Case Study: Enhancing Organisational Portfolio Project (PPM) Maturity for Smart Innovations Global LCC

Project Background:

As a budding Portfolio Management Professional, you have been an integral part of a multinational Artificial Intelligence technology corporation' Smart Innovations Global LCC' with a vision of "enabling the use of Artificial Intelligence in the field of portfolio, program project management" that has grown substantially globally. The organisation is grappling with using traditional project management practices versus the Agile methodologies.

In a recent strategic planning meeting, the board of directors of Smart Innovations Global approved three strategic objectives and the OKRs and their corresponding Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) with a portfolio roadmap spanning across three years the roadmap will be reviewed bi-yearly due to the dynamic market conditions.

Strategic Objective 1: Enhance Operational Efficiency through AI-Driven Project Management

Objective Key Results 1 (OKR): Improve operational efficiency by implementing AI-driven solutions across project management processes.

Task Automation Implementation

KPI 1: Achieve a 40% reduction in time spent on routine tasks by implementing AI-based automation within six months.

KPI 2: Attain a 30% decrease in manual errors related to repetitive tasks through AI automation within the first quarter.

Risk Prediction and Mitigation

KPI 3: Identify and mitigate 80% of high-risk issues before escalation using the AI-based risk prediction system within three months.

KPI 4: Increase accuracy in risk identification by 50% compared to previous manual methods within the first five months.

Resource Optimisation

KPI 5: Achieve a 20% increase in resource utilisation across projects through AI-driven optimisation within four months.

KPI 6: Reduce resource allocation conflicts by 60% within the first six months of implementing the AI-based resource optimisation tool

Over the year, the company has formulated a Portfolio for AI-Enhanced Project Management Solutions. It has business cases approved for the three projects and is in the execution phase, including but not limited to the addition of more projects in the Portfolio for AI-Enhanced Project Management Solutions mix.

(1) Project A: AI-Powered Task Automation

(2) Project B: AI-Enabled Risk Prediction and Mitigation

(3) Project: C: AI-Powered Resource Optimisation

The projects are executed across three regions (USA, UK and Australia), showcasing moderate success in individual project deliveries. However, as Smart Innovations Global continues to grow and diversify its operations and plans for further expansion in Asian countries, it faces a pressing challenge - the absence of a structured and cohesive approach to managing its diverse portfolio of projects.

While the company boasts a Project Management Office (PMO) in place, it has become increasingly apparent that there is a significant gap in the implementation of project portfolio management practices due to the PMO being a part time work of the enthusiastic project managers and lacking formal approaches.

This gap has resulted in inconsistent project success rates and hindered the effective delivery of value derived from these projects. Despite each project being handled with relative competence, the lack of a unified strategy for managing the collective portfolio has led to missed opportunities for synergies, resource optimisation, and strategic alignment.

The absence of a coherent portfolio management approach has further amplified challenges in aligning individual projects with the overarching strategic objectives of the organisation. Projects have been initiated without a comprehensive evaluation of the company's long-term goals, often misallocating resources, time, and effort.

While functional in overseeing individual projects, the PMO lacks the infrastructure and framework necessary for holistic portfolio management. This deficiency has been identified as a critical factor contributing to the inconsistency in project success rates and the company's inability to fully capitalise on the potential value derived from its project investments.

Smart Innovations Global recognises the urgent need to bridge this gap in project portfolio management practices to achieve greater synergy, strategic alignment, and ultimately, enhanced value delivery.

As a new Portfolio Manager within the organisation, you have been entrusted with the responsibility of spearheading this organisational wide transformational initiative to establish a robust Project Portfolio Management framework that will harmonise the management of projects with the strategic objectives of the organisation and enhance the PPM Maturity Levels using OPM or P3M3 or Praxis Maturity or any other relevent assessment frameworks.

This refined background sets the stage for a more detailed understanding of the challenges faced by the organisation in managing its project portfolio. It emphasises the critical role of the Portfolio Management Professional in addressing these issues through the implementation of effective portfolio management practices.

Your task is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the organisation's project management maturity and propose a strategic roadmap to implement an effective Project Portfolio Management (PPM) framework.

Your objective is to enhance project, program, and portfolio management practices to significantly improve the organisation's ability to deliver value and align projects with its strategic goals.

Tasks:

Organisational Assessment: Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organisation's current project management maturity level by utilising ONE of the appropriate maturity models (e.g., OPM3, P3M3, PRAXIS and more) and tools to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT or TWOS, PESTLE analysis as a starting point and more) related to additional PPM practices.

Identification of Gaps: Identify specific gaps in the existing project, program, and portfolio management practices. Evaluate the impact of these gaps on the organisation's ability to deliver value and achieve strategic objectives.

Strategic Alignment: Analyse the company's strategic objectives and develop a framework that aligns project portfolios with these objectives. Justify the significance of this alignment in improving business practices and enhancing value driven delivery.

PPM Implementation Plan: Devise a detailed implementation plan for introducing a robust Project Portfolio Management framework.

Recommendations and Portfolio Roadmap: Present evidence-based recommendations supported by well-tested methodologies and models. Formulate a portfolio roadmap that outlines actionable steps, timeline, resource allocation, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring the success of the PPM implementation.

Evaluation Criteria:

Identification and analysis of gaps in current practices.

Strategic alignment between project portfolios and organisational goals.

Feasibility and comprehensiveness of the PPM implementation plan.

Clarity and effectiveness of recommendations and roadmap.

Apply theoretical knowledge to a practical scenario, assessing organisational needs, and propose a strategic roadmap for successful project portfolio management implementation

Develop a one-page/one-slide infographic that clearly describes and demonstrates a Project, Program and Portfolio Management framework to stakeholders at all levels of the chosen organisational setting.

Key Components In the infographic, ensure you address and include the following information:

A short description of the organisation for which you have developed the infographic;

Details of the components of the frameworks and models;

Details of the functions and outputs in the frameworks and models;

Details of the responsibilities in the frameworks and models;

A short description of any differences, similarities and interrelationships you have identified between the Project, Program and Portfolio Management, including the hierarchy of the framework or model and how this applies across the organisation;

Details of how the selected organisational structure affects your diagram;

Details of the Project Portfolio Management Investment pipeline as it applies to the framework/model. The diagram should be independent of specific methodologies, allowing the stakeholder to apply the components in their organisational structure.

You should NOT include diagrams from specific methodologies or frameworks; rather, you should use these as the basis on which to build and demonstrate the outcomes of your evaluation and appraisal

it should also include the vision statement, mission statement, values, organization structure, road map, strategic planning, portfolio management, more KPIs, 2 more objectives and programs and 3 projects each on it

One (1) single-page or -slide containing graphic images and minimal text detailing your findings. The Infographic may be created using MS PowerPoint software or Visio or alternatively via a tool, such as Piktochart, Canva, Venngage or similar. Please check that the tool allows you to download the infographic as a png or PowerPoint file.

Develop a supporting justification report of 1,000 words to further explain and demonstrate the key components of your infographic, its structure and your findings as they relate to the frameworks and models and their application across different organizational structures.