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-Product Launch & Development- Courses Available Online & Campus.
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U of Michigan Lean Product &Process Development Training
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Study conducted by Jin K. Han, of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology: "Effects of Competitive Targets and Product Attribute Typicality on Perceived Quality."
www.amsreview.org
Series of in-house Benchmarking courses from the leading authors of books in the field.
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Article- "How to Ensure That Your Products Will Produce Sufficient Sales."
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International trading course notes by Keith Head, professor at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Commerce.
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Helps keep American families safe by reducing the risk of injury or death from consumer products. Site includes recalls, reports, and alerts.
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Resource book to develop a wider market for businesses. Increase sales and profits by selling through sales reps and their companies. Offers names, addresses, telephone numbers of sales reps nationwide. Tells you what territory they cover, the ...
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ESOMAR Directory of Research Organizations 2000: list of companies offering product testing and new product research, by country.
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Article by Larry Hermann, Contributing Editor, R&D Management, October 1991.
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"A 13-step process helps ensure the successful launch of new products while it teaches team management", article by Daniel T. Koenig published in Mechanical Engineering, August 1997.
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Case study of Nailene artificial nails, published by Placon, Madison, Wisconsin, an integrated packaging services company.
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Introduction to product life cycle analysis, environmentally sound design and links offered by Pre Pre Consultants.
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Research paper by Roger W. Koenker and Marting K. Perry, published in 1981 by the Rand Journal of Economics, Santa Monica, California.
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Provides product development education, training, research and publications services: conferences, seminars, on-site workshops, newsletters and reports.
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Five-phase process guidelines provided by Kortegaard Engineering, a product planning and development organization, association of engineering, scientific and technical consultants.
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A weekly newsletter full of the latest ecommerce news, new product reviews and insider tips and secrets.
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Series of articles by Jim Harris, an ex-WalMart executive who provided new product marketing & consulting services to individuals & businesses throughout the country; posted by the Entrepreneur Network.
tenonline.org
Article published by Urban Wallace & Associates, a Massachusetts marketing & management consultancy.
www.uwa.com
-Product Launch & Development- Courses Available Online & Campus.
www.SCPD.Stanford.edu
Align product, business strategies. Speed time to market.
www.acceptsoftware.com
Reliable Offshore & Onshore Product Development Solutions. Contact Us!
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Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Documentation and deliverables
Product managers are often responsible for creating the documentation that defines what a product should be and what it should do. These can include:•Business case: This justifies the investment in a new product. Will typically include competitive analysis, SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), estimated cost for development, estimated revenues and when ROI will be achieved.•Business requirements document: A high-level overview of what the product should be and what it should do.•Functional requirements or functional specifications: A very detailed document which describes how the product should work. This may include use cases (which walk a sample user through workflows), design layouts or wireframes, business rules and other technical details.
I recommend: You can purchase a starter kit with multiple product management templates from 280Group.
How do you know if you are ready to hire a product manager?
Oftentimes, as a company grows the founder or president decides that they need one owner who is accountable for the details of the product, to free him/her up to focus on running the business. Signs that you may be ready for a product manager:- You have many ideas about how to innovate an existing product, but are too busy to focus on them- You would like to launch a new or additional product/line, but don't have the bandwidth to manage your core product and focus on the new- Your technologists (engineers, developers etc) are driving the direction of your product, yet they aren't customer-focused- You consistently slip product release schedules, because no one person is accountable for ensuring a successful launch.
I recommend: When evaluating whether you are ready to add a product manager to your team, don't just calculate the work that you are doing. Often, many team members are compensating for the absence of this role. Ask your:
-technologists (engineers, developers etc)
-sales person
-marketing manager
for their tasks which are more appropriate for a product manager to fill, to gauge whether you have the need for another full-time employee.
Help wanted: product manager
When a small business is ready to hire a product manager, it’s important to hire a generalist. A good product manager is able to play three roles:•Product management: defining what the product should be and do•Project management: managing the development schedule of a new project and ensuring it is completed on time•Product marketing: supporting the promotion of the product, including writing brochures and web copy and training sales people.
I recommend: To write your job posting for a product management role, start by searching job boards and reading what other employers are looking for. Then cut and paste the descriptions that describe your need as well. While the Product Development and Management Association has a job bank, I prefer using Monster.com. Search for the job title "Product Manager."
How about a consultant?
To be honest, product management is not a discipline that is often outsourced to consultants. Inherent in the role is deep intimacy and ownership over a product or service, which implies 'in house.' However, there are some firms that specialize in this.
I recommend:The 280Group provides consulting for both product management and product marketing.
Business.com provides this list of consultants.
Finally, Pragmatic Marketing provides another list of consultants.
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