Product Management

Product management is a fast-growing field born out of the need for a single person or small team of people within an organization to own the entirety of the end-to-end product development cycle, while also understanding and reconciling product decisions with business needs. This course focuses specifically on digital product management and is intended as a primer for those interested in a product management career or those with a general interest in how technology products are made. Those who want to play at the intersection of technology, business, and management are often well-suited for product management, a role that is often referred to as “CEO of the product” but without direct control of most of the resources required to build and launch a successful product. Product managers must be proficient in a broad range of capabilities and must lead through influence, not authority. This course is aimed at those without a strong technical background who want to develop the knowledge and skills to get a leg up when joining a technology company. Students will get a strong understanding of what it means to be a product manager and its role in the organization. For those students who decide to put the skills learned from this class into practice, CBS offers a Digital Product Management Lab, a team-based experiential class that partners with member companies to address “Problems to be Solved” that require fresh product development thinking. For those students that decide against moving into PM as a career, many of the concepts and approaches covered in this class will help students in whatever path they choose.