Corporationsneedtoimprovebusinessprocessesinordertoenhancevelocityandservicelevelswhilereducingtheirprocessingcostsanddifferentiatingthemselvesinthefaceofcompetition.ThelevitationofimportancebeyondsupportroleshasraisedITinvestmentdecisionstohighpriorityinchiefexecutiveofficers′agendas.CorporateplanninggroupsaswellaslinesofbusinessareincreasinglyapplyingtechniquesofITapplicationsportfoliomanagementinamoresystematicfashiontoimprovedecision-maltingandresource-allocationprocesses.RecentadvancesinsoftwareengineeringandITservicedeliverymethodologieshaveachievedthelogicalseparationofbusinessfunctionsfromimplementation.ThisseparationhasmadeanewbreedofinnovativeITprojectpossiblewithanewprojectriskstructure;theadjustmentofportfoliomanagementtechniquesisappropriate.Wepresentanintegratedportfoliomanagementmodelsothatthecorporationcanfocusonorganicgrowththroughsourcesatboththedepartmentandtopmanagementlevels.Theresearchgivesclearadviceastohowtopmanagementcanseekeconomicgrowthbyselectinganentrepreneurialstrategicposture,implyingastrongrisk-takingpropensity.Byintegratingarisk-returnmodelandrisk-toleranceparadigmtocopewithtoday′sriskstructure,overallcapabilitiescanimprovethedecisionprocessandthecorporation'sperformanceaswell.TheapplicationoftheintegratedtechniquetoaJapanesemanufacturingfinnisdescribed.
