THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
INPRACTICE
Organizationsmust introducenew
productsandmanageexistingprod-
ucts successfullytoremaincompeti-
tivein today's marketplace.
Products areplanned,andtheprod-
uctstrategyaimsto ensurethat
productobjectivesareachieved.
Unprecedentedadvancements
in technology rendershorterprod-
uctlife cycles.Asa result,product
plansmustprovidecompetitive
distinctiveness.
TheInteractiveJournalexam-
inesp roductdevelopmentforlarge
andsmallorganizationsinMarket-
place.U ndertheMarketplacehead-
in g, clickonSmallBusiness.This
sectionprovidesarticlestargeted
towardsmallandemerging
businesses.
Specialreportsonsmalland
emergingbusinessescanbefound
intheBreakawaysection,also
underSmallBusiness.
H ereyou'llfindmorein-de~llh
analysisaboutsmallbusiness.The
InteractiveJournalalsosponsors
several onlinediscussions.Clickon
oneofthelinkstojoinanonline
discussion.
R eturntotheMarketplace
homepageandclickontheBusi-
nessFocuslinkontheleftmenu.
Thislink directs youtoarticlesdis-
cussinggeneralbusinessdevelop-
ments takingplacein various
companies.
ReturntotheFrontSection
andselectStarting a Businessunder
Resourcesintheleftmenu.This
linksendsyoutotheStartupJour-
nal,a sitedesignedtoprovidenew
business witha varietyoftools.
Navigatethe baratthetopof the
siteforinformationaboutfranchis-
ing, financing,andrunninga
business.ADDITIONALSITES
Checkoutwww.adweek.comfor
industryarticles aboutadvertising
andbrand development.The
Brandweeklinkonthesite provides
weeklyex cerptsofheadlinesfrom
theprintedition.
A dvertisingAgeisanother
resource forinformationabout
productstrategies.Checkout
http://www.adage.com.
BusinessWeekmagazine's Web
sitewww.businessweek.comisa
comprehensivesite.Dailybriefings
covera wide rangeoftopics.DELIVERABLE
Use theInteractive Journaland
AdditionalSitesliste d hereto find
threearticlesaboutproductdevel-
opment.Readeacharticleand com-
parethestrategiesemployed by the
compadesprofiled.Whyare the
productssuccessful, orwhydidthey
fail? Write a one-pagebrief sup-
portingyourconclusions.DISCUSSIONQU ESTIONS
1.Howdoorganizationsidentify
productobjectives whendevel-
opinga product s trategy?Why
are these objectivesimportant?
2.Whatimpactdomarket trends
haveonnew productdevelop-
ment?How doorganizations
decidewhether tointroducea
newproductorex tend an exist-
ingproductline?
3.Howdoesthemediareactto
newproductslikeApple's
iMac?Whataboutproductfail-
ureslikeCoca-Cola's New
Coke?Use theIn teractiveJOUf-naltofind articlesaboutthese
co mpaniesandproducts.181