Product+Development+Processes

= Innovative Product Development Processes: Stage-Gate = Monday January 23, 2012 <>

Topic overview:
In class today we will introduce the Stage-Gate product development process. Many organizations use some variation on this process to select their most promising opportunities to pursue, and to do so in a way that directs investment towards the most promising ideas. The basic idea of this process is that the process for bringing an innovative product or service to market goes through a series of // stages // in an organization. To proceed from one stage to the next, the project must pass through a Gate review, wherein the project team and an appropriate collection of stakeholders review the proposal from the project team and decide whether to move the project to the next stage, cancel the project, or put the project on hold.

By the end of today's class you should:
 * Understand the concept of stages and gates in the Stage-Gate process
 * Understand why organizations use a structured method such as Stage Gate to direct their innovation investments efficiently and effectively.
 * Recognize that there are many variations on the basic Stage-Gate idea, including the Cagan/Vogel model

Preparation for class:
Prior to class you need to read the introduction and chapter 1 of [CE09] - Successful Product Innovation, by Robert G. Cooper and Scott J. Edgett. This is one of the three textbooks distributed for the course.

There is no pre-class exercise today. Just come to class having read and thoughtfully considered the introduction to Stage-Gate in chapter 1 of the text.

Reference materials:
Slides: