Description
Product management is essentially a sales/marketing function within an organization. A product manager, also known as a brand, segment manager – is typically charged with overseeing all aspects of a brand or product line including marketing, planning, forecasting, new product development, and delivering long-term value to both customers and the organization’s bottom line. The Product Manager’s Fieldguide is intended to provide managers with explicit tools to help them improve their job performance. Though positioned as a stand-alone book, The Product Manager’s Fieldguide is intended to complement the second edition of the Product Manager’s Handbook (c. 2000, ISBN 0-658-00135-3), which detailed the responsibilities of the product manager. Specifically, The Product Manager’s Fieldguide will provide self-assessment tools and action steps that take the general information from the source book to a higher level of detail. Part One enables product managers to evaluate their knowledge, skills and abilities as they relate to the job requirements and offers alignment exercises for them to augment their competencies (leading to a Product Manager Scorecard). Part Two provides a toolkit of step-by-step instructions for targeted activities to help a product manager monitor and assess planning efforts to ensure accountability. Part Three details a framework for product strategy with reflection points and checklists for portfolio management, screening, specification writing, and launch. Part Four offers a framework for product marketing with reflection points and checklists for pricing, marketing communications, and channel evaluation.
