Rationale

The businesses need to engage in the process of altering current products and bringing new ones into the market due to changes constantly taking place in consumer preferences, technology advances, market shifts and trends as well as, competition. Thus, product development constitutes a key process for the assessment of the viability of new products and their effective improvement to meet customers’ needs. This course aims to develop an appreciation and understanding of the importance of ongoing product improvement and development. The students will examine industry trends and learn to apply product development processes, strategies and principles in order to create a marketable product and set the product vision, creating a competitive advantage. 

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course students will be expected to:
(i)    Explain the role, significance and the main principles of Product Development.
(ii)   Identify the tools and methods used for product optimisation and new product development.
(iii)  Describe the role of multiple functions (e.g., strategy, marketing, engineering, legal, customer service, finance, supply chain, operations, etc.) in creating a new product. 
(iv)  Describe the different stages of product development and explain the connection between opportunity identification and idea generation.
(v)   Describe complexities and challenges that Product Development managers frequently encounter.
(vi)  Examine various product development concepts. 
(vii) Identify new product development opportunities to create value.