MONTHLY
vol. I , issue #3
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innovation, performance & strategy
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!! COOL !!
MIDIOR introduces its new and improved website at www.midior.com
Featuring new case studies, downloadable documents and archives (including the archive of this newsletter),
we think you’ll find a lot of useful information on the site.
PREDICTION
SUVs are out – Hybrids are in.
Going way out on a limb, we predict that hybrid powered cars will be the next fad in the auto market. The technology is just making itself viable enough to be available – but not common, and hence gives the owner the chance to be special. And isn’t that what buying a car is all about? Identifying yourself as a unique individual?
We hope that the various suppliers in this new food chain – from fuel cells to filling stations - are planning for success.
Success is the intersection of preparation and opportunity
PRESCRIPTION
The answers to most of your questions are not in the lab, but at your customer’s office. To know thine customer is to know thine product requirements.
Customers are better than patents
If you don’t have any, put serious effort into getting to know a few. If you already have some – endeavor to know them better.
INCREASE LEVERAGE & REDUCE COST This is the third of a six-part series on bolstering enterprise performance. In review, our recommendation for bolstering financial performance centers on a program to increase the leverage and reduce the cost of your product or service portfolio. The first two issues dealt with Product & Service Mapping. This issue deals with the importance of building a product-oriented discipline and culture focusing on organizational models and cultural issues for optimizing your product organization:
The second step in this program is to introduce a new dimension of accountability at the product level.
We encourage management to consider 3 dimensions of accountability – by business unit P&L,
functional department, and product line. Often, especially outside of discrete
manufacturing industries, real accountability and management visibility only occur along 2
angles – P&L’s and functional management. We encourage our clients to develop that
often-neglected third
angle – product management, into a serious discipline with
direct accountability
for contributing growth
in revenue and profitability.
The role of product management is to manage “the business of the products”, individually and collectively. Product management is responsible for the entire product lifecycle, from the front end of the product development pipeline, through product launch, maturity, and all the way to product retirement. The challenge is to add this dimension – which can be a threat to existing culture and positions of power, without adding new bureaucracy or significant head count. Sometimes, this is an entirely new organization, but more often it is assembled from individuals and activities that are already taking place in isolated pockets of a large
organization.
Product management can be organized under a single executive,
the Chief Product Officer. Together with a small core team of senior staff (Global Product Executives),
a Product Development and Management Organization is accountable for each global product line, across all business units and delivery channels. This group has the added
responsibility for rationalizing the existing potpourri of products across the business units, and building the integrated product line roadmap and strategy. In addition, the group is required to participate in the annual budgeting process via annual product line plans with forecasted investments, expenses and revenues.
Ideally, a Product Organization consists of a small group of sharp, talented champions. Individual product managers and localized product specialists - many of whom may already exist - remain physically located inside business units in various locations around the world and maintain their existing reporting relationships with managers. The difference is that they become accountable for the results of their products, and as a result also have a responsibility and motivation to contribute to planning and execution of product plans. Global Product Champions work with Business Line managers to negotiate priorities, set targets and objectives, provide appropriate tools, and ensure consistent practices. Elevate the role of product manager In many large organizations, there is little regard or respect for the title of product manager, or the activity called product management. The job has no standard definition and is often a name given to a set of administrative tasks related to a particular product or service. This cultural obstacle is true inside and outside of many firms. There are few recognized career tracks associated with Product Management, no obvious “mentors” for aspiring product managers, and no visible examples of success. This cultural issue must be addressed explicitly. The role of product manager - or product champion - needs to become more formalized as an “important” position and positioned within the business lines as a job for “up and comers”. Making examples of highly regarded executives whose claim to fame was association with a highly successful product further reinforces this concept. The career track for effective product champions should be made visible as a step towards business unit management or other high profile positions. In next month’s issue, we will discuss the 3rd step in our plan, skills development for the product, development and technology teams.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end and we look forward to seeing you next month. In the interim, if you have
any comments or opinions you'd like to share, please click here.