Goliath vs. Goliath, IT product management at Amazon and IBM

Abstract

Product management (PM) is nearing its centennial. The father of modern PM Neil H. McElroy laid the foundation for this ever-expanding role. Since 1931, this role has undertaken many changes and additions; a lot of literature covers these aspects. However, two of the most interesting aspects of this role are the introduction of PM in technology and the new product development theory (NPD). The goal of this paper is to examine and compare the PM practices of two giant corporations, Amazon and IBM, that seemingly use different techniques and approaches when it comes to their PM implementation and strategy. The research methods applied are two case studies and a comparative analysis. Through examining relevant literature and publicly accessible information, the comparative analysis is performed and the specific practices of strategy, product development, validate customer needs, service innovation, portfolio management, new product development and diffusion or adoption are selected to provide a spherical approach and information for the two selected companies. A plethora of literature papers are reviewed, and more emphasis is of course given to the aforementioned practices that information is more available and for the other topics a brief introduction is accomplished and space for further research is set.