Introduction:
Projects are a crucial component of the current world of business which is characterized by development of new products and services. It is also involves the change in the internal operations of the business and implementing the strategies of the business. Projects also takes a larger proportion of the business activities taking a large proportion of the shares prices and budgeting activities which are very components of the company in decision making a factor which makes the projects very complex due to the large and wide scope of operation of the companies. It is difficult for a business or company to succeed with the use of type of projects therefore the need for project portfolio management which facilitates coverage of different segment or departments of one organization in a more appropriate manner (Cleland, 2006:12). Project portfolio management involves carrying out a set of activities with the help of or facilitation of a specific business or organization. This ensures that the project enables the use of scarce resources, sharing of scarce resources as well as facilitating competition in the market. Project portfolio management therefore involves the practice of integrating different activities of the business organization in order to facilitate the process of decision making in relation to prioritization of projects, inclusion of projects and allocation of resources in an effective and efficient manner (Will, 2012:26).
Project portfolio management also comes in on matters pertaining to addition of value to the services offered to customers that include financing, joint product development as well as consultation services. Project portfolio management therefore involves the aspects of key management of account as well management of customer relations activities of the business in order to .enable provision of better services to the customers. It is therefore plays a crucial role in creation of value both to the company and its customers which is facilitated through prioritization of customer services.Historical review of Project portfolio management (PPM): Project portfolio management has been used by the organizations in making of complex decisions pertaining to customer relations and value addition to the products. This therefore involved integrating various activities of the business in order to facilitate decision making as well as the key components of the organization in order to prioritize the essential components as a way of boosting the performance of the business as well as making work easier for them(Rothman, 2007:12).
In the context of customer relations management, the aspects of project portfolio management were greatly used in measuring the performance different companies in the way they approach the whole issue of customer relations as well as value addition to the products. The customers therefore formed a major part of the project portfolio management .This also enabled strategy development in relation to various aspects and segment of the business which includes sales and marketing. The joint activities of the business have also been captured through the help of project management in the past facilitating utilization of the scarce resources and fighting competition in the market through such joint efforts in form of mergers and acquisitions (Landree, 2009:18).
The role of project portfolio management in the past is significantly seen in the aspects of resource allocation and effective combining of efforts to facilitate various business processes of the organization. Project portfolio management in past was fully advanced pertaining to the aspects of information technology therefore the performance of complex projects and activities was not easy. The effectiveness and efficacy of the project portfolio management was not very high making it not acceptable to many business entities due to difficulties in combining various businesses process and high costs of operation. The historical practice of portfolio management was however not very effective in handling large volumes of data due to levels in technological adoption low.
Project portfolio management in the past was therefore still struggling in development of and incorporation of simple tasks and processes of the business making not very suitable for the operations of most businesses of the day. This also complicated the operations of many entities in the past due to large amounts of data making them difficult to put project portfolio management difficult or almost impossible. This also made the whole aspect of project management slow in development since it was not widely used in the business world.Present day Project portfolio management (PMM):
Project portfolio management in the present day involves the use of information and communication technology in combining the processes of the business in order to achieve faster decision making in the whole business with less effort and cost. The aspects of customer relations and value addition to the products stills make a big proportion of the business. The project portfolio management activities in the present world contains financial integration in order to ensure proper management and planning of the financial matters through budgeting and proper accounting of the resources used in the business organization(Kloppenborg, 2013:16). The economic aspects in relation to cost minimization as well as profit maximizations are highly integrated in the current project management portfolio and this therefore enables the businesses to evaluate as well as boosting the performance of the business.
Project portfolio management also takes into consideration the aspects of the human resource issues which facilitate the planning of recruitment and personnel activities. This also helps the organization to perform evaluation of its employees in order to determine their impact on profitability and performance of the business organization (Rothman, 2007:22).
Project portfolio management in the present world also contains aspects of cost management in evaluation of the performance of the business. This therefore helps in determination of cost per unit of output produced thereby enabling to make pricing decisions of the products of the organization.
The present practice of the portfolio management may be disadvantageous since it does not take into consideration the aspects of prediction of for example price fluctuations and volatility of markets in particular.The future of project portfolio management (PPM):
Project portfolio management is moving towards high and heavy adoption of information technology especially on aspects relating idea generation and formulation of business strategies in the competitive markets. The use of simulation techniques as well as data analysis techniques are geared to boosting the project portfolio management on various grounds thereby enabling faster generation of ideas and strategies (Hill, 2013:19). Decision making with the help of project portfolio management is therefore facilitated through highly improved portfolio project management. Project portfolio management will therefore improve and concentrate on specific activities or departments in detail thereby enabling faster and easier business analysis (Rayner, 2013:26). The aspects of high costs of information analysis are likely to reduce due to the effects of innovation making analysis easier and faster.
The aspects of idea generation and portfolio management are gaining the same grounds making them difficult to separate especially on how the business organizations use them for decision making and strategy formulation. Project portfolio management is also driving towards simplification of the management of the activities of stakeholders and shareholders through gathering and analyzing of potential opportunities to invest in through aspects of simulation and sensitivity analysis. This helps the business to make decisions which involves high risks of operation especially in the volatile markets. This may also adopt aspects of improved hedging price policies in prediction of future prices in the volatile and unstable markets. The future project portfolio management may also face challenges pertaining to excessive details which may not be relevant for small businesses due to expenses involved.
References
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Cleland, D. I., & Ireland, L. R. (2006). Project management: Strategic design and implementation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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Hill, G. M. (2013). The Complete Project Management Office Handbook. Hoboken: CRC Press.
Kloppenborg, T. J., & Laning, L. J. (2013). Strategic leadership of portfolio and project management. New York, N.Y.: Business Expert Press.
Landree, E., United States, & National Defense Research Institute (U.S.) (2009). A delicate balance: Portfolio analysis and management for intelligence information dissemination programs. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
Rayner, P., Reiss, G., & Reiss, G. (2013). Portfolio and programme management demystified: Managing multiple projects successfully. London: Routledge.
Rothman, J. (2007). Manage it!: Your guide to modern, pragmatic project management. Raleigh, N.C: Pragmatic Bookshelf.
Will, K. (2012). Project management. Delhi: Learning Press.
World Water & Environmental Resources Congress, W., American Society of Civil Engineers, & Environmental and Water Resources Institute (U.S.) (2005). World Water Congress 2005: Impacts of global climate change. Reston, Va: American Society of Civil Engineers.
