Background

Assessment 1 is  a low value (10%), progress check-in on Assessment Item 2 – the innovation audit of your workplace or organisation of choice. It also provides the opportunity for you to share with your fellow students what you are learning about innovation as well as the background and capabilities of the organisation you are examining.

Understanding the focus of the various assessment tasks in MKT520
Assessments 1 & 2 and Assessment 3 & 4 are complementary. You can use the same organisation for all assignments but if you prefer you can choose a different organisation for the later 2 assignments.

My first piece of advice is to look at both sets of assignments together and see the clear differences. A2 has a focus on innovation (dealt with in the first half of the subject) whereas A3 has a focus on new product development practices. So please do not focus on the new product development process in assessment items 1 & 2.

Task

Your task is to create a webpage (using Padlet or Weebly*) that very clearly and concisely reports on selected aspects of the innovation capabilities of the organisation you will be critically evaluating in assessment 2.

On your webpage you should:

• provide (concise) relevant information on your organisation
• present three issues relating to innovation that you are focusing on in your written report
• explain the importance of these issues to your chosen organisation

Consider whether any/all of your three identified issues are shaped by the context of your organisation- its size, types of products, types of consumers, nature of the industry etc.

Your webpage should be visually appealing. Consider how you can use multimedia (including images, charts or diagrams, videos and more) to represent your ideas or key issues clearly and concisely, but without oversimplifying NPD concepts. Your page should be informative and engaging, structured clearly to make it attractive and easily understandable by your audience.

Your webpage should stand-alone from your written report (Assessment 2), which is to be submitted at a later date. Referencing, where necessary, should be APA-6 Style. For details of referencing requirements see the user friendly CSU referencing guide https://apps.csu.edu.au/reftool/apa-6 Your reference list can be a created as a link from your main web page.

When working with images online it is also important that you respect copyright. This CSU library guide contains useful information for you on using images in your assessment items. libguides.csu.edu.au/using-images-at-university

To make your job easier, you can use your own images or do an advanced search in Google images so that you limit your search to images that are “free to use, share or modify, even commerically”.  See details:  https://webtegrity.com/our-blog/seo-tips/can-i-use-google-images-for-free-on-my-website-or-blog/ . When you select Images in a Google search – click on Settings (RHS under camera icon) select Advanced search and near the bottom of page you will see usage rights. Select for images that are free to use.  (I also select for colour on this page if I am working for an integrated colour scheme!).

*Padlet and Weebly are easy to use tools for building a webpage (even if you have NO prior experience in creating a webpasge.. Instructions on how to use these tools (along with further advice on this assessment) will be available in the resources section of Interact by 12th February. If you wish to use an alternative tool, please discuss this with your subject coordinator prior to commencing your work.

Submission details
Via Turnitin

Getting started

• Carefully read through assessment items 1 and 2 as they are linked.
• Start reading about innovation. Your textbook (particulary chapters 1 and 4 and chapter 15 for service innovation) and the subject readings will get you going. Several additional references will be placed in resources in the MKT520 subject site to assist you further.
• If you choose to focus on a service, you will need to look at literature on service innovation but you may still also find useful and relevant material on innovation as it relates to physical goods.
• Make sure you are able to clearly define innovation
• From your reading on innovation, start selecting key elements for your framework, choosing those most relevant for chosen organisation.

Please note that different frameworks will be developed by different students but they will generally share some common elements.

Innovation is increasingly being considered as a core competency that organisations must develop. Companies that consistently innovate don’t rely on chance; they address innovation in a systematic way.

Your task is as follows:

• Drawing on a wide range of literature on innovation develop a framework that you could use to assess an organisation in terms of innovation. Describe your framework and justify the critical elements (with reference to the literature).
• The next step is to apply this framework to a particular organisation of your own choice. Where are the gaps? What is being done well, what areas need to be improved? Note: This organisation may be your own workplace, or an organisation you would like to work for.
• Finally, develop a plan to address areas of weakness. You may choose to focus on a few key areas and discuss them in detail.

Note: If your chosen organisation has a focus on services make sure that you choose literature that is appropriate for service innovation.

Getting started

• Carefully read through assessment items 1 and 2 as they are linked.
• Start reading about innovation. Your textbook (particulary chapters 1 and 4 and chapter 15 for service innovation) and the subject readings will get you going. Several additional references will be placed in resources in the MKT520 subject site to assist you further.
• If you choose to focus on a service, you will need to look at literature on service innovation but you may still also find useful and relevant material on innovation as it relates to physical goods.
• Make sure you are able to clearly define innovation
• From your reading on innovation, start selecting key elements for your framework, choosing those most relevant for chosen organisation.
• Start thinking about how you will assess your chosen organisation in relation to the various elements of the framework you create.

Please note that different frameworks will be developed by different students but they will generally share some common elements.

* Word limit includes executive summary but excludes reference list and appendices. Students may submit work that is +/- 10% of the word limit.

Your work should be referenced using APA-6 Style. For details of referencing requirements see:
student.csu.edu.au/library/integrity/referencing-at-csu and the user friendly CSU referencing guide  apps.csu.edu.au/reftool/apa-6

* Word limit includes executive summary but excludes reference list and appendices. Students may submit work that is +/- 10% of the word limit.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR WORK AS A WORD NOT A PDF DOCUMENT. THIS WILL MEAN THAT FEEDBACK CAN INCLUDE COMMENTS WITHIN THE TEXT OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT.

This task requires you to critically evaluate the new product development practice of your own organisation or an organisation that would like to work with. (If you do not have direct access to an organisation you can complete this task using secondary research).

Your task:

• Drawing on relevant literature on new product (or service) development models and factors for success in NPD – identify and discuss in detail critical success factors and issues that are relevant to the organisation you have chosen to study.
• Prepare a detailed analysis of the organisation’s new product development practices, discussing in detail areas of strength and weakness. Make sure that you include in this discussion any specific details of the organizational context or industry context that are relevant for your analysis. As well as making your own observations, you can draw on interactions and conversations you may have had with relevant parties such a customers, suppliers and/or company employees.
• Finally make detailed recommendations for areas in which the company could improve their new product development practice. It is important in this section that you justify your recommendations by linking back to your earlier analysis and relevant NPD literature that you have previously discussed.

* Word limit includes executive summary but excludes reference list and appendices. Students may submit work that is +/- 10% of the word limit.

Your work should be referenced using APA-6 style. http://student.csu.edu.au/library/integrity/referencing-at-csu

Getting started: A good understanding of Topics 7 & 8 will provide you with a strong foundation for this assessment item.  But don’t stop there. You will also need to draw on a range of topics and sources depending on the particular context and issues of your chosen organisation.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR WORK AS A WORD NOT A PDF DOCUMENT. THIS WILL MEAN THAT FEEDBACK CAN INCLUDE COMMENTS WITHIN THE TEXT OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT.

Background
In Assessment tasks 2 and 3 you have focused on an organisation of your choice, often your own workplace. This has particular advantages for you including the potential for you to experience and understand subject content in the context of your own workplace, your access to key information to allow substantial analysis and the capacity for you to make a contribution to your workplace both now and into the future.

What you have not yet experienced is the opportunity to gain insights into how NPD or NSD is practiced in a range of different contexts and how context influences key considerations for companies in regard to new product or new service development.

Task
Assessment task 4 provides the opportunity for you to share findings from your assignments, gain further insights into NPD and NSD in a variety of contexts, and reflect on and consolidate your learning on new product development success factors. Participation is compulsory in Week 13 where you will discuss assessment item 4 with your peers.

There are two parts to this task:
Part A: Individual presentation 10%
Part B: Individual reflection 15%

Task 4A: Individual presentation – Value 10% – Due Monday 14th May (No extensions possible*)

Your task is to reflect on your experience in completing Assessment 3 (individual report on NPD practices) and draw out a number of key issues to present to your colleagues in a short, snappy but insightful presentation. This will be an in-class group presentation.  Instructions regarding numbers in groups and makeup of groups will be provided in class.

Your presentation needs to include:

• Brief background to company/market
• Key issues that came out of your critical analysis of an organisation’s new product development practice
• Recommendations for improvement
• Personal comments on what you learnt.
• Commentary that reflects an understanding of relevant NPD or NSD theory

Format

• The format is group powerpoint presentation of 13 slides, each of  approximately 30 seconds duration. Plus a 14th slide with a Reference List.
• Each presentation should allow time for in-depth discussion with the class.
• You will need to be very selective in what you report on given the timing constraints. So think carefully about what you think is most important to share and do this in a very succinct way. Keep your powerpoints very simple with images or limited number of words. You will need to script and practice what you can cover in 30 seconds.

Note: This format is modified version of a Pecha Kucha or PK presentation. Pecha Kucha means ‘chit chat’ in Japanese is designed to inspire rather than inflict “death by powerpoint” Further background, links and instructions will be available in resources on the MKT520 Interact site.

In preparing for Part B you should focus in detail on presentations of two other students. You will be provided with further direction in regard to this in class closer to the due date of assessment 4. This preparation will help form a solid foundation for completion of Task 4B.

* As other students will need to engage with your presentation, there can be no extensions on submission date for this task.

Part B: Individual reflection 15% –  Tuesday 29th May – 700 words

Submission: Submit via turnitin

Your task in assessment 4B is to reflect on and write about how your understanding of new product or service development has been developed and/ or changed by the presentations (Task 4A) on new product development practices and success factors across a variety of organisations. Consider what you have become aware of/ or had reinforced by completing your own presentation as well as listening to those of others. Underpin you discussion with reference to relevant NPD theory.

Your reflection on NPD should focus on the differing perspectives and contexts provided by your class members (What did you learn from each other? What new insight or opinion was offered?), as well as similarities and differences in key aspects of new product development practice between the organisation you studied and the organisations studied by your fellow students.

You will need to include a short reference list in APA-6 style.This reference is not included in your word count. Note: Use of first person, e.g. “I was surprised to find…. “, is appropriate in this type of task.