ENGR804:

Introduction to Course (with Journal Entry #1)

Welcome to Engineering 804: Engineering Product Innovation. In this course, you will be introduced to a number of considerations related to research, theory, application and practice in product innovation with the goal of developing your awareness of fundamental issues. In particular, this course will focus on relevant leadership and organizational issues related to product innovation in the corporate setting.

The first half of the course includes a bit more focus on research and theory, while the second half is more focused on practice and application; but, all of the lessons in the course are designed to provide you with opportunities to practice and gain experience with the relevant concepts. By the end of this course, you should be able to apply what you have learned within a variety of organizational contexts.

While this course is designed with engineering leaders in mind, you do not need to be an engineer to take or to benefit from it. Organizations are comprised of teams of people from a variety of backgrounds, and the product innovation process is likely to ultimately engage them all. In fact, this course includes a number of discussion forums and team activities, which are in place to give students from all backgrounds an opportunity to work together and learn from each other. Diversity of skills, background and experience will be particularly beneficial in a class like this, which involves activities designed to mimic some of the product innovation work that will be required in a traditional organizational setting.

Overall Course Objectives

The overall objective for this course is to grow students’ understanding of leadership and innovation in technical contexts within the business environment. In addition, taking this course should enable you to:

• Distinguish between the major types of product innovation;
• Recognize the contextual factors that may make one type of innovation more appropriate than another in a given application;
• Describe the work an organization would undertake during a product innovation initiative, including market research, business case development, opportunity assessment and product launch;
• Identify common barriers to product innovation and strategies to overcome them;
• Describe “failure” in the context of product innovation and how to provide effective leadership in cases of failure;
• Utilize virtual product dissection to stimulate increased creativity for product development ideation;
• Demonstrate the ability to apply course concepts in the evaluation of organizational case studies and product innovation simulations; and
• Produce a product innovation proposal with a team of classmates.

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Stop, Think and Reflect: Journal Entry #1

As you start this course, please

• Offer a brief overview of what “product innovation” means to you; and
• Share a few of the things that you hope to learn in this course.

Before continuing with this lesson, please write down your answers or reactions to these prompts and submit them in the text box on the Journal Entry #1 assignment page. Note that these prompts are about your current understanding and your learning objectives, so please do not try to produce textbook definitions of product innovation; rather, use this opportunity to show your instructor where you are starting from and what you hope to gain from this course.

Reminder: You may also want to consider adding this journal entry to your ELIM e-portfolio, introduced in the Overview of Course Features.

Journal Entry 1

As you start this course, please:

• Offer a brief overview of what “product innovation” means to you; and
• Share a few of the things that you hope to learn in this course.

Note: This question is about your current understanding and your learning objectives, so please do not try to produce textbook definitions of “product innovation,” but rather use this opportunity to show your instructor where you are starting from and what you hope to gain from this course.

Journal Entry Rubric (6 pts)

Criteria	Excellent Rating	Very Good Rating	Good Rating	Room for Improvement Rating	Late or Did Not Submit	Points Possible
Complete entries that answer all questions in the journal entry assignment. Entry demonstrates graduate-level writing, analysis, reflection, and professional voice. Please tell me both what you think, and why you think that way. Response includes application of course materials.	6.0 pts	5.0 pts	4.0 pts	1.0–3.0 pts	0.0 pts	6.0 pts

Overview of Course Features

Welcome to Engineering Product Innovation: ENGR 804

Course Orientation

Before beginning our semester of study together, it is important to review all of the material in this Course Orientation.

What Will We Learn in the Course Orientation?

• Structure & Learning Environment of this Course;
• How to Succeed in this Course;
• Topics of Study in this Course;
• Unique Reading Activities in this Course;
• Course Journal; and
• ELIM e-Portfolio Option.

Please refer to the Course Syllabus for:

• What Assignments are Required in this Course;
• An Overview of Canvas, Penn State's Course Management System;
• Technical Requirements for Viewing Instructional Materials; and
• Where to Get Assistance if Assistance is Needed.

Structure & Learning Environment

This course will include reading material, which constitutes “lectures” here on Canvas. The readings will need to be read by the student prior to preparing a discussion post(s) each week so that students can participate in meaningful class discussions with classmates on the module topics. Class Modules will be based on that material but will also contain supplemental information or exercises to reinforce the learning objectives for each lesson. One module will be completed each week, with the reading due to be completed prior to that week's class. You will be required to complete all the modules, and pass a (reading) quiz at the end of each one. The “self-paced” nature of the course means that there is an established end date for completion of the reading, and for the module, but you have a great deal of flexibility within that week for how you'd like to proceed through the modules. Each Module is due by Sunday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time; however, once a module is open, you may begin working on it, as long as you complete the deadlines as established.

In addition, students will be assigned to virtual project teams, with members from the class for any Team Projects. The teams will be assigned to a project mid-way through the semester by the Instructor, and will work together throughout the semester to complete the tasks. Virtual meetings among the team members will be the primary mode of collaboration. Teams are expected to establish meetings to facilitate their work. Penn State University provides many free resources, such as Zoom Meetings; however, students are free to decide how to meet as long as deadlines are meet.

All materials are accessible from Canvas, Penn State's course management system. It is here that you'll access course pages and materials, take online quizzes and surveys, and check assignment scores and course grades.

It is unfortunate that we cannot simply inject each student with all of the knowledge they will gain during the semester so that the team-based projects could be initiated with full awareness of the challenges of working on virtual teams and some of the tools to address these challenges. This knowledge will be developed over the course of the semester, and we hope that you will adjust your team and how you interact as we work through these lessons.

How to Succeed

How do you define and achieve success in an on-line (or even a residential) course like this one? It depends on your goals and perspective. A 24-year-old graduate student who registers for this course in the hope of earning an easy “A” is unlikely to be successful, no matter how adept he or she may be with information technology. Assuming that you are motivated to get the most out of this class, which attitudes and behaviors increase your chances of having a satisfactory experience?

Habits of Successful Learners

1. Devote sufficient time and effort. Time-on-task is a necessary condition for learning. Schedule several blocks of time during each week to study the text, to work on project assignments, and to read and contribute to discussions.
2. Approach learning reflectively. Be aware of your strengths and weakness as a learner. Students who develop strong “metacognitive” skills tend to be the most effective learners. Also, those who are able to relate what they learned to situations outside the classroom (real or virtual) are most likely to retain that knowledge.

Source: Palloff, R. M. and Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching.

The Learning Experience

Online courses make great organizational demands on you, the student. This is especially true in a self-paced course, in which you alone are responsible for your progress. You can work in the middle of the night or afternoon. The classroom never closes, and this flexibility allows you to fashion the learning experience around your schedule. However, this freedom also requires that you be disciplined in your efforts. You must be willing and able to commit the same amount of time as you would for attending class and studying for a traditional course.

Topics of Study

There are 14 Modules that will be completed for this course. We will complete the Modules at a rate of approximately 1 unit per week. Topics will include:

1. Introduction to Engineering Production Innovation
2. Organizational and Market Considerations
3. Major Approaches to Product Innovation
4. What, Why &; How to Innovate
5. Market Research, Analysis & Product Testing
6. Intellectual Property (IP) Considerations
7. Pitching Your Own Product Innovation
8. Team Product Innovation
9. Product Innovation Measures and Metrics
10. Overcoming Barriers in Product Innovation
11. Leading Innovation Through Failure
12. Studying Product Innovation for Introspection
13. Simulation of Production Innovation
14. Product Dissection as Applied to Product Innovation

Unique Reading Activities

Throughout each lesson you will see four unique reading activities, each identified with their own specific icon. Be sure to pay attention to these areas throughout your lesson pages.

• Focus on Research
• Focus on Theory
• Focus on Application
• Focus on Practice

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Journal

Throughout each lesson there will be journal entry requirements to assist in your comprehension of and reflection upon key concepts. Your grade will be based on your completion of each journal entry related to the specific section of content and your demonstration of at least a basic understanding of the underlying concepts. Journal posts do not need to be lengthy, but should concisely show your thoughts on the question at hand. Throughout each lesson, look for the brainstorming icon to signify when you should pause in your studies, reflect on what has just been presented and write a journal entry.

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ELIM e-Portfolio Option

Canvas offers a unique opportunity for you to monitor your own learning as you move through all of the courses for the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Management (ELIM) Certificate. You will be writing weekly journal entries and completing assignments that could be highly relevant to your future (if not, present) work setting. We highly recommend that you create and set up a Canvas e-Portfolio for capturing all of your work, including your journal entries, for all of the ELIM courses. You can later use this repository of work as a way to track all the topics you covered and/or to track your personal growth and understanding. Even if you are not completely this course for ELIM, having an e-Portfolio to reference back to, will be helpful as you progress through your coursework, as well as your career.

You control who can access your Canvas e-Portfolio. You simply need to provide the appropriate URL to anyone you may want to share with, including current or future employers. Please use these directions to set up your personal e-portfolio space now. That way, you can easily add your work throughout this course, and future courses, as you see fit.

Course Resources and Evaluations

Texts and Resources

The course also incorporates a number of additional resources into each lesson, including:

• Published research;
• Books;
• Videos; and
• TED talks.

Links to some of these resources will be provided within the lesson commentary. Other resources will be on e-reserve for you at the Penn State University Libraries and can be accessed using the Library Resources tab of the Course Navigation menu. For more information about how to access the e-Reserves resources for this course, contact the E-Reserves department of the University Libraries.

Readings, videos, journal entries and discussion questions are integrated throughout the lesson content. Although the readings and questions are summarized at the beginning of each lesson so that you may gauge the time you will need to devote to reading and writing each week, the content is designed for you to read sequentially. It is recommended that you start with the course content, and then pause to read the assigned readings and to respond to the journal entries and discussion questions when you are prompted within the lesson.

Course Evaluations

The evaluations are designed to have you apply course concepts through reflection questions, assignments, simulations and case studies. There is very little memorization of facts; rather, you will be asked to internalize general principles so that you can interpret real-world contexts and make educated judgment calls about what approaches are most likely to lead to success in product innovation. The goal of this course is not to present product innovation as if there is any one “right” formula for success; but, rather to develop in you an awareness of the fundamental issues that should be taken into account when innovating in a variety of organizational and market contexts.

Reading Quizzes

There is a brief reading quiz incorporated into most lessons that requires reading beyond the course commentary. [Please note: there are several lessons without additional required readings; there is no reading quiz in these cases.] You may look ahead at the quiz before you begin each reading so as to have the questions in mind as you read. These quizzes are intended to reward your diligent reading of the assigned material with very attainable points toward your course grade.

Journal Entries

Most lessons require you to write two journal entries in response to prompts embedded within the course content. Your responses do not have to be especially long. Being concise with your thoughts, especially in business writing, is a skill. In most cases, 2–3 thoughtful paragraphs will be enough; however, if you only write 1–2 sentences for each question, you will not earn full credit. Journal entries should demonstrate that you have internalized and reflected on the relevant lessons. In your response, please do not just write what you think…elaborate and explain how and/or why you have arrived to that way of thinking. Typically, there is no “right or wrong” answer for the journal responses, but you will be evaluated on your display of critical thinking with respect to the prompts.

Discussions

Most lessons also require two discussion forum posts, which will be guided by prompts throughout the course content. Again, these responses may be brief, but should be thoughtful. Your critical thinking about the prompt should be evident. If you have done research to write the post and/or respond to a classmate, please properly cite the source using APA guidelines. Many of these discussion posts require that you do some research in advance of writing the initial post, creating a “flipped classroom” environment. Any research you collect needs proper citation. Please review the Penn State Libraries' APA Quick Citation Guide.

The discussion forum responses are an ideal opportunity for you to pull from your specific skills and experience for the benefit of your classmates, who may come from very different professional and educational backgrounds. In most cases, you will be asked to respond to two of your classmates' posts; please keep your replies positive and constructive, and (if applicable) use this as an opportunity to provide your unique professional or educational perspective. [Please also take note that, because you are required to reply to classmates' posts, your original posts to the discussion forum are due by Thursday at 11:59 pm ET each week. Your replies to classmates are then due by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET each week.]

Assignments

Most lessons include an assignment, which will help you build on that lesson's content toward your semester project: a comprehensive product innovation proposal, complete with primary market research and a preliminary business case. Weekly assignments typically require that you submit a one- to two-page response focused on the application of the concepts from that lesson to a possible product innovation. It is advisable to begin generating ideas for your semester project as soon as possible so that you can maximize the applicability of each assignment to this larger project, but you are not required to commit to your final product innovation idea until mid-semester.

Again, as mentioned above, you will have done research to write the assignment, it is required that you properly cite the source using APA guidelines. Any research you collect needs proper citation. Per APA Guidelines, you must use in-text citations as well as a References Cited list. Please review the Penn State Libraries' APA Quick Citation Guide.

Case Studies and Simulation of Product Innovation

Case studies are used in a many ways in education to develop a plethora of skills, most namely “the ability to transfer academic knowledge to real-life contexts” (Penn, Currie, Hoad & O'Brien, 2016, abstract). We will utilize a few case studies to give you an opportunity to apply what you have learned in different ways:

• By assessing real product innovation cases;
• By identifying a product innovation failure and the barrier to innovation that prevented this product's success; and
• By making recommendations based on the details of a hypothetical product innovation case.

In these case study assignments, you will select an organization and analyze the company's innovation management, techniques and/or strategy and product outcomes.

The simulation of a product innovation is a group activity requiring you to work within a team to respond to a product innovation case based on information about a hypothetical organization, market and set of product innovation opportunities. Your team will generate sound recommendations for how the company should proceed (and why). All teams will work on the same prompt and, after completing the assignment, be given an opportunity to compare differences in their approaches in a class discussion forum. This team project requires a written proposal.

Source: Penn, M. L., Currie, C. S. M., Hoad, K. A., & O’Brien, F. A. (2016). The use of case studies in OR teaching. Higher Education Pedagogies, 1(1), 16–25. doi: 10.1080/23752696.2015.1134201

Product Dissection

This product dissection activity will introduce you to the use of virtual product dissection as a means to inspire creativity in engineering design and product innovation. It is a means for providing a framework for you in your own design projects as well as product innovation out in industry. This activity is based on empirical studies on how to to use product dissection as a tool for learning about how products work and as a tool for design inspiration. The activity spans two course modules and includes an online product dissection activity, followed-up with a team written submission and individual reflection in a journal entry.

Major Course Projects

In this course you will be asked to submit both an individual and a group Product Innovation Proposal.

Individual Product Innovation Proposal

At the mid-semester point, you will be required to submit an individual product innovation proposal, in which you outline a concept for product innovation. The proposal, which includes both a written submission (minimum three pages and maximum six pages) and a Bongo video submission (minimum two-minute and maximum five-minute), will be guided by an outline of required information. Other students and the course instructor will then evaluate the proposals (based on a provided rubric) to rank the highest with respect to the evaluation criteria. The instructor will assign students to work in teams to advance the top-ranked concepts into a Team Product Innovation Proposal. Please pay attention to the due dates for the Video Submission…it is due on a Thursday at 11:59 PM ET so that classmates may have time to comment before Sunday evening!

You will find a dedicated description page a little later in this lesson; it will give you all of the details of this assignment.

Team Product Innovation Proposal

This team assignment will provide you with experience working on a product innovation proposal within a virtual team (as will be required of you in professional contexts). The final submission will include both a written summary of your product innovation proposal (minimum eight pages and maximum ten pages) and a Bongo video summary of the proposal's highlights (minimum three minutes and maximum six minutes), which is due the week before the proposal [please pay attention to due dates in Canvas!]. You will have approximately half of the semester to work together in your assigned team on this project.

You will find a dedicated description page a little later in this lesson; it will give you all of the details of this assignment.

Grading

Grades will be assigned based on both the completeness of responses and on the instructor's assessment of the student's efforts to reflect on the course material and demonstrate critical thinking in the responses.

For more information about the content and grading of this course, please refer to the Course Syllabus using the Canvas Course Navigation menu.

Assignment #1: Lesson 1 ~ Pre-Course Survey

Before moving on to Lesson 1, take time to fill out the Pre-Course Survey.

This is an ungraded assignment but it is still required. In addition, you will need to mark this assignment as done before you will be able to move onto Lesson 1.

Lesson 1: Getting Started

As you begin the class, please take the time to introduce yourself and get to know your classmates and instructor. Many of the lessons in this course will include interactions with your classmates; these interactions represent an opportunity to learn from others with different backgrounds and experiences. Also, remember that your classmates can become an important part of your professional network—you are encouraged to make the most of opportunities to interact and work with other members of the class.

Learning Objectives

• Become acquainted with your instructor and fellow students.
• Review the course goals and objectives.
• Review the course assignments and be able to explain how they tie together.

Summary of Activities

1. Complete Assignment #1 ~ Pre-Course Survey.
2. Read the course syllabus and reach out to your instructor if you have any questions.
3. Review and sign the Academic Integrity contract by taking the Academic Integrity Quiz.
4. Create a Video Biography to introduce yourself and view/comment on your classmates' videos, all within Bongo.
5. Post in the Discussion #1 Forum, by Thursday at 11:59 pm ET, and respond to at least 2 classmates by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET.
6. Complete Journal Entry #1 by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET.

Assignment #2: Lesson 1 ~ Academic Integrity Quiz

After reviewing the information about academic integrity, please read the following statements for instructors and students, and indicate your agreement by responding to the online quiz.

In this class, your instructor is responsible for ensuring that:

• The course is delivered with fairness and respect;
• Students are treated by their peers and instructor with fairness, respect, trustworthiness and honesty; and
• Students are provided with an atmosphere that promotes/enables responsibility and courage.

In this class, you (the student) are responsible for ensuring that:

• You treat your peers and instructor with respect and fairness; and
• You display honesty and trustworthiness.

You are responsible to yourself, the instructor and your fellow students to be prepared for class discussions and team project work. You are also responsible for showing courage to hold yourself, your fellow students and your instructor accountable for maintaining integrity during teamwork and throughout the course.

Integrity, and the values that contribute to it, are critical in all aspects of our lives and must be practiced at all times to ensure that, when you are tired, stressed or pressured, you will know by reflex the correct response. In the engineering discipline specifically, integrity is of the utmost importance because of the potential for loss of life, health and property. Practicing integrity within this class will help you build a foundation on which to rely when you encounter difficult situations in the future.

In this class, you would be cheating if you:

• Copy work from other sources (students, the Internet, etc.);
• Plagiarize (do not cite appropriate sources or use text word for word without appropriate quotations); or
• Misrepresent information or work.

In response to cheating or plagiarism, your instructor may charge you with a violation of the College's Code of Academic Conduct.

To help ensure that you and your fellow students are committed to developing an atmosphere for conducive learning and growth and for team projects, team members will develop a team contract that addresses fairness, respect, trustworthiness, honesty, responsibility and courage regarding the distribution of work, expectations, and outcomes. Team members will also conduct peer reviews mid-project and at the end of the project.

By agreeing, you certify that you have read the provided materials and that you understand the University's policy on academic integrity and plagiarism. You agree to uphold the University's standards for excellence in education by ensuring that your work is your own and is consistent with these policies. You are committed to participation, teamwork, and success with integrity.

In addition, by agreeing, you will also review The Pennsylvania University Libraries' resources for proper APA Citations.

Discussion #1: Lesson 1 Forum ~ Creativity vs. Innovation Discussion

The discussion forum activities in this first lesson are meant to help acquaint you with the course content and your fellow students.

• By Thursday at 11:59 pm ET:
  • Your initial post on innovation should be made in the Canvas discussion forum so that there is enough time for a discussion.
• By Sunday, you should have viewed all of your classmates' posts and responded to at least 2 of them by 11:59 pm ET.

Assignment #3: Lesson 1 ~ Video Biography

Please create a brief (one- to three-minute) video introduction of yourself, summarizing the following:

• What led you to this class?
  1. If you are required to take this course,
     1. as a graduate student in the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Management (ELIM) Program, what prompted you to seek this Certificate and/or Master of Engineering?
     2. as a graduate student in another online Graduate Program, what prompted you to seek the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Management Graduate Minor?
  2. If you are taking this course as an elective, what prompted you to do so?
• What do you hope to offer to your classmates as you participate in the course activities?
• What is your professional background (including any relevant product innovation work that you have done)?
• What is your educational background (including degrees obtained and institutions attended)?

Refer to the Bongo Resources and use your outline to create a video using Bongo by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. ET. You will be using this tool to record your Innovation Product Presentations as well, so consider this an opportunity to practice using Bongo.

Then visit Bongo to view the videos from the other students in your class. You may comment on these videos within Bongo, but these comments are optional.

Note: Please be sure to speak near to your microphone when you record your bio—we all want to be able to hear what you are saying!

Discussion #1: Lesson 1 Forum ~ Creativity vs. Innovation Discussion

Part 1

In your initial post to this course discussion forum, please answer Questions 1–3:

1. Please briefly reflect on the difference between creativity and innovation:
   1. What is the difference in the meaning of these two terms [please do not Google your answer, I really want your original thoughts, no dictionary definitions!]?
   2. Do you think creativity and innovation can be “taught” in the classroom or do you think these are “inherent” skills we already possess/are born with?
   Now watch this short video from YouTube.
   Video 1.1. Creativity and Innovation transcript
   No transcript available.
2. After watching the video, do your answers to a) and b) change? Why or why not?
3. What leadership challenges can you envision based on the need to balance these two goals within an organization?

Part 2

Review the other students' responses in the discussion forum and comment on at least two. Your comments may be of any nature as long as they are constructive, but focus on opportunities to share experiences, ask questions, answer questions, and/or add your perspective to the perspectives shared by others.

Your initial post is due by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. (ET), with two responses to your peers' posts due by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. (ET).

Please see the following rubric for this discussion. Additional information about Discussion Forums are also available in the full syllabus under Assignments.

Discussion Rubric (10 pts)

Criteria	Excellent	Good	Room for Improvement	Below Expectations	Possible Points
Quality of Initial Post: Posts have an obvious connection to course concepts, fully addresses the discussion prompt(s), and demonstrates graduate-level writing and professional voice.	6.0 pts	5.0 pts	4.0 pts	0.0–3.0 pts	6.0 pts
Timeliness of Initial Post	2.0 pts Initial post delivered by Thursday.			0.0 pts Posted late or did not post.	2.0 pts
Replies to Initial Post (Minimum of two posts)	2.0 pts Replied to at least two posts by Sunday in a manner that thoughtfully applies course concepts and furthers the discussion. Replies demonstrate graduate-level writing and professional voice.		1.0 pts Replied but not up to the standards for full credit.	0.0 pts Posted late or did not post.	2.0 pts

Major Course Projects

In this course you will be asked to submit both an individual and a group Product Innovation Proposal. Overviews of these major course projects are listed below so that you can be prepared to incorporate all that you learn into these projects as you move through the course.

Individual Product Innovation Proposal

Your individual proposal may focus on any type of product (or process) innovation that you would like. This individual proposal will be due near the mid-point of the semester, and the assignments from each week leading up to the due date are designed to help you build toward your proposal. Your proposal submission will include both a 3– to 6–page written portion and a 2– to 5–minute video summary portion, addressing some specific highlights of your written proposal.

The video will be produced and shared with your classmates using an integrated technology tool called Bongo. Students will evaluate each other's video summary proposals according to a rubric, which will be provided to you. The evaluation rubric will emphasize information drawn directly from the lesson content and will be embedded within an ungraded survey for the purpose of anonymously rating the proposals of your peers.

Virtual Teams: Team Product Innovation Proposal

A virtual team was probably unheard of a decade ago, but they are now a critical mechanism for integrating information, making decisions, and implementing actions around the globe. A virtual team is a group of people who work across space, time and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technologies. People in a virtual group are geographically dispersed; they interact mostly through technology and may never meet face-to-face. There are advantages and disadvantages to working with virtual teams. However, being aware of both before you start working together, can make for a smoother time together as a team.

The development of new technologies, such as web-based tools, frees people from being confined to work in one physical space and gives people flexibility. Here are the advantages to virtual teams:

• Technology-mediated communication enables people to work remotely from anywhere that is convenient. We do not have to travel to one particular location in order to work with others. Time that used to be wasted on commuting now can be saved for working on more valuable things.
• Virtual teams enable people from thousands of miles away to collaborate. Synchronous communication makes it possible to connect with people from far away.
• Another advantage that is enabled by long distance collaboration is the sharing of resources. For example, a virtual team of Chinese and Americans designing an engineering product reported that they were able to find a part for their design in China which was 40 times cheaper than the same part in the U.S.; the final prototyping, however, was much cheaper in the United States. So the group saved money by identifying which resources were least expensive in each country.

Despite the advantages, virtual teams may also face a number of disadvantages, including:

• Decreased clarity of role and goal;
• Decline in work efficiency and effectiveness;
• Decreased work satisfaction; and
• Declined project success.

However, those disadvantages are not inherent characteristics of virtual groups, but rather results of group members not handling well the communication challenges they face in working in virtual teams. Again, being aware of this issues helps teams work more effectively together and can help the synthesis of virtual teams as you work on your project over the course of the semester.

Students will be assigned to virtual teams by the instructor to work on further developing the most highly-rated Individual Product Innovation Proposals. Note: once assigned one the Product Innovation to further develop, teams are free to make changes to the individual proposal details as part of creating this team proposal.

For this assignment, teams will be developing both an 8– to 10–page written portion and a 3– to 6–minute video summary of the proposal's highlights within Bongo. Please use appropriate headings and subheadings so that it is clear that you have addressed all of the assignment's requirements.

More detailed instructions for both of these projects can be found on the next two pages.

Individual Product Innovation Proposal Instructions

In this course you will be asked to submit both individual and group Product Innovation Proposals. Your Individual proposal may focus on any type of product (or process) innovation that you would like. This individual proposal will be due near the mid-point of the semester, during Lesson 7, and the assignments from each week leading up to the due date are designed to help you build toward your proposal. Your proposal submission will include both a 3– to 5–page written portion and a 2– to 5–minute Bongo video portion, addressing some specific highlights of your written proposal. The videos will be shared among the classmates in order for the students to evaluate each other’s proposals according to a rubric which will be provided to them.

The evaluation rubric will emphasize the points below, which are drawn directly from the lesson content.

1. Make the case that the product innovation you are proposing is appropriate for the market context.
   1. Explain how the proposed innovation will influence product sales.
      • For example, will it encourage the sale of more products to the same market, new products to the same market, the same product to new markets, or new products to new markets?
   2. Explain whether the market which you plan to launch your product into is generally dynamic or competitive.
      • Has a dominate design emerged, or is the market for this product still fluid?
   3. Explain why the proposed innovation fits market conditions.
      • For example, is the innovation focused on changes to the product, process or user experience, and what justification do you have for your approach?
2. Make the case for the category of innovation you are proposing with respect to the market and organizational context.
   1. Detail which major category of innovation (incremental, radical, disruptive, open) you have elected and why?
   2. Briefly describe the market for your proposed innovation.
      • For example, are you proposing functional improvements to an existing product for its existing market? Or have you proposed a less functional and less expensive product to open up down market opportunities? Is this a radical innovation, and if so, what is the intended market?
   3. How would your proposed innovation affect the current state-of-the-art?
      • For example, is it radical and competence-consuming? Or does it utilize existing resources either inside or outside of the boundaries of the organization? Please explain your rationale.
3. Make a case for the type of innovation you are proposing.
   1. Is your proposed innovation focused primarily on the product concept, package or process (as defined for the purpose of this course)?
   2. What is the customer value proposition of the innovated product?
   3. What innovation tools (if any) did you use to arrive at the proposed innovation (see the second half of your Fundamentals of Product Development text for tools)?
4. Make a case that the proposed value proposition is a fit for the proposed market.
   1. Define the market and concisely detail the benefits of your proposed innovations for that target market.
   2. Explain why your innovated product offering would be preferably over existing offerings and substitutes?
   3. Explain the “problem” that your innovated problem solves and make your case for why consumers will pay for your solution.

Based on the outcome of the peer and instructor evaluations, students will then be assigned to work in teams to further develop the highest rated pitch(es). The Team Product Innovation Proposal will be due at the end of the semester.

Note: You do not need to offer any specifics about the “secret sauce” of your innovation, particularly if it has a basis in your professional work. This assignment is being graded on your application of the principles of innovation in new product development…and not on any particular assessment of the technology itself. If you are using a “real-life” innovation for this project and are unsure about how to make your pitch without saying too much (or too little), please consult with the course instructor about how to maintain confidentiality.

Please keep track of the due date for this assignment and begin working on it as soon as you have solidified your product innovation idea. The instructions for this assignment are not repeated later in the course so it will be your responsibility to refer back to this page and manage your time in order to produce a quality response to the assignment by the due date.

Team Product Innovation Proposal Instructions

For this assignment, assigned virtual teams will develop both a written proposal (8–10 pages) and a video summary of the proposal's highlights (3–6 minutes) using Bongo. The assignments in this course are designed to provide you with information and opportunities to explore concepts that you will need to understand in preparing this culminating final course project.

Please use appropriate headings and subheadings so that it is clear that you have addressed all of the assignment requirements.

Written Document Submission Requirements

The following points should be addressed in your written document:

1. Briefly review the product innovation(s) that your team is proposing.
   • What category of innovation are you proposing (incremental, radical, disruptive, open) and why?
   • What type of innovation (concept, package, process) are you proposing and why?
   • What are the desired outcomes from a sales perspective (same product to same market, new product to same market, same product to different market, new product to new market)?
   • What effect will your proposed innovation have on the state of the art? (Is it competence-consuming or resource-utilizing?)
2. Describe the market.
   • Is it generally dynamic and/or competitive? How do you know?
   • Why is your proposed innovation a fit for the market context?
   • What is the fit between the proposed innovation and consumers' needs? Include a brief summary of how your team arrived at its conclusion.
3. Detail any customer feedback your team collected related to your product innovation concept, as well as any design techniques that the team used to respond to that customer intelligence, including:
   • A brief summary of potential customers' comments; and
   • An explanation of when in your concept-development process you engaged potential users.
4. Detail your team's business case, including:
   • The target market for the proposed innovation;
   • What value proposition your proposed innovation supplies to the aforementioned target customer; and
   • How your proposed innovation will position the resulting product in the market relative to the competition.
5. Detail any barriers your team foresees to commercial success for this innovation. Think in terms of informational, organizational, and environmental barriers (as detailed in the course content), as well as any other barriers that may be specific to your particular innovation.
6. Include a brief summary of your rationale with respect to how and when to incorporate the customer into your concept for innovation.

Note: You are not required to develop any type of prototype for this assignment; however, you may find the prototyping process useful. If your team does develop a prototype, please include a photo/sketch in your written submission and display the prototype in your video. (Any photos in your written submission should be included in the appendices and will not count toward your required page count.)

Submit the written proposal, inclusive of the innovation's value proposition, business case, and market analysis, by the end of Lesson 15 (last day of class at 11:59 p.m. ET).

Video Submission Requirements

The structure and content of the video presentation is entirely up to your team, so long as you respect the time limits [three minute minimum and six-minute maximum]. Though you would address the course instructor and your classmates in a traditional class presentation format, you might want to try something different, such as, but not limited to:

• Structure the video as if you were pitching your product innovation concept to the senior executives of a company;
• Treat this as Super Bowl commercial or an After-Hours infomerical for your product;
• Use the video to make the case for the product innovation from a user perspective; or
• Take another approach, as long as it highlights some of the relevant information from your team’s written submission.

Please inquire with the course instructor if you have any questions about this submission.

Please be aware of the due dates for this assignment. Post your team's video presentation in Bongo near the end of Lesson 14, but allowing enough time for your classmates' to evaluate and have a class discussion.