Integrace a ukotvení role produktového manažera do řízení inovací a produktového portfolia ve výrobním podniku

This thesis addresses the integration and establishment of the product manager role within innovation and product portfolio management in a manufacturing company operating in the meat-processing industry. The aim of the thesis is to design and validate recommendations for incorporating this role into the company's strategic and operational management, with particular emphasis on its contribution to innovation management and product portfolio development. To achieve this aim, a qualitative research strategy based on a case study was adopted, comprising semi-structured interviews with eight key representatives across the organizational structure, an analysis of internal documents, and benchmarking against comparable food-industry companies. The results show that the actual role of the product manager in the company under study corresponds more to the archetype of a problem solver than that of a strategic integrator, and that portfolio decision-making is shaped by a clash between the power-based logic of the sales department and the evidence-based logic of production and quality. The key barriers are an insufficiently formalized portfolio process, the isolation of production units, and the absence of integrated data sharing. The practical contribution of the thesis is a proposal for a modified Stage-Gate model supplemented with legislative control points. This is complemented by a competency model with a RACI matrix and an internal directive for the innovation process. Together, these measures make it possible to establish the product manager role as the guarantor of the innovation process, who is at the same time responsible for the economic sustainability of the product portfolio.