Topic outline

  • Course logistics, goals & grading

    Basics of taking and completing the course
    • The course has limited intake, but given that there's space, it is open for all.
    • The course assumes familiarity with business concepts, especially related to business development. E.g BSc level minor in Industrial Engineering and Management or similar is recommended.
    • The course consists of
      • 11 lectures with required physical presence. 4 absences ok, check skip-pass
      •  7 weekly assignments
      • 3 master classes every second week on Thursday afternoons 14-17: 14.9, 28.9, 12.10. Each at a different location, the first is at Wolt (downtown Helsinki)
      • A team-based case study of product function OR a individually-made literature review
    • Lectures are on Mondays and Wednesdays 10.15-12.00, at Hybrid Stage of Harald Herlin Learning centre (basement). Lectures are recorded and available in MyCourses also for later viewing. 13.9 no lecture, but a info session on case assignment.
    • Assignments become available on Mondays of each week, and the DL is the following Monday
    • You can reach course personnel through tu-e5040@aalto.fi
    • Key reading are: 
      • Perri, Melissa. Escaping the Build Trap : How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value . First edition. Beijing: O’Reilly, 2019. Available online in Aalto
      • Cagan, Marty. Inspired : How the Best Companies Create Technology-Powered Products and Services . Second edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2018. Available online in Aalto

    Goals

    The course is designed as an introduction to product management to aspiring founders, to those that have interest in exploring a career in PM, and to those looking to work in growth companies in a role overlapping with product management, such as software development, design, business development or marketing. 

    Learning objectives: The course provides an introduction to the product leadership in software startups / scaleup firms. After the course, student is able to 

    • Identify the domain of product management and how it relates it to design, business development, product development, and other connected domains
    • Understand how product management contributes to the integration of customer needs, business development, and product development in a growth-oriented technology company
    • Understand how product management vary in different business models, at different stages of growth
    • Identify the key elements and alternatives in organization design in terms of organizing the product management as function
    • Use basic frameworks to structure customer needs, business requirements, and product development
    • Relate the growth-oriented product management model to other types of product management


    Prerequisites: The course is targeted to MSc-level and advanced BSc-level student with basic familiarity business and management, e.g. BSc-level minor in Industrial Engineering & Management.


    • Grading system

      The course is graded on a scale of 0-5. The grading is based on the assignments, participation on master classes and the case study. Lectures are required, and insufficient participation will reduce the course grade.

      • Weekly assignments: 16 points. Each completed weekly assignment, submitted successfully and in time, awards two points. The last (7th) summary assignment has double weight with 4 points. 
        The first six assignments: Successful submission awards 2 points. If the initial submission is not of sufficient quality, you'll have until Friday of the same week to revise your submission. The revised submission is evaluated with points 0, 1 or 2, depending on the quality. If you submit late, your points for the week are reduced by one point and there's no possibility to resubmit if failed. 
        The last assignment: The assignment is evaluated with 0-4 points. Contrary to other assignments, the last assignment does not have possibility for revision.
      • Masterclasses: 9 points. Active participation in master classes and completion of potential pre-readings and pre-assignment awards 3 points. In total, there are three master classes, amounting to category total of 9 points.
      • Case study: 3-15 points. Case study (or individual study) is evaluated with 0-15 points. For intuition, the grading roughly matches the regular 0-5 grades with weight of three. Evaluation focuses on the quality of the data, conclusions, and reporting.
      • Lectures: Presence on lectures (11 in total) is required, but you can skip four lectures without consequences, as long as you reserve a "skip-pass" for the lecture. For each additional (or unannounced) absence, course points are reduced by one point. 

      The points from each category count towards a grade. Maximum number of points is 40. To pass the course, you need in total 20 points and a passing grade (>=3 points) from the case study. The points are converted to a grade with the following scale:


      Grades and points
      Grade Points
      (PM, 5cr)      		 Points
      (Intro to PM, 3cr)
      1 20-23 8
      2 24-27 9
      3 28-31 10-11
      4 32-35 12-13
      5 36-40 14-16
      Passing requirement
      Case points >=3

    • Including the course in studies/programs

      The course can be selected as part of the elective studies to any Aalto student, but also part of the major/track in the following programs:

      • Industrial Engineering and Management (MSc), Product and Innovation Management -major: Course is a required part of the major
      • Product Management Minor: Course is a required part of the minor
      • Information networks (MSc & BSc): Course can be included in the major/track as an optional course.
      • Software and Service Engineering / CCIS (MSc): Course can be included in the major 
      • Information and Service Management (MSc): Course can be included to optional courses

      Others: If you have a good case of why a product management course should be part of your major / track, let us know. We can help!



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Weekly assignments