Product and program management : battling the strangler trees of system and social complexity in the software market jungle

An exploration of Software Product and Program Management as recently emergent roles in the information technology sector is presented. The exploration is presented in six sections divided into two major parts. The first part, in four sections, explores Product Management from a primarily anthropological and managerial perspective, while the second part, in two sections, explores major engineering issues related to the role. The first part gives a synopsis of the history and economics of software products, demonstrating the rapid evolution of a field facing unprecedented problems with product complexity and motivating the need for Product Management. The role of Product Manager is explored in detail using both extant literature and interviews conducted with current practitioners in industry. The related role of Program Manager is briefly discussed. Finally, an extended historical case study is presented demonstrating the struggles and pitfalls of Product Management in software product companies. The second part explores two major engineering issues related to the Product Management role: Project Management and Requirements Engineering.

Department dc:contributor.department

System Design and Management Program.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Hempe, John A. (John Alan)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Michael A. Cusumano.

• System Design and Management Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37984

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37984