Entries by Paul O'Connor

WHITEPAPER: Powerful Product Lines Strategies

A Framework for Deconstructing and Improving Product Lines Strategies Business strategy is interesting. To many managers, business strategy seems monolithic. In reality, it wraps around many functional strategies. Supply chain management has a strategy. Sales has a strategy. Manufacturing has a strategy. Plus, companies can stress strategies for areas like brand management, engineering, information technology, […]

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Fighting Evil Complexity Costs

Smart Product Line Strategies & Roadmaps Accounting can be as thrilling as getting teeth pulled. Cost accounting, however, is a skill product developers must get their arms around. This is the black art of calculating how much products cost to develop, make and sell. I call it a black art not because of the easily […]

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Good Portfolio Management Needs a Great Front-end

Stage Gate Portfolio Management? If you are interested in NPD and R&D portfolio management, here is an important insight: Most Portfolio Management discussions, presentations, and articles address only the management of those projects that are under development. To state this in terms of process management, the insight is that portfolio management focuses only on those […]

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Eight Vital Facts about Product Line Strategies and Roadmaps

Interested in Product Line Strategies or Product Line Roadmaps? Here are eight (of many) important facts: The biggest mistake companies make regarding product line strategies is to do nothing at all.  Orientation toward one-off product development seldom beats a competitor’s “proactive” multi-generation product line strategy, no matter how good innovation techniques, portfolio management, and project […]