ANNOUNCEMENTS: COURSE DETAILS: Lecturer: Dr. Ho, Diep, PhD [email protected] (Tel. 0946 317 379, Room A1.305) Teaching Assistant: Mr Tran Duy Khiem Should the students wish to meet the staff outside the consultation hours, they are advised to make appointment in advance. Course Aims:  To build business skills by experiencing the product development cycle: • Determining customer needs • Brainstorming • Creative problem-solving • Managing a project • Selling an idea • Working as a team Product development is not an individual endeavour that can be learned by reading a book and by taking a test. Product development must be experienced to be mastered. It’s a messy, holistic art. It is best practiced by an intimate team with a broad skill set. The marketplace is fickle, and the tools we use to understand the market are inexact. Therefore success requires relentlessness, intuition, and not a small amount of luck. This is a team-based and project-based course. Student teams will tackle projects that encompass each step of the product development process. The course will culminate in a product pitch incorporating work done throughout the semester. The course will include case studies and real-life examples. Students will hone their individual skills through presentations and other assignments. This course is designed to give you the experience upon which to build your product development intuition. To absorb the experience, I expect you to: Prepare. Read the materials, do your assignments, do your research, practice your presentations. Participate. Show up on time, and share your perspectives with your team and with the class. Be generous with your ideas and constructive with your criticism. Cooperating with other teams is strongly encouraged. Be a good teammate. In the real world, all work is teamwork, and we will emulate that practice in class. Teammates are expected to work together and pull their own weight. Listen. When you’re the next Steve Jobs, you can tell the world that glass is a good material to make phones out of and the world will buy it. Until then, you need to be humble and listen; to your teammates, to your classmates, and most of all, to your potential customers. Communicate effectively. Use a simple, straightforward writing style that gets to the point. No need to pad your reports in this class! Get your grammar and spelling right to maintain your credibility; you represent your team’s brand now. Use media appropriately; PowerPoint is good for visual information, written reports are good for textual information, and a bit of drama is good for eliciting an emotional response from your audience. Showmanship can be just as important as content. Prerequisite course: None Units of Credit: This course is worth 3 credits. Teaching times and Locations: Lecture time: Monday, Saturday 18:00-21:00 Venue: B.302 Academic Integrity: Integrity is critical to the learning process and to all that we do here at HCMIU. A student’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Assessment Details: The final grade is computed as follows: Individual Remarkable Product Presentation 5% Intellectual Property Assignment 10% Project Management Assignment 10% Class Participation 5% Teamwork Assessment 10% Team User Observation Report and Presentation 15% Product Brainstorm and Report 5% Product Concept Test 10% Final – Product Pitch 30% In addition, since I wish to emphasize practical skills, students shall complete an assignment that use actual data--and to reflect how most companies conduct business, students shall form groups to handle these assignments. Groups shall comprise three to five students – no less, no more. In addition, all group members shall score their team mates on how well they have contributed to the assignment (see "Peer Group Participation Form.doc" in the file cabinet section). Class participation is important and will be explicitly rewarded (10% of the total grade). Effectively, the class participation grade may change a grade near a cutoff. While we do not penalise occasional tardiness, a pattern of repeated unexplained late arrivals and non-attendance shall negatively impact the class participation grade. Understandably, job search or other obligations may occasionally conflict with class. It is each student’s responsibility to find out from his/her classmates what has been missed during the absence. Main Textbook:
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Course Outline: Session 1: Introductions. A model for successful products. Overview of the New Products Development process. Teams assigned. Select a product category for your team project Session 2: User needs and market research - Ch. 5 Finding the Right Job for your Product User Observations Session 3: Where do ideas come from? - Ch. 4 Remarkable Product Presentations Group 1, 2, 3 Session 4: Class activity - Brainstorming - Remarkable Product Presentations Group 4, 5, 6 Session 5: Team presentations - User Observations Team presentation: User Observation Session 6: Design and Prototyping - Ch. 13 Article: Design Thinking at Apple Product Brainstorm report due date Session 7: Quantitative research & Survey Design - Ch. 9, 10 Case study discussion Group presentation Session 8: Product Launch. Packaging Sales channels, Test markets - Ch. 16, 17 Case study discussion Group presentation Session 9: Execution and Project Management. Stage-gate GANTT charts - Ch. 14 Project Management Assignment Session 10: The Business Case. Cost estimates. Sales projections. Profitability analysis. Product portfolios - Ch. 11 Concept Test Report Due Date Session 11: Intellectual property Regulatory approval Product testing - Ch. 15 IP Assignment Session 12: Case study – IDEO IP Assignment Due Date FINAL – Product Pitch |