Level of Adoption vs. level of problems with projects: We also identified the relationship
between the use of PPM processes and the level of problems associated with the lack of
PPM approaches in organisations. Section 3 of the survey was used to calculate the groups’
averages level of problems and again a strong relationship, this time negative, between the
use of PPM techniques and level of problems was identified, as can be seen in Figure 2.
The analysis of the three clusters identified in our study showed that the groups were not
only different in terms of number of PPM elements adopted but also in the intensity in which
those were used. Also, the study of how the use of PPM has impacted organisations and
changed the level of project related problems allows answering our second hypothesis.
First, the results show that organisations, in general, see projects collectively and apply
portfolio management processes. However, they adopt these methods with different
intensities. Organisations at stage I, for example, scored 1.22 in the survey sub-section
related to analysis at portfolio level while respondents at stages II and III scored 2.03 and
3.37 respectively. Second, it is clear that the return from PPM methods is reduced when
some PPM approaches are not adopted. As figure 1 shows, organisations at stage I
obtained less impact from the implementation of PPM elements (0.13 in a scale from –1 to
1), than stage II (0.28) or stage III (0.58) organisations. This means that as organisations
increasingly adopt PPM approaches, the impact is strengthened. Third, the use of PPM
techniques not only positively impacts organisations but also reduces the level of project
related problems. As figure 2 shows, organisations at stage I found a significantly higher
(0.80) level of problems than stage II (0.70) and stage III (0.53) organisations. Figure 3
provides an additional perspective on the difference between the stages by mapping the
main project issues, and their degree of severity, to the different adoption stages.