Boston Product Management Association Sponsors Research Workshop

The Boston Product Management Association hosted a well-attended, hands-on workshop targeted at improving the market research and product development process. Duncan Simester, head of the Marketing Group at MITs Sloan School of Management, developed and oversaw the program.

BOSTON, MA (PRWEB) March 8, 2004 ---The Boston Product Management Association (BPMA) - the only professional association in Greater Boston dedicated to the career development of product managers and product marketers - hosted a well-attended, hands-on workshop targeted at improving the market research and product development process. Duncan Simester, head of the Marketing Group at MITs Sloan School of Management, developed and oversaw the program.

Product companies are often criticized because they make significant investments in marketing research but rarely use the results," says Michael Salerno, President of the BPMA. The intent of this program was to provide the audience with a technique for avoiding that costly mistake."

While there is considerable literature available on the subject of market research and related best practices, there is little research providing product management professionals with proven techniques for incorporating market research into the development process. Though market research does a good job of predicting customer behavior, it does not provide guidance on how to use that information to maximize profits or market share. Professor Simesters research and methodologies address this very problem.

Workshop attendees left with three key take-aways:

1. Exposure to the latest research on market research and optimization methods for improving product design processes

2. Exercises that clearly illustrated the specific problems companies encounter when making product feature trade-off decisions and a practical solution for maximizing profitability in these situations

3. A set of tools that can be used to address product development quandaries in their own organizations

Professor Simester is a globally recognized expert in his field," continues Mr. Salerno. He led an exciting two hour program that provided our members with valuable tools and techniques for solving a challenging product development and pricing problem."

About The Boston Product Management Association

The Boston Product Management Association (BPMA) is the only professional association in the Greater Boston region dedicated to the career development of product management and product marketing professionals. Our members consist of product managers, product marketing managers, brand managers and other business professionals engaged in activities relating to the management or development of professional products or services. BPMA offers the opportunity for professional development and industry networking through its monthly guest speaker program. For more information visit www.bostonproducts.org.

About Professor Duncan Simester

Professor Simesters research focuses on understanding customer behavior and how companies should respond to that behavior. He is an Area Editor of Marketing Science and Quantitative Marketing and Economics; an Associate Editor at Management Science; and a member of the Editorial Board at the Journal of Marketing Research. Professor Simester holds a Ph.D. in Management Science from MIT and three degrees from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Contact

Michael Salerno
Boston Product Management Association
msalerno@bostonproducts.org