Integrated Tactical Planning

CHAPTER 3Delivering the Value: Executing the Product Plan

In this chapter we are going to dive a little deeper into the elements needed to successfully execute the product plan within Integrated Tactical Planning. We will cover the three broad areas of portfolio management, project management, and resource management, but before we start we need to align on a few definitions to be clear about what we mean by product, new, and portfolio.

Definition of Product and Portfolio

When we refer to product we mean products and services. Many physical goods companies have services that they provide for their physical product, without which the physical product may be less attractive or practical. For example, if you bought a new car and there was no specialist servicing provided, you're unlikely to be very happy. Similarly, service providers, such as banks, don't sell physical goods, but they usually have to consider some physical products, such as brochures and pamphlets to support their services. So, to Oliver Wight, the term product spans both physical and nonphysical products.

The term portfolio means all the activities that concern individuals and the suite of products in their life cycle, such as deciding which products and services you will offer the market through to the addition of new products, the deletion or phaseout of old products, and modifications to individual products and services.

Defining the Elements of Product and Portfolio

It is important for a company to define ...