Applied Portfolio Management

Question: Discuss about theApplied Portfolio Management. Answer: Introduction Literature Review The report is an assignment on the report methodology at Hyundai. The assignment identifies the automobile company, Hyundai which is one of the leaders in automobile manufacturers. The report then takes into account the report making process of the staff at Hyundai. The reporting requirements are one that caters directly to the needs of the projects that are being created. The project development is one factor that is of utmost importance in Hyundai and as such, monitoring their development is one of the prime factors. The development of the projects is monitored via various reporting techniques that move up a hierarchical ladder where the executive decisions are made. The executive decisions are what drive the company and as such, it is necessary that the report reaches them. The assignment also identifies the method of data collection in software applications for the company and the need for software applications. The assignment then finds out the process through which the report i s made and finally, identifies the escalation decisions of the executives which work for the development of the project. Description of the Organization Hyundai is a South Korean automobile manufacturer and one of the world leaders in the field of automobile manufacturers. The headquarters of the company is located in Seoul, South Korea from where it controls its operations in 193 countries. The company was founded in 1967. In 2012, it became the worlds fifth largest automobile maker. The sales of Hyundai motors in 2012 were 7.12 million in 2012 making it one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. The company has more than 75,000 employees worldwide (Antonius, 2003). Hyundai has more than 5000 dealerships and showrooms worldwide. In such a case, Hyundai has the place in the market share that is worth noticing. Maintaining such a huge network worldwide means that the company needs to have an integrated system that analyzes the functioning of all of its units in a wide number of companies. However, the working of the units needs to be assessed by a measure. This is where the idea of managing the data comes in (Berk, 2005 ). The company must have in its framework a data management system that classifies and makes use of its data. The data management system in such a case must be one which has a transparency among all its employees and managers. The system at Hyundai is a hierarchical one where the various employees work according to their positions in order to maintain a balance in the companys functioning. The balance in the data management department is maintained by the employees dedicated to the collection of data doing their bit and reporting it to the higher level managers (Bonham, 2005). The managers at the various levels then take into account the data and work accordingly in a manner that would be in the best interest of the company. The Reporting Requirements for Projects Before any project is begun, there must be an assessment of how well the project will benefit the company. In the case of a company like Hyundai, the assessment of the project is extremely important as it is an industry that is directly related to the market trends and the customer preferences. These factors can be measured via different means but in order to identify the level of success that any project would taste, it is necessary to have a system of data manipulation. The data can then be reported to the managers and the managers can then work in order to utilize that data for the benefit of the company (Brentani, 2004). Now whenever a project begins, there is a project reporting system. The project reporting system is one that is meant for the managers. The process is done by the team dedicated to collecting the data on the project and then they perform the duty of conveying it to the manager who oversees the entire project. The project report usually includes an introduction to the project information and then moves on to describe what the project is intended to achieve and what it has achieved (Bryman and Burgess, 1994). The requirements for the reports at such an executive level is one that takes into account a lot of things and a lot of benchmarks. The achievements of the project are included in the project milestone status and the project summary status. The reporting of the status of the project is done as a roll-up process. The team members dedicated to the data collection are required to create an informal report status that is reported to the team leads (Byrne, 2002). The team leads are then required to make a well-defined graphical data structure of the report and report them to the project manager. The data for the executive level is aggregated via various methods. First and foremost, the report aims at identifying the customer mix and then proceeds to locate the maturity of the project which includes the various benchmarks for the measurement o f the progress. Finally, there is an identification of how well the projects have been received by the target customer base. The Best Option for Reporting Methods and Software Applications The software application in the development of the report of a company is especially important in a company like Hyundai. While handling such a huge amount of data, it is the software that comes to the rescue. The software, however, needs a line of operations. The inclusion of software may mean that the company has a mode to control its operation but that mode also needs a line of operation (Cramer, 2003). In such a case, there are a few methods that are best suited for the reporting methods. Also, the best methods can be identified to create a method that is the best suited for the industry as well as the individual organization. In a software application method, the first and foremost idea to be taken into account is the communication planning. The communication planning is the one factor that needs to be taken into account in order to facilitate the smooth running of the process (Flick et al., 2007). The project must decide on the manner in which the various communications are sup posed to take place which would ensure the proper exchange of the data and other things related to the reports. The second step is to identify the information that is needed in each report of each aspect and then the process should identify the format in which the data is supposed to be gathered. Since software runs on a particular format, it is important to locate the exact format that needs to be followed. The next step in this method would be to locate the sources from which the information and data are to be gathered (Gibson and Brown, 2009). The identification of the information would require the information itself which comes from a source. In such a case, the source of the information needs to be located in order to facilitate the functioning of the process. In the next steps, there should be an identification of who is to be trusted with the responsibility. The software needs a person who is conversant with the running and as such, needs to be handled in a manner which would provide the best data processing. The process can thus be set up where the company is able to process the data in a manner where the things fall into place and help the companies identify its priorities. Quantitative and Qualitative Data that is Required at Executive Level Quantitative and qualitative methods are two of the most well-recognized methods of data collection and processing. The quantitative and qualitative data are what are mostly used by industries to pinpoint the exact strategies that they need to follow. In Hyundai, the quantitative data is used at an executive level to measure the companys productivity. The data can then be used to find out how much the company has been successful in attaining its goals. The company uses the quantitative data to measure the efficiencies of its units in various locations as well as the efficiency of the workforce (Heaton, 2004). The quantitative data uses a fixed idea of what is considered to be desirable in the companys operations. The companys operations are decided to a great extent by the quantitative data that it accumulates. The main feature of this kind of data is that it uses a well-defined scale to track all the procedures. Hyundai, for example, measures the output provided by an individual wor ker against the average output and in such a case, creates an assessment of the worker depending on the overall functioning (Jarrow, 2010). The company then makes changes in the workers function as per his performance. The company also measures the productivities of the individual units in order to measure the level of efficiency of the unit and then proceeds accordingly. The quantitative data required in Hyundai at the executive level is thus the various outputs of the employees and the outputs of the units that are operating for the company (Mulvey, 2004). The qualitative data, on the other hand, is the kind of data that follows an informal structure. Professionals at Hyundai who work for this department observe the human behavior and other factors affecting productivity (Project Portfolio Management, 2011). The main requirements at the executive level for this type of data collection is the data of employee productivity, the conditions of work and other problems faced by the work ers. The quantitative data has the presence of the human element in it which makes it easier to formulate a method that would help in the elimination of the problems and boost the performance of the employees on an individual level. The Reporting Processes The reporting at Hyundai is done by professionals who are trained for the job. The company hires people who have an understanding of the various processes of reporting and also the process of reporting followed by Hyundai. The reporting processes are also carried out by the other employees in the various duties (The standard for portfolio management, 2013). The employees are given the task of reporting to their senior officials until the data reaches to the project managers who work for the development of the project on the basis of the data they receive. The reporting is done by Hyundai every time a new project is planned to be launched. Also, after the project has been completed and the product is on the market, Hyundai goes on to assess the success of the project in the market. The success is again assessed via the reporting process (Richards, 2005). The reporting process includes a number of factors that are monitored in order to monitor the performance in each of the department. Hyundai monitors the customer mix and the internal as well as the external stakeholder percentage. They also monitor the project management maturity. The next step involves calculating the value of the projects. The calculation of the value of the projects is done by the comparison of the various project values against the average value of a project. The company then proceeds to find out the output of each employee in the organization. The reporting process is thus one where the various operational fields of the company are taken into account. The monitoring of each of the individual departments are the factors that are taken into account while creating a report. Escalation Decisions By the Executive The escalation decisions by the executive include taking the matters to a higher authority. Although Hyundai has a well-defined process for the reporting and function of all the aspects of the projects that are undertaken, there is the existence of the escalation decisions by the executive. The reports provide an idea of what to do but sometimes, the matters are out of hand for the immediate officials. In such a case, the matters need to be taken to the higher officials. A team faces many problems and as such, in an organization like Hyundai, there is a need for external intervention from time to time (Smithson, 2003). The projects in the company are formulated by the upper levels and as such, those managerial positions need to be in touch with the proceedings at the lower levels. The proceedings at the lower levels are thus an important factor in deciding the staffing and other factors that affect the well-being of the project. The escalation decisions at Hyundai are conveyed to the staff via the same team that was responsible for the reporting. The report methodology of the company is one which works in direct interaction with the workforce and as such, it is responsible for conveying the executive decisions that the authorities make in an attempt to guarantee a success of the project. References Antonius, R. (2003).Interpreting quantitative data with SPSS. London: Sage Publications. Berk, J. (2005). Five Myths of Active Portfolio Management.The Journal of Portfolio Management, 31(3), pp.27-31. Bonham, S. (2005).IT project portfolio management. Boston: Artech House. Brentani, C. (2004).Portfolio management in practice. Oxford [England]: Burlington, MA. Bryman, A. and Burgess, R. (1994).Analyzing qualitative data. London: Routledge. Byrne, D. (2002).Interpreting quantitative data. London: SAGE. Cramer, D. (2003).Advanced quantitative data analysis. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: Open University Press. Flick, U., Kvale, S., Angrosino, M., Barbour, R., Banks, M., Gibbs, G. and Rapley, T. (2007).The Sage qualitative research kit. London: SAGE. Gibson, W. and Brown, A. (2009).Working with qualitative data. London: SAGE. Heaton, J. (2004).Reworking qualitative data. London: SAGE. Jarrow, R. (2010). Active Portfolio Management and Positive Alphas: Fact or Fantasy ?.The Journal of Portfolio Management, 36(4), pp.17-22. Mulvey, J. (2004). Applying Optimization Technology to Portfolio Management.The Journal of Portfolio Management, 30(5), pp.162-168. Project Portfolio Management. (2011). Hoboken: John Wiley Sons. Richards, L. (2005).Handling qualitative data. London: SAGE Publications. Smithson, C. (2003).Credit portfolio management. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley. The standard for portfolio management. (2013). 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