P & G Product Development Case Study Proctor And Gamble

P&G’s Product Development
The textbook author include the case on Proctor and Gamble. P&G is a billion dollar company that has nearly 300 products worldwide. A lot of these products you can just about find in almost every home. I, for one, am a fan of Crest toothpaste and I always use Crest Pro-Health mouth wash. Febreze is also another product by P & G that I use. I did not know until I read this case that some brands made by P&G actually compete with not only competitors but also with each other.

In the case, P & G’s vice president for innovation and knowledge says we needed to change how we defined, and perceived, our R&D organization—from [8,000 people inside to 8,000 plus millions outside], with a permeable boundary between them. On

Idea Generation is the systematic search for product ideas. The major sources for new-product ideas include internal sources and external sources. Internal sources comes from a company’s own R&D. The case author mentions the consumer product giant employs more than 8,000 R&D researchers in 26 facilities around the globe, some of the best research talent in the world. Some companies have also developed internal social networks that encourage company employees to develop new-product ideas. The case also mentions until recently, most of the company’s innovations came from within P&G’s own R&D labs……It transitioned from an internal R&D model that relied on P&G’s own labs to produce needed innovation to an open-innovation model that invites outside partners to help develop new products and technologies that will delight

Distributors are closer to the consumer market and can easily pass along information about consumer problems and new-product ideas. Suppliers can also contribute by telling the company about new concepts, techniques, and materials that can help develop new products. The case says P&G provided the Febreze odor-care technology but worked with an external candle company to develop the candle. A similar event happened with Proctor and Gamble’s Mr. Clean Magic eraser. It got its start when an independent technology entrepreneur discovered a stain removing sponge in Osaka, Japan. The magic ingredient in that product was a packaging foam made by a German chemical company named BASF, which happens to already be a main P&G