What is the syllabus for product manager
Hi Sachin,
Here’s a sampling of the product management
MBA syllabus that you will most likely see in many of the top courses.
Folks working in the software industry might be familiar with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). This is a specialised implementation of the broader discipline of product development. Every product goes through a typical life cycle – ideation, product design, engineering, testing, launch.
However this is only one part of the process.
There’s a parallel track that has to support this and it happens in the area of
marketing. There’s no point in creating a wonderful product that no one is
going to use. That brings us to the new course that you’ll come across if you
take up an MBA in product management.
This again is a bunch of activities that involves understanding what the market really wants. Is the new product filling a gap in the market or is it generating a new demand? For instance, when Gmail came out, it was not the first free email product. But if offered something that the existing free email services didn’t offer.
While the engineering team at Google
fine-tuned the technology behind Gmail, there was also a marketing team
planning on how to market the product before and after it was launched.
Every single product has a consumer. So it’s
only natural that you know what the consumer wants before spending millions of
dollars on the product. What prompts the consumer to choose one product over
another. Is it the aesthetics, or the function, or the brand, or a combination
of these and other aspects. These inputs can go a long way in ensuring that the
new product development is happening in a synchronised and well-directed
manner.
This is the analytical part of the process.
Not everyone in the product management team needs to be a pro at everything. If
you are good at gathering, analysing and presenting data in a way that can
provide invaluable insights to the rest of the product management teams, you
can be a crucial contributor.
This is where things start moving into the niche zone. You can’t market an iPhone like a Gucci bag. Or maybe you can. Most high-tech products rely a detailed feature listing comparing 3 other competing products in a bid to prove how they are better than the options available in the market.
Others focus on the image or an emotion to send the message across. This is where the dependency on Consumer behaviour comes back into picture. Depending on your target buyer, you could tweak your marketing strategy.
Blackberry was initially positioned as a
high-end phone for the professional. All the marketing initiatives projected a
serious, no-nonsense image. Then they re-positioned themselves (to gain a bigger
market share) and there was re-branding exercise where they tried to show that
it wasn’t just meant for the serious professional.
In most cases, pricing (how much the consumer pays) isn’t purely a function of the cost (how much the company spent on bringing it to market). Pricing plays a big role in positioning the product.
I can’t find the article where I read this. But apparently the same condom manufacturer supplies to Nirodh (the government brand) as well as to several premium brands. The quality is the same but difference in pricing is huge. Of course, the premium brands spend more on advertising and marketing, but they still make big margins on the same product.
I have 5 years experience in oil and gas as an Mechanical Engineer is it necessary for me to do MBA for getting in project manager position
Hello Vikram. Thanks for connecting with Careers360. It depends on your organisation and the management taking decisions for your promotion. If they consider your past performance for the organisation, then it is not mandatory to be a MBA Graduate in order to become a project manager. However, for career growth it is recommended that you should do MBA so that you can move to much bigger positions in your organisation. I hope this answer helped you. Good luck.
Can I become a product manager by doing any BBA course?
Hi
Yes, you can become a product manager after pursuing BBA degree. Here we have discussed the steps to become a product manager.
Step 1: In order to become a product manager one must complete his or her 10+2 with minimum 55 per cent marks. One must complete his 10+2 from science or commerce stream.
Step 2: Several colleges conduct entrance exams before taking student admission. In order to be eligible to sit for the entrance exam, students must complete their 10+2 with a minimum of 50 per cent marks. One can sit for the JEE Main in order to get into a good college.
Some of the examinations are:
Step 3: A product manager needs a bachelor level degree. There are several types of bachelor level degrees that are effective to work as a product manager.
Popular bachelor’s degrees
B.A. (Hons.) in Marketing Management
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Step 4: Once the bachelor's degree is completed the student has two options:
Option 1 - He or she can begin working. One can begin working as an associate product development manager in an organisation. After gaining some years of experience they can be promoted to the post of product manager.
Option 2 - The candidate can go for his or her masters in relevant specialisations.
There are many entrance examinations for postgraduate degree programmes.
Management Aptitude Test (MAT)
CMAT (Common Management Admission Test)
Popular master’s degree and doctorate programmes:
MBA in Marketing
M.A. in Marketing Communication
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
You can also read Career as Product Development Manager .
How can we take admission in product manager??
Hi Shivam,
Please share the university you wish to pursue enginnering from. Also, share the stream you chose in Class 12.
Hoe to apply for this Job
To apply for a product manager post, you will need a basic qualification of a business related course. To get a specialization you can also go for management course. Some of the skills required are to secure the sale of goods and services, estimate demand, and develop strategies. Your communication skills should be sharp and you should be able to talk to multiple people and departments. Hence it is related to Business, users and technology.
So once you have completed the basic qualification you can start with internship or full time job as a fresher with the companies you are interested in. Product interest depends as it can be education products, fashion products, etc.
Good Luck!!
What is the role and description of a product manager?
The role and responsibilities includes developing products by identifying potential products; conducting market research; generating product requirements; determining specifications, production timetables, pricing, and time-integrated plans for product introduction; developing marketing strategies.