Describe the five approaches to product development

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Innovation Focus: Organizations can use aninnovation product/service strategy, emphasizing strong research and
development capabilities, fostered in a culture of innovation. The organization is often "first to market" with its
innovations, gaining a head start over its competitors, which are forced to imitate the first-mover to stay
competitive. Organizations with innovation focus encourage risk-taking by rewarding employees for new ideas,
and understanding that failure is an inevitable part of developing cutting-edge services and products.
•Responsiveness: Alternatively, organizations can use a responsive product/service strategy, which still leverages
strong research and development capabilities, but emphasizes speed over innovation for its own sake. Here,
products and services are constantly in development to adapt to dynamic market demands.
•Low Cost: Companies using a low-cost product/service strategy specialize in delivering products and services at
low cost. Such an approach emphasizes competitive advantages in low-cost production and distribution
techniques to achieve profitability. The approach requires little in the way of research and development (and its
costs), resulting in potentially higher profits. Such companies are limited to fairly generic products, however.
•Quality Attributes: Reliability, Durability, and Safety: Organizations specializing in selling to demanding
customers often use a quality attributes product/service strategy. Needs can include demand for extremely high
reliability (or risk a failed mission, as in the aerospace industry), extremely high quality (or face severe injuries to
patients, as in the medical device industry), extreme durability (or face expensive downtime, as in the heavy
construction equipment industry), or be extremely focused on safety (or risk death, as in the hazardous materials
safety equipment industry).
•Custom Applications: Some organizations use acustom applications product/service strategy, targeting
customers needing unique applications. In consumer markets, Dell provides an online configurator (Web-based
application assisting the user in specifying parts of a system) for customers to build their own custom personal
computer, enabling them to select the processor speed, memory size, and so on. In business markets, Grainger and
other industrial parts suppliers have applications engineers on staff to modify existing components for customer
applications, such as modifications and adjustments to basic electric motors to meet specific requirements.
Sometimes this type of operation is called BTO (build to order). Such organizations excel in low-cost and rapid
development work (although here, "development" often involves minor modifications to existing platforms).
Organizations must also have adaptive production capabilities.