Product and Innovation

  • Credits: 8
  • Ending: Examination
  • Range: 2P + 2C
  • Semester: summer
  • Year: 1
  • Faculty of Commerce

Teachers

Included in study programs

Business and Marketing

Teaching results

By completing the course, students will acquire knowledge and practical experience in the field of product innovations, encompassing significant improvements in technical specifications, materials and components, systems, user experience, and other functional characteristics of products and services. In the context of a marketing approach to product innovations, they will learn to classify innovations based on their attributes as well as their degree of novelty. They will also master the principles of implementing innovations across all stages of a product's lifecycle.
Special emphasis will be placed on the stages of developing new products and services, their introduction to European markets, product environmentalization, and labelling their comprehensive quality within the framework of the circular economy.
Graduates of the course will gain skills in analysing and designing product and service innovations, both in the marketing domain and within a broader context. They will understand the position and typology of products in marketing, focusing on their value for customers, brand, quality, design, packaging, and distribution. They will be able to analyse a product's lifecycle, identify its weaknesses and innovation potential, implement innovation processes, and recognize entrepreneurial opportunities within the circular economy.
Successful completion of the course will equip students with the competencies needed to operate as managers of innovation processes in organizations of various sizes and focuses. They will be capable of identifying the innovative potential of an organization, effectively managing innovation processes, ensuring sustainability, and introducing new or improved products and services to European markets in compliance with the latest quality standards and environmental regulations.

Indicative content

Product - the concept and essence of the product in marketing. The position of the product in the marketing mix. Product decision making. Brand, quality, design and style, packaging, and innovations. Product life cycle, its models and modifications. New product – concept and essence. Development of a new product – strategies, processes, and marketing. Product innovation. Innovation process. Organizational innovation. Marketing innovations. Innovative potential of the organization. Types of innovation strategies. Innovation costs. The process of socio-technological transformation, changes in consumer habits, legislation, infrastructure, and networks in connection with the transition to sustainability.

Support literature

1. Daneshjo, N., Hanuláková, E. Produkt a inovácie. Košice: Vydavateľstvo PETIT s. r. o., 2021. 188s. ISBN 978-80-973836-3-3.
2. Daneshjo, N. Riadenie inovačných procesov v organizácii. Košice: Vydavateľstvo PETIT s. r. o., 2021. 102s. ISBN 978-80-973836-2-6.
3. Malega, P., Daneshjo, N. Industrial Production Management. Germany. RAM-Verlag. 2022. 280p. ISBN: 978-3-96595-019-1.
4. Tidd, J., Bessant, J. R. Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and organizational change. New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons. 2020. 391p. ISBN 978-1-119-71330-2.

Syllabus

1. Product - the concept and essence of the product in marketing. The position of the product in the marketing mix. Typology of products in marketing. Product mix. Levels of the product and their modifications. Marketing myopia. Customer value. Specifics of products depending on economic systems and trends. Product, company vision, and mission. 2. Product decision making. Brand, quality, design and style, packaging, innovation. 3. Product life cycle, its models and modifications. New product - concept, essence. New product development - strategy, process and marketing. Product portfolio. Product strategies. 4. Product entities and marketing. Services, places, people, organizations, ideas. 5. The concept of innovation. Product innovation. Innovation process. Organizational innovations. Marketing innovations. New product development process. Product and service innovations. Relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation. Differences in the perception of entrepreneurial opportunities, existence, and discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. 6. Innovations and their implementation in companies. Creative destruction. How to extend the product life cycle. Product life cycle concept. Deming cycle (PDCA cycle). Innovations in small and medium-sized enterprises. 7. Methods for extending the product lifecycle. Competitiveness of innovative products. Preparation and planning of new products. 8. Innovative corporate culture. Innovation management. Innovative marketing. The essence of innovation management. Innovation management tasks and functions. 9. Innovative potential of the organization. The force field of innovation. Driving forces of innovation development. Sources of innovative ideas. Innovation opportunities. 10. Sustainability and innovation. The relationship between the circular economy and innovation. Creation of product innovations under circular economic conditions. Types of innovation strategies. Costs of innovation. The process of socio-technological transformation, consumer habits, legislation, infrastructure, and networks in connection with the transition to sustainability. 11. Innovations and their support in the conditions of the Slovak Republic and the EU. The current state of innovation and innovation trends in the EU. Support in the field of innovation in the Slovak Republic. 12. Stages of product innovation. Competitiveness of innovative products. Methodological tools for innovation preparation. Innovations in management. 13. Innovation in services. Service process. Quality innovation.

Requirements to complete the course

- 20 % continuous semester evaluation
- 20 % semester project
- 60 % written exam

Student workload

- Workload: 208 hours
- Attendance at lectures: 26 hours
- Participation in seminars: 26 hours
- Preparation for seminars: 26 hours
- Processing of the semester project: 26 hours
- Preparation of literary research: 19 hours
- Preparation for written knowledge verification: 20 hours
- Exam preparation: 65 hours

Language whose command is required to complete the course

Slovak, English

Date of approval: 06.03.2024

Date of the latest change: 31.03.2025