Chief Portfolio Officer (CPO)
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Converting strategy to portfolio mix/priorities; It's the job description and competency "set" for an organization's CPO.
That middle-ground between Strategy and New product Development is often unmanaged space in many companies. What does the "translation" - or "conversion" - process look like, from strategy to product? Or, is it just "artfulness" or who's got the power and influence/etc.?
An article in WIRED magazine, the "Good-enough revolution" suggests that the key to success with new products is increasingly less about excellence and more about well-priced adequacy (i.e., not bad and costs a lot less). They site Acer's cheap, reasonably good laptops vs. Apple's laptops. So, maybe portfolios should target top end customers AND those below the middle that are building the "not bad and costs a lot less" type products. It suggests the "mushy" middle (i.e., Dell, General Motors, Sony, etc.) is getting squeezed from both ends.
Organizations need to question/dig into that "translation" process to understand the thinking and influences that effectively convert the strategy to the portfolio mix/priorities. An error in judgment here has a huge impact on profitability if not survival. So, this is one level above managing the portfolio. It's the process of how it gets "set" (i.e., what's in it along with a broad roll-out plan)...the conversion from strategy to a logical roll-out.