MBA 580 Milestone One Guidelines and RubricOverview In the highly competitive automotive market, it is critical to keep up with current technology to stay in or get ahead in the marketplace. To remain Original Papers

MBA 580 Milestone One Guidelines and RubricOverview

In the highly competitive automotive market, it is critical to keep up with current technology to stay in or get ahead in the marketplace. To remain competitive, companies must innovate and integrate new technologies within their product lines and services.

In this milestone, you will build on your work from the Module Two presentation and data analysis to make and justify your recommendation for implementing either a discontinuous innovation (Option A) or an incremental innovation (Option B).

In Milestone Two, you will develop a go-to-market strategy. In your final project, you will compile your work from Milestones One and Two, and propose an organizational structure designed to best integrate, produce, and market the new technology.

Note: The Milestone One and Milestone Two rubric criteria are graded up to the “proficient” level. In your final project, you will expand on your initial research and use instructor feedback for an opportunity to reach “exemplary” for each of the rubric criteria.

Scenario

You work as a middle manager for one of the top U.S. producers of luxury and mass-market automobiles and trucks.

The chief technology officer (CTO) of your company has been monitoring new technology developments that the company could integrate into its vehicles to enhance the usefulness of and improve access to the data acquired by the many digital sensors integrated into vehicle subsystems over the past 20 to 30 years. The technology trend of particular interest is the internet of things (IoT)—the interconnection of embedded devices, such as sensors and computers, over the internet. By taking advantage of this trend, the CTO believes the company can seize an opportunity to provide better service and predictive maintenance to its customers, improving customer satisfaction and adding additional revenue streams.

Based on briefings by the CTO and your Module One memo, senior management has decided to implement IoT into its product line. Your CTO has asked you to lead a cross-functional team to take this initiative forward. Your first task is to create a presentation that will include your recommendation for how the company should approach this business problem: should you use incremental or discontinuous innovation?

Specifically, should the company:

1. Design a completely new product line, based on the new technology (discontinuous innovation)or
2. Add new technology features first into one model and then incrementally into the broader product line (incremental innovation)

The recommendation you and your team will make is an important first step in pursuing this new technology. Your presentation and recommendations will be reviewed by senior management. Until senior management approves your approach to this innovation, your cross-functional team will not have a budget and will not be able to start work on the innovation.

Directions

Create a PowerPoint presentation to make a recommendation for how the company should pursue the IoT technology to remain competitive: either by discontinuous or incremental innovation. To make your recommendation, you will need to identify how the evolving IoT (sensor) technology fits into your company’s products and services and determine potential risks and benefits. You will also need to look at your competitors to see what they are doing. Finally, you need to analyze your company’s capability (resources) for pursuing the innovation. Use the information and data from the CTO Brief, Comparative Growth Data, Comparative Operating Statistics, and Comparative Product Plans included in the Module One Memo Guidelines and Rubric Prompt section to complete this milestone. Note: Remember to use both on-slide text and narration or speaker notes to convey your information effectively. If narration is not possible, precise and extensive speaker notes should be used while addressing all the rubric elements in the presentation. For example, you can use brief, bulleted lists on the slide and include detailed explanations in your narration or speaker notes.

Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:

1. Explain potential risks and benefits for innovation Options A, discontinuous innovation, and B, incremental innovation.
   • Overview (1 slide): Present the business problem and an overview of Options A and B.
   • Option A (1–2 slides): Explain at least two potential risks and two potential benefits for Option A.
   • Option B (1–2 slides): Explain at least two potential risks and two potential benefits for Option B.
2. Evaluate your competitors’ products, services, growth, and market strength.
   • Competitors: Dedicate at least one slide to each competitor.
     1. What products and/or services with IoT or similar technology are your competitors offering?
     2. Do the products or services offered by each competitor give them a competitive edge in the market?
     3. How does your competitors’ growth impact their market strength?
3. Analyze your company’s capability to pursue the IoT innovation.
   • A. Complete a partial gap analysis (2 slides) and consider the following questions:
     1. Does your company already own the IoT technology, or does it need to be purchased?
     2. How is the IoT technology currently being used in your company’s existing products and services?
     3. What types of technology are available to purchase?
4. Recommend the innovation approach your company should pursue.
   • Explain which innovation approach you are recommending and why. (2–3 slides)
   • Consider how different stakeholders (research and development [R&D], marketing, finance) may be impacted while communicating your recommendations and justification.
     1. Include a description of the incremental or discontinuous product(s) you are recommending for R&D.
     2. Include the sales forecasts for marketing so that they can plan how and when they will promote the new product(s).
     3. Include a financial snapshot of the costs, potential profits, and risks for the finance team.

What to Submit

Create a PowerPoint presentation with on-slide text and narration or detailed speaker notes. Your presentation should be 10 to 13 slides in length. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

Milestone One RubricCriteriaProficient (100%)Needs Improvement (80%)Not Evident (0%)ValueRisks and BenefitsExplains the business problem, two risks, and two benefits of innovating products for either discontinuous or incremental integration of the technologyShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include citing both risks and benefits for both options A and BDoes not attempt criterion15CompetitorsEvaluates the products, services, growth, and market strength of competitors with IoT or similar technologyShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include discussing whether competitors’ products and services are expanding in the current marketDoes not attempt criterion15Company CapabilityAnalyzes the company’s capability to pursue the IoT innovation based on partial gap analysisShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include completing a partial gap analysisDoes not attempt criterion10RecommendationProvides a recommendation and rationale for which innovation approach the company should pursue, including the impact on stakeholders, a sales forecast, and a financial snapshotShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include considering stakeholders’ interests when making a recommendationDoes not attempt criterion30Clear CommunicationConsistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audienceShows progress toward proficiency, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understandingShows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication10Citations and AttributionsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errorsUses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errorsDoes not use citations for ideas requiring attribution