Question

Can you think of any obstacles or disadvantages of developing a portfolio?

Answer 1

Answer: -

A portfolio has programs from various subjects, portfolio reports would have common information for variant subjects. Accommodation of such common information on variant subject requires lots of research, understanding of the subject and sometimes high level of subject matter expertise.

Due to alignment of portfolio reports on common information, portfolio reports may exclude certain program characteristics which could be major characteristics. This could result in portfolio reporting putting less weights on such programs and not good for the said program management team as well as certain level of management decision making.

In portfolio management, certain program or sub-program, project or sub-project may have more weightage that may elude other program or sub-program, projects or sub-project. A good portfolio manager would not allow to make such events to happen in portfolio management.

Each program or sub-program as well as project or sub-project contributes to common objective for which portfolio is created. But other than portfolio objectives, program or sub-program as well as project or sub-project can create more value that is not included in portfolio objective. Such values generated by thsese program or sub-programs as well as project or sub-project could be lost, portfolio managers need to have strong subject matter expertise or understanding to understand, take action for not to lose such value generation, utilise it and enhance them.