Product Portfolio Management: Everything you need to know

The growth of the businesses is a result of all the individual departments in the company working simultaneously and at full capacity. All the aspects of the business, starting from sourcing raw material to overseeing the trajectory of the product, need to be taken care of. This is the reason why companies are hiring specialists in large numbers nowadays. They provide valuable insights and help them gain an edge over their competitors. Product Portfolio Management is one such area that has become important for business nowadays.

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What is Product Portfolio Management?

Product Portfolio Management refers to the practice undertaken to manage a company’s entire product portfolio. The portfolio consists of all the different products the organisation sells or offers. This helps in the target of achieving maximum profits for the organisation. It basically involves the optimisation of resources, costs, and resources of all the company’s products.

What are the objectives of Product Portfolio Management?

More often than not, the products launched by the companies do not get the expected positive response from the customers, which leads to a wastage of resources and time. The company also faces enormous losses in such cases. Hence, the Product Portfolio Management aims to minimise the investment in such products and allocate the resources to the product with vast potential. 

Some objectives of product portfolio management are given below.

1. Eliminating loss-making or low profit-making products is really necessary. The product managers optimise the profits by spending the resources on a considerable profit churning product.
2. Assessing the product and its place in the market. 
3. Creating a conducive work environment in which every decisionmaker of the company remains acquainted with the company’s happenings. 
4. Focusing on the products which align with the organisation’s objective and image.

What are the roles and responsibilities of the Product Portfolio Manager? 

The field of Product Portfolio Management is growing by leaps and bounds. Hence, the Portfolio managers have a lot of roles and responsibilities to tend to. Some of which are given below. 

• Looking and finding optimum product mix

The role of the Product Manager requires optimisation of the available resources, which includes finding a product mix that reduces cost and can meet the organisation’s business objective. 

• Analysing the market

Product portfolio managers analyse the market and keep an eye on the competitors in the market. This helps in formulating new plans based on current trends and market conditions. 

• Identifying new product opportunities-

Product portfolio managers recognise the market opportunities available and utilise them to plan and launch new products. They also decide to improve the existing products as and when the need arises. They also observe the market gap and help the business launch the product to fill those gaps and make a profit.

• Strategic planning

The product portfolio manager strategically plans to allocate the resources towards new products and improve the existing products to reach the business objective. They visualise each product’s contribution towards the profit and invest in them accordingly. 

• To see that the basic business objectives are met

Product portfolio managers have excellent business acumen. They aim to get maximum ROI from each product in the portfolio. 

• Obtaining and evaluating consumer feedback

The product manager’s task also includes collecting consumer reviews and feedback and deriving insights from them. They then use these insights and make improvements to the product.

What are the steps involved in Product Portfolio Management?

The steps involved in creating a product portfolio roadmap-

• Setting objectives

Setting objectives is the first step toward attaining the business objectives. Be it at a business or company level, goals are specified first. Then, based on that, portfolio managers plan the next step to be undertaken to achieve the stated business objective.

• Prioritising the tasks

There are numerous tasks that need to be undertaken to achieve the objective. Hence, the need for prioritisation occurs so that businesses can focus on the area which demands urgent attention. For example, issues like risk, return on investment, and expenses need immediate attention. Hence, tasks or decisions which revolve around these should be given priority. 

• Making relevant tactics and strategies

Managers make tactics and strategies to achieve the objectives in a stipulated time.

What do you mean by Product strategy?

Product strategy involves defining the objectives and goals of the organisation and how it is planning to reach there. The organisation has to strategise regarding their products as to who is the target customer of th product and how will the product serve them. The strategies help in having clarity regarding the roadmap for the company to follow. 

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What is Product Planning?

Product Planning is the process of creating a new product idea with all the necessary requirements like price, features, etc. This involves allocating resources to focus on product development and design, which will help in attaining business targets.

If you are interested in making a career in the field of Product Portfolio Management, check out the Product Management Certification Course offered by Duke Corporate Education in collaboration with upGrad. You will gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of product management through this course with the help of live sessions. You can test your knowledge through case studies and assignments available. You also get access to career mentorship sessions, mock interview preparations that get you ready for the corporate world.

Many employment opportunities are being created in this changing world due to continuous innovation and development. The field of product management, which includes product portfolio management, is one such area that has seen a continuous rise in demand in recent years. In the US, the demand for product management is growing at 32%.  Companies like Amazon, Uber, and Ola are hiring for the role of product management jobs in large numbers and at handsome compensation. 

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