Background:The product life cycle shows us that markets and competition are dynamic. Over time old products are replaced with new ones. And as markets mature, firms usually face increasing price competition and erosion of their profit margins. To succeed in spite of these pressures, firms must constantly look for new market opportunities-and that often means identifying and developing new product ideas and effective strategies to go with them.While the new product development process is crucial to the survival and success of most firms, it is also a challenge. Even the best run companies sometimes miss opportunities that-after the fact-seem obvious. And too often companies go ahead and introduce new products that turn out to be costly failures. Marketing managers can increase the odds of success in this area by really understanding the steps of the new product development process-and what it takes to generate and screen new product ideas,This exercise is intended to help develop your skills in this area. The short case study below provides information about one company that seems to be having difficulty with the way it is currently approaching the new product development process.Case Study:Superior Wire, Inc. produces and sells special types of wire used in a variety of telecommunication applications. The firm's initial growth came from sales of a new wire that was used by cellular telephone service companies when setting up transmission stations However, growth in that market has slowed. Moreover, at present, most of the other products offered by the firm are similar to those available from a variety of other suppliers. Angelina Stowe, the marketing manager for the company, recently scheduled a meeting with the company president to discuss problems of falling profits. Stowe expressed concern that the company did not have a specific person responsible for identifying new products. The president pointed out that few other firms in their industry had such a position- and generally argued that new product thinking was the responsibility of everyone in the firm. After further discussion, the president agreed to let Stowe send out a memo to all company employees encouraging them to be alert to new product ideas-and to submit any ideas to the research and development department for analysis of their technical feasibility. Background:The product life cycle shows us that markets and competition are dynamic. Over time old products are replaced with new ones. Andas markets mature, firms-usually face increasing price competition and erosion of their profit margins. To succeed in spite of thesepressures, firms must constantly look for new market opportunities and that often means identifying and developing new productideas-and effective strategies to go with them.While the new product development process is crucial to the survival and success of most firms, it is also a challenge. Even the bestrun companies sometimes miss opportunities that-after the fact-seem obvious. And too often companies go ahead and introducenew products that turn out to be costly failures. Marketing managers can increase the odds of success in this area by reallyunderstanding the steps of the new product development process-and what it takes to generate and screen new product ideas.This exercise is intended to help develop your skills in this area. The short case study below provides information about one companythat seems to be having difficulty with the way it is currently approaching the new product development process.Case Study:Superior Wire, Inc. produces and sells special types of wire used in a variety of telecommunication applications. The firm's initialgrowth came from sales of a new wire that was used by cellular telephone service companies when setting up transmission stations.However, growth in that market has slowed. Moreover, at present, most of the other products offered by the firm are similar to thoseavailable from a variety of other suppliers. Angelina Stowe, the marketing manager for the company, recently scheduled a meetingwith the company president to discuss problems of falling profits. Stowe expressed concern that the company did not have a specificperson responsible for identifying new products. The president pointed out that few other firms in their industry had such a position-and generally argued that new product thinking was the responsibility of everyone in the firm. After further discussion, the presidentagreed to let Stowe send out a memo to all company employees encouraging them to be alert to new product ideas and to submitany ideas to the research and development department for analysis of their technical feasibility.

Question

Accepted Answer

Superior Wire, Inc., manufacturer, and seller of special types of wire used in telecommunications…