The Critiques of Two Articles Concerning Project Portfolio Management - Coursework Example

1 The Critiques of Two Articles Article Project Portfolio Management—there’s more to it than what management enacts. Summary This article explores the possible factors that may scuttle successful execution of Project Portfolio Management in an organization: some of these factors include un-enacted projects which could suck up the limited resources the organization has previously budgeted for the PPM exercise; failure to make smaller projects parts of the entire PPM could jeopardize the PPM activities (Cooper et al. 2000). The methodology used in this research may not make the outcomes worthy of generalization, since the study was conducted in Denmark, which has a totally different project management style, which is bottom-up. And the unrealizable idea that there should be a positive theory that would support existing PPM theories that may be applicable in all forms of project management is another limitation detected in this article. However, the main usefulness of this study is that it reveals the recurring problems of shortage of resources during the execution of PPM, which has been attributed to the factors explained above (Twiss, 1987). My Critique of Project Portfolio Management 2 Introduction There have been several researches carried out in the area of Project Portfolio Management: the purpose of this is to arrive at a functional approach that would help project managers and other officials in the management t\position to handle PPM with the usual failures always confronting management in organizations. However, with the application of appropriate procedures and mechanisms, PPM could be done successfully. My Critique Blichfeldt & Eskerod (2008) , the authors of Project Portfolio Management—there’s more to it than what management enacts, presented the following assumptions: They suggest that one of the solutions to preventing drainage of resources during the implementation of PPM is to embrace all kinds of projects as parts of the PPM process (p. 359) They use a bottom-up organizational structure, while most organizations in the West employ top-down structure (p. 364). Analyzing the two issues expressed above, it is possible to identify some mistakes some managers make when handling PPM. It requires serious planning for any organization to successfully execute Project Portfolio Management. This entails making accurate prediction about the cost and requirements for PPM to be properly 3 carried out. Inadequate planning may push an organization into the situation of confronting serious hindrances in the course of PPM. Some of these problems include shortages of resources, which include funds, personnel, equipment and working spaces. But all these problems could be avoided if the management assigned with the duty of PPM followed due process, and armed with a firm blueprint or plan that had previously estimated the total cost of the projects. This depicts that the managers should have used their planning skills and administration knowledge to detect any unforeseen or un-enacted projects that may appear to drain the resources allocated for the PPM (McDonough & Spital, 2003). On the second issue, the authors should have used a top-down organizational culture, which could have received more recognition from many quarters in the world. The commonest culture in the US and Western Europe are top-down hierarchical structure, where decisions about PPM come from the Managing Director down to the laborers on the ground (Schmidt, 1991). The main disadvantage of top-down structure is that it gives no room for the low-ranked workers, who are going to be the major workers on the projects, to contribute their ideas. As a result of this, they only have to rely on the discretion of the high-ranked managers, who are not always available to explain their parts in the PPM operations. And also they are not inured from making mistakes that could lead the PPM into a complete failure. 4 Summary Two issues have been critically looked into above as far as Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is concerned: the assumption that other small projects should have been considered along the main PPM projects reveals there has not been a great plan or blueprint in place before the PPM activities began. Secondly, the methodology used for the research shows that the implication of the research is limited as a rare organizational culture of bottom-up was used. This research can only satisfy the requirements by Scandinavian project managers and directors who need to improve on their PPM skills. Article 2: Problems in Managing Internal Development Projects in Multi-Project Environments Summary The authors of this articles point out six factors that may cause some problems in managing internal development projects (Elonen & Artto, 2003). These include: (i) inadequate activities at the project levels; (ii) shortages of skills, resources and craftsmanship; (iii) Inability to commit all efforts on the projects, and undefined roles and tasks; (iv) insufficient activities at portfolio levels; (v) improper information management and (vi) inadequate management of project-based business activities. The main purpose of this article is to expose some strategic mistakes management make when carrying out the 5 development of internal projects. But the major limitations of this study are that the two case studies used to obtain the empirical facts in the research comes from two companies with similar business activities and culture. The outcome of the study could have been more practical and won wider recognition if the authors had worked on case studies that reflect different business practices and organizational cultures: More importantly, if the case studies are from different countries in the world. My Critique of Problems in Managing Internal Development Projects in Multi-Project Environments’ Introduction Every organization has projects that it internally develops: be it an erection of a factory or the training of new recruits. In some cases, these projects are many, and they are expected to done at the same time. This condition would create a critical situation whereby each project begs for enough attention, resources, personnel and equipment. And a confused state may be initiated by the rush or competition for resources (Turner, 2008). For the fact that internal projects seem like an integral part of the organizational activities, it is sometimes difficult to separate one project from the other: they are kind of integrated into one another due to their correlative nature (Archer & Ghasemzadeh, 1999). So, it is imperative to map out strategies that would foster efficient project management in order to know which is which, and allocate the necessary resources to accomplish the tasks. 6 My Critique Elonen & Artto (2003), the authors of Problems in Managing Internal Development Projects in Multi-Project Environments discussed the following facts that my critique would concentrate on: The authors state that at the portfolio level of activities, the results of the projects were not integrated into one another (p.401) If the preliminary problems were identified before the commencement of the project development, it is possible to carry out a successful internal project development in multi-project environments (p. 400). Looking at the two statements above, it is possible to disprove the author’s opinions about these issues: first of all, it is certain that when multiple projects are under consideration in an organization, they appear like several parts of a typical organizational operation necessary for the production of the organization’s products or services. Take for instance, there are many activities involved in the production of a loaf of bread: these may include hiring part-time workers that would knead the dough; purchasing flour for the purpose; working on the dough; putting the dough into oven and making the bread. It is glaring that all the components of the entire bread-production process seem integrated, and one result goes ahead to affect the other (Archer & Ghasemzadeh, 1999). In order words, if the flour has not been kneaded, there wouldn’t have been the dough to make bread from etc. 7 On the second issue, it may be helpful to have discovered some possible problems that may appear in the course of executing internal project development so as to reduce distraction while undertaking the project, but it is not always practically feasible that other problems would not surface. In essence, the project managers and directors are human beings who are prone to commit occupational errors and technical mistakes (Lock, 2007). This observations opposes the opinion expressed by the authors of this article Summary From the foregoing, it is clear that in a multi-project environment, it is not always practically possible to eradicate all the problems before the commencement of the project execution; and also, it is wrong to assume that the results of all projects in the environment are not in any way connected, while, as a matter of fact, they are integrated in one way or the other. And the methodology used in this article makes its implication limited and inapplicable on a wide scale. 9 References Archer, NP & Ghasemzadeh, F 1999, ‘An Integrated Framework for project portfolio selection, International Journal of Project Management, vol 17, no 4, 207-16 Blichfeldt, BS & Eskerod, B 2008, ‘Project Portfolio Management—there’s more to it than what management enacts’, International Journal of Project Management, vol 26, pp. 357-365. Cooper RG, Edgett SJ & Kleinschmidt EJ 2000, ‘New problems, new solutions: making portfolio management more effective’, Res Technol Manage, vol 43, no 2, pp. 18-33. Elonen, S & Artto, KA 2003, ‘Problems in Managing Internal Development Projects in Multi-Project Environments’, International Journal of Project Management, vol 21, 395-402. Lock, D 2007, Project Management, 9edn, United Kingdom: Gower Publishing Ltd. McDonough, EF & Spital, FC 2003, ‘Managing Project Portfolios’, Res Technol Manage, vol 46, 40-6. Schmidt, SJ 1991, Marketing the law firm: business development techniques, New York: Law Journal Press. Turner, R 2008, Gower Handbook of Project Management, 4edn, United kingdom: Gower Publishing Ltd. Twiss, B 1987, Managing technological innovation, 3rd edn. London: Longman Publishing. Read More