Product Development for the Service Sector

by Robert G. Cooper and Scott J. Edgett

Book Overview

As the lines between products and services become less and less distinct, many managers and consultants advocate that manufacturing companies learn to think like the service sector--get close to the customer, offer multi-dimensional solutions, provide high-quality support. But in today's highly competitive and constantly changing marketplace, managers in service industries, such as banking, insurance, financial services, utilities, and retailing,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738201057
• ISBN13: 9780738201054
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Repetitive but worthwhile

Cooper is the guy if you are into development - from idea to delivery of the goods - be it a product (widget), software or services. He is a portfolio management guy that will help you wrap your thinking around making investments into ideas that are yearning to make a debut in reality.

Good, Practical Book But Repetitive

This is a very good book for managers of new service development processes. It offers a framework for designing and implementing a new service development process and there are many good advice and techniques in the book that I believe will prove invaluable to these managers. I expect this is the result of the 1,500 case studies that the authors have conducted.I especially liked the sections that the authors have entitled "Points for Management to Ponder". These short bits, interspersed throughout the book, forces a reader to link the theories to actual situations in a company. I found such exercises beneficial to the learning process.However, I found that the authors tend to repeat themselves throughout the book. For example, Chapter 4 and 5 are essentially the same. Chapter 4 walks through the framework fairly quickly with a real case example while Chapter 5 examines the general framework in detail. I believe the 2 chapters could have been combined without much loss to content.I recommend this book to practitioners, as this is a very practical book. For readers who just want to know more about service development but are currently not involved in any development work, this book is not for you. Like me, you may find some of the framework difficult to understand without a real case to relate to.

Lessons from the master

Well written and full of understandings... Bob, as with all his books, has made many key points. An excellent read for anyone who's business is dependent on new services and believes that luck is not a sustainable advantage. If you believe that the event or experience marketing is the key to most sales, then becoming excellent in launching new services is a must.