The course teaches the core competencies and skills needed to navigate the world of business strategy and product development. The primary focus is the connection between products and a company’s overarching business objectives. Students learn how to align product strategies with the organisation’s broader vision, ensuring that their efforts contribute meaningfully to its growth. Crafting an overarching product strategy is one of the main tasks of a digital product manager, hence students are taught how to formulate and execute product strategies that align with the organisation’s goals. Students are introduced to the pitfalls and failures often encountered in new product development, and the reasons behind them. The course further gives students insights and tools to proactively address such challenges. Competitor analysis is a fundamental skill in strategic decision-making, and the course will instruct students in using tools like the Blue Ocean Strategy mapping framework. They learn how to discern between competing in established markets and venturing into new ones. Students further explore the decision-making process of when to develop new features and when to pursue incremental improvements. This involves applying research techniques, analysis methods, and building strategic assessment skills, to ensure that innovation initiatives are grounded in data. 

In an increasingly socially conscious world, ethics and sustainability are important considerations in product development. The course also teaches students the increasingly pivotal role these factors play, and equip them with the skills to integrate ethical considerations and sustainable practices effectively into their strategies. 

The course gives students a solid decision-making foundation before embarking on innovation and developing new features and products in the next courses in the programme.