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In the Third Edition of Winning at New Products, published by Basic Books and distributed by Perseus Books, Professor Robert Cooper of McMaster University demonstrates why consistent product development is vital to corporate growth and explains methods for maximizing the chances of success. Chapter 7, "The Early Game: From Discovery to Development," is the third of six chapters on the implementation of the author's Stage-Gate, a process for driving new products to market successfully and quickly. Having discussed the emergence of new product ideas in Chapter 6, the author here lowers the microscope on the next stages of the new-product process, where, in his view, success or failure is largely decided. Key topics include "scoping" and "building the business case."

In the Third Edition of Winning at New Products, published by Basic Books and distributed by Perseus Books, Professor Robert Cooper of McMaster University demonstrates why consistent product development is vital to corporate growth and explains methods for maximizing the chances of success. Chapter 8, "Picking the Winners: Effective Gates and Portfolio Management," is the fourth of six chapters on the implementation of the author's Stage-Gate, a process for driving new products to market successfully and quickly. The chapter deals with portfolio management and picking the winners; it focuses on the decision points in the process and considers ways to improve the odds of picking the right projects and achieving the right balance of products in a portfolio.

In the Third Edition of Winning at New Products, published by Basic Books and distributed by Perseus Books, Professor Robert Cooper of McMaster University demonstrates why consistent product development is vital to corporate growth and explains methods for maximizing the chances of success. Chapter 9, "Development, Testing, and Validation," is the fifth of six chapters on the implementation of the author's Stage-Gate, a new-product process for driving new products to market successfully and quickly. The chapter considers such topics as seeking customer input in product development, shortening development times, and testing products with customers as their development approaching completion.

In the Third Edition of Winning at New Products, published by Basic Books and distributed by Perseus Books, Professor Robert Cooper of McMaster University demonstrates why consistent product development is vital to corporate growth and explains methods for maximizing the chances of success. Chapter 10, "The Final Play-Into the Market," is the last of six chapters on the implementation of the author's Stage-Gate, a process for driving new products to market successfully and quickly. The chapter addresses topics such as defining a target market, positioning the product, and establishing a value proposition for the product.

In the Third Edition of Winning at New Products, published by Basic Books and distributed by Perseus Books, Professor Robert Cooper of McMaster University demonstrates why consistent product development is vital to corporate growth and explains methods for maximizing the chances of success. Chapter 11, "Implementing the Stage-Gate Product Process in Your Company," looks at implementation issues. The author considers the results achieved by businesses that have implemented the Stage-Gate new-product process. He also provides insights into how to design and implement Stage-Gate within your business.

In the Third Edition of Winning at New Products, published by Basic Books and distributed by Perseus Books, Professor Robert Cooper of McMaster University demonstrates why consistent product development is vital to corporate growth and explains methods for maximizing the chances of success. The book's final chapter -- Chapter 12, "A Product Innovation and Technology Strategy for Your Business" -- deals with strategy. The author look at how the tactics of new product process fit into the larger picture, addressing the following questions: In which arenas should you play the game? How should you enter each arena? How should you allocate your resources? What strategic or key initiatives should you undertake?

In June 1998, Lucent Technologies had the opportunity to win a major contract to supply a Y2K compliant network to Saudi Arabia. The Lucent facility that managed business with Saudi Arabia and manufactured products for that region was in Spain. To win the contract, Lucent would have to be able to deliver the product, a sophisticated digital switching system, within three weeks of receiving the details of each site's requirements. (The contract would require delivery to many sites.) Using the existing process, it took 23-25 weeks to deliver after receiving site details. The case describes the Lucent production process and capabilities and provides data for discussion of ways in which Lucent can meet the customer's requirements.

Supplements Japan: "Free, Fair, and Global?"

Focuses on the launch of a new elevator product in Germany. In 1996, global construction slumps and low differentiation among competitive offerings has led to significant price competition and margin erosion in the elevator industry. In these circumstances, KONE, one of the global players in this industry, has developed the Monospace elevator product that uses revolutionary technologies. This new product is expected to have a significant impact on the current product lines of KONE and its competitors. The firm has test marketed the product in three European country markets to varying degrees of success. The firm is now planning to launch the new product in Germany, the largest country market in Europe and vital to KONE's overall success. With little room for error and the future of the firm at stake, KONE's German subsidiary needs to develop a detailed launch plan for Monospace in Germany.

Harvard Management Co. uses portfolio theory to help consider the asset allocation issues for its endowment.

In February 2000, a managing partner of a U.K.-based private equity fund, Palamon Capital Partners, faced the decision of whether to invest in an Italian software company, TeamSystem, S.p.A. The rationale for this investment was a belief in the rapid future consolidation of the enterprise software industry in Italy, in combination with improvements in operating performance believed to arise from a stronger investor orientation after the transaction. The transaction entailed a leveraged recapitalization of the target that would significantly change its ownership, control and leverage. The task for the student is to evaluate the attractiveness of the investment, based on a strategic appraisal, a valuation of the target with its new capitalization, and an assessment of the proposed deal structure.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 501-070.

This simple self-assessment instrument helps individuals and teams assess their behavior on four dimensions of moral leadership: truth-telling, promise-keeping, fairness, and respect for the individual. The instrument may be used with groups from companies, with learning teams, with individuals, or as a tool for practicing managers to distribute to their team members. Summary statistics of the four measures can help leaders assess the moral foundation of their leadership and whether their traditional leadership techniques are likely to have any effect.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 201098

In early 1999, Calpine Corp.'s CEO Pete Cartwright adopted an aggressive growth strategy with the goal of increasing the company's aggregate generating capacity from approximately 3,000 to 15,000 megawatts (MW) by 2004. He believed there was a fleeting opportunity to repower America given the inefficiency and age of current generating capacity as well as the recently granted ability to compete in wholesale power markets. To achieve the new goal, Calpine will have to build or acquire as many as 25 power plants at a total cost of $6 billion (approximately $500,000 per 1,000 MW). For a company with assets of $1.7 billion, a subinvestment grade debt rating, a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 79%, and an after-tax cash flow of $143 million in 1998, raising this much money was going to be a formidable challenge.

Supplements the (A) case.

Cisco has invested in building a leading IT, Internet-based infrastructure. This case describes Cisco's latest efforts to broaden Internet capabilities in the company from 30% to 60% penetration. The strategy is intended to sustain Cisco's double-digit revenue growth through the decade.

This case, which can be used in conjunction with the other Monsanto cases, details Monsanto's efforts to introduce genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into Europe in the mid-1990s. Monsanto did not anticipate the European resistance and public outcry based on a number of factors, and company officials ultimately admitted their mistakes in the introduction process. Additionally, the case poses the basic question: How could Monsanto, in its role as a seed producer, have interacted with the international food-supply chain so that its primary consumers had a market outside the United States for their genetically modified crops?

SalesDriver is a start-up company that develops online software packages for sales incentive contests. The vice president of marketing and distribution, who was also a company founder, considers how to address the challenge of retaining key employees in the growing high-technology industry, where employee turnover is very high.