Portfolio Management (PM) techniques are systematic ways of looking at a set of projects or activities or even business units, in order to reach an optimum balance between risks and returns, stability and growth, attractions and drawbacks in order to make the best use of usually limited resources.

In many organisations, the uncertainty surrounding individual projects leads them to place considerable emphasis on the development of a portfolio of activities which is aimed to balancing risk and reward in such a way as to reduce the overall uncertainty.

One useful approach to this task is to consider the innovation process from idea to implementation alongside certain variables, such as future cash flow projections and resource requirements.

Joe Tidd and John Bessant explore a number of  techniques specially suited for Portfolio Management at the strategic and operational level.

Read more:

Portfolio Management Tools, Joe Tidd and John Bessant, www.innovation-portal.info (John Wiley and Sons Ltd)

Recommended by Charlotte Stone, post by R&D Today admin