Product Design and Development (MOB 7555)

Faculty

Sebastian K. Fixson, Ph.D., Assist Professor of Technology and Operations Management Technology, Operations and Information Management Division, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Matthew Kressy, Adjunct Lecturer, Technology Operations and Information Management Division, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Most recently offered

Fall 2009

Course overview

Product Design and Development (PDD) is an integrated management course that provides students with a solid, field-based understanding of the fundamentals of conceiving, evaluating, and developing successful new products. It is a roll-up-your-sleeves, team-based environment for learning how to translate a new product idea into a product concept and design. In the course, you will learn, through doing, what "design thinking" is, which is becoming critical for managers to thrive in the emerging "Creative Economy." The course takes teams of graduate students through the entire process of product development from market and user analysis to idea generation and concept development, to concept selection and refinement, to product design and prototype manufacturing. Several workshops are integrated to support the teams with specific tasks such as brainstorming and model building. The course culminates in the MBA Product Design Fair where teams present their products. Teams of students select and/or are assigned product design opportunities that are carried out in collaboration with participating client companies. Alternatively, students propose new product ideas for consideration as course projects. The course deals with three key areas: capturing and defining customer needs, understanding and implementing good design strategies and thinking, and structuring and managing the development process. While the main focus is on manufactured products, the course can accommodate the design of certain kinds of services and software products. Guest speakers are part of the course. (4.5 credit hours) Additional Course Information: - Class meets twice a week - One extra class meeting will be necessary (Friday, Nov. 20) - One Friday workshop will be necessary (most likely Oct. 9) - Teams will have opportunity to build their own workspace in the Product and Design Lab Prerequisite: NONE This course is typically offered in the following semester: Fall

The Effective Workplace

Faculty

Peter Lawrence
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Course first offered

Spring 1998

Course overview

The design of the workplace is an increasingly important but little understood business asset that can be managed to achieve business success. The course will provide students with detailed understanding of how the office environment can influence employees through an examination of a series of contemporary workplaces, readings and guest speakers, including business leaders and design experts. The course will address such questions as: How can the office address such business realities as constant change, working in teams and incorporating evolving technology? How has the workplace enabled innovation and creativity to take place? And why do a number of today's business leaders feel that design of the office environment is critical to their continued success? The objective of this course is to give current and future managers an understanding of the opportunity you have in working with the resource of space as a way to address current business issues, enhance the effectiveness of an organization, and match the building with your way of working.

Course links

[link to pdf]
Babson College, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business