E A Johnson April 15 1998 Ph D DISSERTATION PROPOSAL TITLE The Evolution of Product Management THE LITERATURE As lead speaker for Management Center Europe s public seminar on Product Management from 1992 to 1995 I developed a deep interest in the subject and establish a collection of observations and data from the 300 participants over the period supported by continuous applications research Earlier I was employed as a New Product Development Manager and then oversaw the introduction of a Product Management system providing valuable experience in the strengths and weaknesses of product management in different settings Properly introduced and managed the Product Management form of organizational management should answer most of the business objectives of the 1990 s company faced with the need to compete in the new world of global commerce Richard Handscombe in his book Product Management Handscombe 2 3 listed the characteristics necessary for the successful 1990 s Real Time Corporation Proactive Strategies Multiple Strategies Online Analysis Decision Making Entrepreneurial Thrust International Realities Longer Time Horizons Interdisciplinary Developments Handscombe then defined external pressures driving this evolution Handscombe 67 including increased level complexity and interaction of worldwide competition leading to uncertainty and instability of today s business environment the need to manage competition professionally the conflicts between shorter product life cycles and longer product life requirements the ever broadening family of products the amazingly consistent focus on the consumer as number one achieved by the Japanese companies advantages of transnational innovation as barriers come down the trend to worldwide technical support for mass market products and services the speed of change of technology an increasing scrutiny of the buying process by customers and particularly by multinationals in response to significant differences in the products pricing and service levels offered to different subsidiaries Handscombe then summarised the resultant internal pressures to give us a full picture of the dynamics that have led to the evolution of the firm to 1998 the need for detailed integrated planning among all functions divisions branches and subsidiaries the desire to benefit from a coordination of market research and analysis where there are common ground and overlaps in strategic decision making the need to establish and maintain a corporate approach to monitoring and reacting to issues such as total product quality and product liability the vital need to introduce and sustain active change programmes focussed on the dual achievement of improvements in product margins and productivity the need to accelerate the achievement of a culture of innovation inspiration and a desire for excellence the need to establish strategically focussed and controlled internal competition to seek out and achieve earlier and continuing benefits from current products the need to improve the productivity of multidisciplinary groups of knowledge workers to secure the integration of information technology with products and service systems and concentrate resources on strengthening those product groups important to the future whether by internal product development process development factoring licensing or joint ventures His summary view is that product management has become an essential factor in the formula for international competitive success Handscombe 8 Handscombe s 1989 definition of product management has a significant strategic focus The dedicated management of a specific product or service to increase it s profit contribution from current and potential markets in both the long term and short term above that which would be otherwise achieved by means of traditional approaches to the management of traditional sales activity marketing and product development The author then identifies the key objectives of his product manager Enhance Product Group Value Link Product Planning To Corporate Strategy Integrate People Planning Territories Control Achieve Market Focus Through Segmentation Establish Strategic Financial Management Of PLC Use Action Plans To Achieve Commitment Establish Informal Reliable Intelligence Network Handscombe 1 A more recent definition of product management was presented by D Lehman and R Winer in 1997 Lehman 1 We intend the generic title product manager to apply to different kinds of organizational structures and different kinds of companies whether they provide consumer goods industrial products or services We take the perspective of a manager whose primary responsibility is a product or a closely related product line Broadly speaking the product manager has two responsibilities First the product manager is responsible for the planning activities related to the product or product line Thus the product manager s job involves analyzing the market including customers competitors and the external environment and turning this information into marketing objectives and strategies for the product Second the product manager must get the organization to support the marketing programs recommended in the plan The authors conclude the introduction by define the product managers role as tactical and revolving around the marketing mix Lehman 3 In the authors organizational structure the product manager answers to a marketing manager in a typical product focussed structure This is the classic brand management structure that Proctor Gamble developed in the 1930 s Lehman 4 The difference in the two approaches is the strategic role of the product manger Upon initial introduction of the product management organization it can be expected to work on the tactical level but with experience and success increasing responsibility should result in a strategic input at increasingly higher levels of the company Philips the Dutch conglomerate recently reorganized and placed product managers at the head of each strategic business unit giving them full bottom line responsibility This is presented as the mature product manager organization in contrast to product managers answering to marketing managers Handscombe 65 Preservation of the role of marketing manager would indicate that the company views marketing as a function and not an all encompassing management philosophy These differing approaches establish the fundamental research objective of this dissertation Are companies with more mature