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New Product Development

The course deals with activities along the entire new product development (NPD) process from the first idea to market launch. Students will learn about managing different stages of the NPD process and apply their new knowledge in case studies. Apart from the classic knowledge about the NPD process there will be further one or two special topics discussed which mirror actual developments regarding NPD. The course helps to deepen the students' knowledge in NPD and innovation management.
Course code
EAI603
Course type
MSc Course
Weekly Hours
2,5
ECTS
5.0
Term
FS 2022
Language
Englisch
Lecturers
Prof. Dr. Dries Faems
Please note that exchange students obtain a higher number of credits in the BSc-program at WHU than listed here. For further information please contact directly the International Relations Office.

The course consists of seven modules. Each module will consist of a lecture, student presentations and case study discussions. For each module, students are expected to read papers in advance and to prepare particular assignments.

Module 1: Introduction and Serious Lego Play Session
(January 7, 8.00 am – 11.15 am)

In this first module, the structure and content of the course will be explained. This session will also provide in-depth information on the assignments and grading procedure. During this module, we will also conduct a Serious Lego Play workshop to introduce some core concepts and introduce one of the group assignments.

Module 2: New Product Development Processes
(January 14, 8.00 am – 11.15 am)

In this module, we focus on the product development process. Special attention will be paid to the advantages and disadvantages of stage-gate processes. A guest speaker will provide in-depth information on the opportunities and challenges of agile new product development processes.

Reading material:

• Veryzer, R.W. (1998) Discontinuous Innovation and the New Product Development Process. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 15: 204-321
• Sethi, R. & Iqbal, Z. (2008) Stage-Gate Controls, Learning Failure, and Adverse Effect on Novel New Products. Journal of Marketing, 72: 118-134

Module 3: Organizing NPD at the organizational level
(January 21, 8.00 am – 11.15 am)

In this module, we discuss different structural solutions that companies can use to combine exploitative and explorative innovation.

Reading material:

• Jansen, J.J.P., Van den Bosch, F.A.J., Volberda, H.W. (2006). Exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation, and performance: Effects of organizational antecedents and environmental moderators. Management Science, 52, 1661-1674.
• Gibson, C.B. and Birkinshaw, J. (2004). The Antecedents, Consequences, and Mediating Role of Organizational Ambidexterity. Academy of Management Journal, 47: 209-226


Module 4: Organizing for disruptive innovation
(January 28, 8.00 am – 11.15 am)

In this module, we focus on a particular type of innovation: disruptive innovation. We discuss the organizational challenges of disruptive for both industry incumbents and entrants.

• Christensen, C.M. and Overdorf (2000) Meeting the challenge of disruptive change. Harvard Business Review, March-April: 67-76.
• Ansari, S., Garud, R. & Kumaraswamy, A. (2016) The disruptor's dilemma: TiVo and the U.S. television ecosystem. Strategic Management Journal, 37: 1829-1853.

Module 5: Organizing for NPD at the team level
(February 4, 8.00 am – 11.15 am)

In this module, we shift focus to the team level and discuss the optimal composition of teams to successfully execute NPD activities. We pay special attention to the role of conflict and diversity in teams.

• De Clercq, D., Thongpapanl, N. and Dimov, D. (2009) When good conflict gets better and bad conflict becomes worse: the role of social capital in the conflict–innovation relationship. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 37:283–297.
• De Visser, M.; Faems, D.; Weerd-Nederhof, P.; Visscher, K. (2014) The impact of team cognitive styles on performance of radical and incremental NPD projects. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 1167-1180.

Module 6: Organizing for NPD at the inter-organizational level

In this module, we shift focus to the inter-organizational level and identify R&D alliances as an alternative approach to engage in NPD. We focus on the core challenges in successfully governing NPD activities with external partners.

• Gulati, R. & Singh, H. The Architecture of Cooperation: Managing Coordination Costs and Appropriation Concerns in Strategic Alliances. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43: 781-814.
• Faems, D.; Janssens, M.; Madhok, A. & Van Looy, B. (2008) Toward an integrative perspective on alliance governance: Connecting contract design, contract application, and trust dynamics. Academy of Management Journal, 51: 1053-1078.

Module 7: Hot Topics in Organizing NPD

In this final model, we will discuss emerging challenges and solutions for hot topics in organizing NPD.

Date Time
Thursday, 13.01.2022 08:00 - 11:15
Tuesday, 18.01.2022 11:30 - 13:00
Friday, 21.01.2022 08:00 - 11:15
Wednesday, 26.01.2022 08:00 - 11:15
Monday, 31.01.2022 08:00 - 11:15
Wednesday, 09.02.2022 15:30 - 18:45
Tuesday, 22.02.2022 08:00 - 11:15
This course aims to provide students an in-depth understanding of the theoretical and practical challenges of New Product Development. During the course, the students will receive advanced insights in particular challenges that firms experience when organizing new product development activities. In addition, based on existing academic literature, particular solutions for these challenges will be presented and discussed.

Students will be challenged to critically reflect on high-level academic research on the topic of new product development. In addition, by means of case assignments, they are encouraged to transform and apply these insights into recommendations that are also relevant for practitioners.

Lecture, case work, group work, in-class presentation
Group assignments: Each group will need to conduct 4 critical analyses (one of them needs to be presented in class) and 3 managerial analyses of a case. Additional information on the assignments will be provided during the first module.

Exam: The exam will be an open book exam. In this exam, students will receive particular mini-cases. Students will be asked to identify core challenges for this mini-case and provide particular solutions.

Grading: The critical analyses will constitute 25% of the final grade. The managerial analyses will constitute 25% of the final grade. The individual exam will constitute 50% of the final grade.

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