Structuring multi-criteria portfolio analysis models

Multi-Criteria Portfolio Analysis (MCPA) models have been extensively employed as an effective means to allocate scarce resources for investment in projects or services, considering different organisational areas and balancing costs, benefits & risks. However, structuring this type of models in practice is not a trivial task. How should be areas defined? Where should new projects be included? How should one define the criteria to evaluate performance? As far as the authors are aware, there is very little indication in the literature on how to structure this kind of models. This paper suggests different approaches to structuring MCPA models and illustrates their use in two action-research projects. From these interventions it then suggests a general framework for the structuring of MCPA models in practice.