Analyses the nature of product strategy and the management of the product life cycle, from product development to product elimination. This book emphasizes that without product strategy and management there would be no markets, no customers, no competition. It explores the relationship between success of a product and survival of the firm.

Part I The theoretical foundations Chapter 1 Competition and product strategy Chapter 2 The product in theory and practice Chapter 3 Buyer behaviour Chapter 4 The product life cycle in theory and practice Chapter 5 Product portfolios Part II New product development Chapter 6 The importance, nature and management of the new product development process Chapter 7 New product strategy Chapter 8 Idea management for new product development Chapter 9 Screening new product ideas Chapter 10 Concept development and testing Chapter 11 Business analysis Chapter 12 Product testing Part III Product management Chapter 13 Commercialization: test marketing and launching the new product Chapter 14 Managing growth Chapter 15 Managing the mature product Part IV Product elimination Chapter 16 Controlling the product line: an overview of the deletion decision Chapter 17 Reaching the decision to delete a product Chapter 18 Implementing the deletion decision Chapter 19 Reprise

The long-awaited second edition of Baker and Hart’s Product Strategy and Management expertly analyses the nature of product strategy and the management of the entire product life cycle, from new product development to product elimination.   The nature and practice of the life cycle are central to the firm’s overall strategy for competitiveness.  The authors repeatedly emphasize the fact that without product strategy and management there would be no markets, no customers, no competition - and therefore no marketing.   Exploring the fundamental relationship between the success of a product and the survival of the firm, the book employs an innovative four-part structure:   Part 1 – The theoretical foundations Part 2 – New product development Part 3 – Product management Part 4 – Product elimination   Whether studying at undergraduate, postgraduate or MBA levels, students will find this book essential to their understanding of this increasingly important subject area.     Michael Baker is Emeritus Professor of Marketing at the University of Strathclyde where he founded the Department of Marketing in 1971. Past Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and founder of its Academic Senate, he was Chair of the Marketing Education Group for 16 years and President of its successor, the Academy of Marketing, for 18 years.   Susan Hart is Professor of Marketing at Strathclyde University. She has held professorial appointments at Heriot-Watt and Stirling University and visiting positions in the USA, Australia and Europe. She has published numerous articles on the subject of product deletion, new product development and new product launch.