HBR Guide to Managing Strategic Initiatives

CHAPTER 7

The Initiative Portfolio Review Process

by Keith Katz and Travis Manzione

While we’ve seen widespread improvement in prioritizing and selecting initiatives, organizations still have a long way to go in reporting on and managing them. This ongoing step is critical not only for assessing the progress of each initiative, but also for demonstrating the return each initiative is yielding (ROI, or return on initiative). It ensures the initiative’s ongoing value to a company’s overall initiatives, providing a dynamic cost/benefit assessment that tracks each initiative’s impact on funding and resources.

All too often, initiatives continue to receive funding, even without a clearly identified “owner,” the person who is accountable for performance. ...