Stevens Alliance for Technology Management's 2002 Conference explores project portfolio management strategies

The Stevens Alliance for Technology Management 2002 Conference will focus on the topic Portfolio Management: State-of-the-Art Methodologies and Practices. The conference will be held Thursday, June 20, 2002, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the corporate campus of Lucent Technologies, 600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, N.J.

Attendance is free for employees of Alliance sponsor organizations and members of the Stevens Institute of Technology community. Others are invited and encouraged to attend. Lunch will be provided, affording an opportunity for exchange among the attendees.

For registration and attendance information, please contact Sharen Glennon at (201) 216-5381 or sglennon@stevens.edu.

The objective of the Alliance Conference is to explore the state-of-the-art in the implementation of project portfolio management. The conference will feature five distinguished speakers who will present today's methods and practices:

• Robert Cooper, Professor of Marketing at McMaster University; President, Product Development Institute, Ontario, Canada: Maximizing the Value of Your New Product Portfolio: Metrics, Methods and Scorecards
• Allen Clamen, formerly Senior Advisor, Marketing/Technology Value Creation, ExxonMobil Chemical Company; and Carol P. Fitzpatrick, Innovation Processes Manager, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Houston, Texas: Portfolio Management at ExxonMobil Chemical Company
• William Ausura, formerly Director, Product Marketing & Product Management Practices Group of Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, N.J.: Full Life Cycle Portfolio Management
• Dan C. Krupka, Product Development Practice Consultant, McKinsey & Co.: Creating and Managing a Multi-year Product Portfolio

"Every organization is confronted with the challenge of selecting and managing the portfolio of projects - in the broadest sense of the term," says Larry Gastwirt, Director of the Alliance. "Resources are scarce, relative to the opportunities provided by the growing economy and the pace of technological change. More and more pressure exists to get the right things done at the correct time.

"The problem is that most companies do not employ robust methodologies to set priorities to achieve a successful, optimized, project portfolio. Methods range from random and intuitive to incomplete and needlessly complex, rarely understood by line managers. In the past few years, much effort has been expended to find a good process, and we will explore the progress that has been made."

The conference will focus on the implementation of effective portfolio management processes. The speakers have a thorough grounding in the theories associated with portfolio management and bring a wide range of experiences in its execution.

Cooper, recognized as a world authority in the field of new product management (and as the "father" of stage-gate processes), will serve as the keynote speaker. He will discuss proven metrics for gauging the value of development projects, and will recommend methods to maximize the value of a development portfolio.

Krupka will present a slightly different perspective, depending more on the management of risk viewed on a long-term, multi-year basis.

Ausura and Clamen and Fitzpatrick will focus on specific implementations at Lucent Technologies and ExxonMobil Chemical, respectively.

After the speakers share their thoughts, they will serve as a panel to discuss the broad topic and address questions from participants.

The Alliance for Technology Management is resident at the Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. Further information about the Alliance - its mission, sponsors, past issues of its newsletter, etc. - may be accessed at its website. The URL is www.stevens.edu/stmm/satm.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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