Prof. Herstatt teaching a SCU

Taking the collaboration between Center for Frugal Innovation (CFI) and the Frugal Innovation Hub at Santa Clara University (SCU) to next level, we have developed a new course on “Product Planning and Design for Frugal Innovations” which is being offered currently to graduate students of the School of Engineering at SCU. The course has been developed by Prof. Dr. Cornelius Herstatt and Dr. Rajnish Tiwari and covers modern tools and methods for product design and development. It is based on a five phase stage-gate process model which integrates all major tasks that need to be paid attention to while creating new products and services.

In addition to imparting knowledge of the innovation process, its phases and tools, it is an important objective of this course to discuss the applicability of existing methods and (design-) tools in the context of frugal innovation. Class sessions are conducted in both lecture and workshop modes and employ case studies and “hands-on” exercises to reinforce the key ideas. Topics include identifying customer needs based on design-thinking approaches, concept generation and testing, product architecture and product planning for frugal innovations. We further touch on motivational, strategic as well as organizational aspects of frugal innovations.

At present Prof. Herstatt and Dr. Tiwari are visiting SCU to conduct this course.