PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
ONLINE SHORT COURSE
Gain practical tools to manage all aspects of the product life cycle, including go-to-market strategies and product performance measurements.
6 weeks, excluding orientation.
7–10 hours of self-paced learning per week, entirely online.
Email: uctonline@getsmarter.com
Call: +27 21 100 6781
ABOUT THIS COURSE
In order to manage product delivery, a range of skills are needed to deliver competitive products that align with consumers’ needs. The Product Management online short course from the University of Cape Town (UCT) provides a contemporary and thorough approach to successfully manage the development, branding, and launching of viable products.
Guided by industry experts, students will gain an understanding of the steps of product management; from the basic principles, to customer insights and planning, and measuring and evaluating the success of the finished product in the marketplace. You’ll also discover how market sensing can help you harness consumer insights to develop robust strategies, and learn to create a go-to-market strategy that measures the success of a product once it has entered the market.
The course content is applicable to many different industries, providing you with skills that are transferable. As a result, you’ll be able to explore and implement a range of processes and strategies to successfully bring products to market, and apply these specific abilities to other areas of your organisation.
WHAT THIS COURSE COVERS
This six-week course integrates and presents the necessary tools and knowledge needed to develop and manage a successful product. The content is presented in a practical format that allows students to apply the skills to their own contexts and industries.
Students will explore basic principles of product management, product types, the factors that contribute to decision-making around products, as well as strategies that will promote successful growth and longevity of products. Over six weeks, you’ll learn how to develop, implement, and troubleshoot all facets of your product strategy. You’ll also gain an understanding of marketing’s centrality to effective product management by examining market sensing, and exploring how a go-to-market strategy can help successfully launch a product.
You’ll walk away with a solid grasp of the phases and life cycles of product management, and the ability to develop a comprehensive product roadmap that is informed by product vision and strategy.
A POWERFUL COLLABORATION
Since 2007, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has partnered with digital learning experts GetSmarter to take its renowned education online. This move is driven by UCT’s goal to broaden access to the research and information developed at Africa’s leading university, and make it available to those previously excluded due to geographical constraints. UCT’s scope extends to all areas of sub-Saharan Africa, providing both the institution and its future students with opportunities for further growth.
ABOUT UCT
Founded in 1829, UCT has a proud tradition of academic excellence and effecting social change and development through its pioneering scholarship, faculty, and students. UCT’s reputation for excellence is underpinned by its distinctive research, led by its distinguished faculty, many of whom are leaders in their field.
ABOUT GETSMARTER
GetSmarter, part of edX, helps working professionals gain verifiable skills from leading global universities and institutions to thrive in an ever-changing work environment.
Technology meets academic rigour in GetSmarter’s people-mediated model, which enables lifelong learners across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable academic institutions.
As a student of this course, you will also gain unlimited access to edX’s Career Engagement Network at no extra cost. This platform will provide you with valuable career resources and events to support your professional journey. You can look forward to benefits including rich content, career templates, webinars, workshops, career fairs, networking events, panel discussions, and exclusive recruitment opportunities to connect you with potential employers.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
You’ll be welcomed to the course and begin connecting with fellow students, while exploring the navigation and tools of your Online Campus. Be alerted to key milestones in the learning path, and review how your results will be calculated and distributed.
You’ll be required to complete your student profile, confirm your email address for the delivery of your digital certificate, and submit a digital copy of your passport/identity document.
Please note that module titles and their contents are subject to change during course development.
Explore market analysis frameworks for informed decision-making.
- Recall the principles of product management and the various product types
- Interpret market intelligence metrics to measure the success of a product
- Discuss the factors that contribute to making informed decisions about a product
- Describe growth strategies for products in existing markets, as well as growth through new product development
- Choose the components of the market audit from your strategic analysis
- Complete a market audit
Complete a product strategy and roadmap to guide the development of a product.
- Identify the phases and forms of the product life cycle
- Determine the importance of the product vision and objectives in informing a product strategy
- Analyse a product's strengths and weaknesses to inform a product strategy
- Evaluate the objectives of a product and how you would uphold them in the roadmap design
- Develop a product roadmap
Assess new and existing products to determine their viability in the market.
- Identify the role of innovation in the product development process
- Discuss the steps of the product development innovation process
- Apply the product innovation process to improve the marketability of a product
- Compare various innovation metrics to determine which are most applicable to a product
- Assess the viability of a product in the market
Evaluate the product planning processes and recommend a plan to manage the development of a product.
- Recognise how strategic planning plays an important role in product development
- Interpret the process of strategic planning and apply it to a product
- Modify and refine a product strategy
- Analyse product-mix strategies that can be used in product development
Design a marketing plan that can be used for the successful launch of a product.
- Identify the elements of product marketing strategies across different market sectors
- Apply the considerations of the marketing-mix model to a new or existing product
- Analyse a market strategy and establish how it fits into the product life cycle
- Assess a market value proposition and apply this to a target market and channels
- Create a go-to-market strategy for a new or existing product
Explore various tools and metrics for measuring the performance of your product, and propose suitable recommendations for improvement.
- Choose suitable product management metrics to measure product performance
- Analyse the financial metrics of a product to determine profitability
- Measure progress towards the product goals with product market share metrics
- Recommend customer metrics to determine the value of a product to customers
- Propose metrics to monitor and evaluate the performance of a product
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE
Professionals from all spheres will take away valuable insights from this course. It’s suitable for all product management-related disciplines, including business analytics, marketing, sales, project management, user experience, information systems, and technology. Those seeking to boost career opportunities in the product field will benefit from the skills, such as market analysis and strategy development, offered on this course.
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU IF YOU WANT TO:
DEVELOP A ROADMAP
Learn how to create a comprehensive go-to-market strategy that’s informed by the product vision.
PROGRESS AT WORK
Interpret key market intelligence metrics to measure a product’s success and drive innovation.
GROW YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Validate your product management skills with a certificate of completion from UCT.
WHO YOU’LL LEARN FROM
This subject matter expert from UCT guides the course design and appears in a number of course videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
YOUR COURSE CONVENOR
Siphiwe Dlamini
Head of Marketing, School of Management Studies, UCT
Siphiwe Dlamini has a PhD in business science – specialising in marketing – from Wits University, and is a senior lecturer and head of department at the UCT School of Management Studies. His research interests are in the areas of brand management, green marketing (environmentally sustainable consumerism), and the impact of marketing on low-income consumers.
ABOUT THE CERTIFICATE
Earn a certificate of completion from the University of Cape Town, Africa’s leading university, as recognition of your newly developed skills.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a digital certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the course.
Your digital certificate will be issued in your legal name and issued upon successful completion of the course, as per the stipulated requirements. Please note, due to additional administrative requirements, at times UCT course certificate issuance may be delayed by several weeks/months.
YOUR SUCCESS TEAM
GetSmarter, with whom UCT is collaborating to deliver this online course, provides a personalised approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
HEAD TUTOR
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
SUCCESS ADVISOR
Your one-on-one support available during university hours (8am–5pm SAST) to resolve technical and administrative challenges.
GLOBAL SUCCESS TEAM
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related and administrative queries and concerns.
HOW YOU’LL LEARN
Every course is broken down into manageable, weekly modules, designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse learning activities:
- Work through your downloadable and online instructional material
- Interact with your peers and learning facilitators through weekly class-wide forums and reviewed small group discussions
- Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more
- Investigate rich, real-world case studies
- Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in practical skills that can be applied to strategies to help you reach your goals
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
In order to complete this course, you’ll need a current email account and access to a computer and the internet, as well as a PDF Reader. You may need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.
BROWSER REQUIREMENTS
We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser when accessing the Online Campus. Although this is not a requirement, we have found that this browser performs best for ease of access to course material. This browser can be downloaded here.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Certain courses may require additional software and resources. These additional software and resource requirements will be communicated to you upon registration and/or at the beginning of the course. Please note that Google, Vimeo, and YouTube may be used in our course delivery, and if these services are blocked in your jurisdiction, you may have difficulty in accessing course content. Please check with an Enrolment Advisor before registering for this course if you have any concerns about this affecting your experience with the Online Campus.
