The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

33.3. Postlaunch Product Management

As products evolve through NPD processes and ultimately get launched, the support plans provided by the various functional organizations are synchronized. As with the transmission of an automobile, the synchronization of the gears (the functional plans) becomes critical as the product increases its velocity in the market. The role of the product manager becomes that of an operational business manager, general manager, or "mini-CEO," interfacing with all the business functions that have an impact on product results.

We recommend that a cross-functional team structure be used to manage products during the postlaunch life cycle, similar to the NPD project teams that are often used to plan and introduce products (Katzenbach and Smith, 1994; also see Chapter 9). Cross-functional life-cycle management teams simply get at issues and problems more quickly than people working in functional silos, and this tends to enable better long-term fixes for life-cycle problems and challenges. If a cross-functional team work model is used in the postlaunch time period, the product manager's responsibility extends to oversight of that team (like a board of directors), managing or overseeing four key areas or dimensions of LCM. These areas include:

1. Marketing the product

2. Servicing and supporting the product

3. Keeping score (of product performance and financials)

4. Operations oversight

To help put these dimensions into perspective, a pictorial model is provided in Figure ...