Friday, January 8, 2010

Product Management At Google

Product management at Google can be understood from this advertisement of google for product manager.

Product Manager


Product Management

One of the many reasons Google consistently brings innovative, world-changing products to market is because of the collaborative work we do in Product Management. With eyes focused squarely on the future, our team works closely with creative and prolific engineers to help design and develop technologies that improve access to the world's information. We're responsible for guiding products throughout the execution cycle, focusing specifically on analysing, positioning, packaging, promoting and tailoring our solutions to all the markets where Google does business.

The role of the Product Manager

As a Product Manager, you will work with a core team to build world-class products for our users around the world. Your responsibilities will include gathering requirements, helping to define a product vision and strategy and working with world-class engineers to execute it. Among your many attributes, you must be an influential leader who knows that your job doesn't stop with a completed product. You're committed to creating great products, and eager to make things work better.

Responsibilities:

Understand and analyse user needs, and conduct research on markets and competitors.
Establish short- and long-term product goals and strategies.
Build and manage a product roadmap to support our goals and strategies.
Initiate and prioritise projects within engineering, track product development and develop product launch plans.
Engage closely with the Engineering team to help determine the best technical implementation methods and reasonable execution schedule.

Requirements:
BA or BS preferred in Computer Science or a related technical field (an MS or a PhD is a plus).
At least 3 years of product management or product design experience.
Experience in developing Internet products and technologies.
Excellent oral communication, organisational and analytical skills.
Demonstrated experience of developing products from concept to launch.
Market knowledge of Internet-related industries.
Ability to build effective working relationships.

Google Product Development Process

A note taken by a note taken by Evelyn Rodriguez,
http://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com/crossroads_dispatches/files/GoogleProductDevProcess.pdf

So What Do You Do, Brandon Badger, Product Manager for Google Books?
Interview by By Noah Davis – December 9, 2009
http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a10725.asp


News about google knol

http://news.google.com/news/search?cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=google+knol&cf=all&start=0

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Knol and Industrial Engineering

On knol there are many articles on Industrial Engineering.
I wrote many of them.
I categorize the activities of Industrial engineering into three heads.
Human Effort Engineering
System Efficiency Engineering
Systems Engineering (Systems Design Management, systems Installation Management and Systems Improvement Management)

I came across a Forbes.Com article today. The Myth Of Efficiency by Adam Hartung. The criticism of efficiency effort included in this article is totally misplaced. I wrote a comment to that article.

Posted by narayanarao | 01/02/10 04:06 AM EST
Innovations in product and increase in efficiency are two different dimensions. If the functional designers and managers come out with revenue forecast of $100 million and cost of $80 million, and IE department can reduce the cost by say $2 million, the company gains and the innovators also gain. Where is the conflict? Taylor did not say dismiss product designers. Taylor did not say dismiss advertising executives. So why Taylor is being criticized in this article. Why Harvard Professors are being quoted out of context? Industrial Engineering is an important functional area in business organizations like many other functional areas. Dr. K.V.S.S. Narayana Rao, Professor, Industrial Engineering

The link for the original article is
http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/16/efficiency-innovation-change-leadership-managing-taylor.html

The link for various comments is

http://rate.forbes.com/comments/CommentServlet?op=cpage&sourcename=story&StoryURI=2009/10/16/efficiency-innovation-change-leadership-managing-taylor.html