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Project portfolio management

What elements of project portfolio management are currently in place in the process to develop new products for Scott Paper?

According to Rajegopal et al. (2007)

the controlled and coordinated management of a company's portfolio of projects so as to achieve some set business objectives is referred to as project portfolio management. It can also be defined as the centralized management of methods, technologies, and processes that are used by project managers for collectively managing and analyzing a group of proposed projects. Some of the key elements of project portfolio management that Scott is currently using for its development of new products are clarity on the strategy's intent, flow of good proposals and aligned decision making.

Having clarity on the innovation strategy of the company, will ensure that every employee knows and understands which way the company is headed and which proposal would be welcomed. For Scott paper, its main strategic goal is to extend some of its existing international consumer products into new markets internationally. By extending an already existing product line, Scott will ensure that it does not lose its market share as would be the case if the company was to develop a new product. Scott paper has already established channels through which employees and customers can contribute ideas for new products. This has allowed Scott paper to have a good flow of potential proposals. Having regular reviews has also ensured that the company is able to analyze the progress made in regards to the proposals chosen. The CEO of Scott paper, also contributes his ideas, and this allows the company to have different views and options that it can use for developing new products or extending its current product range.

Choosing the best portfolio that would suit the company's strategy is the most important bit of project portfolio management Sanwal, 2007.

Scott paper has recently been involved in the development of new products that are suited for specialty areas. The decision to pursue this specialty market must have been based on the company's overall strategy, and it involved the executives responsible for the various resources.

How does Scott Paper's new product development approach reflect the overall business strategy?

Scott paper wants to incrementally grow in new regions and markets. The company has a Research and Development department that it would like for it to be more efficient both internally and externally. With the new product development approach that the company has undertaken, the company is positioning itself to venture into new markets while still maintaining its existing product line. The specialty paper market may not be the company's key business, but since the company has to keep innovating, it had to venture into this market. Having products that cater for a specific need in the market will allow Scott paper to differentiate itself in the market and allow it to venture into new markets internationally, which is its overall goal.

The company also has strategies that would allow it to reduce developmental risks for new products. Scott paper tests its product concepts online by use of virtual prototypes. The virtual prototypes allow the company to specify the attributes of a specific product for a select group. These groups allow the company to see how the product will be taken up in the actual market, and help the company to make its financial assessments.

Since the company intends to enter international markets like Japan, it would have to keep innovating its products as the consumers there always expect more innovation. With the current range of product development, the company is able to innovate itself and prepare for the new markets. Scott's CTO clearly defined the company's approach and provides more insight as to why the company has launched these new product developments. The CTO stated that the company is targeting high volume products for markets that are well defined for new products, where there would be a high probability to launch the products successfully. This would allow the company to build new relationships with its partners, and this would enhance its overall commercial success, which would in turn allow the company to launch new products for totally new markets.

What limitations do you see with the approach that Scott Paper is following?

The limitations that Scott paper will be faced with in the approach the company has taken are tendency to rely so much on the virtual prototypes in the making of its decision in regards to product development. The virtual prototypes may not be fully indicative, and this would cause the company to develop a product that would not suit the target market. Since all proposals have to be vetted before approval, there is going to be another layer of bureaucracy that is added for analyzing all proposals, and this could be time consuming and lead to lose of market. There might also be lack of enough information before a proposal is selected. This could lead to investing in a product that would not be viable for the market.