a _____ platform.
D. category

33. With reference to product development, a _____ is defined as a set of systems and interfaces that form a common
structure.
B. product platform

34. The term "platform" was initially associated with the _____ industry.
C. automobiles

35. _____ is a way of executing a first-to-market strategy.

C. Mass customization

36. Which of the following is the most common way to execute a first-to-market strategy?
C. Leveraged creativity

37. Using glue to replace metal fasteners in electronics and automotive products best exemplifies _____.
C. applications engineering

38. Tweaking existing technology in a new way is usually called _____.

A. leveraged creativity

39. First-to-market products that do not involve any changes in technology, but the use is totally new primarily
involve _____.
C. applications engineering

40. Reinforay, an aircraft manufacturer, makes passenger, cargo, short-haul, and long-haul aircraft from the same
design, with many shared components. Reinforay is using a _____.
A. product platform
41. A new product:
A. when launched is still in a tentative form.
42. Which of the following inputs, in the case of a service, required by the creation process can be best described as the
sequence of steps by which the service will be created?
A. Form

43. _____ is defined in product innovation as the power to do work.

C. Technology

44 With reference to the three inputs required by the creation process, _____ is the source by which the form is attained.
C. technology

45. A product protocol primarily describes:

B. benefits.

Essay Questions

46-50 Briefly explain the terms: new products process, product innovation charter, and product portfolio management.

46-50. Briefly explain the terms: new products process, product innovation charter, and product portfolio management.

The new products process is the procedure that takes the new product idea through concept evaluation, product
development, launch, and post-launch.
The product innovation charter can be thought of as a strategy for new products. It ensures that the new product
team develops products that are in line with firm objectives and strategies and that address marketplace
opportunities.
Product portfolio management helps the firm assess which new products would be the best additions to the
existing product line, given both financial and strategic objectives.