Product Planning Essentials

Concise yet comprehensive, Product Planning Essentials, Second Edition, addresses the complex, interdisciplinary nature of product development and product management. It covers strategic issues that emerge during the product life cycle, including identifying opportunities, idea generation and evaluation, technical development, commercialization, and eventual product dismissal. Instructors, students, and practitioners will appreciate the balanced managerial and how-to orientation.

Changes to the Second Edition

• Addition of two chapters on design and legal considerations.

• Expanded discussion of global considerations to introduce sustainable product development and Base of the Pyramid (BoP) product development.

• Simplified technical discussions of planning techniques for improved comprehension.

• Inclusion of product planning best practices from recent noteworthy cases and studies in the final chapter.

Kenneth B. Kahn is a professor of marketing and director of the da Vinci Center for Innovation in Product Design and Development at Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as a nationally recognized scholar and consultant in the field of product development. Kahn was previously at Purdue University as a professor and director of Purdue’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. He is the author of Product Planning Essentials and New Product Forecasting: An Applied Approach, and the editor of the PDMA Handbook of New Product Development. He has consulted with and facilitated benchmarking sessions with numerous companies, including Acco Brands, Coca-Cola, ConAgra, Honeywell, John Deere, Lego, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever.