ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the origins of project portfolios in an attempt to explain current conceptions of a project portfolio and examines historical notions as well as the scientific literature to identify conceptual aspects associated with a project portfolio. It analyzes aspects that have stayed constant over time to gain further insight into what is a project portfolio and also examines aspects that have developed and been elaborated over time. A ministerial portfolio has an equivalence to a political organization similar to the manner in which a project portfolio represents a business organization. Also, both sense the external environment and reconfigure their composition in response to what they sense. A project portfolio is aligned with “business objectives, combining performances of its components in order to maximize the shareholder’s value while balancing resource allocation and risks”.
