BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this assignment, students should be able to: Understand how to utilise the creative problem solving approach to handle the various managerial challenges in an organisation and help with the process of new product development. Utilise creative thinking techniques such as lateral thinking and brainstorming to solve business problems and appraise their usefulness. Understand how creative thinking and critical thinking are complementary to each other and how both can be used to achieve effective solutions and ideas. Objectives of the Assignment To show ability in finding facts and defining the problems for the purpose of establishing the framework for idea generation. To display the competencies of using the creative tools and techniques for idea generation. To exhibit the competencies in evaluating ideas and making comparison against available alternatives.

QUESTION You are Product Development Manager of a company that manufactures household consumer product (the company must currently exist in the market local or international). The company plan to introduce a new product and sustain their competitive position in the market. As such, you are assigned by the companys CEO to come up with a new product offering and present a proposal of the new product concept that appeal to the market. Your proposed product concept needs to be realistic and marketable within five (5) years. You can choose ANY products for this assignment. Some examples of products are as follows: Alarm Clock Calculator Hat/Cap Motorbike Lamp Laptop bag Pillow Refrigerator Television Umbrella

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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It is important that your product concept be able to show how innovative in comparison to the available alternatives. In addition, the value it can specifically provide to the targeted market. In addition, you are required to conduct a questionnaire from one of the option below: 1. TWO (2) Academicians from Faculty of Business & Management OR 2. ONE (1) Program Leader from Faculty of Business & Management OR 3. ONE (1) Group Leader from Faculty of Business & Management OR 4. ONE (1) Head of School from Faculty of Business & Management OR 5. ONE (1) Product Development Executive/ Manager from any company/organisation. The main purpose of the survey is to get their feedback with regards to your proposed product concept. The information will then be used in your idea evaluation under recommendation for FFA Your written proposal has to be submitted by the date of submission (7th June 2013) with a softcopy in CD format. Your written proposal needs to follow the format given below; Executive Summary Table of Content Part 1 - Problem Statement - Competitor Analysis, comparison of common attributes from two (2) products from two direct competitors - Objective Statement, written in one sentence Part 2 - Idea Generation, list four (3) from 6 techniques. Part 3 - Product Concept Description Part 4 - Market Identification Part 5 - Idea Evaluation, use BOTH FFA and Plus Minus Analysis Conclusion References Part 6 - Appendix. (attachments of your questionnaire & other supporting information to your document)
Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 201209

Level 2

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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PART 1. PROBLEM STATEMENT, COMPETITOR ANALYSIS AND OBJECTIVE STATEMENT

A.

Problem Statement One paragraph to indicate the specific area of focus to work on your idea generation. Your problem statement needs to relate to your objective statement Important Note: Your problem statement will later be referred to in your Idea Generation

B. Competitor Analysis Compare and contrast two (2) products from any two (2) direct competitors (table form) Include the following in your table: - Opening (overall summary of competitors profile) - Common attributes a. Uniqueness b. Limitation c. Technology The above information of your Competitor Analysis will be used later in Idea Evaluation C. Objective Statement One paragraph to indicate the general scope for your creative focus.

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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PART 2. IDEA GENERATION Choose any THREE (3) of the six idea generation techniques taught in class and for each idea generation technique you have chosen, there are specific requirement you need to fulfilling when presenting them in your proposal please refer to Table 1. In addition, in the idea generation section, for each technique you use, you need to present write the information according to the following structure. Opening indicate the history and development of the idea generation technique Illustration provide the relevant diagram or table to show how the technique is used to generate ideas Outcomes show how THREE (3) specific ideas can be derived from the techniques you have chosen Evaluation identify the best combination from the THREE (3) specific ideas above and provide overall analysis (advantages & disadvantages) in comparison to other idea generation techniques.

Table 1: Requirements for the Idea Generation Techniques Mindmapping Need to use mindmapping software to draw (you can make use of Freemind downloadable at http://sourceforge.net/projects/freemind/ or any available mindmapping software. Note: You can draw it manually. Refer to FOUR (4) attributes in your attribute listing. Attribute For each attribute, you need to present at least FOUR (4) alternatives. Listing Lotus Blossom Concept Fans Minimum 80% of the boxes must be filled up. Lotus Blossom must be presented in a 9x9 matrix. Required four (4) levels in the Concept Fan which include the Problem or Purpose, Directions, Concepts and Ideas shown in a horizontal hierarchical format. It should include: 1 problem or purpose 2 directions 4 concepts 8 ideas

SCAMPER Start the sentence in SCAMPER with an action word.

Level 2 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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Force Fitting Trigger

Any three (3) pictures that do not have direct relations to your product concept. It should include six (6) related key words from each picture.

PART 3. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Present the visual or visuals of the product concept Visual can be sketched by hand or drawn using available softwares. Visual is required for all sides of the product Label each components accordingly

*Be as detail as possible. Avoid giving generic description of the product Include the following: Opening Availability for purchase (be specific on locations & countries) Features Function Frequency of usage (daily, weekly, monthly or occasionally etc) Price (related to the target markets affordability & competitors prices ) Technologies

You are required to provide analysis on how different and innovative your product concept in comparison to the two (2) identified products in competitor analysis earlier in competitor analysis section. *Be as detail as possible. Avoid giving generic description of the product

PART 4. MARKET IDENTIFICATION You are allowed to target a single or multiple market segment. Include the following in detail: Gender Age group Purchasing power (in RM ringgit) Occupation

*Be as detail as possible. Avoid giving generic description of the target market
Level 2 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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PART 5. IDEA EVALUATION Evaluate your idea using the Force Field Analysis (FFA) and Plus Minus Analysis A. Force Field Analysis Opening Present Two (2) sets of FFAs diagrams First diagram identifies scoring before recommendation for improvement Second diagram identifies scoring after recommendation for improvement Components for each set of FFA diagram (table form) List of Restricting Factors (table form located on left side of diagram) List of Driving Factors (table form located on right side of diagram) Present five (5) supporting factors and five (5) restricting factors Provide score for each factor in FFA (scale from 1 to 5) Score range for restricting factors is -1 to -5 Score range for driving factors is 1 to 5 List of Restricting Factors (table form located on left side of diagram) Provide recommendation part for FFA (essay) Include the following: Ways to minimize restricting factors and maximize driving factors by incorporating the information and suggestions obtained from the survey into the FFA analysis a. Provide TWO (2) clear recommendations on how the restricting factors can be minimized (derived information from limitation & challenges of implementation of product) b. Provide TWO (2) clear recommendations on how the supporting factors be maximised in order to improve the score of the proposed idea (derived information from ways for improvement of product)

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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Part 6. QUESTIONAIRE (attach in appendix) Questionnaire form is to be given to one of the option below: 1. TWO (2) Academicians from Faculty of Business & Management OR 2. ONE (1) Program Leader from Faculty of Business & Management OR 3. ONE (1) Group Leader from Faculty of Business & Management OR 4. ONE (1) Head of School from Faculty of Business & Management OR 5. ONE (1) Product Development Executive/ Manager from any company/organisation. Date & signatures of your questionnaire respondents are required. All components in the questionnaire form are required to be filled Completed questionnaire/opinion poll forms are to be attached in the appendix Attach original completed questionnaire/opinion poll forms with the hardcopy of assignment Attach scanned completed questionnaire/opinion poll forms with the softcopy (CD) of assignment Information from the questionnaire/opinion poll forms will be used in idea evaluation recommendation for FFA

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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OTHER REQUIREMENTS Format of Writing You are to use the following format of writing. - Font type: Times News Roman - Font size: Heading 16pts, subheading 14pts, normal writing 12pts - Line spacing: 1.5 - Caption and the source of information are to be given to each diagram, chart, and table used in your answer.

References and Citations References and citations are to be written according to Harvard Referencing System. Ensure the format you use for writing your citations and references is consistent throughout the document. Ensure each citation has its corresponding reference and each reference has its citation in the answer. You should on no account make reference to www.wikipedia.com, www.about.com, or the likes as sources for your work. These websites can be useful to provide you with the definitions and the general ideas about the concepts within the module but it is not acceptable in your academic writing. Journals from Emerald and IEEE are highly recommended.

Word Penalty The maximum word count for this assignment is 2,000 words. A sliding scale of penalties for excess length will be imposed according to the amount by which the limit has been exceeded. Your word count must be indicated on your cover page. Word Count 2,001 2,200 2,201 2,400 2,401 2,600 2,601 and above Penalty No penalty 10% penalty of the total mark 20% penalty of the total mark Marks will be capped at a pass (i.e. 50%)

Words in diagrams, charts, tables, captions, citations and references are not considered into the word count.

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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Additional Information The idea of innovation in this assignment will be seen in objective manner meaning the product concept you proposed must not exist in the market around the world (Note: This can be verified by the marker via online by typing in the relevant keywords) and not from a subjective perspective where the idea, if applied, is considered novel to an individual, an organisation or a nation. This is to avoid students having simply copy an idea or taking a product which already exist in another country than merely applied to the country and market of their choice which shows no creative effort. However, this does not mean that students have to create something new from scratch. They can use those ideas or products that already exist and propose something new by combining two or more different functions, using different materials, modifying the existing product for different use, rearranging the parts of the product, minimising the size, etc. as long as the proposed product concept can appeal to the market and effectively compete with the competitors.

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION: QUESTIONNAIRE

This questionnaire is to be used by CRI students with regards to the acceptability and implementation of their ideas. Some of the information given by the respondents will be required to be incorporated into the Force Field Analysis especially the answer and suggestion given in Q8, Q9, Q10, Q12, and Q13. Suggestions given by the interviewee should be presented as recommendations for maximising the supporting factors and/or minimising the restricting factors. You will be required to explain your ideas to the interviewees and show how it can provide value to the target market and make comparison to other available alternatives in order to determine the innovativeness of your idea. The respond need to be attached as appendices in your assignment. INTERVIEWEES NAME: ___________________________ OFFICE EMAIL: _____________________________________________ POSITION : _____________________ DATE:____________

Not clear 1. Are you clear with the idea proposed by the student? 2. Is the description of the target market specific or general?

Very clear

Highly 1 2 3 4 5 Highly general specific Note: Specific detail of target market(s) is desired rather than providing a general description. Not clear 1 2 3 4 5 Very clear

3. Have the students explained the value that will be provided by his or her idea to the target customer(s) or user(s) clearly? 4. How far do you agree that the value provided by the proposed idea is relevant to the target market / user? 5. How innovative is the proposed idea?

Not relevant

Highly relevant

Not innovative Not unique

Highly innovative Very unique 201209

6. How unique is the proposed idea when compared to the identified competing alternatives ? Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

BM006-3-2CRI 7. How far is the proposed idea considered to offer superior value when compared to the identified competing alternatives?

Individual Assignment Highly inferior 1 2 3 4 5

Page 11 of 12 Highly superior

8. What are the limitations of the proposed idea? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

9. What are the non-technical problems (which can include barriers that are resulted from the politicallegal, social-cultural, economic and ecological environment) do you think may exist when the proposed idea is to be implemented? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

10. Will there be any technical difficulties in the designing and implementation of the proposed product / service / process innovation? If yes, what are these technical difficulties? Yes No ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

11. Do you agree that the proposed product / service / process innovation can be introduced within FIVE (5) YEARS from now? Yes No 12. What suggestions can you provide to overcome the limitations, non-technical problems and technical difficulties that you have identified above? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 13. What other suggestions can you give in order to improve on the idea? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209

BM006-3-2CRI

Individual Assignment

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I, ______________________________________, hereby declare that the above information is provided by my good self in support of the effort made by the student in writing their Creativity and Innovation assignment.

______________________________________ Date & Signature of respondent

Level 2

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation

201209