Chapter Objectives

• Illustrate the importance of the development of new products and services to a firm's competitiveness.
• Identify the various types of new products that are developed by companies.
• Introduce the new product design process and the concept of a product's life cycle.
• Demonstrate the necessity of concurrent product and process design as a new product or service is developed.
• Present a framework for understanding how new services are developed and introduced into the marketplace.

Supplement Objectives

• Recognize that project management involves both people skills to coordinate and motivate individuals from a range of disciplines and technical skills to properly plan and schedule a project.
• Explain the role of the project manager in organizing and coordinating all activities performed in a project.
• Introduce critical path scheduling as a tool for identifying activities that require immediate attention.
• Identify the time-cost trade-offs involved in expediting the completion of a project.
• Discuss some of the criticisms often associated with project management techniques.