A top-down product strategy is a hierarchy, where leaders and decision-makers pass information and instruction down to the product manager regarding the outcomes of the product. This strategy may be flexible in some cases whereby decision-makers, senior management, and the product manager, all interact to design the strategy.
A strategy may contain features such as a vision, objectives, and initiative. The vision acts as the inspiration and sits on top of the strategy. The objectives provide a means by which to measure progress, such as performance indicators. The initiative proposes a product to be built or a problem to be overcome.