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Managing an R&D Portfolio Process in Real Time

Presenter: Jay Andersen, Eli Lilly

Presented at the 2003 DAAG Conference in Houston, Texas.

Abstract:   Traditionally, R&D portfolio management is seen as a periodic or cyclic process.  Senior executives meet on an annual or semi-annual schedule to review their portfolio of projects, set priorities, and make resource allocation decisions.  To provide timely information for these deliberations, support groups from project management, marketing, and finance examine each project and update portfolio metrics during the weeks preceding the portfolio review.

Unfortunately, portfolio decisions need to be made by senior executives on a real-time basis.  It may not be convenient or prudent to wait until the next scheduled review to make these decisions.  The decision makers need a portfolio process that can provide relevant data in a real-time setting. This presentation is an examination of a case study of the transition of a portfolio review project from a cyclic process to a real-time process.

Keywords: portfolio decision analysis portda, portfolio management portmgmt, cost and schedule risk costschedrisk

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