Significance of Programme and Portfolio Management in Successful Delivery of Investment Programme

INTRODUCTION
The continuing demand for developing transportation infrastructure projects
is increasing day by day. This is putting tremendous pressure on public
sector for development. Transportation has been a main function of
government since long time. In the present scenario, it is difficult to manage
and fund mega transportation project because of the financial crunch. This
reduced the ability of government to implement big and unique projects by
itself. Project delivery is the method by which government encourages the
private sectors and other agencies for the development of infrastructures.
Transportation megaprojects include huge capital investment, expert and
competitive contractors, long period of time and a perfect delivery strategy
to deliver the project in time, quality and within budget. To make such mega
projects successful, a strong procurement strategy is required. A
procurement strategy is to develop a framework keeping in mind the
objectives and outcomes of the project. The contractual and commercial
strategy will be defined at the design and construction stage itself which will
align the project team towards achieving the objective. A good procurement
strategy will have a positive impact on project’s performance in terms of
time and cost.
Client dissatisfaction is always related to late delivery of project, over budget
and poor quality of work. This happens because less importance is given to
value for money. The Latham report (1994) proposed change towards more
collaborative culture. Partnering through the contract chain was seen as the
most efficient way. The Egan report (1998) set out five key drivers which are
important for the construction industry. They are committed leadership,
client focus, integrated processes and teams, a quality driven agenda and
commitment to people. This made a tremendous change in the industry.
Innovative approaches in procurement and other areas of construction are
encouraged. Value for money is given more importance than cost reduction.

This report is mainly focused on the procurement strategy in Cross-rail
project. Cross-rail is one of the biggest transportation projects in Europe.
Cross rail is the new high frequency, convenient and accessible railway for
London and the Southeast. The initial project value is worth £15.9 billion.
From 2018, Cross rail trains will travel from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the
west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east via 21 km of new tunnels
under central London. It will link Heathrow Airport, the West End, the City of
London, and Canary Wharf.
Cross-rail obtained the Royal Assent in 2008. Cross-rail is divided into four
distinct sections. They are Central section, western section, north-eastern
and south-eastern sections. After Cross-rail starts operation, 24 trains are
expected to run per hour. This will add 10% to the transportation capacity of
London. Cross-rail will also reduce the journey time between many key
destinations of London.
CRL will be directly buying and managing a relatively small number of
contracts with Tier 1 contractors. They, in turn, will be buying a wide variety
of goods, works and services from many smaller suppliers and contractors
which form the supply chain for delivery. “Cross rail’s approach to
procurement is aligned with the UK governments achieving excellence in
construction principles, including a fair allocation of risk and reward, early
involvement of the supply chain, minimizing of interface risks, incentivizing
performance and selection of suppliers on the basis of best value” (NEC,
2009).
The management program and portfolios are essential in the progress and
the achievement of the organization's goals. The management portfolio in
the organization includes groups of different programs that are unrelated to
the organization. In contrast, the programs are projects in the organization
that is related in terms of functionality, the management needed, and
resources needed. The program management to a portfolio requires the

manager to understand the critical roles in the project and provide suitable
tools and equipment that are essential to meet the customers' needs and
achieve the organizational goals (Milillo et al., 2018). The program manager
is aimed to identify the project and establish the program plans that are
essential for the completion of the project (Black, 2017). In addition, the
management in the portfolio requires the manager to identify the projects
that are right to focus on based on the capacity of the organization's
leadership. The portfolio manager depicts the resources in the organization
and decides on the projects that can be done with the available resources.
The portfolio manager must make suitable decisions to do tasks that are
more valuable and essential for the organization's growth.
Assignment Objectives (Your Task):
LO1: Evaluate the significance of Programme and Portfolio
management.
LO4: Synthesise, the latest research on programme management
and portfolio management.
a. Evaluate the significance of Programme’s and
Portfolio’s and their management in relation to the
successful delivery of an organisation’s investment
programme. Justify your answer supported by evidence
from the literature and links to the case study (LO1, LO4).
The program and portfolio are essential in the investment programs as they
help facilitate the project's selection process. Investors must ensure that
they make a suitable decision while investing their money to ensure that
they gain the return on investment. Therefore, there is a need to select
appropriate projects according to the business goals, the likelihood of the
occurrence of risks, and the available resources. The decision-making

process needs to assure the investors that the income investors will provide
long-term returns on their investment. The evaluation of the projects should
be based on the most profitable decision to make on the project to work on
to ensure that the income is generated. The investors and the management
teams must select the project to provide the maximum benefits and deliver
maximum value to the organization, customers, and investors (Buck, 2017).
The most suitable technique to apply in the selection process includes using
the rankling method, where the projects are ranked based on their value.
The ranking method helps the management to set aside the resources
needed. The ranking method also helps select the projects that require less
income with maximum investment outcomes. The manager is not subject to
managing the tasks; instead to provides oversight of the pieces needed in
the project for the completion to be effective and efficient to meet the needs
of other related projects (Black, 2017).
Using the PPM technique to evaluate the projects is essential to ensure that
the organization gets the most comprehensive picture of the investment. The
program and portfolio management allow investors to make the right choice
on the critical infrastructural projects for the organization. For example, large
projects may take years to complete, and it may cost the management more
cash to invest with less income generation. Therefore, to ensure that the
organization makes the most significant income on their investment, they
must focus on the most comprehensive picture to make decisions that
provide the goal's achievement. Resources may dwindle, and more issues
may arise on large projects; hence the organization should be well
accommodative and well established in terms of resources, competency of
staff, and project management team for the success to be achieved in the
long run (St. John et al., 2017).
The programs and portfolios help the management teams to determine the
objectives and goals to focus on the important projects. 47% of the executive
reports show that most organizations fail on their projects due to the lack of
clear objectives and goals necessary for achieving the targets and used as a

milestone for the organization's success. The measure of the progress of the
invested projects is based on the objectives and goals that the organization
sets.
Therefore, in evaluating the success of the projects, it has to be compared
with the set intents and the purposes of the organization towards the
projects. The goals and objectives of the projects are like a plan; hence it
provides the direction and guideline in accomplishing the goals (Morgan,
2011). The project portfolio management helps the manager create an
atmosphere of concentration on achieving the objectives and goals. The use
of PPM techniques ensures that the approved projects in the organization
meet the set objectives and goals of the organization. In case risks occur in
the progress of the projects, the restructuring of dreams and planning has to
be made.
The PPM evaluation technique ensures that the approved procedures are
aligned with the strategies, and a standardized approach is achieved. The
competitors are the major hindrances in the project's progress; hence the
strategy has to be made to ensure that the defined functions to meet the
customers' demand are created. According to Morgan (2011), the program
and portfolio manager requires the management to develop strategies that
can be utilized to eliminate the redundancies in projects and leverage the
management teams to enhance the collaborative environment. The investors
have to be aware of the competition in the outside market; hence they have
to develop strategies to ensure that success is achieved. In addition, the
program and portfolio are essential in management to the resources in the
organization. The competitive advantage is achieved when the organization
is efficiently able to manage the organization's help. Resource planning is
essential to ensure that the resources are distributed based on the
requirement of the approved project, and the responsible management
supervisor is assigned to ensure that there is no wastage of resources. For
example, the PPM tools help connect the high-level portfolio data used to

assess the performance of the selected projects and the needed strategies to
be established.
SIGNIFICANCE OF PROGRAMME’S, PORTFOLIO’S AND THEIR
MANAGEMENT IN RELATION TO THE SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY
OF ORGANISATION’S INVESTMENT PROGRAMME.
Crossrail Delivery Strategies
Crossrail has procured a Program delivery partner and a Project delivery
partner. The project delivery partner is Bechtel, which is responsible for the
delivery of central section of crossrail. The program delivery partner is the
Transcend consortium made up from Aecom, Nichols Group and CH2M Hill.
Program delivery partner will be responsible for the overall management of
the project. (NCE, 2012) (Crossrail Delivery Strategy. Source: Michael A Kay,
p155, 2009).
Crossrail Program Delivery Partner
The role of Transcend is to coordinate throughout the project. Since the
crossrail project is split into many small contracts and small section of works,
the major function of program delivery partner will be to manage the
interface in merging the different components of work into a single and
efficient railway system. To achieve this, program partner will be working
closely with National Rail, London Underground Limited and Rail for London.
The program partner is also responsible for the work of stations which are
privately funded by developers like Canary Wharf Group and Berkeley
Homes.
The program delivery partner will be closely working with crossrail limited as
an integrated delivery partner. Staff for the program delivery team will be
chosen on the basis of efficiency and regardless of the employer. Integrating