Establishing the project portfolio management in the construction company

Abstract

The principal production activity of construction companies is centralised on the investment and construction projects executed on various construction sites. In the pursuit of using the potential accumulated in the means of production, construction companies start to manage a number of projects implemented concurrently. Therefore, a project portfolio is a key challenge for the strategic management of modern construction companies. There is a way to deal with the multi-project phenomenon called the project portfolio management. At this level, specific features of construction production have to be taken into account. An efficient selection of the project portfolio, treated as the project portfolio management maturity, allows reducing the risk associated with investing in projects, by creating a combination of expenses on a number of projects. The strategies accepted by an organisation determine the project portfolio to the implementation according to some specific requirements (scope, deadlines, cost, quality). Disruptions of meeting these requirements generate the risk associated with concrete projects, and the configuration of the project portfolio, i.e. a number of projects implemented parallelly, their distribution in time and space, produces the risk connected with resources vital to the project execution. Results of a survey conducted among 100 Polish construction entrepreneurs, regarding the problems of establishing the project portfolio management, were presented. Majority of respondents indicated a profit margin as the most important factor in the selection of the project. A number of projects executed in one year, in individual groups of the surveyed enterprises, varies. Large companies usually execute up to 5 projects at the same time. In turn, small and micro-sized enterprises are mostly involved in 6-20 projects in one year. The research revealed that the most frequently indicated criterion for selecting the project portfolio in the construction industry is the availability of workforce. Subsequently, the availability of materials and equipment were indicated in the second and third place. All factors of production, i.e. human resources, materials, equipment as well as financial resources, become sources of the risk in projects, as it comes to a chance to obtain or substitute them. The summary includes a conclusion of the considerations, containing a specification of criteria for selecting the project portfolio in a construction company.