Portfolio Flashcards
Portfolio management should avoid:
a. Listening to the customer
b. Interactions with the culture aspects of the organization
c. Basing projects on your hopes, dreams, expectations
d. Having a risk-reward balance of projects
c. Basing projects on your hopes, dreams, expectations
When using scoring models to make portfolio management decisions:
a. All projects should be scored on the same agreed upon criteria
b. The criteria used should be dependent on the risk and potential rewards of each project
c. All criteria should be based on non-financial metrics
d. Both b and c
a. All projects should be scored on the same agreed upon criteria
Which of the following statements regarding portfolio management is most appropriate?
a. The best new product portfolio is the one where the projects with the highest NPV are selected
b. The best new product portfolio is the one where the projects with the best Monte Carlo results are selected
c. The best new product portfolio is the one where the projects with the highest scoring value returns based on management input are selected
d. The best new product portfolio is the one where a number of techniques are used to select the projects possibly including the items listed above and others
d. The best new product portfolio is the one where a number of techniques are used to select the projects possibly including the items listed above and others
Project plan:
a. An approved, formal document used as a guide for project execution and control. It documents decisions, planning assumptions, approved scope, cost, schedule deadlines and facilitates communication among stakeholders.
b. An approved, formal financial control plan of a new product in the development portfolio
c. A road map for the development of a new product concept used in the development phase
d. A plan that ssumes an orderly development of prohects through the proper process as specified
a. An approved, formal document used as a guide for project execution and control. It documents decisions, planning assumptions, approved scope, cost, schedule deadlines and facilitates communication among stakeholders.
Non-controllable factors of portfolio management include:
a. Voice of the customer
b. Direct costs
c. Abilities of project team
d. Government actions
d. Government actions
The role of senior management in portfolio management includes
a. Product line architect
b. Direction setter
c. Process creator/owner
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
Drivers of portfolio decisions could include:
a. Management hopes for the company
b. New Product development strategy
c. An active portfolio management process
d. All of the above
b. New Product development strategy
The value of mastering portfolio management is:
a. Early selection of exceptional projects
b. Increased speed to market
c. Holistic decision making
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
When most companies initially implement a portfolio process, they often finad that they:
a. Have too many projects
b. Dont meet launch schedules
c. Done have enough resources
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
Product platform:
a. The project plan of a new product project that has been officially entered into the project portfolio
b. The attribute features that support a group of new products
c. Basic architecture or underlying structures common across a group of products or that will be the basis of a series of products commercialized over a number of years
d. A grouping of similar customers that are the initial target market of a proposed new product which can be sxtended to other customer groups later
c. Basic architecture or underlying structures common across a group of products or that will be the basis of a series of products commercialized over a number of years
mpanies have a project portfolio that features:
a. A balance of new project types
b. An emphasis on degree of fit with overall strategy
c. An emphasis on degree of fit with overall strategy
d. An emphasis on potential ROI
a. A balance of new project types
Portfolio management includes:
a. Future events
b. Limited resources
c. Senior management
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
When implementing portfolio management, all of the following are true EXCEPT:
a. Reward back-door performance as long as the job gets done
b. Get buy-in from all stake holders
c. Make sure all stakeholders understand reason for implementation
d. Make sure decisions are consisten and fair
a. Reward back-door performance as long as the job gets done
The top-down approach to portfolio management is:
a. Determined by available resources
b. Also called the strategic bucket approach
c. A strategy criteria built into the selection criteria for each project
d. Likely to not result in the desired % of spending for particular types of projects
b. Also called the strategic bucket approach
The disadvantage of using NPV as a criteria include:
a. Assumes financial projections are accurate
b. Ignores probabilities and risks
c. Very easily manipulated
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
In portfolio management, the decision environment could be described as:
a. Assuming unlimited resources for the purposes of evaluating projects
b. Very dynamic
c. Focusing on projects at the same level of completion
d. Relatively static
b. Very dynamic
Weaknessess of NPV as a significant evaluation tool include:
a. NPV does not take into account costs
b. It is difficult to calculate cash flows in early stages of the NPD process
c. It provides a one-dimensional lok at a project
d. All of the above
b. It is difficult to calculate cash flows in early stages of the NPD process
The types of projects that represent the lowest risk and lowest difficulty includes:
a. Platform and breakthrough projects
b. Derivative and platform projects
c. New to the world and support projects
d. Derivative and support projects
d. Derivative and support projects
According to the PDMA, the scope of portfolio management is:
a. The responsibility of all persons involved in NPD
b. Included all projects w/in an organization
c. Is never political
d. Limited to new product projects
d. Limited to new product projects
The value of portfolio management is diminished when:
a. Subordinate employees and stakeholders do not understand the decision process
b. Scoring models are used
c. Senior management controls the process
d. Financial and non-financial measures are used to determine the balance of the portfolio
a. Subordinate employees and stakeholders do not understand the decision process
Drivers of portfolio management could include:
a. Need for fast decision making
b. A coordinated company approach
c. Limited resources
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
For NPD and portfolio management, the phrase “new product” refers to:
a. A service new to the firm marketing it
b. Manufactured products new to the firm marketing them
c. Manufactured products and/or services for which a new marketing plan has been developed
d. Both manufactured products and services which are new to the firm marketing them
d. Both manufactured products and services which are new to the firm marketing them
A balanced scorecard is a comprehensive performance measurement technique that balances what four performance dimensions?
a. Product champion, product sponsor, project leader, and process owner
b. Having a great idea, 2-3 new customer value propositions, executing well, and product launch plans
c. Management, development, operations, finance
d. Customer perceptions of how we perform in a must excel area, innovation performance, learning performance, and financial performance
d. Customer perceptions of how we perform in a must excel area, innovation performance, learning performance, and financial performance
Pipeline alignment is:
a. The way new products are aligned with current product mix
b. The balancing of project demands with available resource supply
c. The stpes taken to make sure the pipeline is accomplishing the right things for business success
d. The linkage between what is in the pipeline and the NPD strategy of the organization
b. The balancing of project demands with available resource supply
Portfolio review decisions by sr. management are about:
a. Resource allocation
b. Fit with overall strategy
c. Quality of work done
d. A and B
d. A and B
The bottom-up approach to portfolio management:
a. Has strategy criteria built into the selection criteria used to jusge each project
b. Results in a single portfolio
c. Assures all projects are on strategy
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
Types of new products in a portfolio could include:
a. Platform
b. Breakthrough
c. Support
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
Portfolio criteria:
a. Criteria used to decide whether a project is allowed to move to the next phase
b. The set of criteria against which the business judges both proposed and currently active product development projects to create a balanced and diverse mix of ongoing efforts
c. Those attributes associated with the products in the pipeline
d. Metrics from the portfolio team that become “must meet” objectives for the project team
b. The set of criteria against which the business judges both proposed and currently active product development projects to create a balanced and diverse mix of ongoing efforts
What is the top performing method of portfolio management?
a. A financial approach
b. A multi-matrix approach
c. A business strategy approach
d. A monte carlo approach
c. A business strategy approach
A project that forms the base of a product family and often provides products for multiple market segments is:
a. Derivative project
b. Platform project
c. Breathough project
d. Game changing project
b. Platform project
The responsibility for portfolio management belongs to:
a. Project managers
b. Project champions
c. Sr. management
d. Program managers
c. Sr. management
In the PDMA’s 2004 assessment, what % of organizations reported having a well-defined portfolio process?
a. 75%
b. 56%
c. 42%
d. 61%
b. 56%
An example of a portfolio variable which could be measured is:
a. Resources required
b. Time to market
c. Size of prize
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
Pipeline inventory:
a. The existence of a new product w/in the distribution chain but not yet sold to end customers
b. Ideas and projects that are stores in the parking lots of the different NPD process stages
c. Has nothing to do with NPD activities
d. Units of ne wproduct in inventory with vendors
a. The existence of a new product w/in the distribution chain but not yet sold to end customers
Portfolio management:
a. The process of assigning a portfolio of potential projects to a new product development team for evaluation
b. A communication management system where individuals report on problems and accomplishments of their NPD projects
c. A business process by which a busines until decides on the mix of active projects, staffing and dollar budgets allocated to each project currently being undertaken
d. The process of selecting NPD projects that have the highest financial value
c. A business process by which a busines until decides on the mix of active projects, staffing and dollar budgets allocated to each project currently being undertaken
Which of the following best describes a new product portfolio management system?
a. A decision process that generates a once a year new product project
b. A dynamic decision process whereby a bsuiness list of active new product projects is constantly updated
c. A multi-project management process whereby resources are balanced across projects generating a constant list of funded projects
d. None of the above
b. A dynamic decision process whereby a bsuiness list of active new product projects is constantly updated
Portfolio scoring models contain:
a. Non-financial measures
b. Goals of the project
c. Financial measures
d. Both financial and non-financial measures
d. Both financial and non-financial measures
In portfolio management, gap analysis can be applied to:
a. Comparison of financial goals to actual results
b. Comparison of new product goals to actual results
c. Comparison of cumulative sales goals to actual results
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of portfolio management?
a. Decision environment is very dynamic
b. Deals with current events
c. Resources are limited
d. Projects are at different stages of completion
b. Deals with current events
Research indicates that an engineer’s productivity and value decreases when he is assigned to:
a. More than 3 projects
b. More than 4 projects
c. More than 1 projects
d. More than 2 projects
d. More than 2 projects
NPD portfolio management best practives could include:
a. Having a risk-reward balance of projects
b. Limiting the number of high risk projects
c. Limiting the number of minor and incremental projects
d. All of the above
d. All of the above
Product pipeline is:
a. A flow of ideas for new products that have been evaluated
b. The lists of products the company offers for sale including those in development
c. The schedule stream of products in development for market release
d. The list of potential new products being developed by the organization
c. The schedule stream of products in development for market release
