Product Development

5 Getting Started – Project Approved Product/Project Management and Engineering

Taking the Business Case from Concept to Reality

As discussed in Chapter 2, the business case is a detailed analysis or feasibility study to develop a new product, merge or acquire another firm, or have the company embark in a new direction. The business case should contain enough information and recommendations that the executive team can make an informed decision. Recall the “typical” Table of Contents:

Summary and Introduction Objectives Description of new product/project Why should the company do this (what is driving this effort)? Cost-benefit analysis (ROI, NPV)

Legal and regulatory issues Estimated costs and timeline Resources needed Social implications Alternatives considered Recommendations

Once a decision has been made to move forward, the contents of the business case must come to life. How will this occur? The “project” leader will pull together the needed resources and bring all the business case contents to fruition. Ideally, the product team will have had some input during the creation of the business case.

However, there are a few red flags to be aware of in the transition.

A business case may go into great detail and analysis regarding scope, costs, schedule, etc., but the real planning will occur once the development project is approved, and the team is mobilized.

The true costs, ROI, logistics and other details are difficult to quantify in the business case. This is ...