Assignment number 1

This assignment is as per the retail sector and of Pantaloon Company

Job & functions of product manager

A product manager investigates, selects, and develops products for an organization, performing the activities of product management. A product manager considers numerous factors such as intended demographic, the products offered by the competition, and how well the product fits with the company's business model. Generally, a product manager manages one or more tangible products. However, the term may be used to describe a person who manages intangible products, such as music, information, and services. A product manager's role in tangible goods industries is similar to a program director's role in service industries. Diverse interpretations regarding the role of the product manager are the norm. The product manager title is often used in many ways to describe drastically different duties and responsibilities. Even within the high-tech industry where product management is better defined, the product manager's job description varies widely among companies. This is due to tradition and intuitive interpretations by different individuals. In the financial services industry (banking, insurance etc.), product managers manage products (for example, credit card portfolios), their profit and loss, and also determine the business development strategy. In a Scrum environment, a Product Manager is also referred to as the Product Owner, and usually has the main role of representing the product to the customer.[1] Some of the responsibilities of the Product Owner include marketing of the product and analysis of the competition. In some companies, the product manager also acts as a:

Product marketing manager may perform all outbound marketing activities in the older sense of the term

 

Project manager may perform all activities related to schedule and resource management Program manager may perform activities related to schedule, resource, and cross-functional execution.

Role of product manager

The most obvious activity for the Product Manager is talking to the development team. This is a two way conversation during which the Product Manager tells the team what is needed. Or rather, the Product Manager specifies what the goal is: they should not propose solutions, and neither should they get involved in technical design. However, they may review several proposed solutions and express a preference for one when the solution makes a difference to how customers relate to the product. For example, a Product Manager would not review alternative database schema designs, but they would review and comment on different user interface designs. One is visible to the final customer and the other invisible.

Product Managers and Business Analysts are different Basically, Product Managers work at companies that create software that sells in a market. They are outward facing. They know they need to seek out customers and find out what they need to make their lives better. Product Managers are concerned with competitor products and change outside the company. In contrast, Business Analysts work at companies which develop software for their own internal use, or on specific developments for other companies which will be used internally. Thus they are normally found in corporate IT departments and external service provider (ESP) companies. Business Analysts look inwards, they look at the operations and needs inside a company. They know exactly who their users are, indeed, in some cases there may only be one user. When Business Analysts look outside the company they are looking at suppliers as alternatives to development not as competitors in the market. Lesson 2: The Product Manager and the Business Analyst roles are different. Not enough people appreciate the difference. What does the Product Manager do? The Product Manager role is summarised in Figure 1. The most obvious activity for the Product Manager is talking to the development team. This is

a two way conversation during which the Product Manager tells the team what is needed. Or rather, the Product Manager specifies what the goal is: they should not propose solutions, and neither should they get involved in technical design. However, they may review several proposed solutions and express a preference for one when the solution makes a difference to how customers relate to the product. For example, a Product Manager would not review alternative database schema designs, but they would review and comment on different user interface designs. One is visible to the final customer and the other invisible.

1. Product Managers work with the development team, customers, senior managers, sales and keep watch on the wider market, including competitors.
2. Product Managers need to be in regular contact with customers.

Product Managers both follow corporate strategy and influence it.

Responsibility of product manager

The field of retail management offers many positions, including retail product manager. This high-ranking position is usually part of upper management and is responsible for multiple areas of responsibility.

A retail product manager oversees a particular product or product line and is responsible for the entire process, from the initial concept to distribution and overall salesincluding marketing. The retail product manager conceptualizes new products and brings them to the table, along with other departments. Once approved, the product manager is responsible for finalizing the product concept which can include identifying demographics as well as a target market and potential subsequent variations.

The next phase involves working with designers to develop a prototype. Working with the engineering personnel, the retail product manager perfects the details of the product and finalizes a production design, deciding upon materials, dimensions, etc.

At this point, the retail product manager works with the production line to streamline the construction of the product and creates bills of material, timelines, and defined deadlines. This is followed by cost control, which is a major consideration. Once production plans are finalized and put in place, the retail product manager meets with inside sales staff to brief them on the details of the new product, which includes presentation, final selling price, and options that may be available. Sales pitches can be written for this meeting and presented to the sales staff for use with customers or clients. Hence , as aforesaid these all are core activities which a product manager has to perform in an Retail sector and in company like pantaloons where he or she performs numerous chores in day to day Or week to week basis.