蘑菇短视频

Mariano Garrido-Lopez

A recent study led by a 蘑菇短视频 College of Business faculty member is offering organizations a new way to understand, assess and develop senior executives responsible for governing project portfolios and allocating strategic resources across competing strategic initiatives.

Mariano Garrido-L贸pez, 蘑菇短视频associate professor of management, and colleague V茅ronique Ambrosini, professor of management at Monash University in Australia, conducted an in-depth examination of the competences needed by senior managers who serve on portfolio governance boards in multinational corporations.

Although portfolio governance plays a central role in strategy implementation, there has been limited research on how senior managers understand and perform this work, said Garrido-L贸pez, who also serves as director of graduate programs in WCU鈥檚 College of Business.

These executives help determine how scarce organizational resources are allocated across competing strategic priorities, influencing which projects move forward, how resources are prioritized and, ultimately, how strategy is translated into action.

While substantial attention has been devoted to professionals who manage projects, programs and portfolios, far less research has focused on the senior executives responsible for portfolio governance and the decisions they make in in that role.

To address this gap, Garrido-L贸pez and Ambrosini employed an interpretive research approach known as phenomenography. Phenomenography is a qualitative research method that examines the different ways people experience, perceive and understand a particular phenomenon.

"Current rationalistic approaches to the study of competence typically describe competence in terms of the knowledge, skills, abilities and other personal attributes individuals possess, as well as an external list of work attributes," Garrido-L贸pez said.

"Phenomenography offers a different perspective by suggesting that competence is constituted by the meaning that work takes on for people as they experience it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o understand competence, we therefore need to understand how senior managers conceive of their work."

The researchers sought to answer two questions that had received limited attention in previous studies: How do senior managers serving on portfolio governance boards understand and experience their work? And what practical approaches can organizations use to assess and develop the competences required for these strategic leadership roles?

Their findings were published in an article titled 鈥淭oward a New Understanding of Portfolio Governance Senior Management Competence鈥� in Academy of Management Perspectives, one of the premier journals of the Academy of Management, the world's largest professional association for management and organization scholars.

The journal is widely recognized for its rigorous peer-review standards and for publishing research that combines theoretical contribution with practical relevance, said A.J. Grube, dean of WCU鈥檚 College of Business.

鈥淧ublication in the Academy of Management Perspectives represents a significant scholarly achievement and reflects both the quality and practical relevance of the research,鈥� Grube said.

The study drew on interviews with 32 senior managers from eight multinational corporations representing a variety of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, consulting, high tech, and media and entertainment. By examining how experienced executives understand and experience portfolio governance work, the researchers were able to develop a framework grounded in real-world managerial practice.

The research revealed that successful portfolio governance is not just about processes and tools; it is about how senior leaders understand their governance role.

鈥淭he study challenges the traditional view that competence is simply a collection of skills, knowledge or technical qualifications that individuals possess,鈥� Garrido-L贸pez said. 鈥淚nstead, it shows that the effectiveness of senior managers serving on portfolio governance boards depends heavily on how they understand and experience governance work, particularly when balancing strategic priorities, resource allocation decisions, risk considerations and organizational value creation.鈥�

Among the researchers鈥� findings is the fact that not all senior managers understand portfolio governance in the same way.

鈥淭he research identified four qualitatively different ways that senior managers conceive of portfolio governance work: managing project pipelines, managing strategic investment categories, optimizing portfolios and building organizational capability,鈥� Garrido-L贸pez said. 鈥淭hese conceptions represent progressively broader and more comprehensive and strategic understandings of the governance role.鈥�

In addition to serving as a theoretical examination of the themes of portfolio governance and senior manager competence, the study also offers a practical framework for assessing and developing senior management competence.

鈥淩ather than defining competence as a checklist of skills or behaviors, the framework highlights how different ways of understanding governance work shape managerial action. Organizations can use these insights to assess current governance practices, support leadership development and foster more strategic forms of portfolio governance,鈥� Garrido-L贸pez said.

And the implications of the research extend beyond the narrow topic of project portfolio governance, he said.

鈥淎lthough the study focuses on portfolio governance boards, its insights have broader relevance for leadership and strategy work. The findings suggest that senior leaders can understand strategic responsibilities in fundamentally different ways, and that these differences influence how organizations make decisions, allocate resources and pursue long-term objectives, Garrido-L贸pez said.

The researchers say they hope the framework will stimulate additional scholarship on senior management competence while providing organizations with practical tools to strengthen governance and strategy execution.

鈥淭he study demonstrates that effective portfolio governance is not simply a technical or administrative process. It is a strategic form of senior management work shaped by how leaders understand organizational priorities, value creation, risk and long-term capability development,鈥� Garrido-L贸pez said. 鈥淏y revealing these different ways of understanding governance work, the research provides a new lens for understanding and developing senior management competence.鈥�