دکتر محمد فروزنده

To achieve continuous growth in a project-oriented organization, managing projects individually does not work well. By combining multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDM) and strategic analysis, the present research examines the challenges of selecting and managing the project portfolio in the Nano Development Headquarters, emphasizing the importance of optimal use of limited resources and reducing investment risk. Its main goal is to develop a model for evaluating and prioritizing projects based on the greatest synergies and values and improving the effectiveness of decisions in line with strategic goals.

This research uses a hybrid approach that includes the implementation of a scientific framework with five steps. At first, using the SWOT analysis, three key strategies were formulated to manage the portfolio of nano projects: portfolio of multidisciplinary cooperation, portfolio of commercialization of nano products and portfolio of connection between nano and everyday life. The projects were categorized using the concepts of synergies and the benefits map. Then, using the Electre method, the projects were prioritized based on 10 criteria and included in the final basket. Finally, a balanced portfolio of projects was selected and a roadmap for better management of this portfolio was presented.

The research showed that among the 32 initial projects, 7 projects were removed and 3 other projects were also abandoned due to non-compliance with the key criteria. According to the SWOT matrix, four options were presented and three strategies were developed based on that. The categorization of projects was done based on the concepts of synergy and proximity of projects to strategic goals and the intended value created through the logical map of benefits. The final grouping of the projects in three categories: pearls, oysters, and white elephants was done with the opinion of experts, and with the update of the final basket, the definite priority of each project in each basket was included in the portfolio roadmap. With this approach, an optimal combination of projects in portfolios was created, and the order of projects was determined. The presented model was able to create an optimal combination of projects and determine their execution order by considering the primary criteria, risk analysis, probability of success, earnings, and return on investment (ROI). Also, the roadmap of the project portfolio was drawn to help better management and achieve strategic goals. The final finding from the data analysis is that initially, basket 2 (D5, B3, A3, E5, E1, E2, D2, A1, C2) started with project D5 and at the end of the first three years of basket 1 (B6, A4, E4, B2, A5, D1, B5, E3, E6) with project B6 will start simultaneously with projects E5 and E1 and the start time of basket 3 (E7, D7, E8, C1) in the middle of the second schedule with project E7 with the implementation of projects D2, A1, E4, and B2. The maximum execution time for basket 1 is ten, for basket 2 eight, and for basket 3 six years.

Research limitations/implications: 

Access to data, experts' lack of familiarity with project portfolio management concepts, and the unpredictability of nanotechnology and changing criteria are some of the limitations of this research. The research is specifically focused on the field of nanotechnology, but it can be easily extended to other fields with personalization. In this research, the concepts of project portfolio management, synergy of projects, and logical map of benefits have been used for writing. It is suggested that in future research, aspects of uncertainty in the decision-making process allocation of resources and project schedule should be addressed with modelling.

Practical implications: 

By providing a comprehensive model for project portfolio management, managers can make better decisions in selecting and prioritizing projects. This helps to increase efficiency and reduce risks associated with projects. It also helps companies get closer to their business goals and grow and develop their business by creating synergies.

Social implications:

 In addition to the positive effects on improving public health, the environment, and increasing the quality of life, the correct selection of the portfolio of nano projects will help project-oriented companies to achieve higher standards in the fields of safety, health, and environment (SHE) by using project portfolio management. At a larger level, it helps government and policymakers make more informed decisions to invest in and support nanotechnology projects that directly lead to economic and social development.

Originality/value: 

This research is added to the literature on project management because it provides a comprehensive and new framework for selecting the project portfolio from different angles and can be a valuable resource for researchers and managers. Overall, this research provides a useful framework for organizations seeking to optimize their project portfolios.

Today, due to the increase in complexities and uncertainties faced by manufacturing organizations, the production of products faces planned/unplanned events that happen during the production life cycle. Meanwhile, some factors can have a significant impact on the success or failure of the organization, and the most effective of such factors is the occurrence of delays and disruptions in the production and delivery schedule. Some of these factors are caused by the nature of the industry, which is difficult to reduce/eliminate. The effect of many other factors can be reduced and sometimes eliminated. Most of the manufacturing-related literature focuses on providing solutions to the issues that lead to delays. The neglected point in the literature is to identify the underlying factors that lead to delays in the production schedule and delivery of products and to provide a comprehensive framework for identifying delays in production environments. This study aims to reduce delays and optimize production time by identifying and ranking the possible factors causing delays in production organizations based on the review of the literature related to production and empirical research.

Design/methodology/approach

: This research includes a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to provide a more detailed analysis of the dimensions related to the problem. First, four types of production systems, i.e., engineering to order, manufacturing to order, assembly to order and production to warehouse have been described, and then these production environments have been compared with different aspects. In the following, by reviewing previous research and benefiting from experts, factors affecting delays in production projects have been identified and localized, and the weight of each criterion has been determined using Shannon's entropy method. Finally, by applying this model in the manufacturing industries of Iran and using the TOPSIS technique, the causes of delay have been ranked.

Due to their nature, production systems are exposed to risks caused by various delay factors. The results indicated that engineering based on order, manufacturing based on order, assembly based on order, and production for warehouse are exposed to more risks, respectively. The most important causes of delay in each production system were among the other results. Based on the findings, it seems that manufacturing organizations, knowing the nature of the system, rank their system in terms of delays, and prevent unfortunate events in this field by careful planning.

Research limitations/implications:

 The extent of industries and manufacturing companies in identifying comprehensive criteria contributed to the study. However, from the point of view of specialization of the results, every industry must obtain relevant results by implementing the proposed approach according to the type of its production system. Therefore, more context-specific research is needed to examine the unique aspects of organizational cultures that include social, political, economic, technological, personnel, and personal considerations. Therefore, future studies should provide the analysis and findings in each case because each one will bring distinctive and unique findings in its case.

Practical implications:

 Accurate identification of the production system used in manufacturing industries and the main causes of delay can provide managers with a more effective view to prevent destructive consequences.

Originality/value:

 This study investigated the causes of delays in various production projects in Iranian manufacturing organizations. No research has been performed on investigating the reasons for delays in various types of production environments in the manufacturing organizations in Iran, as a developing country exhibiting differences in the aspects of cultures, social, political, economic, technological, personnel and personal.

 Today, due to the costly and risky nature of projects and resource constraints in pharmaceutical companies, the correct decision-making of managers for selecting projects to form the final portfolio and implementation of projects is necessary. The huge investment of companies in the drug makes the industry more important. pharmaceutical companies with the development, introduction and construction of existing and new drugs try to maintain their competitiveness, which is an efficient management process of drugs. For this reason, the design and selection of an optimal portfolio of projects that are entered into the company and with a larger perspective is vital to designing the optimal structure of project portfolio management in the pharmaceutical industry. This study aims to design an optimal structure of project portfolio management in the pharmaceutical industry with a case study.

Design/methodology/approach: 

The current research embarks on identifying new criteria based on a literature review and interviews with experts. The proposed structure offers four kinds of criteria according to which the required standard measures for the evaluation of the project portfolio design are customized and extracted. Criteria include institutional theory, stakeholders’ theory, dependency of resources theory, and sense-making theory. After determining the evaluation criteria related to each perspective, the mentioned criteria have been validated. Then, by using the existing methods, such criteria have been quantified. Finally, the identified measures have been employed in the proposed structure. The weight of each criterion was determined using the FAHP method and by using the Fuzzy TOPSIS method (FTOPSIS), and the best type of structure for the selected pharmaceutical industry was selected according to portfolio components. 

 In this paper, a real case was studied in Iran’s pharmaceutical Industries, and the result of the configuration was illustrated. Quantitative values ​​of validated criteria were determined with the help of academic and industry experts and existing methods. After calculating the quantitative values ​​of the criteria for the evaluation of pharmaceutical project portfolio designs, such values were used in the FTOPSIS model. Finally, based on the findings, projects such as innovation and improvement of existing products indicated that research and development in pharmaceutical companies can provide the ground for progressive growth; in other words, the development of products that have proven their efficiency can be the shortest path for achieving the objectives. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies relying on these products, innovation in offering new products in the family of these products or improving them, can shape their projects in the best way possible. furthermore, firms with a far-reaching view of monopoly can take more effective steps in drug production using the intellectual capacity of other companies. The production of medicines is a common practice in pharmaceutical companies, confirmed the results.

Research limitations/implications: 

The main limitation of this study is the lack of accurate information in the early stages of product development in pharmaceutical industries. In this research, it was assumed that the information provided by the experts and designers of the relevant industry is correct and real. For future research, the method of calculating the priority of components considering the technical ability of the industries is suggested. It is also suggested to decide according to the categorization and identification of criteria with other approaches. Comparing the results of this study with other studies is another subject of future study.

Practical implications:

 Finding comprehensive criteria to evaluate project portfolio designs and proposing an effective structure for evaluation can lead to selecting the best portfolio for the pharmaceutical industries. The proposed structure can increase profit and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Originality/value: 

Based on the literature review, particularly the internal research, a method that evaluates project portfolio designs with comprehensive criteria including institutional theory, stakeholders’ theory, dependency of resources theory and sensemaking theory has not been found.

One of the issues and problems facing the research cycle is the integration of design and production. Research institutes design products that are made without the cooperation of the construction engineering firm. The manufacturing institution does not have a common language in the production of the designed product and therefore no production takes place. Design without considering production and supply considerations seems beautiful only for the designer, but in some cases, the production organization is either not able to produce it or has problems in supplying some parts. This research deals with the issue of coordination of design, production and supply, which by examining the literature, its key indicators at the level of research projects and industrial development were extracted and finally ranked with decision models. For the first time, this research examines concurrent engineering in the defense industry and provides a model for the integration of design, production and supply. The indicators of this issue are divided into 4 criteria of product structure and architecture, management, quality and organizational cooperation. The criteria of product structure and architecture are the most important.

Developing a life cycle model of R&D projects is one of the key factors for the success of research organizations. Using a standardized model leads to the creation of a common language between the organization and external providers of products, services and processes. The purpose of this paper is to present a general life cycle model for research and development in research organizations that is approved by various executives, supervisors and auditors. The model presented in this study provides a basis for evaluating the activities of executors and facilitates the evaluation and audit of research and development activities. The model has 4 dimensions, 17 components, 3 key decision points and 156 indicators. Model dimensions include need assessment processes, sample design and construction, manufacturing engineering and production management, and operation and support. The validity of the researcher-made questionnaire was evaluated by 9 experts and 3 questions were omitted. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.982 was also used to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire. These results support all the research hypotheses and the rank of the components in each dimension is also determined. According to the results, the need assessment dimension is more important in the life cycle of research and development of research organizations. Using this research model enables research organizations to effectively implement the processes needed for research and development and assists managers and stakeholders in decision making and decision making.