Strategic Portfolio and Project Management

Strategic Portfolio and Project Management Introduction

The following depicts the use of strategies and business tactics in to manage projects and operations in the company while contributing towards the overall profitability of the business . It highlights how a business can support tactics and strategies by employing the strategic approach for management of the business decision making and project management Article Summary

The article that has been chosen for the purpose of this is titled `Strategically Embedded CRM ' by Fred Langerak and Peter Verhoef The article proposes tactical and strategic

initiatives for undertaking the process of CRM implementation and management at a business Businesses undertake strategic as well as tactical decisions at different levels of management in to carry out tasks as well as conduct decision making activities . The of CRM was specifically chosen that it is one of the most recent integrative technologies which enable the business to establish a link with its customers , and communicate with them through a portal . However in the recent years , a lot of CRM failures have been registered as the implementation and the management of the CRM system nd process was not intone with the business values , its objectives ad strategic goals

The article identifies two approaches through which a CRM can be implemented and managed in the company . One is an approach which makes use of a non strategic embedded CRM nd results in a tactical CRM at the company . The other however makes use of strategies being devised in to make way for the implementation of the CRM process and system and the specific change in the business process to reflect the efficient and strategic system and the new focus on the customer orientation in the business . The specific CRM strategies that can be used are operationally excellent CRM , Customer Intimate CRM and the tactical CRM . The strategic orientation of CRM links to a strategy of customer intimacy centers on the customer . This orientation should lead to a customer-driven organization structure and culture . The aim of CRM is to develop customer relationships . At the individual customer level , the extent of customer relationship development activities depends on the expected lifetime value of customers . Important metrics are customer commitment and customer lifetime value . Important CRM tools are affinity programs (such as relationship magazines ) and individual contact with customers Tactical CRM approaches are not embedded in business strategy and organization . These approaches are applied in more transaction oriented organizations and top management support is low . The focus of tactical CRM is on efficient selling of products and services (Langerak Verhoef , 2003

Any kind of project implementation basically has two phases which pertain to planning aand executing . The tactical strategies that are developed for the project usually pertain to operational level activities while the strategic strategies that are developed are more global and comprehensive in nature , contributing towards the long term profitability of the product , service as well as the business . The also article provides that it is possible for a business to be operational and drive its profits , as well as increase its market share by developing strategies which focus and enhance the operational efficiency of the business as well as attract customers for the business

Strategy Based on Operations

The concept of applying strategies which focuses on operations of the activities of the business on the tactical and operational level is relatively new . However it is very much successful and suitable for a company which is implementing e-commerce based technology on implementing integrative system for facilitating its business activates Most companies confine their operations organizations to restricted tactical roles , in some of the most successful firms operations have served as the foundation for-indeed , the driver behind-successful strategic attacks and defenses (Hayes Upton , 1998 ) Small technology companies tend to take on this strategy of expansion and growth in to increase the scale and the operations of the business as well as acquire new technology . The nature of the industry makes it possible for the new entrants to enter in the market as the barriers for entry are greatly reduced . However the technology based companies can attain a competitive advantage over the competition in the market by utilizing the concept of strategic operations and decision making

The rational and the incremental approaches towards operational and strategy planning and execution have not been able to provide satisfactory results , therefore the tactical and strategic approach for the planning , and the execution of the business decision and activities These methods of managing the project as well as the technology and the company is highly flexible as it takes into account the prevailing conditions while inferring trends form limited and even from constraint data available . This [provides a highly comprehensive technique for the management of the business which results in a positive impact on the operations of the business

Application and Support of Tactics and Strategies for Portfolio Management

The technique that has been discussed above pertaining to the use of strategies on establishing and managing the tactical activities and the operations of the business can be employed for the development and the management of the product / service portfolio as well . This can be taken up as a subsidiary project for the company which has to be management according to project management guidelines

The individual product lines can be treated as individual sets of products and the performance of these products in the markets can be tracked to gather data relevant to the performance of the product and the contribution of the product to the business in terms of market share , growth and profitability . The performance of the products over a period of time determines the level of contribution of the products and their related activities towards the organizational objectives . This can enable us to refine and tune our product and service portfolio to keep it competitive , up-to-date and growing in terms of growth for the company . Aspiring products however can be kept on for a probationary period , even though they might not be showing immediate growth and revenue generation

Conclusion

The highlights the use of strategies and operation based strategies that can be employed for meaning the business , the systems technology as well as a project . Moreover the highlighted technique can also enable the successful management for a portfolio of products and services taking them form launch to the matured growth stage . The approach for the management of the portfolio has been derived from an article by Langerak and Verhoef which uses this technique for managing systems technology and CRM process for a business

References

Schultz , R .L , Slevin , D .P , Pinto , J .K (1987 , Strategy and Tactics in a Process Model of Project Implementation , Interfaces , Vol . 17 Issue 3 , p34-46 , 13p , 2 charts , 3 diagrams , retrieved December 14 , 2007 from HYPERLINK "http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid 38ac1904-3d61-492 0-b543-1fa692ba2690 40sessionmgr102 http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid 38ac1904-3d61-4920 -b543-1fa692ba2690 40sessionmgr102

Giesen , M .O , Radford , K .J (1983 , Strategy and Tactics : A New Model for Organizational Decision Making , INFOR , Vol . 21 Issue 1 , p52-60 , 9p retrieved December 14 , 2007 from HYPERLINK "http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid 38e99247-4c8e-454 f-a901-cba32529ca14 40sessionmgr108 http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid 38e99247-4c8e-454f -a901-cba32529ca14 40sessionmgr108

Hayes , R .H , Upton , D .M (1998 , Operations-Based Strategy , California Management Review , Vol . 40 Issue 4 , p8-25 , 18p , retrieved December 14 2007 from HYPERLINK "http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid f308c3d5-fd73-40c 4-9e65-c087d83e8fe0 40sessionmgr102 http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid f308c3d5-fd73-40c4 -9e65-c087d83e8fe0 40sessionmgr102

Langerak , F , Verhoef ,

.C (2003 , Strategically embedding CRM Business Strategy Review , Vol . 14 Issue 4 , p73-80 , 8p , retrieved December 14 , 2007 from HYPERLINK "http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid 9a5c b-9999-1c17caa29376 40sessionmgr109 http /web .ebscohost .com /bsi /detail ?vid 1 hid 120 sid 9a5cb -9999-1c17caa29376 40sessionmgr109 ...