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According to the Scrum Guide, the Product Owners are responsible for maximizing the value of the product, which results from the work performed by the Development Team.

The authorities and responsibilities of Product Owners greatly vary with the teams, departments, organizations, and ultimately depend on the type of Product Owner. In general, the duties of a Product Owner include:

• Managing the Product Backlog.
• Making sure the Development Team understands the items in the Product Backlog.
• Prioritizing needs and overseeing the development stages.
• Acquiring the items in the Product Backlog to ensure smooth functioning,

And many more. Although a Product Owner is responsible for performing the above mentioned, many a time, the Development Team can also implement them. But ultimately, the Product Owner remains accountable for them.

The Product Owner role requires an individual to be fully available, highly skilled in communication, and must have a great understanding of the customers and the market. To better understand the level of Product Ownership in an organization,  let’s take a look at the five types of Product Owners as follows:

• The Scribe
• The Proxy
• The Business Representative
• The Sponsor
• The Entrepreneur

In short, a Product Owner who is a Scribe has fewer responsibilities and authorities than other types, and an Entrepreneur has the maximum amount of responsibilities and authority.

As each Product Owner becomes more mature and ultimately hits the Entrepreneur level, the value delivery will significantly increase. Let's take a closer look at the 5 different Product Owner types.

1. The Scribe

The Scribe Product Owner role is predominantly seen in organizations that haven't fully embraced the Agile mindset or have just started with Scrum. This type of Product Owner is seen as someone who manages the Product Backlog and translates the wishes of stakeholders into understandable language for the Development Team to interpret quickly.

A Scribe has limited to zero authorities and responsibilities, other than translating the wishes of stakeholders. In most cases, business analysts or requirement engineers are assigned as Product Owners of the Scribe type. 

2. The Proxy

Similar to the Scribe Product Owner, the Proxy Product Owners are primarily seen in organizations that are in the early stages of the Scrum framework adoption. However, a Proxy has more authority and responsibilities than a Scribe Product Owner.

In such organizations, most critical decisions, such as the business goals, scope, and desired outcomes, are still determined by the principal stakeholders such as the business owner, project sponsors, or steering committees. However, the Proxy gets to make certain limited decisions, such as the ordering of the Product Backlog.

In most organizations, project managers or team leads are assigned the Proxy Product Owner role, and it seems legitimate as these individuals will have prior experience in completing projects and producing results in a specified duration.

However, a Proxy will still require the approval of the primary stakeholders when they need to make any amendments in the priorities or in the Product Backlog.

3. The Business Representative

The Business Representative Product Owner is generally a business person. They are representatives of the business side of an organization, who are well aware of the business context, market, and customers.

A Business Representative can be seen as an expert in the organization, and someone who is well familiarized with the needs and wants of the customers. Although the term might imply that such Product Owners must come from the business side, it isn't a necessity.

Individuals from the IT department, like the information managers or security experts, can take up the role of a Business Representative. As expected, a Business Representative has more authority and responsibilities than a Proxy or a Scribe. They are responsible for the Product Backlog, and they can manage it themselves without the need of any higher approval. However, for any budget changes, the Business Representatives will have to consult primary stakeholders.

4. The Sponsor

Contrary to the authority bestowed upon the Business Representatives, the Sponsor Product Owners have their own budget to spend. Apart from that, the authorities of a Sponsor and a Business Representative are quite similar.

In most organizations, the Sponsor Product Owner role is occupied by IT managers or business managers. Since Sponsors have their own budget, they have the authority and resources to up or down-scale the Development Team. But that doesn't mean a Sponsor will make changes to a team during a Sprint.

But if the Development Team is highly successful in producing the desired outcomes, a Sponsor can easily expand or form more teams. Since Sponsors can delay or fasten the development process, they have a greater impact on the return on investment (ROI) and the total cost of ownership of the product.

5. The Entrepreneur

The Product Owner with the highest level of maturity is called the Entrepreneur. This type of Product Owner role is also known as 'mini-CEOs"as they have the maximum impact on the product, customers, and organizations. According to the Scrum Master Trends Report of 2019, 11% of organizations using the Scrum framework have attained the mature stage.

The Entrepreneur has full authority over the product and must take full responsibility for it. Therefore, the Entrepreneur Product Owners are fully responsible for return on investment of the product. An individual with an impeccable vision on the product, market, and customers, along with strong communication and leadership skills, will well-fit the Entrepreneur's role.

Along with product development, the Entrepreneur is responsible for other aspects of the product, such as maintenance, operations, legality, marketing, sales, and so on. If the product reaps higher profits or unfortunate losses, the Entrepreneur is fully responsible. This makes the higher levels of authorities bestowed upon an Entrepreneur even more justifiable.

Conclusion

However, the types of Product Owners aren't just restricted to this classification.

Several organizations have different approaches to defining the types and roles of Product Owners. For example, some organizations utilize the Judo belt system, in which the White Belt constitutes the Product Owners with the least responsibilities and authorities. In contrast, the Black Belt represents the Product Owners with the highest level of impact.

In short, product ownership can be defined as the level of responsibilities and authorities an individual displays to the stakeholders. As the level of ownership increases from a Scribe to an Entrepreneur, principal stakeholders will be more confident in the individual's decisions.

Reference 

1. https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/growing-product-owner-five-product-owner-maturity-levels

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