Global Product Development and Management (online) (5op)

Tavoitteet

As a student you understand from a broad business management perspective the process of innovation management that focuses on the links and overlaps between groups and disciplines. The course provides you with the knowledge to understand how to manage innovation and new service/product development within firms. You understand how multinational companies segment global markets and based on that develop and manage their portfolio of products. You become aware how innovations can be facilitated both in small business environment as well as within the global networks of multinational companies. You are also introduced to the notion of open innovation.

Competences:
1. Learning to learn
You develop critical and analytical mindset that helps you to study and review existing knowledge in the light of relevant learning resources and learning methods; incentivizes you to acquire new knowledge; and develops your intellectual capabilities to seek conclusions and draw inferences in various contexts.
To achieve this competence, you will:
- learn to formulate relevant questions and seek information,
- review relevant theoretical, and empirical literature to comprehend diverse perspectives and evaluate, and interpret arguments and counter-arguments,
- understand new developments in your field of study and make informed decisions based thereon.
- acquire the researcher’s mindset to problematize, explore and understand real-life phenomena especially in the academic track system.

2. Proactive development
You develop solutions in the light of current as well as anticipated situations and challenges in business by applying knowledge, critical reasoning and analytical skills. You ensure that these solutions are feasible, relevant, creative, user-friendly, and sustainable as well as underline active cooperation amongst different actors.
To achieve this competence, you will:
- apply existing knowledge and utilize relevant research methods including digital technology in development projects,
- interpret new evidence in the light of existing body of knowledge, make comparisons and draw inferences,
- express your intellectual contribution through scientific or professional writings,
- understand utility, creativity, viability, scalability, and sustainability of new solutions.

3. Internationality and multiculturalism
You work in multicultural and international environments and networks in order to develop knowledge and communication skills as well as develop empathy and appreciation for other cultures. You communicate responsibly and effectively in English through written, verbal, non-verbal and digital formats individually as well as a team member in diverse settings.
To achieve this competence, you will:
- be familiar with the impact of your cultural background on your actions and be able to effectively and productively function in your work community that explicitly recognizes the relevance of multiculturalism,
- demonstrate meaningful intercultural teamwork, including the roles of leadership and conflict resolution, in order to develop creative solutions carrying multicultural underpinnings,
- be able to experience group learning and share best practices in international settings,
- learn to communicate ideas and solutions effectively in the context of various subjects, multiple purposes, and a wide range of audience both individually as well as in a group,
- initiate and engage constructive dialogues among relevant stakeholders to accomplish desired goals for multiple purposes and communicate ideas and solutions to a wide range of audience including both individuals and groups,
- learn to be ‘active listener’ to understand diverse perspectives, and points of view in accurate, unbiased, and critical manner,
- learn various aspects of digital media.

6. Sustainable development-
You develop an understanding, vision, and appreciation for sustainability that affect personal, and professions lives, local communities, and global society at large. You study and explore linkages between multiple aspects of sustainability and business.
To achieve this competence, you will:
- understand the concept and principles of sustainable development in the context of business,
- recognize sustainability challenges and their consequences for businesses, local communities, and global society,
- use your accumulated knowledge and skills to create and implement sustainable solutions to solve business problems.

7. Responsible international business management
You develop your intellectual capabilities to seek conclusions and draw inferences in an international environment to become responsible manager. You develop creative and insightful solutions to solve complex business problems both in the present and the future with explicit emphasis on local and international standards of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability and implications on various stakeholders.
To achieve this competence, you will:
- study developments in your discipline in the international learning milieu and understand various aspects of responsible business management including global business trends and competitive landscape.
- derive and interpret new evidence and compare them with the existing body of knowledge in the global context to draw useful inferences,
- critically assess the implications of actions and decision of the international organisations.
- understand the impact of the of the actions and decisions on the community, in general, and specific stakeholders, in particular.
- understand core aspects of people management in the international business environment.

Sisältö

Innovation management:
an introduction,
Managing innovation within firms,
Innovation and operations management,
Managing intellectual property,
Managing organizational knowledge,
Management of research and development,
Managing R&D projects,
New product development,
Market research and its influence on new service/product development.

User Driven Innovation
An Introduction to Innovation
Delivering Value
Design for Value (DfV) & eXperience Design (XD)
From closed to Open User-centred Innovation
Methods for Engaging Users
Designing for User eXperience (UX)

Sisällön jaksotus

Scheduling of the GPD (online) Course appears on the Moodle platform.

. Phase 1: Students have to Look at the first set of User driven Innovation (UDI) lessons on the Moodle platform on their own for acquiring the necessary knowledge to apply it within your own innovation project (based on your own mobile app idea posted in the corresponding Forum on the Moodle platform).

. Phase 2: Students have to apply the acquired knowledge into a practical case constituted by their own mobile app idea, which becomes their innovation project for the entire duration of the course.

. Phase 3: Students have to Look at the second set of "Innovation Management" (IM) lessons on the Moodle platform on their own.

Suoritustavat

Part I Knowledge Acquisition (Lessons, quizzes and lessons' synthesis mindmap)

Part II Knowledge Application (innovation project on your own mobile app-idea through 4 workshops)

Reverse Classroom
• Look at the lessons at home for acquiring the necessary knowledge to apply it within your own innovation project (based on your own mobile app idea).

Online Course (Moodle platform)
• Only asynchronous communication with the teacher through email and on-demand zoom session case of needs like regarding workshops debriefing.

Active Learning -> Learning by Doing
• Apply acquired knowledge into practical cases;
• Main goal is to increase the memory retention of acquired knowledge after applying it;

Collaborative Learning -> involving external participants to your innovation project (e.g. a panel of potential users)
• Learning from each other (cultural diversity increases the creativity potential);
• Learning how to collaborate with others (Together Everyone Achieves More = acronym TEAM) like potential users;
• Learning distance collaboration.

Online Coaching
• On-demand One-on-One online (ZOOM) sessions with the teacher when facing any issue.

Aika ja paikka

Online Course (Moodle platform) Fall 2026

No classroom; course workspace: Moodle learning Platform.

Asynchronous communication with the teacher by email.

On-demand online meetings on Zoom session is always possible.

No Regular Weekly Zoom session.

On-demand debriefing Zoom meetings based on students' requests.

GPD (online) course on the Moodle Platform: link to appear soon...

Enrollment on the Moodle platform GPD course is automatically done from the PEPPI platform
"Global Product Development & Management (GPD)" (online)

Oppimateriaalit

The Course Texbook:
Innovation Management and New Product Development, 5/E
Paul Trott, University of Portsmouth

Texbook 2:
Service Operations Management. 4/E
Robert Johnston
Graham Clark
Michael Shulver

Relevant scientific publications (see in the Resources page on the Moodle platform).

for wider reading see additional materials and references in the virtual workspace and the above textbooks.

Opetusmenetelmät

Reverse Classroom
• Look at the lessons at home for acquiring the necessary knowledge to apply it within your own
innovation project (based on your own mobile app idea).
Online Course (Moodle platform)
• Only asynchronous communication with the teacher through email and on-demand zoom session in
case of needs like regarding each individual workshop's debriefing.
Active Learning -> Learning by Doing
• Apply acquired knowledge into practical cases;
• Main goal is to increase the memory retention of acquired knowledge after applying it;
Collaborative Learning (learning from others)-> involving external participants to your innovation
project (e.g. a panel of potential users)
• Learning from each other in comparing your work while keeping in mind that cultural diversity
increases the creativity potential, especially when innovation gets global;
• Learning how to collaborate with others (Together Everyone Achieves More = acronym TEAM) like
potential users or other disciplines and various stakeholders;
• Learning distance collaboration.
Online Coaching
• On-demand One-on-One online (ZOOM) sessions with the teacher when facing any issue.

Harjoittelu- ja työelämäyhteistyö

N/A

Tenttien ajankohdat ja uusintamahdollisuudet

No Final Exam.

Continuous Evaluation, especially dedicated to students' innovation projects, replacing the traditional final exam.

All assignments have to be successful for passing this course.

For every assignment, in case of being unsuccessful, a second attempt is offered as students are intended to learn from their errors.

Kansainvälisyys

N/A

Toteutuksen valinnaiset suoritustavat

No alternative completion methods other than available through the Moodle course workspace.

Opiskelijan ajankäyttö ja kuormitus

Individual work: Lessons' quizzes and lessons' synthesis mindmaps.

Individual innovation project: for applying User Driven Innovation (UDI) eXperience Design (XD) into 4 workshops W1, W2, W3 and W4.

See the full list of assignments on the Moodle Platform:
Moodle link will appear soon

"Global Product Development and Management (GPD)" (online) Fall 2026

Esitietovaatimukset

First year studies or basic business studies

Arviointimenetelmät ja arvioinnin perusteet

Available Assessment Criteria for Individuals Assignments

Individual Work Assessment - Grading Individuals:
- Self-evaluation of acquired lessons' knowledge through corresponding quizzes;
- Evaluation of the lessons' mindmaps;
- Evaluation of each student's innovation project: Available Assessment Criteria on the Moodle platform for each Workshop's Assignment.

Individual Innovation project Assessment - Grading Individuals:
- Evaluation criteria of workshop 1 (W1)
- Evaluation criteria of Workshop 2 (W2)
- Evaluation criteria of workshop 3 (W3)
- Evaluation criteria of Workshop 4 (W4)

Arviointiasteikko

0-5