Hi baccardisprite,
Thanks for the reply.
I am not in IT/Software. I am in semiconductors industry earlier was in IP design, now in validation.
I want to know more about how an education in operations can help me get closer to breaking into product management.
As far as my understanding goes (which may not be correct), operations or supply-chain management is primarily focused on finding the best possible way of distribution of goods/services/finished products to customers, from the point of origin to point of consumption along with the best possible management of resources. It is mostly concerned about finding the most optimal "path".
Can learning "optimization" help me get closer to my goal?
My long-term goal is to be in product portfolio planning/strategy. Can studying operations help me there or give me any advantage?
I have tried to read about product management on net. I've found that among the management functions, Marketing is closest to product management and is like an almost essential skill for a product manager.
Also, about the schools that you mentioned:
Stanford - MS&E; program - Agreed. It's a wonderful program and looks like the most apt one for me, considering my career goals.
MIT - ESD Master of Science, TPP, LFM - The ESD SM and TPP are not exactly technology management programs. Their course content and objectives are highly specialized (Systems engineering and technology policy respectively).
LFM - is a technology management program but again focusing heavily on manufacturing and operations management. Admission criteria even demands relevant experience in these fields.
UC Berkeley and UMich - they have a industrial engineering program. Again related to mostly operations management.
Although, the Ross School of Business at UMich has a new MS in Supply Chain management in partnership with the college of engineering. Do you suggest doing a supply chain mgmt program from a reputed business school like Ross and having the UMich engg advantage? Can this program help me in eventually moving into product management?
Most of the other top engineering schools in US have only industrial engineering which comes close to operations or tech mgmt. Can these programs help?
I was thinking of another approach if I combine my technical experience with a generalist management education (not focused on technology but on managerial economics/strategy and marketing), can my profile become a little more interesting for employers to consider me for entry level roles which have the potential to carry me into product management.
What do you think about this approach?
Also I've read that product management is that function of marketing management where minimal sales skills are needed and very strong analytical skills and knowledge of strategy and economics (market dynamics).
What's your take on this?
Najmuddin,
Apologies for the wrong assumption.
Your first point about "optimal path" says it all! Except that concept has gone beyond just operations and supply chains. A product manager in my opinion is the one who helps to conceptualize, and contributes
not only to optimal customer focussed / driven design, but also "delivery". Because if the product / service ain't smartly, efficiently, and effective deliverable (the upstream & downstream supply chain)
to and / or isn't intuitively usable by a customer (design & marketing related) - it ain't innovative! We're all amazed at Apple's product design capability, however many (outside Apple) wouldn't see about the cost / complexity and the effectiveness of the product supply chain (right from the iPod's compenents, the manufacturing and distribution) that delivers products to users around the world.
To be able to ensure all the above elements work flawlessly is the job of the product managers, particularly in engineered and manufactured products like FMCG, OTC Healthcare, Consumer Electronics & Durables, and other Consumable items. The one's who do it best are those who normally bring to the table experience both from the marketing and operations side of the business. Marketing brings the ability to understand consumers and be able to facilitate design around the consumer, operations and supply chain work out optimal delivery, assess and mitigate risks associated with delivery options and find solutions to optimally and cost-effectively deliver to the consumer to help the business profit from the desired price point.
With these things in mind, think about what courses you might need to back your current experience up and move towards a product management position:
1. Marketing, consumer insight
2. Industry, Economics, and Competitive Analysis, leading to Strategy
3. Product design & engineering (the ability to not only innovate, but help create the environment for innovative product development)
4. Operations Management and supply chain design
5. Business modelling and optimization (design & delivery)
6. Finance, particularly in the area of pricing & costing, make v buy, end-to-end business case for products that need to be delivered to market
7. Sourcing & Procurement, connected largely to 4,5,6 (and where algorithmic optimization is slowly taking hold in various product focussed industries)
So go for a program that offers you as many of the above as possible in either
one program or allows you to effectively combine a program. In
my opinion - the Industrial Engineering, Management Science, Technology & Operations Management programs offer the widest possibility to gain the largest proportion of the above (points 3-7), while you can with your faculty permission (normally forthcoming with the right rationale) take the Marketing, Strategy related courses with the business schools.
After this looooooong explanation, to your specific questions:
- Yes, stanford's MS&E; program would be excellent education for all of the above, and you seem to agree there as well. There's of course a top-notch business school for you to access.
- For the MIT (ESD in particular) Programs, again look at the core courses, and think about what courses in MIT-Sloan you can combine with. Contact the LFM Admissions office and talk to them, ask them whether the profile requirements centre around experience in the manufacturing industry or the manufacturing / operations function. If it's the former, I think you could reasonably apply for the LFM through Sloan & ESD.
- The Berkeley & UMich programs are both excellent, but analyze the core courses to see whether they would meet the elements above and to what degree; and find out whether you can cross-register for the business school courses.
- I would not recommend a pure supply chain Masters course as it's not an effective pathway to what you want. The bottomline should be a combined technical & management program.
- You could do a generalist management course like an MBA, but look for a program that combines a strong core + a good set of electives that would take on the elements above, again - points to Stanford, MIT, Michigan, Berkeley. You will notice all of them are big name engineering schools alongside top business schools.
- Additionally, please contact the schools and ask them to provide you with contacts of people who have completed the program and have graduated into jobs or later reached product management jobs. Alumni are pretty loyal to their schools and will be more than happy to guide and mentor you, if you make the right and reasoned approach. Also if you can, speak / correspond with faculty and ask them for guidance. It may in the end be different to mine, but there're no better people to ask :-)
Sorry for the long message, hope this guides you better.
Good luck
