Optimal Portfolio Management in Alaska: A Case Study on Risk Characteristics of Environmental Consulting Companies

A Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Project ManagementSharp declines in global oil prices have led to a marked contraction in Alaska’s natural resource dependent economy. This, coupled with record the State’s budgetary shortfalls and a decrease in incoming federal dollars, has created a climate where environmental consulting companies must accept riskier projects to balance portfolio growth and security. As a result, companies must adopt a risk-based portfolio management approach as both a high level strategy and a core management practice. It is important to specifically identify projects best suited for an organization’s tolerance for risk based off of the supply and demand of the industry in rapidly changing economic conditions. Therefore, the aims of this project report are to help environmental consulting companies identify risk characteristics and manage their portfolio, as well as develop a tool to guide decision-making and selecting projects best suited for a companies’ portfolio strategy. The results of this research may provide Alaska based environmental companies with a clear understanding of the types of projects that offer both development and financial security for an organization. This research paper will present the methodology, results, and an environmental consulting portfolio management tool.Title Page / Table of Contents / List of Exhibits / Abstract / Introduction / Background / Literature Review / Project Methodology / Research Methodology / Presentation and Analysis of Data from Survey / Data Validation From Survey / Conclusion / Recommendation / Project Conclusion / Recommendations for Further Research / References / Appendi

IMPROVING PROJECT PORTFOLIO DECISION MAKING IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is “a dynamic decision process wherein a list of active devel-opment projects is constantly revised. In this process, new projects are evaluated, selected and priori-tised; existing projects may be accelerated, killed or reprioritised, and resources are allocated and reallocated among the projects in the portfolio” (Gutierrez & Magnusson, 2014). PPM is perceived to be a means to implement strategy through projects and programs. This study focuses on ICT projects. Current PPM research is focused on project selection, prioritization, and portfolio balancing in few research areas and there are major limitations to the approaches used in practice. There is clearly a need for more empirical PPM research. The following main research question was employed: How can an information intensive organization improve decision making for project selection within its project portfolio management process? A second problem is that there seems to be no agreement on what constitutes PPM. This is a second aim of the study. Three data collection methods were used to answer both questions. As a result, it can be stated that PPM is still in its infancy. Based on the study, seven recommendations are made for improving PPM decision making

Towards Project Portfolio Management for Sustainable Outcomes in the Construction Industry

It is imperative that organisations improve their sustainability and there is a global push to reduce the environmental impact from project activities. This is especially true in construction, yet there is no ex1stmg framework to guide decision making and project portfolio management (PPM) for sustainable construction. This paper discusses the application of project portfolio management to the area of sustainable development in the construction industry. Using the understanding gained from existing PPM practices in a range of industries and the current approaches to risk and sustainability management in the construction industry, we propose a new maturity model for PPM. The maturity model aims to guide the introduction of sustainability factors into multi-project resource scheduling and risk analysis in the coustruction industry, and can be used to make the contribution to sustainability from an overall portfolio more sustainable than the sum of the contribution from individual projects, 1

Information Technology (IT) project portfolio management practices in South Africa

Abstract: Many organisations have adopted Project Portfolio Management (PPM) processes to improve the implementation of their strategies, however few organisations have achieved tangible returns on investment (ROI) from PPM. Although PPM stakeholders are aware that PPM enables the achievement of strategic objectives of the organisation, they admit to not fully being able to understand its value. This results in IT projects implementation and delivery not being aligned with the business strategies. Moreover, the performance of IT initiatives indicates an increase in their failure rate, to an extent that it is becoming a threat to the very existence of organisations. The failure of IT initiatives is perceived as the reason many organisations are not achieving their strategic vision. The South African government spends enormously on IT initiatives, but effectiveness has not kept pace with other countries. The National Development Plan (Vision 2030) forecasts that South Africa is to spend more on IT initiatives. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of PPM practices in South African public organisations, in ensuring return on IT investments..

Scalable agile frameworks in large enterprise project portfolio management

Con un alcance de estudio exploratorio, debido a que se ha investigado poco y se encuentra en un estado emergente, el propósito de la investigación fue explorar la implementación de los marcos ágiles escalables en la gestión del portafolio de proyectos (PPM) de grandes empresas. Además, este estudio de caso cualitativo planteó la siguiente pregunta principal de investigación: ¿De qué manera los marcos ágiles escalables se implementan en la PPM de grandes empresas, y por qué? Este estudio recopiló información de 59 portafolios de proyectos en 22 empresas con implementaciones de métodos ágiles y marcos ágiles escalables de las industrias tecnologías de la información (IT- por sus siglas en inglés), financiera y telecomunicaciones, de México, Colombia, Perú, Ecuador, Costa Rica y Chile, mediante 43 entrevistas en profundidad semiestructuradas. Los hallazgos revelan que existen portafolios de proyectos con alta variabilidad en servicio, producto e innovación, y con implementaciones híbridas de Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Spotify Model y Scrum. Además, enfrentan diferentes desafíos relacionados con la implementación de los marcos ágiles escalables en la PPM, la cultura organizacional, resistencia al cambio y liderazgo estratégico. Del mismo modo, los hallazgos demuestran que los marcos ágiles son una opción viable para optimizar el time-to-market, aumentar la productividad de los equipos y mejorar la comunicación a nivel general. Este estudio es uno de los primeros en explorar cómo implementan las grandes empresas los marcos ágiles escalables en la PPM para llenar el vacío en la literatura relacionado con cómo y cuándo las empresas deben abordar un proceso de transformación ágil que funcione de manera exitosa en su PPM. Por lo tanto, este estudio proporciona evidencia empírica de seis países latinoamericanos como base potencial para futuras investigaciones y publicaciones.With an exploratory study scope, due to little research and in an emerging state, the purpose of the research was to explore the implementation of scalable agile frameworks in project portfolio management (PPM) of large enterprises. This qualitative case study posed as its primary research question: How and why are scalable agile frameworks implemented in the PPM of large companies? Further, this study used the purposive sampling method and the snowball technique. Data were collected from 59 project portfolios in 22 companies with agile and scalable agile framework implementations in the information technology (IT), financial and telecommunications industries in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Chile, through 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews. The findings reveal that there are project portfolios with high variability in service, product and innovation, and with hybrid implementations of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Spotify Model and Scrum. In addition, they face different challenges related to the implementation of scalable agile frameworks in PPM, organizational culture, resistance to change, and strategic leadership. Similarly, the findings demonstrate that agile frameworks are a viable option to optimize time-to-market, increase team productivity and improve communication across the board. This study represents one of the first to explore how large companies implement scalable agile frameworks in PPM to fill the gap in the literature related to how and when companies should approach an agile transformation process working successfully in their PPM. Accordingly, this study provides empirical evidence from six Latin American countries as a potential basis for future research and publications

The role of product portfolio management in market expansion:a case of the mobile gaming industry

Abstract. The rapid growth of mobile game consumer spending has led to Free-to-Play mobile game developers’ constant competition for players by offering new games. The product portfolio management (PPM) approach helps tackle questions about the market, product and technologies based on a company’s strategic targets. However, to discover game genre diversity by aligning product portfolio with business strategy and existing capabilities in new product development process is challenging. A single-case study was conducted to examine the important connection between PPM and business strategy as well as existing capabilities to propose a practical approach for seeking game genre portfolio expansion opportunities. The main results include proposing an analysis framework using PPM and mobile app intelligence software to identify game genres in market expansion that are strategic fit, bring the best economic value and are resonated with company’s existing capabilities and competence. PPM focused areas and key performance indicators are proposed. This study is the first attempt to apply PPM approach with targets and KPIs in mobile game development. It contributes to the previous studies by extending the application of PPM approach in the initial stage of product development process in discoveries and innovation stage. Also, the results can be applied to other mobile game companies with similar new product development process

Exploring projectification in the public sector: the case of the next stage review implementation programme in the department of health

Objective: Public projects are used to delivery policy objectives. From a financial perspective, the Major Projects Authority (MPA) estimated a whole life investment of £488 billion for 199 major projects in 2014, only a small subset of the total number of public projects. Given the financial exposure, the impact of endemic public project failures could put the economic health of the nation at risk. This thesis studies the challenges facing public projects. It applies an organisational capabilities lens to investigate projectification, when organisations shift away from functional-based organising (FBO) toward project-based organising (PBO). Research Design: This study adopts an interpretivist research paradigm, with a constructionist epistemology and an idealist ontology, and employs an abductive research strategy. Structurally, it follows the Cranfield Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) methodology, with a linking document that summarises three complementary research projects: a systematic literature review (SLR) followed by two empirical studies that investigate the Department of Health (DoH) during the early phases of the Next Stage Review Implementation Programme (NSRIP). The findings are derived from over 250 academic literature sources, 100 government publications and 41 semi-structured interviews. ...[cont.

Implementation of a Successful Project Management Method to Serve Modern Organizations

The project management arena requires much knowledge, many skills, techniques, tools, and a high level of experience in order to achieve satisfactory results and to add value to organizations. The scope of this paper is to address and discuss many important aspects needed to succeed in project management within Iraqi organizations because Iraqi businesses are developing and expanding their products into global markets. However, most Iraqi organizations struggle to implement and select productive programs and projects that will fit in with their strategic objectives. Therefore, a primary aim of this paper is to discuss the factors that make project management more effective and successful in these organizations. Also, there are many challenges and risks that project management can face during project processes that can have an effect on an entire project and sometime cause project failure. In addition, many organizations have problems with project teams, such as, differences in culture and behavior within the same team. Therefore, project management should have the organizational skills, knowledge, experience, and technical skills in order to meet the project requirements. This paper contributes and clarifies the understanding of project management field and how it works in an efficient manner. The results will help Iraqi organizations to utilize project management skills and knowledge. Also, these skills will help them to reduce budgets and increase the value of the final products within a reasonable time

Whirlpool Delivery Methods: A Case Study

Many organizations face the challenge of deploying a consistent project methodology. The challenge becomes more significant for global organizations such as Whirlpool Corporation which have a large number of IS projects cutting across business units, geographies and functional areas. In 2010, Whirlpool Corporation, a global leader in the appliance industry, deployed a new waterfall-based IS project management methodology - Whirlpool Delivery Methods (WDM) - as part of a strategic IS transformation initiative. This paper examines Whirlpool’s journey over the past 2 years including the key levers used to drive adoption and diffusion such as the role of IS leadership and project tools. The findings from the Case Study, including Survey feedback from 176 respondents, indicate the need to balance project rigor with speed and flexibility and the importance of tools to support project governance. The paper contributes a practical perspective to large-scale IS project methodology deployment