Product Development
Duration
- One teaching period
Contact hours
- 36 contact hours
Corequisites
Nil
Aims and objectives
This unit examines the requirements for the effective management of the cross-functional and outsourced activities in new product and/or service development in start-ups or established firms, excluding commercialisation activities. It critically evaluates appropriate tools and methods for achieving the best outcomes. Besides learning about theory and practice of entrepreneurs, students will engage in active learning by working in cross-functional teams to develop a physical prototype of their product idea.
After successfully completing this unit, you will be able to:
- Evaluate the typical activities and best practices within the various stages and sub-stages of a generic New Product Development (NPD) Process
- Design, implement and assess a customised NPD Process for the development of a new product idea in a particular firm contingency.
- Work collaboratively in teams to manage product development projects and report on milestone achievements
- Reflect on problem solving and decision making among people with different disciplinary perspectives
Courses with unit
This is a unit of study in the Bachelor of Business suite of courses.
Unit information in detail
- Teaching methods, assessment, general skills outcomes and content.
Teaching methods
Lectures (2 hours), Tutorials (1 hour)
Assessment
1. Project Report - Part 1 (Group) 20-25%
2. Project Report - Part 2 (Group) 25-35%
2. Project Report - Part 2 (Group) 25-35%
3. Presentation (Group) 10-15%
4. Reflection Report (Individual) 25-45%
4. Reflection Report (Individual) 25-45%
General skills outcomes
The graduate attributes which relate to this unit help to produce graduates who are:
- Capable in their chosen professional, vocational or study areas
- Entrepreneurial in contributing to innovation and development within their business, workplace or community
- Effective and ethical in work and community situations
- Adaptable and able to manage change
- Aware of local and international environments in which they will be contributing (e.g. socio-cultural, economic, natural)
Content
The unit’s content provides students with an understanding of the cross-functional activities required to take a technology idea from the initial planning phase through to the production ramp-up phase. Content may include, but is not limited to:
- Product planning
- Development processes
- Innovation tools
- Concurrent engineering
- Identifying customer needs
- Product specifications
- Concept generation, selection and testing
- Product architecture
- Industrial design
- Robust design
- Design for manufacturing
- Prototyping
- Product development economics
- Managing projects
- Generating creative business solutions using principles and practices of the innovation process
Study resources
- Reading materials.
Reading materials
Students are advised to check the unit outline in the relevant teaching period for appropriate textbooks and further reading.