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The Evolving Role of Product Manager - A Systematic Review Cover

The Evolving Role of Product Manager - A Systematic Review

Foundations of Management
Volume 17 (2025): Issue 1 (January 2025)
By: Nishant PARIKHORCID  
Open Access
|Apr 2025

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.

Evolution of Product Management (Source: Author’s own elaboration)
Evolution of Product Management (Source: Author’s own elaboration)

Figure 2.

Study selection procedure (Source: Author’s own study)
Study selection procedure (Source: Author’s own study)

Figure 3.

Snowballing Procedure (Source: Author’s own study)
Snowballing Procedure (Source: Author’s own study)

Research Questions and Motivation (Source: Author’s own research)

Research questionsMotivation
1. What are the evolving responsibilities of a software PM?Software product management is a continuously evolving field, and more and more organizations are adopting the discipline. Keeping track of how a PM’s role is evolving is imperative
2. How do organizational and product factors—such as B2B versus B2C, large enterprises (LEs) versus small– medium enterprises (SMEs), Waterfall versus Agile methodologies, and AI— impact PM's role?Understanding how different organizational structures, product segments, development methodologies, and technological advancements shape the product manager’s role is essential for both practitioners and researchers. These factors influence day-to-day responsibilities, decision-making processes, and strategic focus, providing insights into how product managers can adapt their approaches to fit specific business environments and emerging trends. This question seeks to clarify these influences, offering a comprehensive view of how the PM role is evolving across diverse contexts

Database Sources and Search Strings (Source: Author’s own research)

No.SourceSearch stringNumber of results
1Google Scholarallintitle: (Role OR Roles OR Responsibility OR Responsibilities) AND ("Product Manager" OR "Product Managers" OR "Product Management")50
2ACM Digital Library1(role* OR responsibilit*) AND Product AND manage*5
3EBSCOhost2TI (role* OR responsibilit*) AND TI ("product manage*")30
4IEEE Xplore("Document Title":product manage*) AND ("Document Title":role* OR "Document Title":responsibil*)10
5ProQuest Central3ti(role*) AND ti("product manage*")91
6Springer Link(role* OR responsibilit*) NEAR/1 "product manage*"147
7ResearchGate(role* OR responsibilit*) AND "product manager"19
8Books-4
Total356

Final Study Selection (Source: Author’s own research)

Source typeAuthor and yearResearch ApproachMajor focus
Journal articleMaglyas, et al. (2013)Empirical researchRoles of software product managers
Conference paperSpringer and Miler (2018)InterviewsRole of a software product manager in various business environments
Conference paperTkalich, et al. (2022)InterviewsAgile product manager activities
Conference paperJansen, et al. (2011)Interviews and Case studiesEnding the life of a software product
Journal articleMaglyas, et al. (2017)Empirical studiesCore software product management activities
Conference paperBekkers, et al. (2010)Action research/literature review/case studies/expert reviewSPM competency model and maturity matrix
BookGeracie and Eppinger (2013)Product Management Community CollaborationBody of knowledge (ProdBOK®)
BookKittlaus and Fricker (2017)Research basedSPM body of knowledge (ISPMA BoK)
SAFe WebsiteSAFe (2023)Industry-accepted SAFe practiceAgile Product Management
Journal articleLysonski (1985)Primary research basedProduct Manager’s boundary theory
Book chapterKittlaus (2012)Primary research basedSPM and Agile software development
Journal articleMcDaniel and Gray (1980)Literature reviewProduct Manager
Journal articleFinch, et al. (2023)Primary research basedWhat makes a product manager? A dynamic capabilities view of product management
Journal articleLysonski and Woodside (1989)Empirical studyBoundary role spanning behavior, conflicts, and performance of industrial product managers

Activity Mapping to Common Naming (Source: Author’s own research)

No.ISPMA namingDifferent naming used by various sourcesExplanationChanged name
1Market analysis
  • -

    User research (Springer and Miler, 2018)

  • -

    Product discovery (product ideation) (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Market Research (McDaniel and Gray, 1980)

ISPMA synthesizes well on all these concepts and comprises under the Market Analysis categoryNo change
2-
  • -

    Proposing solutions (Springer and Miler, 2018)

  • -

    Idea evaluation (mock-up, working prototype) (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

ISPMA consolidates solutioning with the Product Definition category. Geracie and Eppinger (2013) describes well to identify solution candidate via prototype validation, then create product definition. Hence, identify solution is separated out as an important activity to highlightIdentify solution
3Customer insight
  • -

    Interacts with the customer (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Gathering user feedback (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Requirements identification (Bekkers et al., 2010)

ISPMA naming fits wellNo Change
4Positioning and product definition
  • -

    Strategic vision creation (Tkalich et al., 2022)

  • -

    Product vision creation (Maglyas, et al., 2017)

  • -

    Product vision and strategy (McDaniel and Gray, 1980)

ISPMA naming fits well However, Maglyas et al. (2017) proposed this category to change as vision creation. Here, both the terms are used for a better clarity and product vision is used instead of only vision to separate out from the company visionNo change
5Ecosystem management
  • -

    Stakeholder management (Springer and Miler, 2018)

  • -

    Engaging internal stakeholders (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Cross-functional Leadership (McDaniel and Gray, 1980)

PMs collaborate with them cross-functional teams, instead of managing them. Hence, rename the activity to cross-functional collaborationCross-functional collaboration
6Sourcing
  • -

    Make or buy decision (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Acquiring resources (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

ISPMA naming and definition consolidates well on the resource planning and make versus buy decision regards to software componentsNo change
7Financial management
  • -

    Responsible for the profitability of the product (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Partnering and contracting (pricing) (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

For simplicity, pricing is consolidated into the financial management category, and it is named as financial analysisFinancial analysis
8Legal and intellectual property rights (IPR) management
  • -

    Project compliance (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Partnering and contracting (service level agreements, intellectual property management) (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

The legal, IPR, and compliance-related activities are consolidated into a single category as they are relatedLegal and compliance management
9Performance and risk management
  • -

    Assessing risk (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Product monitoring and adjustments (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Post-launch evaluation and improvement (McDaniel and Gray, 1980)

Performance might be confusing with system performance; so, to be specific, product performance is used. Risk management applies to the entire product life cycle, so it is removed from the namingProduct performance management
10Roadmapping
  • -

    Prioritizing projects or tasks (Springer and Miler, 2018)

  • -

    Gathers and prioritizes features (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Presents a prioritized product backlog (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Requirements prioritization (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Product roadmapping (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Strategic planning (Maglyas, et al., 2017)

Universally accepted naming for a PMNo change
11Release planning
  • -

    Define goals (Springer and Miler, 2018)

  • -

    Communicates business needs to the development team (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Decides release dates and content (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Release definition (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Release definition validation (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Participating in sprint planning and reviews (Kittlaus, 2012)

  • -

    Collaboration with product management on release planning (Kittlaus, 2012)

Universally accepted naming for a PMNo change
12Product requirements engineering
  • -

    Analysis of requirements (Springer and Miler, 2018)

  • -

    Requirements gathering (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Requirements organizing (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Managing the backlog (Kittlaus, 2012)

ISPMA naming is generally accepted, but more traditional. Geracie and Eppinger (2013) defines well with respect to Agile method (i.e., prioritized product backlog)Product requirements engineering or prioritized product backlog (in Agile)
13Development execution
  • -

    Cooperation with the development team (Springer and Miler, 2018)

  • -

    Individuals follow-up (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Supporting team delivery (Tkalich, et al., 2022)

  • -

    Product development (Maglyas, et al., 2017)

  • -

    Scope change management (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

Many sources have confused the generic product development versus what PM is responsible for. The development execution is a stage of product life cycle and not the Product Manager responsibilitySupporting the product engineering team
14Detailed requirements engineering
  • -

    Tactical planning (Kittlaus, 2012)

  • -

    Just-in-time (JIT) story elaboration and acceptance (Kittlaus, 2012)

  • -

    Product development and execution (McDaniel and Gray, 1980)

ISPMA naming looks universal, comprising all these activities. However, missing Agile-specific naming in or clauseDetailed requirements engineering or define user stories, acceptance criteria, and prioritized backlog (in Agile)
15Quality management
  • -

    Build validation (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

Geracie and Eppinger (2013) naming looks more specific as PM’s responsibility. ISPMA naming is a broader categoryProduct verification
16Product launch
  • -

    Launch preparation (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Training (Bekkers, et al., 2010)

  • -

    Product launch (McDaniel and Gray, 1980)

PMs are not responsible for product launch itself. However, they are responsible for orchestrating the launchOrchestrate product launch
17Channel preparation value communication service planning and preparation
  • -

    Product support (Jansen, et al., 2011)

There were various activities related to the operations and support readiness, which are consolidated into a single category instead of having manyOperations readiness
18-
  • -

    Product end-of-life (Jansen, et al., 2011)

ISPMA framework did not define any category for end-of-life, so the new category is createdEnd-of-life plan

Database Sources and Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria (Source: Author’s own research)

No.SourceSearch criteria (inclusion/exclusion)Number of results after applying the criteria
1Google ScholarInclusion: any time (default selection); any type (default selection)Exclusion: include citations (custom selection)27
2ACM Digital LibraryInclusion: ACM full-text collection (default); all dates (default)5
3EBSCOhostInclusion: full text (custom); all time (default) Exclusion: magazines, trade publications13
4IEEE XploreInclusion: all years (default)10
5ProQuest CentralInclusion: full text (custom)Exclusion: source type: blogs, podcasts, and websites; trade journals; wire feeds; newspapers (custom); magazines9
6Springer LinkInclusion: discipline: computer science Exclusion: preview-only content16
7ResearchGateInclusion. full-texts onlyExclusion: data, preprints, presentations, posters5
8BooksSelection by credible authors4
Total89
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fman-2025-0003 | Journal eISSN: 2300-5661 | Journal ISSN: 2080-7279
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Language: English
Page range: 37 - 56
Published on: Apr 1, 2025
Published by: Warsaw University of Technology
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year
Keywords:
Product Manager Roles,
Agile Product Management,
AI in Product Management,
Evolving Product Management,
Contextual Product Management
Related subjects:
Computer sciences,
Business computing,
Business and economics,
Business management,
Management accounting, financial controlling, cost calculation, investment

© 2025 Nishant PARIKH, published by Warsaw University of Technology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

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