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Project Portfolio Management Essays and Research Papers

Instructions for Project Portfolio Management College Essay Examples

Essay Instructions: Effective management of single projects does not suffice in today's organisations. Instead, the managerial focus in firms has shifted toward effective linking of this set of projects to the ultimate business purpose. This approach is contained in concepts of project-based management, programmes, and portfolios. Portfolios of different project types are typically positioned under the governance of organisational units or responsibility areas. Management processes above projects must link projects to business goals and assist in reaching the expectations set by company strategy.
Project management is critical to ensuring that companies are spending their limited resources in the best possible way. Many companies have implemented project management as a simple extension of their annual budgetary process. But there is no single best approach to portfolio management. The process has varying degrees to which it can be implemented. For example, one can choose to put a process in place with or without a sophisticated project portfolio management tool. Even the process by which prioritisation is conducted may vary. Depending on the capability of the organisation, the approach may be an inventory of current or proposed projects with a forced ranking. For most sophisticated enterprises, a full-blown process may engage senior and executive management into a negotiation to decide where to invest scarce corporate resources based on business unit, strategic objectives, and project returns.

Discuss the following questions:
1. In many organisations, project portfolio management is at best an ad hoc process. Describe the way your construction organisation deals with project portfolio management. Is that process ad hoc?
2. Discuss the problems your construction organisation faces with project portfolio management. What problems does it typically encounter?
3. Discuss the linkage between project portfolio management and business strategy with your construction organisation. Explain the problems the organisation encounters.
4. Explain the key differences between strategic portfolio management and the management of multiple projects. How does that apply to your construction organisation?
5. Explain what some of the typical problems are in an organisation when there is poor or no portfolio management?such as the 'Ten Uglies of Projects' which Kerzner refers to, (will be uploaded on the uploaded file). Evaluate and explain the problems with poor or no portfolio management?as an extension of these poor project management practices.
6. Discuss how these problems impact the selection of new projects or the elimination of projects which have not produced the desired results or are continually off-track.


In working out your responses to the Discussion Question, you should choose examples from your own experience or find appropriate cases on the Web which you can discuss. You will receive credit for references you make to relevant examples from real companies. Please make sure that you cite and reference all your outside sources properly, as per the Harvard Referencing System.

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: Discussion Questions

Total Pages: 2 Words: 863 Sources: 2 Citation Style: MLA Document Type: Research Paper

Essay Instructions: Pretend that this question answered three different students: "Why is it important to link project portfolio management with strategic planning and management?"

1) First page:
First student - 300 words, and identify and cite 3 sources in APA format to support your answer.

2) Second page:
Second and third student - 150 words each (total of 300 words). Include 1 source in second student answer, third student anwser could be in your own words. APA format.


Try not to make anwsers to look alike. Thank you.

Excerpt From Essay:

Essay Instructions: Question: In our Discussions this week, we indicated that project portfolio management is more than selecting projects. Explain the meaning of that statement.

The books we are suppose to use in additional to any other resources are following:

Kerzner, H. (2010) Project management best practices: achieving global excellence. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. Chapter 14.
Rothman, J. (2009) Manage your project portfolio: increase your capacity and finish more projects. Raleigh, NC: The Pragmatic Bookshelf. Chapters 2, 3, and 11.
Morris, P. & Pinto, J. (2007) The Wiley guide to project program and portfolio management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. Chapters 3, 4, 6, and 8.

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Essay Instructions: IT Project Management

In project Management, there are 10 knowledge areas. The knowledge area that I must break down is Cost Management. I need to do an analysis on cost management. You need to answer the following questions when doing your analysis:
1. What is cost management? Provide an overview of cost management1.
Understand the importance of project cost management.
2. Explain basic project cost management principles.
3. Discuss different types of cost estimates and methods for preparing them.
4. Understand the processes involved in cost budgeting and preparing a cost estimate and budget for an information technolgoy project.
5. Understand the benefits of earned value management and project portfolio management.
6. Describe how project management software can assist in project cost managment.

Also, apply cost management to a government context. Discuss the many cost management methods that the government uses. It is important that you constantly make a relation to IT Project Management when discussing this.

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