Concepts that can help new ventures develop high-quality goods and services will be discussed at an upcoming webinar led by Goodman School of Business Associate Professor Michael Armstrong.

The free live webinar facilitated by Innovate Niagara will take place Tuesday, June 16 from 1 to 2 p.m.

Armstrong will discuss three academic models he teaches in his quality management courses: the Kano Model, the Gaps Model and the Quality Function Deployment Model.

“Traditionally, these techniques are used by established companies to refine their current products into more successful ones, but they also can be adapted to guide new ventures,” Armstrong said.

The Kano Model helps categorize customers’ expectations for a product, while the Gaps Model provides an overall view of steps to meet those expectations. The Quality Function Deployment Model helps translate those expectations into product designs.

“This workshop will particularly interest an entrepreneur who needs to turn their general inspiration into a specific product: a good, service, software app, etc.,” Armstrong said. “Participants will learn three simple concepts (diagrams and checklists) that can help them organize their ideas and prioritize what customers want.”

Armstrong went on to explain three main questions the webinar will address:

• What does ‘quality’ mean from a customer perspective?
• What steps do existing products or producers do poorly that could be done better?
• Which customer expectations should be prioritized to include in a product now?

“Sometimes entrepreneurs are so busy that they get lost in the details and lose sight of the big picture,” he said. “The information learned from this webinar can help entrepreneurs better focus their limited time and energy.”

Interested participants are asked to register for the ‘Deisgning quality products in new ventures’ webinar via Eventbrite.

Once registered, participants will receive an email with a link to connect to the Zoom webinar.