W3Q-Executing and implementing project portfolio management Assignment

W3Q-Executing and implementing project portfolio management - Assignment Example NDT-Solutions, a private sector company specializing in development and construction of facility for non-destructive testing laboratory, takes a conventional approach to project management mainly through assigning projects to departmental managers. This approach functional managers to act as project managers while performing their primary duties in parallel, a practice which was very common in 1960s (Kerzner 2010). A major reason for such an approach was the lack of appreciation for project management methodology and best practices as identified by Project Management Institute in PMBOK (2008). Thus projects in the company normally initiated within from the departments without considering their relevance to the organizational business strategy. Thus majority of the projects were a result of self-initiative even without support and consent of management. In addition, internal politics and individual interests barred projects and their outcomes to be visible to other departments unless materialized. Thus other departments who may have significant role in the project execution or may have been impacted by the project outcome were, in fact, alienated from the project. Every department struggled to portray its project as success while endeavoring to undermine the efforts made in other departments. This impacted the overall potential of the company to achieve synergy of its resources. The end result was duplication of projects, inefficient utilization of the resources and discouragement of any innovative ideas at the organizational level. Besides its drawbacks, the approach has advantages in terms of expanding experience in project management and improving the skills; however, lack of training and appreciation of a standardized project portfolio management approach would increase risk of inefficient resource utilization and duplication of efforts especially when the company is managing multiple projects. According to Kerzner (2010), â€Å"portfolio management is

Issues in global political economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Issues in global political economy - Essay Example The relationship between the natural environment and free trade focuses on the trade policies impacts on the ecological environment, the impacts on the trade flows and use of trade measures in order to attain environmental policy objectives (Irwin, 2009). Free trade impacts on the environment drew international attention in 1991 when Mexican government challenges United States laws on ban of exports of tuna to the US from Mexico. The United States Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibited the import of tuna and dolphin from countries that used fishing methods that killed the dolphins (Mitchell, 2009). In its case, Mexican government argued that General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) allowed free trade between the two countries. Accordingly, the World Trade Organization (WTO) outlined that countries could restrict free trade in instances when the measures are necessary to protect the safety and health of the citizens. In the ruling, GATT panel clearly outlined that the US governm ent had violated GATT agreements since it could not utilise its domestic legislation to control and protect dolphins that were outside its territory (Geradin, 1997). This case opened new controversial issues on the impact of free trade on the environment since Mexico did not press for the implementation of the panel ruling. Thesis statement: International free trade and environmental protection can never be compatible. Free trade increases the global economic activities and leads to higher national incomes. The total global trade volumes have increased significantly due to trade liberlisation and free flow of labour among the trading partners (Irwin, 2009). The growth in free trade has been supported by advancements in transportation networks, increase in outsourcing, industrialisation and emergency of global trade organisations. Proponents of free trade assert that it leads to efficient resource allocation due to the comparative advantage of nations in producing certain commodities . Garber (1993) asserts that free trade increases global economic output due to expanded market for excess output and elimination of market access tariffs and regulations of the domestic economies. Accordingly, free trade encourages competition among various firms thus leading to high quality products and low prices to the consumers. It is acknowledged that free trade will foster technology transfer that contributes to human advancements and better quality of life in the society. Accordingly, free trade enables multinational companies to reduce the costs of production through attracting high qualified skill force at a lower cost and moving their manufacturing plants closer to sources of raw materials (Michalos, 2008). In addition, free trade will contribute to growth in domestic gross product by ensuring higher employment levels and consumer incomes thus ultimately contribute to increase in consumption levels in the economy. However, environmentalists assert that free trade leads to market externalities like pollution and thus stringent domestic environmental regulations are necessary in order to check the standards of goods imported in the economy (Esty, 1994). The WTO established a committee to deal with trade and environment in 1995 in order to deal with issues concerning domestically prohibited goods and eco-labelling. A major concern for the committee is the relationship between multinational environmental agreements