Product management
Encyclopedia
Product management is an organizational lifecycle function within a company dealing with the planning, forecasting, or marketing of a product or products at all stages of the product lifecycle.
The role consists of Product development
and product marketing
, which are different (yet complementary) efforts, with the objective of maximizing sales revenues, market share, and profit margins. The product manager is often responsible for analyzing market conditions and defining features or functions of a product. The role of product management spans many activities from strategic to tactical and varies based on the organizational structure of the company. Product management can be a function separate on its own, or a member of marketing or engineering.
While involved with the entire product lifecycle, product management's main focus is on driving new product development
. According to the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), superior and differentiated new products — ones that deliver unique benefits and superior value to the customer — is the number one driver of success and product profitability.
Depending on the company size and history, product management has a variety of functions and roles. Sometimes there is a product manager, and sometimes the role of product manager is shared by other roles. Frequently there is Profit and Loss (P&L) responsibility as a key metric for evaluating product manager performance. In some companies, the product management function is the hub of many other activities around the product. In others, it is one of many things that need to happen to bring a product to market and actively monitor and manage it in-market.
Product management often serves an inter-disciplinary role, bridging gaps within the company between teams of different expertise, most notably between engineering-oriented teams and commercially-oriented teams. For example, product managers often translate business objectives set for a product by Marketing or Sales into engineering requirements. Conversely they may work to explain the capabilities and limitations of the finished product back to Marketing and Sales. Product Managers may also have one or more direct reports who manage operational tasks and/or a Change Manager
who can oversee new initiatives.
The role consists of Product development
New product development
In business and engineering, new product development is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product to market. A product is a set of benefits offered for exchange and can be tangible or intangible...
and product marketing
Product marketing
Product marketing deals with the first of the "7P"'s of marketing, which are Product, Pricing, Place, and Promotion, Packaging, Positioning & People....
, which are different (yet complementary) efforts, with the objective of maximizing sales revenues, market share, and profit margins. The product manager is often responsible for analyzing market conditions and defining features or functions of a product. The role of product management spans many activities from strategic to tactical and varies based on the organizational structure of the company. Product management can be a function separate on its own, or a member of marketing or engineering.
While involved with the entire product lifecycle, product management's main focus is on driving new product development
New product development
In business and engineering, new product development is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product to market. A product is a set of benefits offered for exchange and can be tangible or intangible...
. According to the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), superior and differentiated new products — ones that deliver unique benefits and superior value to the customer — is the number one driver of success and product profitability.
Depending on the company size and history, product management has a variety of functions and roles. Sometimes there is a product manager, and sometimes the role of product manager is shared by other roles. Frequently there is Profit and Loss (P&L) responsibility as a key metric for evaluating product manager performance. In some companies, the product management function is the hub of many other activities around the product. In others, it is one of many things that need to happen to bring a product to market and actively monitor and manage it in-market.
Product management often serves an inter-disciplinary role, bridging gaps within the company between teams of different expertise, most notably between engineering-oriented teams and commercially-oriented teams. For example, product managers often translate business objectives set for a product by Marketing or Sales into engineering requirements. Conversely they may work to explain the capabilities and limitations of the finished product back to Marketing and Sales. Product Managers may also have one or more direct reports who manage operational tasks and/or a Change Manager
Change management
Change management is a structured approach to shifting/transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is an organizational process aimed at helping employees to accept and embrace changes in their current business environment....
who can oversee new initiatives.
Product Marketing
- Product Life CycleProduct life cycle managementProduct life-cycle management is the succession of strategies used by business management as a product goes through its life-cycle. The conditions in which a product is sold changes over time and must be managed as it moves through its succession of stages.Product life-cycle Like human beings,...
considerations - Product differentiationProduct differentiationIn economics and marketing, product differentiation is the process of distinguishing a product or offering from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market. This involves differentiating it from competitors' products as well as a firm's own product offerings...
- Product naming and branding
- Product positioning and outbound messaging
- Promoting the product externally with press, customers, and partners
- Conduct customer feedback and enabling (pre-production, beta software)
- Launching new products to market
- Monitoring the competition
Product Development
- Identifying new product candidates
- Gathering the Voice of customer
- Defining product requirementsProduct requirements documentA product requirements document is a document written by a company that defines a product they are making, or the requirements for one or more new features for an existing product...
- Determine business-case and feasibility
- Scoping and defining new products at high level
- Evangelizing new products within the company
- Building product roadmaps, particularly Technology roadmapTechnology roadmapA technology roadmap is a plan that matches short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions to help meet those goals. It is a plan that applies to a new product or process, or to an emerging technology. Developing a roadmap has three major uses...
s - Developing all products on schedule, working to a critical path
- Ensuring products are within optimal price margins and up to specifications
See also
- Aggregate project planAggregate Project PlanAn aggregate project plan is the process of creating development goals and objectives and using these goals and objectives to improve productivity as well as development capabilities. The purpose of this process is generally to ensure that each project will accomplish its development goals and...
- Brand managementBrand managementBrand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.The discipline of brand management was started at Procter & Gamble as a result of a famous memo by Neil H...
- Crossing the ChasmCrossing the ChasmCrossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers or simply Crossing the Chasm , is a marketing book by Geoffrey A. Moore that focuses on the specifics of marketing high tech products during the early start up period...
- Customer experienceCustomer experienceCustomer experience is the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods or services, over the duration of their relationship with that supplier. From awareness, discovery, attraction, interaction, purchase, use, cultivation and advocacy...
- EnterpriseEnterpriseEnterprise may refer to:-Economics and business:* A business* A company* Entrepreneurship, the practice of starting new organizations, particularly new businesses* Enterprise Architecture...
- Marketing managementMarketing managementMarketing management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of marketing techniques and the management of a firm's marketing resources and activities...
- Product (business)Product (business)In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...
- Product catalogue managementProduct catalogue managementProduct catalogue management refers to the support of product management in the management of product information in a structured and consistent way in the form of electronic catalogs. This in essential in order to create and develop cost-effective means to help customers and channel partners...
- Product documentationDocument management systemA document management system is a computer system used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents. It is usually also capable of keeping track of the different versions created by different users . The term has some overlap with the concepts of content management...
- Product life cycle managementProduct life cycle managementProduct life-cycle management is the succession of strategies used by business management as a product goes through its life-cycle. The conditions in which a product is sold changes over time and must be managed as it moves through its succession of stages.Product life-cycle Like human beings,...
- Product managerProduct ManagerA product manager investigates, selects, and develops products for an organization, performing the activities of product management.A product manager considers numerous factors such as intended demographic, the products offered by the competition, and how well the product fits with the company's...
- Product marketingProduct marketingProduct marketing deals with the first of the "7P"'s of marketing, which are Product, Pricing, Place, and Promotion, Packaging, Positioning & People....
- Product planningProduct planningProduct Planning is the ongoing process of identifying and articulating market requirements that define a product’s feature set.Product planning serves as the basis for decisions about price, distribution and promotion.- See also :* Product planning...
- Product tear down
- Requirements managementRequirements managementRequirements management is the process of documenting, analyzing, tracing, prioritizing and agreeing on requirements and then controlling change and communicating to relevant stakeholders. It is a continuous process throughout a project...
- Software product managementSoftware product managementSoftware product management is the process of managing software that is built and implemented as a product, taking into account life-cycle considerations and generally with a wide audience. It is the discipline and business process which governs a product from its inception to the market or...
- Service product managementService product managementService Product Management deals with managing a service product across its complete life cycle. This organizational function is equally common between Business-to-business as well as Business-to-consumer businesses...
- Technology road map
- User experienceUser experienceUser experience is the way a person feels about using a product, system or service. User experience highlights the experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership, but it also includes a person’s perceptions of the practical aspects such...