The Product Manager's Handbook : The Complete Product Management Resource

The Product Manager's Handbook is the essential guide to successful product management in today's fast-changing business world. Product and brand managers, as well as upper-level sales, marketing, and branding executives, will find the text thorough and informative as it explains and analyzes the product manager's role in both traditional, hierarchical organizations as well as in newer horizontal, team-driven decision-making structures.

What is a product manager? The overall responsibility of a product manager is to integrate the various segments of a business into a strategically focused whole, maximizing the value of a product by coordinating the production of an offering with an understanding of market needs. A product manager must oversee all aspects of a product or service line in order to create and deliver superior customer satisfaction while simultaneously providing long-term value for the company.

The Product Manager's Handbook covers all of these topics in a convenient, easy-to-follow presentation that includes:

• Hands-on charts for managing every key step, from concept to completion
• Practical checklists for evaluating progress at every critical stage
• Brief profiles in every chapter of specific product management roles, functions, and issues
• Real-world cases illustrating the challenges of product management in action

This thoroughly revised and updated second edition fully integrates the Internet and other digital technologies into the product manager's arsenal of tools. The book includes all new information on what it takes to be a successful product manager. It explains the product manager's role in the planning process (including strategic and operational planning), how to evaluate product portfolios, how to propose and develop successful new products, and more.

The product manager is frequently the source of the entrepreneurial spirit and sense of innovation that drives a successful organization. Learn to make the most of your product management system with this indispensable reference guide.

Linda Gorchels is Director of Executive Marketing Programs at the Management Institute of the University of Wisconsin's School of Business. Prior to joining the faculty at University of Wisconsin, Gorchels held product and marketing management positions at VEREX Assurance, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, and Lear-Siegler, Inc. Gorshels regularly conducts on-site instruction for clients such as Motorola and The Miller Group