Requirement managers’ roles in industrial, platform development

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the role of requirement managers in new product development projects.

This paper is based on a case study of an industrial platform project. Sixty-eight persons were interviewed and project prerequisites and requirement specifications documents were studied. The roles of specific individuals and their formal role as requirement managers are reported.

The requirement manager's role fulfillment is performed through five major activities described as developing, anchoring, re-organizing, routinizing, and positioning. These activities are essential in order to manage working with a large flagship project.

Because the research was based on a single case study, there are of course limitations. The findings in this study may therefore not be generalized, but merely suggest other areas of research.

This paper argues that functional roles should not be taken for granted. Even though significant efforts may have been performed in order to establish a new role within a project management setting, the process of establishing new work practices is complex. Managers should therefore investigate inter-functional integration on ongoing bases.

This paper provides important insights into aspects of requirement manager's ongoing project activities.