The current turbulent economic conditions appear to have caused increasing adoption of project portfolio management (PPM) by organisations. PPM can be defined as managing a diverse range of projects and programmes to achieve the maximum organisational value within resource and funding constraints, where ‘value’ does not imply only financial value, but also includes delivering a range of benefits which are relevant to the organisation’s chosen strategy.
This paper explores the use of PPM by organisations during the current turbulent economic conditions. We wished to explore what activities and practices were involved in their approach to PPM and how these practices were influenced by the current economic conditions, and the benefits they were deriving from its use.
A balanced portfolio should include a range of reward/risk combinations and successful PPM will include re-appraisal of this balance as both the projects and business conditions evolve.