Identification of Product Manager’s Role and Creation of the Type Position of a Product Manager

Abstract

The purpose of the article: Is to clarify the profile role of a product manager in present entrepreneurial routine in the Czech Republic. It is said about the Product Manager that he is a product evangelist, responsible for managing full product lifecycles of their products, while ensuring accurate schedules, product features, and making sure that product benefits are communicated to business partners and customers. The author’s objective was to provide a look insight in to a realistic picture of product managers’ job as well as to describe the skills, education, experience and attributes required for the product management position. Methodology/methods: To deal with this issue the interdisciplinary approach was best to apply, because theoretical resources and current state analysis of the topic as well as tendencies in its development required research in several disciplines. For secondary data mainly descriptive or analysis/synthesis approach for examining available resources were used. For succeeding empiric research both qualitative content analysis and quantitative methodology were used. The author carried out a two-phase research project. Texts in 100 unique recruitment advertisements were studying in the first phase of the research. Data gathering was running by personal questioning in the Czech companies in the second phase of the project. Scientific aim: The article is based on the conclusions of the doctoral thesis of RNDr. Zuzana Wroblowská, Ph.D. The work was aimed at a human factor which intensifies or reduces the effectiveness of product oriented marketing, which is designated as product management. The purpose was to verify functionality and validity of the organizational frame of marketing, to analyze product management state in present entrepreneurial routine in the Czech Republic and to identify role profile of product and brand managers as well as support corporal routine with a type position standard. Findings: The fundamental ideas of experts and their views on the human factor state in product management were summarized. The results of the first phase of research project confirmed a fundamental need of the excellent communication skills and a high degree of technical competence of candidates for the position with titled Product Manager. The findings of the second phase of the research showed that product management is current organizational structure in more than 80% of asked Czech companies. A cross section analysis of a product manager’s role was performed. Diversity of the prevailing roles in the sales support activities in the segments of organizations with predefined characteristics were identified and proved by statistic verification. Conclusions: The research proved that implementation role of employees in a product oriented organization prevails over coordination role with the exception of activities aimed at collecting and processing data for marketing analysis. Diversity of the prevailing roles in the segment “production companies” and “distributors and trading companies” were identified and proved by statistic verification. Also the type position of a product manager was created.